Favorite MCU (extended) "fight scene"

[bosk1]

Saw some of these mentioned in an article talking about the Daredevil hallway fight, and it got me thinking that expanding this would be a fun poll and discussion idea.  The article mentioned these as memorable fight scenes:

T’Challa vs. Killmonger in Black Panther. The bus ride from hell in Shang-Chi. That elevator brawl in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And, of course, the final battle in Avengers: Endgame, as our heroes take down Thanos.

So, which ones do you like best?  Do you like the big, over the top battles?  Do you prefer the smaller, more grounded ones?  Something in between?  A little of both?  You can only vote for three, but can discuss as many as you like down in the thread.  And of course, PLEASE feel free to mention others that are not on my list above.  I tried to pick ones that either stood out to me as likely choices or that I have seen discussed and praised, but I am sure I left off some noteworthy ones.

[faizoff]

I think in terms of iconic fights scenes, it would probably have to be Endgame with the whole everyone vs Thanos. "On your left" just elicits so many fuck yeah emotions.

That said another fun scene which I loved in Endgame was the Cap vs Cap fight. I'd have to think about which would be my favorite of them all.

[Indiscipline]

1) The elevator fight in Winter Soldier.  Excellent choreography and perfect tension build-up, almost more satisfying than the physical clash itself

2) Hallway fight in DD. Great concept, great editing and blocking. There were 1000 ways it could have gone cheesy or banal but it didn't.

3) Other: the African fight between possessed Hulk and Hulkbuster armored Iron Man. Powerful, inventive, and constantly underlining the stakes.

[bosk1]

For me, it's hard because there are so many great ones to choose from.  I love the big, epic team-up fights.  But I guess when it comes to favorites, I tend to gravitate more toward the really fun, creative, smaller ones.  My picks were (not necessarily in order): 

1.  Black Widow vs. Georgi Luchkov's thugs (the interrogation scene in The Avengers):  This is the scene that credibly established that Natasha could hold her own and play a role on a team with legitimately super powered individuals.  It made you say "Natasha is a BOSS!"  The fight was more fun and creative than it was thrilling.  But it was an instant favorite.

2.  Daredevil hallway fight:  Brilliantly choreographed and shot.  If people remember one thing from the entire run of the show, it's probably this (or Fisk using a car door as an execution device [should I have included "Anatoly vs. car door" as an option?]). 

3.  Shang Chi bus fight:  A similar theme to the ones above.  Super creative and well-choreographed.  You somehow believed it could happen while simultaneously knowing it could never happen.  And it was perhaps more "edge of your seat" than some of the other smaller fights, given the added element of the bus careening out of control and the innocent bystanders on the bus with nowhere to go.  And "Mister Social Media" was a nice added comedic touch.

Honorable mentions:

-The elevator fight:  I can't believe I didn't include this in my "top 3."  It narrowly missed, and I think it may be the frontrunner after most people vote.  I just felt like the other three slightly edged it out.  But such a brilliant scene.

-T'Challa vs. Killmonger (ritual combat):  The environment and the beauty of it may eclipse the actual fight itself, but that's okay.  It was great.

-Hard to decide between the big team-ups in Infinity War's battle of Titan and Endgame's final battle of earth.  Titan was great because it somehow managed to feel like it took all the best things from the small one-on-one fights and the best things from the big teamup battles and have them all present and working well in one fight.  But the final battle in Endgame was just epic.  And while we're on the subject, the raw emotion of the pre-fight of Tony, Cap, and Thor vs. Thanos was pretty epic on a smaller scale. 

-Guardians 3 hallway scene:  I thought this was good when I first saw it.  I didn't appreciate just how good it is until I saw a breakdown of it and then watched it again.  Nothing short of brilliance on so many levels, and there's so much detail and interaction that easily goes unnoticed if you aren't paying attention.  Seems like an homage to or heavily inspired by the Daredevil hallway scene, right down to mimicking the feel of it being a single shot scene (although it is just very cleverly and expertly cut).  In many ways, this scene is probably superior.  But I gave the "official" nod above to the O.G. hallway scene in Daredevil as the original.

[The Letter M]

For my three votes, I went with Avengers and the Battle Of NY, Infinity War and the Battle on Titan, and Endgame and the first battle with Thanos.

The first Avengers climactic battle was just a feat of action cinema. The way these once-separate heroes came together was just fun to see, how each of them play off of each other, and that sweeping and panning shot that follows from hero to hero is one of the parts of that whole sequence that makes me smile.

As for the various battles in Infinity War, I chose the Titan one because of how visually spectacular it is, especially with Strange taking on Thanos and the cosmic-vs-magic battle they had, but also seeing Avengers and Guardians fight together was a joy.

And as for the Endgame fight, while I love the bigger battle after the Portals, seeing Steve, Tony, and Thor come together to take down Thanos is just cheer-inducing eye-candy, especially when Cap picks up Mjolnir and uses it quite expertly against Thanos, and in tandem with his shield!

As for other fights not mentioned here, I'd have to bring up the final battle at the statue of liberty in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Seeing the three Peters work together to take down the villains will never get old, especially seeing Amazing Spider-Man make his redemptive catch of MJ. Reaching way back, I'd have to say I am quite fond of the Culver University fight in The Incredible Hulk - the tension building up to Bruce hulking out, up to the Hulk kicking Blonsky into a tree, just great Hulk action. And one ore honorable mention - Doctor Strange VS Doctor Strange in ITMOM, with the music note magic battle. It isn't one of the best but as a music lover, it was great to see them incorporate music like that in a fairly creative way.

-Marc.

[bosk1]

EDIT:  Shoot, I meant to include the Maya vs. Daredevil fight scene in the poll and in my honorable mentions.  I love this quote from the article I was talking about:

Echo does something different, as we see our protagonist transformed in this fight scene. The violence and brutality isn’t just there for shock value, it serves a purpose to the story, telling us who Maya is. ... at the end of the day, this scene is all about Maya. It’s a turning point for the young Echo as she realizes exactly what becoming part of Kingpin’s world entails. As we see Maya thrown into the ruthless situation our sympathies are played with. We ask ourselves, who should we be rooting for here – hero Daredevil or the naive Lopez? The situation is far from being black-and-white which is exciting. Rather than giving us easy answers, instead we are challenged. ...

The scene certainly changes our perspective on Maya as we see her confront these harsh realities – and things shift for her too. As director Sydney Freeland told us in an interview, Maya walks away as a changed woman, leaving the scene as a “cold-blooded killer”, setting her on a destructive path that we are now excited to follow.

[The Letter M]

EDIT:  Shoot, I meant to include the Maya vs. Daredevil fight scene in the poll and in my honorable mentions.  I love this quote from the article I was talking about:

Echo does something different, as we see our protagonist transformed in this fight scene. The violence and brutality isn’t just there for shock value, it serves a purpose to the story, telling us who Maya is. ... at the end of the day, this scene is all about Maya. It’s a turning point for the young Echo as she realizes exactly what becoming part of Kingpin’s world entails. As we see Maya thrown into the ruthless situation our sympathies are played with. We ask ourselves, who should we be rooting for here – hero Daredevil or the naive Lopez? The situation is far from being black-and-white which is exciting. Rather than giving us easy answers, instead we are challenged. ...

The scene certainly changes our perspective on Maya as we see her confront these harsh realities – and things shift for her too. As director Sydney Freeland told us in an interview, Maya walks away as a changed woman, leaving the scene as a “cold-blooded killer”, setting her on a destructive path that we are now excited to follow.

That scene definitely gets an honorable mention. Even if it had hidden cuts, the one-er fight scene was well choreographed and executed, i thought. And of course, seeing Daredevil was a treat, but just as much was seeing Maya hold her own against him.

-Marc.

[jammindude]

Hallway fight in DD Season 1. Absolutely iconic.

Because it’s not just the fight, it’s the way it’s shot as well. They make it appear to be a single camera and a single take. (Actually…was it? I think I read somewhere that it was) But even if it wasn’t, they shot it so perfectly that you are able to suspend your disbelief to the point that if feels like they got it in a single take. And that’s amazing. Might be one of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen in something that didn’t star Jackie Chan. (The gang hideout fight from Rumble in the Bronx might be my favorite fight scene all time. And the store fight from the same movie is probably my #2)

[Adami]

Hallway fight in DD Season 1. Absolutely iconic.

Because it’s not just the fight, it’s the way it’s shot as well. They make it appear to be a single camera and a single take. (Actually…was it? I think I read somewhere that it was) But even if it wasn’t, they shot it so perfectly that you are able to suspend your disbelief to the point that if feels like they got it in a single take. And that’s amazing. Might be one of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen in something that didn’t star Jackie Chan. (The gang hideout fight from Rumble in the Bronx might be my favorite fight scene all time. And the store fight from the same movie is probably my #2)

Yea, best I can tell, it's one actual shot but with multiple people playing Daredevil, so it's not all on one person to do everything.

[lonestar]

Punisher S2 - Frank against all the Russian guys in the weight room. In fact I feel all the Punisher scenes are a step above the rest because the consequences of the violence are so much more graphic.

[Shooters1221]

I also think this scene from Daredevil Season 2 is EPIC!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaXXoTfPqUo

[Dream Team]

1) The elevator fight in Winter Soldier.  Excellent choreography and perfect tension build-up, almost more satisfying than the physical clash itself

2) Hallway fight in DD. Great concept, great editing and blocking. There were 1000 ways it could have gone cheesy or banal but it didn't.

3) Other: the African fight between possessed Hulk and Hulkbuster armored Iron Man. Powerful, inventive, and constantly underlining the stakes.

Wow didn't even realize you knew Marvel too! You get cooler by the minute.

[Lonk]

That was tough. From the list I went with:

1) Daredevil Hallways Scene.
2) Infinity War: Battle on Titan
3) Civil War: Airport Scene.

Honorable mention to Spiderman: No Way home apartment scene. That stretch from when peter senses go off because of Norman, and the point when Aunt May dies is so freaking good. Also, maybe not as long as I wish it would've been, and despite whatever people think about the movie itself, but the fist fight between Kang and Ant-man towards the end of the movie is well choreographed and fun.

[lonestar]

Also gotta give a huge nod to the last fight between Iron Man, Cap and Bucky at the end of Civil War

[hefdaddy42]

Tough call.

[Indiscipline]

Oh, I forgot - and I don't know whether it counts as MCU - but Quicksilver's Time in a Bottle Pentagon sequence in Days of Future Past deserves a mention.

[bosk1]

Oh, I forgot - and I don't know whether it counts as MCU - but Quicksilver's Time in a Bottle Pentagon sequence in Days of Future Past deserves a mention.

The X-Men stuff is not "official canon"--at least not yet.  So I wouldn't include it.  That said, this is just a fun thread.  There aren't any real "rules" to this, so if you want to talk about it, talk about it.  (I just can't really participate because I'm not familiar--I think I saw that one, but it's been awhile if I did, and I'm not recalling that scene)

[hefdaddy42]

I guess that I couldn't in good conscience include the big CGI fests if I was considering "best fight scenes".  I would only consider scenes where actual performer are engaging in actual fake combat, on film, hand to hand and close quarters.  So I would tend toward the Daredevil stuff, or scenes from CA: Winter Soldier, etc.

[bosk1]

I guess that I couldn't in good conscience include the big CGI fests if I was considering "best fight scenes".  I would only consider scenes where actual performer are engaging in actual fake combat, on film, hand to hand and close quarters. 

For me, it depends.  There was obviously a ton of CGI in, for example, the final battle in Engame.  But it was still pretty amazing.  But then you take the final T'Challa vs. Killmonger fight at the end of Black Panther, and it just looked like a video game, and wasn't good at all, IMO.  For me, if the CGI is done well and doesn't take me out of the moment, I'm fine with it.