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You can keep your
Star Wars and superheroes. Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than a fight scene set back before the invention of iPads or automobiles. The clank of rusty swords colliding, stampeding horses roaring into battle, or two grizzly warriors going mano a mano – it has made for some cinematic classics.
Assassin’s Creed Origins is out
27th October 2017 (and on Xbox One X at its launch on November 7th), and its ancient Egyptian setting is perfect for some old school historical epic action. The game’s all-new combat system lets you truly let rip in battle, and there’s also gladiator fights, chariot racing and crocodile fighting to turn your hand to. It's basically a big massive historical blockbuster action movie, only you get to control the hero.
Check out the trailer:
To get you in the mood for it, here are some of the most jaw-dropping hack and slash action scenes from classic movies and TV.
300 – Slow-mo slaughter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrIbxk7idYA
It’s hard to grasp how revolutionary
300 was when it first came out a decade ago. Ok, so now it’s been ripped off, parodied and meme’d to death, but that first trailer was genuinely mind-blowing when it first came out. Honestly, as a whole the film has too much meathead pouting and not enough actual narrative to hold up to repeated viewings, but seeing Frank Miller’s battle scenes from the original comic come to life in glorious slow-motion will never not be at least a tiny bit jaw-dropping.
Red Cliff – The battle too big for one movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0bqLQrtdE
Director John Woo is the undisputed king of action – but most of his best films were either Chinese gangster movies (like
Hard Boiled) or Hollywood flicks (
Face/Off and
Hard Target). But when he did return to his homeland to make a historical epic, it did not disappoint.
Red Cliff is based on the real-life Battle of Red Cliffs of AD 208–209, and featured so much action it spread over two movies, totalling over four hours (though it was edited into one film in the West). It features some of the most stunning battlefield action of recent years, and is definitely worth tracking down.
Gladiator – Enter the arena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owK1qxDselE
Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning saga made Russel Crowe a star, and remains one of the most exciting historical epics of recent times. That’s in no small part down to the incredible gladiator arena scenes. One thing that makes them stand up so well nearly 20 years later is that no CGI animals were used – those are real tigers taking swipes at Crowe (or at least his stunt double).
Hercules – The Rock does a wrestling move on horse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L41RWI1oUg
2014’s
Hercules, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, seemed to fly under the radar a bit – which is a shame as it’s a fun, undemanding Roman romp. Plus in one scene, The Rock bodyslams a horse. What more do you need?
Game Of Thrones – Blackwater
Ok, so Westeros might not be from a time that actually existed in real world history – but in terms of pre-techonology action and adventure, the HBO show is clearly leading the current day pack. Remember in the show’s first season, where due to budgetary constraints, they had to have a battle take place off screen, with Tyrion Lannister getting knocked out and missing the whole thing? By the season two episode ‘Blackwater’, we had Hollywood level effects, exploding ships and enough action for any big screen experience.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - The Battle of Helm's Deep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXC-jJhFaUI&t=186s
Game of Thrones can't really top
Lord of the Rings though, can it? Peter Jackson's three film adaption of JRR Tolkien's books runs over 11 hours in its extended cuts. And at the centre of all all that, almost anchoring the entire saga, is the incredible Battle of Helm's Deep. Acting as the finale to the second entry
The Two Towers, the battle starts with Legolas and a handful of Rohirrim trying to defend the Helm's Deep fortress from Saruman's 10,000-strong orc army, and only escalates from there. Look out for Peter Jackson making a sneaky cameo as a javelin-chucking Rohirrim.
Troy – Taking down the giant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekshABiptOY
This star-studded version of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War is certainly epic in scale and scope, but it's most effective moment is relatively small, swift and brutal. The opening scene of
Troy is a perfect example: Brad Pitt’s Achilles takes out the giant warrior Boagrius, played by ex-wrestler Nathan Jones, in one single, lethal blow.
Braveheart - They may take our lives....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8
A Hollywood movie starring and directed by an Australian might not be the most faithful version of the life of Scottish hero William Wallace. But what it lacks in accuracy, Braveheart certainly makes up sheer fist-pumping, awe-inspiring inspiration. And nowhere is this more obvious than Mel Gibson's famous "
They can take our lives, but they will never take our freedom" speech before leading his trooping into battle. Is it cheesy? Yes. But that's why we love it.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Beautiful swordplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1hs62Is67s
While the cool kids had been watching Jackie Chan and Jet Li films for years,
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was many mainstream moviegoers first exposure to the wild world of Hong Kong action cinema. But instead of the grimy schlock of many kung-fu flicks, Oscar winning director Ang Lee imbued his film with sweeping scope and epic beauty. Take for instance the sword fight between Yu Shu Lien and Jen Yu (played by Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh) - it's more like a graceful ballet than a scuzzy sword duel.
Kingdom of Heaven - The siege of Jerusalem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfq9U2tWWGo
Gladiator was never going to be the only Ridley Scott movie on this list (and no,
Robin Hood does not make the cut). Despite having a top-tier cast including the likes of Eva Green, Edward Norton, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and Orlando Bloom, Scott's Crusade movie initially failed to resonate with critics and audiences alike. However, Scott later assembled a director's cut which added an additonal 45 minutes of both action and character development, and the film has slowly begun to pick up fans ever since. And with stunning set pieces like the siege over the walls of Jerusalem, it's not hard to see why.
Jason and the Argonauts - Skeleton gauntlet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOcW6AivXhI
A staple of many a bank holiday afternoon, despite being over half a century old
Jason and the Argonauts is still a thrilling watch today. And it's mostly down to Ray Harryhausen's impeccable stop motion special effects, which bring this classic of Greek mythology to life. He painstakingly animated six sword- wielding skeletons to seamlessly duke it out with Jason. It's one of the greatest sword fights in movie history, despite only featuring one single actual real human being
Assassin’s Creed Origins will be available on 27th October 2017, and on Xbox One X at its launch on November 7th 2017. Buy it now.
