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Post by FortySixandTwo on May 6, 2014 22:40:07 GMT -8
What do you think is the best sword movie?
By sword movie, I mean a movie in which people murder other people with swords. I wanted to leave it more open ending than the classic "sword and sandal" genre. This could be a samurai, medieval, ancient, feudal, or modern setting film. The only qualify is once again, the majority of people murdering other people is via sword.
Here is what I would suggest;
a qualifier; the movie as a whole doesn't have to a best an artistic masterpiece, so don't feel obligated to post Kurosawa films or the like. If you think the fight scenes are kick ass within themselves, that works too.
An example of a really rad fight sequence:
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Post by Talron on May 7, 2014 0:08:42 GMT -8
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Post by hallafax on May 7, 2014 3:39:59 GMT -8
The Dread Pirate Roberts
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Post by tarz on May 7, 2014 10:15:13 GMT -8
The movie itself was fucking awful, but the fights were good.
And gunkata. Fucking hilarious.
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Post by hallafax on May 7, 2014 12:52:09 GMT -8
round count please
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Post by TSilver on May 7, 2014 13:38:37 GMT -8
The movie itself was fucking awful, but the fights were good. And gunkata. Fucking hilarious. Equilibrium is fucking great, and you shame yourself and your house for saying elsewise. Have at thee!
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Post by Pencil Stick on May 7, 2014 19:10:25 GMT -8
It's not a sword, but a lot of people get knifed apart in this movie.
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Post by tarz on May 7, 2014 20:23:19 GMT -8
It's not a sword, but a lot of people get knifed apart in this movie. Forgot how awesome that movie is. Such a ridiculous series of fight scenes.
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Post by hops on May 8, 2014 19:51:08 GMT -8
"sword movie"... I've been curious about this term. Forty, how do you feel about the word "irregardless"?
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Post by FortySixandTwo on May 8, 2014 22:25:16 GMT -8
"sword movie"... I've been curious about this term. Forty, how do you feel about the word "irregardless"? I feel a little obtuse, is this glaringly incorrect english? How I Feel About Irregardless; A Manifesto I feel that the word irregardless is fine. It has actually been recently added to the Webster dictionary, due to its misuse being so pervasive. The English language is so globally used because it is a living language, and I champion that. There are various sub-languages based on English, such as the dialect in Hong Kong; which is similar to the Dutch offshoot of Afrikaans used in South Africa. While I do believe in maintaining the structure of English, properly using tense and sentence structure (keeping pronouns and adverbs in their correct sentence order). However, I believe that new words or the changing meaning and use of words is important in keeping English on the forefront of being an effective means of communication. Do you remember in the mid aughts when the French introduced a plethora of "new" french words to account for recent additions such as the word email? In the word's of Red from The Shawshank Redemption: "You either get busy living, or you get busy dying". The English language is alive and I rise my sherry aperitif glass to glass to that. Now please remember to always pass to the Port to your left.
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Post by dclxvi on May 8, 2014 22:59:38 GMT -8
"sword movie"... I've been curious about this term. Forty, how do you feel about the word "irregardless"? I feel a little obtuse, is this glaringly incorrect english? How I Feel About Irregardless; A Manifesto I feel that the word irregardless is fine. It has actually been recently added to the Webster dictionary, due to its misuse being so pervasive. The English language is so globally used because it is a living language, and I champion that. There are various sub-languages based on English, such as the dialect in Hong Kong; which is similar to the Dutch offshoot of Afrikaans used in South Africa. While I do believe in maintaining the structure of English, properly using tense and sentence structure (keeping pronouns and adverbs in their correct sentence order). However, I believe that new words or the changing meaning and use of words is important in keeping English on the forefront of being an effective means of communication. Do you remember in the mid aughts when the French introduced a plethora of "new" french words to account for recent additions such as the word email? In the word's of Red from The Shawshank Redemption: "You either get busy living, or you get busy dying". The English language is alive and I rise my sherry aperitif glass to glass to that. Now please remember to always pass to the Port to your left.
Oh boy. My thoughts: We can prevent stupid if we point out stupid when stupid happens. Way too much of our language we use today was developed over time by stupid being the prevailing level of attention to detail. 'Irregardless' becoming a word that spellcheckers accept when countless actual words get incorrectly flagged (just had that experience about 10 minutes ago with the word anthropomorphizing) reminds me of how our society of fuckwits can't understand the actual definitions of what separated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world countries. So do we let '3rd world' become a new word for 'developing' or 'impoverished'? Hell no. Point that shit out every single goddamn time you see it. If you let being called a grammar nazi actually bother you, remember you're not in 7th grade anymore. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardlessThe usage discussion sums that up perfectly with the last sentence. Oh yeah, sword movies. Rob Roy was a fucking swell pick up there. Definitely my #1 choice. I guess the runners up are Yojimbo and Hero if I'm asked to provide original answers.
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Post by hops on May 8, 2014 23:19:40 GMT -8
How about "normalcy"?
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Post by dclxvi on May 8, 2014 23:33:23 GMT -8
Condition of being normal. It is 'normality' in noun form. Perfectly fine word even if it is a modern construct (1857). We need to fill in the blanks for words that express things we don't already have a way to express. Plus, normalcy can be broken down into a coherent prefix and suffix, if you try that with irregardless you'll note that the word is a double negative. Regard*less = Lack of regard Ir*regard*less = Lack of regard with the same grammatical modifier on the front and the back.
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Post by hops on May 8, 2014 23:40:48 GMT -8
Deci! Long time no see! Join us in Plantside sometime.
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Post by hops on May 8, 2014 23:42:57 GMT -8
... but, now that the excitement has worn off, what is the prefix in "normalcy"?
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Post by dclxvi on May 8, 2014 23:51:05 GMT -8
... but, now that the excitement has worn off, what is the prefix in "normalcy"? There isn't one. I'm firing my editor. But abnormalcy works. Spellchecker can't be bothered to give a shit, but hey, we've been 'going Latin' and building words the way they built them for a few hundred years now. Deci! Long time no see! Join us in Plantside sometime. I set the personal goal of Sunday to return. Trust me, you didn't want me on TS for the last month. But we can discuss all that over some NC corpses then.
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Post by FortySixandTwo on May 9, 2014 0:02:56 GMT -8
Back on topic, yes Rob Roy. What I admire (and have read numerous article about), is Rob Roy's dedication to providing the nearest examples of actual period sword fights. The movie, as a whole, is very diligent in being authentic. This goes so far as to use the proper slang for vagina given the period, the region, and dialect; that word being Quim.
Within that final duel scene itself, the clashing styles are so apparent (not to mention Tim Roth is a great bad guy). That being the advantages of the rapier to any similar fighting style. There are late medieval curios written about how the rapier is apex of both offensive and defensive fighting styles. As evidenced in the scene, the clash between Roth's modern character and Roy's antiquated cultural system is pregnant with significance. Ultimately, it is with the Roth character's strict adherence to his societal norms that lead to his demise; "Quarter neither asked, nor given".
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Post by dclxvi on May 9, 2014 0:07:21 GMT -8
Back on topic, yes Rob Roy. What I admire (and have read numerous article about), is Rob Roy's dedication to providing the nearest examples of actual period sword fights. The movie, as a whole, is very diligent in being authentic. This goes so far as to use the proper slang for vagina given the period, the region, and dialect; that word being Quim. Within that final duel scene itself, the clashing styles are so apparent (not to mention Tim Roth is a great bad guy). That being the advantages of the rapier to any similar fighting style. There are late medieval curios written about how the rapier is apex of both offensive and defensive fighting styles. As evidenced in the scene, the clash between Roth's modern character and Roy's antiquated cultural system is pregnant with significance. Ultimately, it is with the Roth character's strict adherence to his societal norms that lead to his demise; "Quarter neither asked, nor given". I gave it a 9/10 on IMDB. That fucking movie was amazetabulous. Tim Roth deserved an Acadamy Award for that. Plus it has John Hurt so it's immune from sucking. The fact that it's an original screenplay bumps it up like a motherfucker as well. Definitely one of my favorite period pieces. And as swordplay goes, undoubtedly one of the most well choreographed of all time. "Love is a dunghill, Betty. I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow." PS - Make more fucking OT threads about film and literature, please. PPS - Star Wars prequel trilogy. Say whatever you want but each of those films featured some absolutely amazing swordplay. As films go, it's easily in the top 1% of films featuring sword fighting.
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Post by dacommando on May 10, 2014 13:24:26 GMT -8
All this talk and no mention of Highlander?
(Kidding!)
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Post by dclxvi on May 10, 2014 14:17:45 GMT -8
All this talk and no mention of Highlander? (Kidding!) I never found the sword fights in those films very compelling. They seemed slow and clunky and strangely enough... too electrified. Also seemed stupid having swordfights in contemporary Detroit or wherever. Cut the guy's head off with a fucking AK or something. I don't think a white man has been killed by a sword since Jack Churchill so enthusiastically put the tradition to rest in Nazi Germany. As much as I love Conan the Barbarian I omitted it for the same reason, it's not great because the fight choreography is, it isn't. It's great for entirely other reasons.
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Post by TSilver on May 10, 2014 14:37:57 GMT -8
How about Kingdom of Heaven?
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Post by dclxvi on May 28, 2014 17:11:32 GMT -8
How about Kingdom of Heaven? I watch that from time to time just to watch Martin Czokas, Brendan Gleeson, and Jeremy Irons ham it up for 2 and a half hours. Entirely worth watching just for those 3 guys. Not much on swordplay though. They did have a small dialogue about a stance they called 'La Poste Di Falcone' which is a modified 'roof' stance where you hold your sword above your head, basically to save energy and provide leverage when striking helmeted, shielded opponents. Why the fuck they would teach that whilst sparring in the woods sans armor without explaining why they fuck it's a good idea seems like a bit of an oversight. I suppose it's interesting to know, but I assure you watching that style in action would bore you to fucking tears. I was a little saddened by the fact they put so much detail into the cavalry swordsmen in the film but barely showed any of that in action, usually opting to cut away during the battle sequences. Arab cavalry using scimitars would truly be a glory to behold. That's where you'll see people being chopped in half with a single swipe and not get a drop of blood on the rider. When it comes to crusader-era warfare you have this cut vs. smash dichotomy between the two sides. I've always thought that the school of cut was the more artistic one. One more film I should bring up if you have an appreciation for fencing is Barry Lyndon. There's one scene in particular between Stephen Berkhoff and Ryan O'Neal that's pretty good. None of this shit matters though. Everyone knows that the greatest fight choreography in a film was the original Drunken Master. I'm not even kind of joking about that. Fucking movie is AMAZING. Drunken fist Wushu in general. The mechanics behind it and the acrobatics required. Nothing beats it. Watch King Swindler or Yellow River Fighter. great fucking sequences.
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