Top 20 Movie Knife Fights

Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime doesn’t need a knife to kill the bad guy, but it certainly helps! Colonel John Matrix confronts his friend turned foe Captain Bennett, who’s holding his daughter hostage. After practically hypnotizing his opponent into fighting him with a knife, the two of them “party” like old times. Considering that he looks like a guy auditioning for the Village People, Bennett puts up a pretty good fight, slashing Matrix several times, and nearly forcing his head into a boiler. Even getting electrocuted just gives him a power boost! However, he’s no match for a pipe and a well-placed one-liner. Is it as cheesy as the rest of the film? Yes. Do we still love the fight? Also yes.

Time travel can lead to all sorts of crime – including this pretty good knife fight. The eponymous timecop, Max Walker, is ambushed in his home by a pair of assassins, one armed with a taser, the other with a pair of knives. Walker temporarily knocks out the taser man and gets a knife of his own to take on assassin number two. While some of the choreography is a bit lazy – like Walker just holding the knife still at one point – Jean Claude Van Damme’s specialty is his kicks, and once he gets to use them, he gets the upper hand, er, foot. Walker probably could beat the other guy up too, but he has to split.

It might be known as “Die Hard” on a boat, but “Under Siege” has a pretty good final fight. Ex-CIA agent William Strannix holds Chief Petty Officer Casey Ryback at gunpoint. Strannix explains there’s nothing Ryback can do to stop the missiles he’s launched. But he makes the mistake of getting too close during his monologuing, which lets Ryback knock his gun away, leading to a knife fight between them. The quick exchange of blows is well-executed, and concludes with Ryback leaving his weapon in Strannix’s head, before delivering a one-liner for good measure. It’s not the cheesiest one in Steven Seagal’s arsenal though.

Leng Feng is a Chinese soldier pursued by a ruthless mercenary, “Tom Cat.” After both run out of bullets, the duo’s battle turns to close combat. They draw knives and an intense fight ensues. Both are fairly skilled, with each wounding the other and the choreography finding a nice balance between close-up action and a few long-range attacks. When Tom Cat has Feng down with his knife to his throat, he makes the mistake of mocking Feng’s patriotism, and Feng slides the knife past his own neck to hit Tom Cat’s instead! Wu Jing and Scott Adkins are both underrated martial arts actors, and it’s great seeing them face off.

Indie movies can have great fights too, and this one’s a “deep cut”! In Kenny Zemacus’s quest to save his brother from a cult, he faces one of its henchmen, Dominic. Armed with two butterfly knives, Dominic attacks Kenny. The choreography is the real star here, with several impressive long action takes of the two combatants exchanging swift blows. Kenny is cut several times and Dominic eventually gets him against the wall. Fortunately, Kenny manages to exploit Dominic’s prior facial injury to end the fight in a grisly fashion. What “Death Grip” lacks in production budget, it makes up for with some beautifully executed fight scenes, including this one.

When most people think of the Wild West, they think of gun fights. But this knife duel proves that six shooters aren’t the only way disputes can be settled. Cole Younger, as played by David Carradine, is challenged by Sam Starr after Younger gains the attention of Starr’s wife. While she sits back to watch, her two lovers fight over her with huge Bowie knives and a rope held in each of their mouths. Although the knives are used more as a threat as they duke it out all over the bar, Younger does eventually stick his into Starr’s thigh. The rope limiting the two combatants’ moves makes for an uncommonly entertaining fight.

Tommy Lee Jones sure gets into a lot of knife fights, doesn’t he? L.T. Bonham is a veteran tracker who pursues his former student, Aaron Hallam, a murderous and disturbed ex-special ops soldier. After going over a waterfall, Bonham faces Hallam on the side of the river. Both wield improvised knives. Although Bonham cuts his ex-student a few times, his stone knife is broken, putting him at a disadvantage. When Hallam stabs him in the arm, Bonham uses his foe’s knife to kill him. It’s a gritty and fairly realistic fight, with no posturing or flair – just two men trying to kill each other.

When it comes to fight scenes, it’s only a matter of time before we mention Jackie Chan. In this film, Chan plays Da Chui, a prisoner who accidentally killed a man. The man’s brother, Lau, a.k.a. Iron Ball, is thrown into the same jail. The two engage in a battle of shivs in their cell block. Chui loses his quickly, forcing him to fend off Lau unarmed. The battle takes them over the catwalk, where Chui is able to make better use of the environment, eventually seizing the remaining shiv for himself. While he’s victorious, he refuses to kill Lau. Despite the serious tone of the film, this scene still showcases Jackie Chan’s quick, resourceful style of combat.

Much of the conflict in this historical gangster film is about young Amsterdam getting revenge on Bill the Butcher for killing his father. Just when their respective gangs are about to go to war, the U.S. government opens fire, attempting to put down the simultaneous Civil War draft riots. Bill and Amsterdam don’t let that stop them though. Amid the smoke and confusion, Bill repeatedly slices Amsterdam with his knives. Although Amsterdam is able to get a few hits in, Bill takes shrapnel, leaving him unable to fight and allowing his young protege to avenge his father. While the fight’s choreography is basic, the setting, spectacle, and emotion of the fight is top notch.

Also known as “King of Triads,” this movie’s best fight scene sees escaped prisoner Calf track down a Triad gang member, Kong, at a gym. He’s armed with a knife, but Kong turns out to have a hidden pair of cleaver-like blades. The choreography does all the talking in this fight, as their blades flash quickly and the duo frequently use kicks as well. The fight even enters the gym’s boxing ring. Ultimately, Kong is disarmed, and Calf manages to kill him as he’s running away. The speedy and creative moves help make this otherwise quick fight far from “bad”...or “bloody,” for that matter.

The masked vigilante known as V kills many people with knives throughout his crusade to topple the fascist government in this alternate Britain. But his final hour is his most glorious. Confronted by head of the secret police Peter Creedy and his men, V appears helpless after the cops unload their guns into him. But then, V stands back up! In an epic slow motion action scene, V cuts the still reloading goons to ribbons with his knives. Every kill is rendered in lavish detail, with the knives even leaving trails behind them, making for an awesome, show stopping fight. Bringing knives to a gunfight is usually a bad move. But then, as V tells Mr. Creedy …

There are several worthy knife fights in the “Dune” series. While Feyd-Rautha’s battle in the arena was a contender, for sheer hype alone his fight with Paul had to make our list. When it comes to stakes, this fight is easily the grandest, with these two cousins fighting for the fate of the known universe – with knives! The lack of music and the setting sun in the background lend the fight a breathless, mythic quality as the combatants attack one another. However, just when Feyd-Rautha appears to have defeated Paul, the young duke removes the knife and kills his opponent with it. The incredible atmosphere and callbacks to previous fights make it a legendary duel.

An underrated crime thriller, “Kate” sees its titular character get into a mess with the yakuza. Unfortunately, while she’s holding one gangster at gunpoint, her weapon jams. This leads to an extended combat scene as Kate fights through several rooms of a restaurant and more and more gang members join in. The scene features plenty of bloody action and grisly kills, as well as some creative camerawork. By its conclusion, Kate manages to fix her gun and get the info she wants from the terrified survivor. It’s only a few minutes long, but this knife fight certainly makes a gruesome splash.

When retired assassin Hutch Mansell notices some Russian mobsters harassing a young woman on a bus, he sees it as his lucky day. He decides to beat them up. While initially a little rusty, Hutch eventually gets back into the swing of things. He uses his fists, the gangsters’ own knives, and even parts of the bus to ensure they’ll be eating hospital food for a long time. Gritty, gruesome, and pretty comedic, this bus fight may not be our last stop, but it gets us where we want to go every time.

Live-action anime adaptations tend to be hit-or-miss, but this one definitely hits with its fights! In this battle, ex-assassin Himura Kenshin faces Gein, a scarred mercenary. After Gein’s gambit with wire and guns doesn’t work, he tries a knife instead. Kenshin skillfully fends off Gein’s attacks, though the disfigured fighter doesn’t make it easy. The creative and artistic cinematography showcases the film’s manga roots and the adversaries’ almost superhuman moves. The choreography throughout the fight is excellent, with Gein’s low, animalistic stance making for some interesting combat. Ultimately though, Gein falls beneath Kenshin’s sword.

When you go on a roaring rampage of revenge, you’re bound to get into a knife fight sooner or later. The Bride, a.k.a. Beatrix Kiddo, a.ka. Black Mamba, goes after Vernita Green, a.k.a. Copperhead. The two women fight in Vernita’s suburban home, using everything from a table leg to a frying pan in their impromptu duel. But when Vernita starts using a kitchen knife, the Bride draws one of her own. It’s a vicious, bloody brawl whose ordinary setting makes the violence stand out even more. While the fight does get interrupted by the arrival of Vernita’s daughter, it still ends with a knife.

Trapped and cornered in an apartment complex run by drug dealers, special ops police officer Rama is confronted by four men wielding machetes. With nowhere to run, Rama faces them all head on in a hallway. The action is brutal and fast-paced, with Rama effectively managing four opponents using his martial arts and one of their machetes. After bursting into a nearby apartment, their battle continues until only the group’s leader remains. Expertly choreographed to showcase lead actor Iko Uwais’s skills, the fight also manages to feel haphazard and dangerous. We would love it to last longer, but it ends on quite a dramatic note!

The legendary assassin is attacked with knives many times throughout the franchise. But this fight takes things to another level entirely! Pursued by killers into an antique weapons shop, John disarms his foes of their guns. The fighters quickly take to smashing nearby displays and using whatever comes to hand on each other. The knife throwing is almost over-the-top, yet some of the kills are so grisly (especially that eye one), that we can’t help but take it seriously. The top-notch hand-to-hand choreography doesn’t hurt either! All in all, this fight is as effective as an ax in John Wick’s hands.

Inspector Ma Kwun, played by Donnie Yen, is confronted by Wu Jing’s Jack, an assassin. Ma draws a baton, while Jack is armed with a knife. The duo comes together in a shockingly fast series of blows! Ma’s greater reach enables him to land a few blows to Jack’s head, but Jack manages to disarm Ma. However, Ma ultimately uses Jack’s own weapon to kill him. The spiritual sequel “SPL II” also has a pretty great knife fight that pays tribute to its predecessor, but there’s very little to rival the original. The blinding speed, along with several fantastically creative moves, help elevate what could be a simple fight to a stellar level of quality!

We’re not done with “The Raid” movies. Rama is confronted in a kitchen by the right-hand assassin of the gang leader he’s pursuing. After testing themselves against each other, things get progressively more violent as the duo use parts of the kitchen around them in their fight. It escalates further when the assassin draws his wicked knives. The tension and bloody action build and build until the gloriously brutal finale. The spectacular choreography, length, and perfectly rising stakes ensure that not only is this the greatest movie knife fight, it’s a contender for the best movie fight period!