The spear is one of the simplest and yet most effective tools invented by early humans. It’s origins are primitive, but it has been perfected over countless centuries from its original use for hunting to later modifications in large-scale warfare. Various forms have existed over time from the variant used by ancient Greek hoplites, to European pikes, the Chinese qiang, and even the Japanese yari. On screen, the spear is wielded somewhat similarly to the staff though it's bladed tip raises its lethality immediately increasing the level of danger present in any fight sequence. So here is a list of my favorite cinematic spear fights.
#12. Seirei no Moribito (2007)
The choreographic creative freedom afforded by animation is virtually unlimited, an aspect metaphorically implied by the anime Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works particularly it's visually dazzling presentation of the spear in the duel between Lancer and Archer. On the other hand, Genddy Tartakovsky's non-dialogue driven adult animated series Primal presents the spear in its primitive form wielded by a caveman with above-normal human physicality against an entire ancient ecosystem of prehistoric predators. But the most superbly animated spear sequences come from an under-appreciated anime called Serei No Moribito.
Also known as Moribito: Guardian of the Spirits, the series is adapted from a series of novels. I couldn't settle on just one fight scene so I left you with a compilation of some of the best.
A female warrior named Balsa is tasked with protecting Prince Chagum from his own father, Emperor Mikado, who believes the young prince is a vessel for a powerful water demon prophesied to bring forth a terrible drought. The anime is directed by Kenji Kamiyama recognized for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and produced by Production I.G., the studio behind sci-fi dystopian thriller Psycho Pass which has an opening sequence featuring some of the best hand-to-hand combat ever anime-ted. While more realistic than the Fate series, it is still stylish and fast-paced without the excessive motion blur and sensory overload particle effects that might otherwise prevent the viewer from comprehending the action. This leaves more room for attention to subtler details e.g. the rice field scene where the thread around Balsa's spear tip gradually becomes loosened with each block and blow, a degree of meticulous not often seen in animated fights making this a truly underrated anime.
#11. Magic Crystal (1986)
(skip to 1:00 for specific fight scene discussed below)
Since we can't have enough spear-wielding women on this list, the next entry will include another one. Michelle Yeoh's got some impeccable spear technique in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in her fight with Zhang Ziyi but it's American martial artist Cynthia Rothrock in Magic Crystal that wins this spot.
Rothrock plays an interpol agent who teams up with a Hong Kong police mercenary played by Andy Lau who stumble upon the titular magic crystal which happens to be some sort of sentient jade. Both are relentlessly pursued by the KGB who had been hunting down Andy Lau prior to their discovery of the magic crystal. Cynthia Rothrock is one of the few westerners who appeared in a considerable number of Hong Kong martial arts action films during the 80s'. A five-time world Wushu champion adept at both open-handed and weapons forms including of course the spear (or "qiang" in Chinese) as well as a high-ranking practitioner in multiple Chinese and Korean martial arts, Rothrock partly inspired the Mortal Kombat character Sonya Blade. For Magic Crystal, she was asked to demonstrate the staff, another weapon she excels in, but chose the spear instead, which makes it's one-time appearance in the film as a segmented foldable portable polearm that springs out of a briefcase. Cynthia's spear skills are excellent showcasing her champion-level Wushu ability with pinpoint thrusts and beautiful wide sweeping motions. To make the weapon work even more unique, her spear is pitted against a pair of metal tonfas, all choreographed by Tony Leung Siu-Hung who also played one of the KGB agents. Leung Siu-Hung has made countless appearances in Hong Kong martial arts cinema with acting and action directing roles which, combined with a very catchy soundtrack, made Magic Crystal a hidden gem allowing it to sort of rise above its mediocre plot as a kind of Kung Fu parody of E.T.
#10. Fearless (2006)
(skip to 0:44 for specific fight scene discussed below)
If you've read the other weapon-centric lists I've published, you'd know that at least one entry on this list will be from Jet Li. Li's spectacular spear work can be seen in the underground fighting pit from Unleashed, the crazy 90s' wire-fu of New Legend of Shaolin, and an awesome boat battle in Martial Arts of Shaolin. However, for this top twelve, I've chosen Li's self-proclaimed last martial arts epic and semi-biopic Fearless.
Originally titled Huo Yuanjia, Jet Li portrays the eponymous historical Chinese martial artist who faces off against three of Europe's top fighters in the opening scene; an English boxer, a Spanish swordsman, and for the 10th best spear fight on the list, a Belgian lancer. We're all familiar with Jet Li's world-renowned Wushu skills but it's German actor Brandon Rhea as the Belgian lancer that also deserves some attention. Fearless was not his first Hong Kong film outing as he had also appeared in a few others like Infernal Affairs 2, Silver Hawk, and Star Runner. Rhea has trained in numerous martial arts such as Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Judo, Jujutsu, and Bojutsu as well as having trained alongside German special forces. For his role in Fearless, he actually worked with Germany's foremost fencing expert as he was originally intended to be armed with a saber but his weapon was changed to a large pike at the last minute. The Belgian is in fact wielding what is known as the Wulan Lance, a weapon which Brandon Rhea was already knowledgeable in the use of and was used frequently throughout European history and even by German cavalry in WWI to charge out of the cover of poison gas clouds into the No Man's Land between trenches to impale enemy soldiers before running back into the toxic mist.
The Belgian lancer initially appears to have the range advantage before Huo manages to close the distance with his greater agility and humiliate him with some crowd-pleasing acrobatics. Frustrated by the fight not turning in his favor, the Belgian decides to break his lance in half to lessen the cumbersome weight of his weapon but to no avail. The choreography was crafted by the master of martial arts action Yuen Woo-Ping with assistance from his brother Yuen Shun-Yi as well as Tiger Chen, Tony Ling Chi-Wah, Ku Huen-Chiu, Chan Siu-Wah, Lam Chi-Tai, and Fung Wai-Lun. This is just one of many fight sequences in the film that advances Huo Yuanjia's character arc from arrogant Kung Fu celebrity to humble martial arts master with Huo honorably saluting his Belgian opponent who storms off in anger. Though not as choreographically intricate as the previous entries, this fight takes a slight edge for its intercultural originality. There aren't many films depicting matches between Chinese and Historical European Martial Arts and this may just be the only movie featuring a duel between a Chinese spearman and a European spearman.
#9. Heroes of the East (1978)
From his spear vs. staff duel with Lau Kar-Leung in Challenge of the Masters, to butterfly swords vs. spear in Fists and Guts, and a comedic spear on sword fight with Stephen Chow in Flirting Scholar, Gordon Liu is highly notable for his weapon skills. And there is no other film that showcases such a diverse display of weapon work and especially Liu's talent with the spear than Heroes of the East. Also released under the title Shaolin vs. Ninja, Gordon Liu is strangely not a Shaolin monk but rather wearing a wig as a Kung Fu master trying to prove the superiority of Chinese martial arts to his would-be Japanese wife by challenging various Japanese fighters. One of these fighters is played by Japanese actor Nobuo Yana portraying a Sojutsu master wielding the Japanese spear called the yari marking the second time the Japanese spear has been featured on this list besides Serei No Moribito as well as the second cross-cultural martial match-up after the previous entry from Fearless.
This is only one of a handful of Hong Kong Kung Fu flicks that exhibit Japanese martial arts and even fewer that treat the Japanese characters respectfully rather than as typical villains. Each and every duel was meant to be as honorable as possible without a single loss of life or injury. Such bloodless battles are uncommon for a Shaw Bros. film which tend to have gruesome over-the-top deaths. Though Nobuo Yana's spearmanship is admirable, Gordon Liu disorients his Japanese foe with a red tassel while trapping his body with the shaft of his spear defeating yet another Japanese martial artist. Heroes of the East was directed and choreographed by the great Lau Kar-Leung who also cameo'd as Beggar So who teaches Gordon Liu's character the Drunken Fist style. Lau Kar-Leung also choreographed another film co-starring Gordon Liu called Legendary Weapons of China which includes a multi-weapon fight against Leung's younger brother Lau Kar-Wing who arms himself with a spear among other weaponry. With choreographic assistance by Hong Kong veteran Wilson Tong, Heroes of the East is the masterful product of the pairing of Gordon Liu and Lau Kar-Leung, two of Shaw Bros. Studios' finest weapon experts. Two other noteworthy Chinese-Japanese spear fights can be found in episode 4 and 44 of Fearless Heroes starring Vincent Zhao as Chinese folk hero Huo Yuanjia testing his spear against a samurai as well as the naginata of a Japanese dojo maste. But it's Heroes of the East that takes this spot also being the first of several Shaw Bros. movies that will be showing up on this list and not the last as we'll be hearing a lot more of those old-school "ching ching" sound effects later on.
#8. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008)
Incredible spear fight sequences aren't only limited to Asian cinema as has been proven by the mythological duel between Hector and Achilles in Troy as well as the battle for Wakanda's throne atop a waterfall in Black Panther. But the best example of spear fighting from the western hemisphere has got to be from Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and if you've read my articles before you'd know I have a tendency to include 2 fights in one list entry if they tell a complete story which is exactly the case here.
Nuada, exiled prince of the Elves, plans to seek out and command the mythical golden army, a vast legion of magically powered mechanical soldiers, which he plans to use to exterminate humanity as retribution for their selfish destruction of the Earth and many of its magical creatures. His mission eventually leads him to confront Hellboy in his own home. Nuada's superhuman athleticism was already well established in an earlier training scene possessing the supernatural precision to slice a single water drop in two with his retractable spear. An unarmed Hellboy is unable to keep up as he is forced to remain on the defensive since harming Nuada also harms his twin sister Nuala due to their spiritual bond. Nuada pierces Hellboy with a poisoned spear tip forcing the team of heroes to find a cure in Ireland. They eventually locate Nuada and the resting place of the golden army where Hellboy challenges him to a duel with the victor claiming possession over the golden army. Hellboy is armed with a sword this time and holds his own fairly well for a beefy demon who normally bludgeons and brawls his way through a fight using his rock-like right forearm as a natural shield. Nuada starts off with his spear shortened and retracted until later fully extending it upon realizing his demonic opponent is more formidable than he thought. Hellboy is eventually overcome by Nuada's sheer martial skill but is able to cleverly maneuver around the shifting gears surrounding them to finally hold Nuada at the mercy of his blade. Having lost the duel and pleading to be executed but being rejected, Nuada tries to attack Hellboy before his sister Nuala stabs herself. A sacrifice which kills both Nuala and Nuada but saves Hellboy.
Having been choreographed by Hong Kong action designer Man Ching-Chan and assistant stunt coordinator Peng Zhang, Nuada's spearplay is clearly inspired by Wushu while the involvement of stunt coordinator and former Jackie Chan stunt team member Brad Allan may be the reason behind Hellboy's Chan-like creative use of the environment. Director Guillermo Del Toro is of course an avid admirer of the Kong Kong choreographic style having hired Donnie Yen as the fight choreographer for Blade 2. There are some less sustained shots during the fight sequences than our previous Hong Kong film entires on the list as is the norm for modern American action films but it's relatively uncommon seeing traditional Chinese martial arts represented so well in a non-martial arts related Hollywood film. The narrative developments also keep the action more intriguing with Nuada's sympathetic character played by Luke Goss (who also played Nomak in Blade 2) making for a more engaging ideological conflict. Goss had undergone 7 months of sword and spear training for his role and despite not performing all of their own stunts, Goss and Ron Perlman share enough choreographic chemistry to provide two exceptional spear fights.
#7. Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin (1978)
The final fight in Hellboy 2 had some Jackie Chan inspiration but for the 7th best spear fight we'll need the Chan Man himself. If you've read my previous top weapon fight scene lists you've probably noticed a trend for there always being a Jackie Chan fight and this top 12 is no different. Many may not be familiar with Jackie's proficiency with the spear as he is known more for his weaponization of the world around him than selecting a specific weapon. The John Woo directed Hand of Death is perhaps the best exhibition of Chan's spear skills while Drunken Master 2 has Chan defending against the spear of Lau Kar-Leung. Even when not on-screen, Jackie has served as martial arts director for Immortal Warriors leaving the stupendously choreographed spear sequences to be performed by his other talented cohorts. Continuing the trend from the top staff fight scenes list, the official Jackie Chan entry for this list will actually involve an unarmed Chan in Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin.
Jackie is searching for the man responsible for the disappearance of the eight authors of a highly sought after martial arts manual known as "The Eight Steps of the Snake and Crane". After being chased down by every martial artist in the vicinity who suspect him of having murdered the original authors, Jackie finally finds their actual killer played by Chin Kang. Their one-on-one fight is briefly interrupted to allow Chin's hired mercenaries to take on Jackie instead. These three spearman are played by Wang Chi-Sheng, Peng Kang, and Mao Ching-Shun, who have all either worked with Jackie as action directors or in supporting roles often as henchmen. After the trio of spear experts elaborately unsheathe their spears, Jackie must dodge and weave his way around a ceaseless series of spear thrusts with some impressive footwork and amazing agility executing all of the titular Snake and Crane techniques he has mastered from the manual. Once catching on to the extremely complex and coordinated attack patterns of the three spearmen, Chan is able to disarm and use their own spears against them picking off each spearman one by one. Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin came out around the end of a decade where Jackie was just discovering his propensity for comedic action but still stuck to the more traditional Chinese opera style albeit incredibly innovative Kung Fu rather than the more well-known stunt-heavy and prop-based action of his later films. Choreographically assisted by To Wai-Wo, the spear forms demonstrated in the opening credits is further evidence for Jackie's weapons mastery and the concluding fight sequence is proof of Chan's perfection of the choreographic conventions of the time which paved the way for his evolution towards a more unique approach to action comedy later in his career.
#6. The Kid With The Golden Arm (1979)
Like I promised before, there's plenty more classic Shaw Bros. films that'll be popping up on this list and this next one is The Kid With The Golden Arm where a group of men are hired to protect a precious cargo carrying government gold from the Chi Sha gang so it can be successfully transported to an impoverished village. The Chi Sha gang is lead by four chiefs with one of them being the titular "Kid With The Golden Arm" played by Lo Mang in one of his most famous roles besides the Toad from the most recognizable Shaw Bros. flick Five Deadly Venoms. Another one of these chiefs is "Silver Spear" played by fellow Venom Mob member and Taiwanese actor Lu Feng which Shaw Bros. fans would know as the Centipede also from Five Deadly Venoms.
Two of the cargo escorts, Short Axe and Long Axe (I wonder where they got their names from), respectively played by two other Venom Mob members Chiang Sheng (main protagonist of Five Deadly Venoms) and Kuo Chui aka Philip Kwok (Lizard from Five Deadly Venoms), run into Silver Spear and a few other Chi Sha gang members. Armed with a retractable spear similar to Prince Nuada from Hellboy 2, Silver Spear takes the opportunity to take out Long Axe with some throwing darts while he's preoccupied with a few Chi Sha gang members. Short Axe himself is also sneakily attacked from behind impaled by another Chi Sha spearman but is able to throw his two axes backwards to kill his dishonorable assailant and uses the same spear to stab Silver Spear through the gut. Silver Spear returns the favor by extending his spear forward into Short Axe and the two backflip away from each other before simultaneously falling onto the ground dead. The wildly violent death scenes are of course very characteristic of a Shaw Bros. film and the lead-up to the bloody finale owes much to some superb choreography by Silver Spear and Short Axe actors Lu Feng and Chiang Sheng themselves as well as another Shaw Bros. veteran Robert Tai Chi-Hsien. Lu Feng truly sells his spectacular spear work as the spear in fact is his specialty off-screen as well. The slightly shortened shaft allows a much wider range of motion letting him freely go from two-handed to one-handed grips, whirling his spear above and below his body while windmilling across the ground and spinning through the air providing the immaculate spearmanship needed for this sequence to rank in as the 6th best spear fight on the list.
#5. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
Any decade-spanning TV show will be threatened by an uninspired ending especially when adapting an unfinished book series. But during its early years, Game of Thrones was a television juggernaut and would provide the most engaging and suspenseful storytelling of the 2010s punctuated by dramatically impactful fight scenes. And it is one of these skillfully written fight scenes that will make the next entry on the list. Tyrion Lannister, in spite of his innocence, is put on a trial by combat by his sister Cersei who is certain he had poisoned to death her son, the sociopathic child-king, Joffrey Baratheon. Thankfully, the Dornish prince Oberyn Martell happens to be visiting and volunteers as Tyrion’s champion. His motivation being to seek vengeance on the Mountain for raping and murdering his sister and her infant children, a vendetta he verbalizes more times than Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. In an epic David vs. Goliath scenario, Oberyn’s incredible combative athleticism is pitted against a man who has the thickest armor and biggest fookin’ sword of them all. With his light leather armor keeping him agile and his spear maintaining a cautious distance, the Red Viper slips in and out of Gregor Clegane’s monstrous swings constantly coiling around his prey to locate any vulnerable openings for attack. The absence of music heightens the tension as one single mistake could end Oberyn’s life. In a short moment of glory Oberyn finally succeeds in bringing down the Mountain but just as Bronn had foreshadowed before turning down this same fight, Oberyn’s careless arrogance and sentimentality result in his terrifyingly gruesome death. Gregor Clegane does confess in the end and remains in a state of agonizing pain afterwards from the Viper’s manticore venom tipped spear though not without a terrible cost.
Actor Pedro Pascal was occasionally stunt doubled by fight coordinator Liang Yang (who you might've seen in that famous bathroom fight scene from Mission Impossible: Fallout) for the more difficult segments of the fight but he performed many of the moves on his own. For Oberyn’s exotic spear fighting techniques, Pascal was unsurprisingly trained in Wushu by Chinese martial arts master Hu Jianquiang who is known for having appeared alongside Jet Li in the Shaolin Temple film series. Pedro Pascal would carry over this same commitment to spear fighting in The Mandalorian, possibly his most major role to date which he shares with his stunt double and underrated Capoeira master Lateef Crowder. Together with fight rehearsals with the series’ sword master CC Smiff and choreography by Paul Herbert, David Forman, and Ivo Kristof, this fight from Game of Thrones doesn't share the same level of speed and choreographic complexity nor the clear camerawork and editing as previous entries on the list. But the main difference between fight choreography and dance choreography is the narrative stakes involved which are executed far better in Game of Thrones than in the typical fight sequence having the advantage of several seasons' worth of character development for the audience to be emotionally invested in which sort of compensates for its choreographic and cinematographic shortcomings. The Kid With The Golden Arm may have a similarly gory climax but GoT one-ups it with the infamous eye-gouging face-smash reminding audience members that no character is safe in a spear fight that emphasizes substance over style.
#4. Masked Avengers (1982)
Narrative buildup is great and all but sometimes a simpler plot intended to drive forward amazing action sequences is all you need to be entertained. And although Shaw Bros. films do often have convoluted plot points, the dramatic payoff is not nearly as worth the wait as are the campy balls-to-the-wall fight sequences. Two Shaw Bros. movies have already made it onto this list and for the third one we'll be bringing in a modified version of the spear; the trident. A much more uncommon weapon than the ordinary spear, the trident has appeared only a handful of times throughout the history of fight scenes with one of the earliest instances being the gladiatorial fight from Spartacus. More recent films have also featured the trident such as in Immortals, where Poseidon, the most iconic trident wielding character of all time, joins the Olympian Gods in a last stand against the Titans. The second most recognizable trident wielder, Aquaman, got his first live action film treatment in 2018 with several trident-centered fight scenes that were almost choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping if he hadn't been busy with directing Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy. However, as was teased on this list before, it's the Shaw Bros. studio that always delivers the best weapon combat and the trident is no exception. The final fight of Two Champions of Shaolin has an unarmed Lo Mang combating a trident armed opponent. But the definitive trident fight scene is in another finale fight from Masked Avengers.
The heroic Venom Mob duo Chiang Sheng and Philip Kwok (Short Axe and Long Axe from the earlier entry in The Kid with The Golden Arm) return in another Shaw Bros. hit. Chiang Sheng leads a band of warriors to stop a group of masked men armed with tridents. One of these men, played by Philip Kwok, has defected from the group to help in ending their reign of terror. Chiang and his men locate the masked killers' hidden lair in a magnificent climax of kung fu craziness. Lu Feng (also from The Kid with The Golden Arm) appears as one of the Masked chiefs substituting his silver spear with a golden trident. Many of Chiang's men are killed by an array of traps including falling roofs and spike-laden walls that fire a barrage of arrows and even spew out acid. The three Masked chiefs eventually enter the lair themselves as stylishly as possible on descending platforms throwing and bouncing their tridents across the room like a troupe of deadly circus performers, each of the three chiefs almost symbolically forming the three individual points of a trident. Chiang Sheng shows off his dual weapon expertise by starting with a weaponized fan and switching to two short spear tips until pulling out a metal ring to help hold the Masked chiefs in place to deliver a fatal finishing move. They really don't make Kung Fu movies like this anymore. Venom Mob cohorts Chiang Sheng, Philip Kowk, and Lu Feng also choreographed the fights in this movie along with Chu Ko letting the action truly breathe with longer take full body wide shots and a dynamic camera that moves with the fighters and even their weapons unlike the static quick cuts of Game of Thrones which is why Masked Avengers ranks in as the 4th best spear fight scene.
#3. Five Element Ninjas (1982)
The 4th and final Shaw Bros. film for this list will be Five Element Ninjas. Also known as Chinese Super Ninjas, this Kung Fu flick amps up the campiness and carnage to an even greater level of insanity than Masked Avengers. A Chinese martial arts school holds a series of fights against a rival school that happened to hire a samurai to aid in their victory. After the samurai is defeated and commits seppuku, the eponymous Five Elements Ninjas seek vengeance on the school by murdering many of its students. After one unsuccessful attempt at attacking the clan, one student, played by Cheng Tien Chi, is taught the secrets of Ninjutsu by his master and takes three other students (Chu Ko, Wong Lik, Yu Tai-Ping, all from Masked Avengers) with him to wipe out the ninja clan and avenge his fallen comrades. The five elements consist of gold, wood, and water but it'll be the fire and earth element sequences that'll be taking this spot on the list just so I can bend my own rules again and plug in 2 fight scenes for the price of 1.
The theme of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts is pretty commonplace in Hong Kong cinema warranting its own future top 12 list and this is the second entry on this particular list to follow that theme after Heroes of the East. The first fight puts our Kung Fu heroes up against the fire ninjas armed with katanas who fill the air with red smoke to hide themselves and ambush the students. Borrowing a concept from Flag of Iron, another Shaw Bros. title released 2 years earlier, the students unfold their spears into flags waving away the crimson fumes and slay each every fire ninja to move onto the final elemental battle with the earth ninjas. The earth ninjas are the most outlandish of their clan burrowing in and out of the ground like shinobi moles. Equally outlandish are the students' spears which apparently can be split in half and even function as stilts that can skewer the unsuspecting ninjas while still underground.
After all the earth ninjas are killed, the clan leader Kenbuchi Mudou played by Hong Kong actor Michael Chan, a former real life second-in-command triad member, bursts out of the ground with a naginata utilizing his own earth ninjutsu to try and stab the students from beneath the ground. Further raising the deadliness of his arsenal, Mudou also pulls out twin daggers and even some shoes with bladed soles. But after Cheng Tien Chi frees himself from some handcuffs which Mudou tried using to shackle him with, Cheng uses the handcuffs against Mudou himself to restrain his legs. This is no easy task however as all four students are badly bloodied in the process but finally manage to catch him before he escapes underground impaling his torso and tearing his lower half from his body like a saw-box magic trick gone wrong. Apart from the gloriously gory and outstanding choreography from martial arts director Cheng Tien Chi as well as Chu Ko, one of the three fellow students accompanying Cheng in the film and one of the trident wielding villains from Masked Avengers, this climactic showdown from Five Element Ninjas is one of the most versatile and certainly the most imaginative use of spears on this entire list all from one of the best movies of the Shaw Bros. lineup.
#2. Odd Couple (1979)
Among the golden years of Kung Fu cinema there is perhaps not a single other cinematic martial artist that has demonstrated as much immense skill with the spear or at least as often and consistently as Sammo Hung. From the supernatural genre with Encounters of the Spooky Kind and My Flying Wife, to the more classic comedic kung fu of Return of Secret Rivals/Filthy Guy and The Incredible Kung Fu Master, and even as solely the choreographer putting the actual spear in the hands of Wu Jing in Call of Heroes, the things that Sammo can do with the spear are simply stunning. Which is why his best showcasing of the spear from Odd Couple ranks in at #2.
Going with two fight scenes in one entry again, Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-Wing play two rival masters and their later students who hold an annual duel. When playing as the masters (identified by their very convincing added facial hair) Sammo Hung wields the dao, a single-edged Chinese sword, while Lau Kar-Wing is armed with the spear. When it comes time for the students to face off, Sammo and Lau trade weapons. Sammo Hung's deceptive physique makes his somewhat more acrobatic spear fighting all the more impressive, balancing it on his feet and spinning it under his legs. The duel between the masters and their students both end in a draw with only one instance of blood being drawn but is completely non-lethal unlike the incredibly blood-splattered Shaw Bros films from earlier in the list. As you'd of predicted, the brilliant choreographic mind of Sammo Hung as well as Lau Kar-Wing themselves had put together these fight scenes with Lau Kar-Wing in the directorial role. Having worked for years under the Shaw Bros. as an actor, fight choreographer, and director, Odd Couple was actually a movie Lau Kar-Wing himself produced with his own studio Gar Bo Motion Picture Company which he founded with Sammo Hung. The two decided to also take the role of the students after having not found anyone as tremendously skilled in weaponry as they were. Lau Kar-Wing is also the younger brother of Lau Kar-Leung both having a lineage tracing back to the famous Wong Fei-Hung which only lends a more legendary status to the on-screen pairing of Lau and Sammo Hung. With assistant martial arts directors Yuen Biao who also stunt doubled for Sammo, as well as Lam Ching-Ying, Billy Chan Wui-Ngai, and Chung Fat, Sammo Hung and Lau Kar-Wing are absolutely immaculate in their technique with the sword but most of all, the spear, taking the fight sequences' traditional roots in peking opera to the highest level of art.
#1. Hero (2002)
(includes fight with other assassins)
(Jet Li and Donnie Yen's mental duel in higher quality)
Donnie Yen has had his own entry for every other past top 12 weapons list so far but this time he's made it onto the very top of the list. Yen is a master of every major weapon in Wushu but it is his mastery of the spear that has earned him a spot here whether matching his spear with Jackie Chan's sword in The Twin's Effect 2 or dueling a spear-wielding Andy On in The Lost Bladesman. Yet there is no argument that his most skilled demonstration of the spear is in Hero. Jet Li recounts his mission to assassinate three warriors that have attempted to kill Emperor Qin (a role that almost went to Jackie Chan) with the first of these warriors being played by Donnie Yen.
By now you've probably gotten used to me including two fights in one entry and this one is justified by the fact that Yen first establishes his martial prowess by single-handedly (often literally) defeating the leader of one team of assassins and subsequently taking on his four subordinates simultaneously bending all of their blades out of shape before Jet Li arrives.
After a brief exchange with Jet Li, the two decide to mentally visualize the remainder of their fight imagining every move they make in perfect detail before making them. Their meditative battle comes abruptly to an end when the musician's string is suddenly snapped and Jet Li uses a special technique allowing him to deal a deadly blow to Donnie Yen from ten paces away. Donnie Yen and Jet Li harmoniously complement each other's world-class Wushu weapon work with Li actually having suggested Donnie Yen be given the role which almost went to Robin Shou (Liu Kang from 1995's Mortal Kombat). As a film from the early 2000s' when wires and wuxia were in peak popularity, the wire enhancements do not take away from the fight as they do throughout the rest of the movie. This could only be the product of the wuxia wizardry of Ching Siu-Tung, the same action choreographer of other wuxia classics like House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower, movies that were also directed by Zhang Yimou who is known for his bright and beautiful use of color.
Yu Rongguang, star of Iron Monkey, and Tung Wei were originally considered as choreographers before director Yimou settled on Ching Siu-Tung. Along with assistant martial arts directors Jack Wong Wai-Leung and Li Cai, each action sequence has a distinct color palette. While the very first fight scene is of arguably the dullest and least interesting color, grey, it is quite possibly the most well choreographed out of all of them. Even with the drab choice of a desaturated color scheme, there is still some visual splendor in how the greyish background is contrasted by the bright shine of the spear and sword. The sound of weapons clashing is much quieter than the more bombastic audio style of Odd Couple to emphasize the meditative melody of the traditional operatic score. From a choreographic standpoint Odd Couple may have technical superiority in terms of the intricacies of the movements of the performers but Hero transcends the conventional martial arts weapons fight through its audiovisual mastery as the ultimate blend of music and martial arts. Hero was the very first Chinese-language film to rank at the top spot at the US box office which it maintained for two weeks in a row in small part due to its inclusion of the best spear fight to ever grace the silver screen.
So did you think duel between Donnie Yen and Jet Li is a little overrated and the more complex choreography of the spear fights from Odd Couple deserve to be #1 instead? Throw my body on the end of a spear if you think so. Also, don't be afraid to request a list featuring only the trident as there are so many great ones besides Masked Avengers and the honorable mentions listed alongside it that it is definitely a topic I plan to revisit one day. I've published 4 weapons lists already so I'm gonna be taking a break from that and focus on top 12s based on specific movie martial artists. Up next is Bruce Lee so subscribe to the website if you haven't yet so you receive an email notification when it's out. Until then here are some more awesome fight scenes for all of you spear enthusiasts who haven't had enough from this top 12 alone.
Blade of Fury (final fight)
Fearless Kung Fu King (Huo Yuanjia vs. butterfly swordsman)
Five Fighters From Shaolin (final fight featuring whip spear)
Heroes of Shaolin (several fight scenes featuring Corey Yuen as a spearman)
Jade Tiger (black spearman vs yellow swordsman)
Judge Archer (blindfolded lance fight)
Kung Fu Hustle (Donut vs. Harpists)
My Kingdom (Yuen Biao vs. Yu Rongguang, Yu Rongguang vs. 2)
Secret Rivals 2 (several fights featuring Corey Yuen as a spearman)
Seven Grandmasters (Corey Yuen vs. Jack Long)
Shaolin Mantis (opening credits sequence and David Chiang vs. Wilson Tong)
Snuff Bottle Connection (final fight)
The Dragon, The Odds (final fight)
The Invincible Armor (John Liu vs. rebel leader)
Sorry, no indie fight scenes out there featuring the spear unfortunately. So to all of you indie martial arts action film-makers out there, more spear fight scenes please!
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