Ha, so unrealistic, these guys are acting like they're swinging around giant razor blades. ... wait... that's what swords actually are..

The fear of death and injury is what makes it so real.

You know what the most realistic thing in this entire fight is? The fear, evident in each man's face. You are literally fighting for your life, no matter how good you might be, a small misstep will be the end of you.

There is so much filmmakers can learn from this scene. The natural, lunging movements and pauses make it so much more terrifying than the choreographed nonsense you get in modern movies today.

The decision to make the soundtrack horrifyingly tense once the losing man draws blood and in desperation to end the fight right there right now is perfect. This is what I wish in a fictional duel. Shows the horror of needless violence, not glorify it.

Another reason why it’s so realistic is the one guy’s reaction once he gets hit. He panics and carelessly attempts to go in with a barrage of strikes forgetting all about what to do and he pays the price for it.

The bald guy was just a very clever sword thief. Notice how he now has two swords instead of one? Genius.

The way you can tell from his body movement that he's trying to lure the bald dude in for a closer attack is fascinating. You can almost see the gears turning as he tries to make his opponent swing wildly, building up his frustration and rash decisions until there was an opening. Someone planned this out exceptionally well and the actors really put in everything to make the scene believable.

i feel like it's even harder to choreograph realism than those over the top fight scenes but they did a flawless job at this

The stabee actor does a good job looking genuinely terrified for his life

Isn't it marvellous how many battle hardened expert sword fighters we have in the comments section in the 21st century. Amazing.

Just so everyone knows, the reason he throws his hands up in frustration at the end is because it wasn't very common for someone to die on the spot in sword duels is the revolutionary war time. Usually someone would yield after a single wound or slash, like the one the guy took across his hand

We all know why this happened. Never make fun of a man's pigtails.

This is arguably more intense than a long drawn out Hollywood scene. You feel as if the tide could turn at any moment, you feel like both men are so incredibly vulnerable.

Just watching the scene I feel like it’s realistic. Hell yeah I’d be scared shitless if someone were waving a sword at me. Even if I had a sword. You bet I’d be standing as far away as possible

This has been a long favorite movie of mine. I once witnessed two kendo practitioners spar hard for about an hour. Both had decades of experience each, one was 10 years senior and the more experienced practitioner. Every exchange was explosive, with 100% commitment and over within 1-3 moves. The senior practitioner was calmer and acted as if he could read the opponent’s intentions before they had formed. He used the smallest of movements to effortlessly block, then violently smack and stab the opponent. He’d often win by counterattack or attacking THEN countering the opponent’s reaction. Lots of cuts to the hands or arms. Lots of keeping the point of the blade in the opponent’s face. Many exchanges were won similar to this clip by letting the aggressor make a mistake and get stabbed as he lunged forward to attack. However the exchanges I witnessed were often ended with loud punishing stabs to the armor covering the throat. Absolutely brutal. Every movement was so precise and controlled it was evident the moves had been practiced masterfully hundreds of thousands of time. The economy of movement on the winner’s part was beautiful and terrifying. It gave me a whole new perspective on how deadly and quick a sword fight would be and ruined my enjoyment of many movie sword fights.

0/10 - Not enough shaky cams, lens flares and explosions.

It's a fantastic scene, and Keitel was great, but let's give some deserved props to his opponent. It takes a really good stage combatant to make your character look like he's out of his depth. Not only did he have to convincingly pull off bad weapon handling and tactics, just look at his legs....all shaky and unsure. Very good acting there. Remember that the actor's job is to tell a story....the duels are a means to that end.

You can tell almost instantly who the better swordsman is by the acting and where the camera's focus lays. We're standing behind the protagonist for quite a few shots in the scene because he's the most stable. The other guy has more opportunity to show his visual distress... while the protagonist every time we get a close up on his face, he's calm. He's stable and in control and it only resolves because of that. It's a really elegant scene in its composition but the acting is there as well and so its fidelity to reality.

1:38 I feel like the little AH he does to try get the opponent to possibly jump or flinch would genuinely work because I flitched so hard when he did it probably because I was so invested in the scene

this was intense as fuck

After watching so many marval and DC fights... It was nice to see something more realistic for a change 🗡 ⚔️

I've heard this is the most realistic fight scene in a movie, but I don't think it was bad cinema at all. The way it went from tense to shocking was absolutely brutal. Despite other fight scenes actually being more violent, this one feels more violent because you actually feel the pain of him cutting his hand and getting ran through.

The tension in this scene makes it a masterpiece. The power dynamic demonstrated by the stances is great

This scene occurs at the very beginning of the film and to anyone familiar with Napoleonic history (especially in 1800 which is the date given in this scene) the Keitel character is obviously a soldier, whereas the opponent is obviously a civilian (and he's not moving like an experienced duellist.) Those buttoned trousers and the pigtails mark Keitel as a cavalryman (and more specifically as a Hussar; the pigtails were a direct affectation by French Hussars they copied from the Hungarian Hussars of the period.) As a Hussar, Keitel's character would have primarily been more familiar with the saber, not with a smallsword. Most probably the duel was initiated by Keitel taking offense to something petty which the civilian had done (watch the movie; the entire sequence of duels with Carradine starts because Keitel's character is a hotheaded bully who takes offense at practically anything and immediately challenges.) As the challenged party, the civilian would have choice of weapons and would almost certainly have picked smallsword. The smallsword was the preferred sidearm of a civilian and probably the only weapon with which he had trained. Gentlemen of the era were expected to take at least some instruction in fencing; it was as expected as much as knowing which fork to use at table. He almost certainly would NOT have chosen saber. And would probably not have chosen pistols. Although the odds of being hit in a pistol duel were smaller as dueling pistols were notoriously inaccurate (they were not rifled, were prone to misfires and didn't even have a sighting device, not even a bead) if you WERE hit by a pistol shot, you were more likely to be killed or maimed. Smallsword wounds were generally not disfiguring and barring infection, rarely deadly unless a major organ was struck. Technically (unless the duel was specifically set up beforehand as a "to the death" scenario) the opponent could have, with honor, dropped his sword immediately after suffering the wound to his hand. He would have faced his opponent, born the risk of death and could have walked. The fact that he (rather stupidly) continued after suffering the wound permitted Keitel to continue to defend. If Keitel had insisted on carrying on after wounding him, the dishonor would have fallen on HIM, not the civilian. "First blood" was the normal termination of a duel and it was the challenged or wounded party who usually made that call. Duels were affairs to prove one's honor and courage (or lack of cowardice), not to kill one's opponent. It was assuming the risk that proved honor, not chopping one's opponent into shreds. As for any quibbles over distance between the two opponents, Keitel simply takes a stance and pretty much maintains it thru the fight; it is the opponent who changes the distance with advances (clumsily), retreats and circles. It may appear that they are far apart but that distance can close rapidly if one opponent advances and the other moves to meet that advance and attack. The two men begin the fight by 'watching;' they're evaluating the foe and his apparent skill. When Keitel does advance, he does it specifically to initiate an attack (and to terrify the other guy!) The final blow is struck when the opponent is advancing; Keitel does precisely what he should do...he retreats correctly, waits for an opening, parries an attack and ripostes. End of duel. One must understand that in that era it was perfectly possible to "win" the duel and still die. One fighter might suffer a horrific injury and surrender, thus losing, but if the "winner" suffered the smallest injury, given the medical standards of the time, he could be dead of infection and in the ground before the "loser" even took off whatever bandages he might have needed.

It's weird to see a swordfight in a film where it actually looks like they're trying to cut and stab each other, rather than aiming for the air above the other's head or aiming for eachother's sword

I felt that blade slicing his hand. It made me flinch, and his reaction made me feel his pain and agony.

I read someone once said in a knife fight there are no winners or losers, only survivors and dead men. This reminded me of that, hand to hand combat is a brutal and visceral experience and rarely does anyone walk away completely unscathed. I can’t imagine the stones it took.

They showed this at my local independent cinema (started by Ridley Scott's great uncle in the 30's). One of my friends giggled through the whole thing, one was bored, one kept asking what was going on...I need new friends.

I've always thought you don't see realistic fights in movies because they would be boring, but this fairly realistic fight has my heart in my throat.

“Why you walking away!? Come back here, we are not finished!? Coward! Forfeit, he left!

It's so well done and the acting is so real that I could barely watch, like watching a real life stabbing, horrific yet we've been so used to it in movies, this is something else

It's how they actually try to stab their opponent with their sword, and hit the other blade only to get it out of the way.

Wheres the lava? Explosions? Giant collapsing structures? 20 minutes of riding on mining equipment? And neither one even had the high ground!

2:00 DAMN FINALLY ! Finally a swordfight when you feel the pain of the character when he's cut ! Finally a swordfight who feels real !

I don't think this film could've been done better, the actors basically felt like they were in 19th Century France and they really, really got into it! A true masterpiece!

Probably as realistic as Hollywood is ever likely to get...

"keep it"

I read this novel many years ago, when I watched this movie first time, it was almost exactly the same as pictures in my head I imagined when I was reading this story. Characters, places, atmosphere- everything was like they filmed this movie in my head. I like it very much.

I love how after he stabs him he just throws his arms up like “good job bruh”

That's one thing I think is missing in most fight scenes - the anxiety over the risk of injury or death you are facing, even if it seems like you are the better fighter; there are no guarantees in battle. I don't mind some less-than-realistic maneuvers that aren't too over-the-top for the sake of entertainment, but they should never compromise the emotional element.

It's not flashy or cool looking at all, but still manages to engage the viewer and the suspense is palpable. Maybe the lack of fanciness in everything we see here tells the audience "This is serious, a battle for life and death"

That is indeed quite realistic, people tend to stand still and guard, nobody dares to make a move unless they know it's a good one and the more time you spend the better moves you can think of

The most telling part of the duel is the foot work. Bending the knees and spacing the feet, just waiting for him to misstep as he tried to circle him.

Cmon, this is youtube, EVERY title must be ironic in some sort man! I came here expecting to watch a really shitty sword fight and ended up with a very nice, realistic one...

He should have used an offhand ceastus and tried to parry this Estoc spammer.

By far one of the best movies ever made. Every duel just got better and better throughout the movie. The attention to period detail, also amazing. From the evolution of uniforms & hairs styles of officers and the social dichotomy of these 2 Napoleonic officers. The class struggle that is exemplified by antagonist and protagonist. Best part, it is based on actual events, filmed on location where the story took place. I have had to replace worn out VHS tapes and non returned loaned out DVD's over the years since I bought my first copy in the late 80s. Much like Easy Rider, Back in 1977, this was an Independent full feature backed by a studio and Ridley Scott's first full length feature. I would rate as one of the best Historical Docudramas ever made.

A good fight scene has context, characters with motivations and tells a story in itself. This fight scene has all of that.

The fear of being pierced by sword is surreal, even i felt it lol.

I love the way this was done. I can really feel the fear, and the tension in the bald guy. Made this a really exciting, tense duel.

I like how this scene is mostly quiet, because real fights are one of those cases when silence is loud.

Why don't more people talk about this film! So amazing!

The music queue showing the guy start to panic after being cut really brings this scene together.

properly displaying how dangerous a sword fight is makes it way more tense and really gets you on the edge of your seat, if the main character slashes through enemies with slow and sloppy strikes you dont realy feel anything but a stresfull and skillful fight really makes the character look cooler and cinematic.

I like the silence. No shouting, no laughing, no puns or similar.

Some of these comments nitpicking technicalities are so annoying. Yes rules and techniques count in a fencing tournament. But when you are literally fighting for your life as was portrayed in the film, some of the rules in the rule book fly out the window!

You insulted my honor. *slaps with glove*

Excellent film. The one thing a successful duellist needs to remember is that no matter how good he is, the other guy only needs to get lucky for everything to go wrong. Amongst expert swordsmen the favourite phrase is always "Good on the day". The bald man was at his most dangerous when he forgot to be afraid and just went for it.

This was an extremely realistic duel between swordsman. The pastoral setting, the mooing of cows, The quietness of the fight. The serious look of each swordsman thinking. this was the most realistic Duel of swords I have ever seen in a movie

Love the throw of the hands at the end. "There fool! You got what you wanted!"

I can relate to their movements as a fencer, like how they dont bash their swords 24/7 against each other, but try to constantly trap their enemy somehow. Of course they are far far more skillfull and have actual reason to be afraid lol

Love the way he just throws his hands up at the end. Like he was disgusted about the whole thing.

One of my top 25 favorite movies - the storyline, the acting, the scenery, the framing of the shots, the costuming, the audio. I highly recommend this movie to anyone that likes story framed around conflict, honor and pride

The human fear is what makes this scene so authentic.

The difference in making a simulated swordfight looking realistic or not ist just in one point: What are the actors aiming at? Do their strikes aim at the opponents body or limbs? Or are they just trying to hit each others weapon? The first option is the only realistic one. But it's the second one, that you can see in most movies. Even these days.

You see everything you need to know about Keitel's character in this scene. He's smug, bold, and arrogant. When he runs the mayor son threw... his reaction is to throw his hands up in disappointment. Because the other guy didn't give him a good enough fight. He's an adrenaline junkie and a thug. Keitel made himself such a perfect bastard in this role... This film deserves more recognition.

I’d be curious to see this same thing with different weapon types, like how would a fight with a couple two handed weapons go, or sword and shield (But i doubt hollywood would do such a thing realistically any time soon). Cool scene!

It was just a flesh wound.

Damn, those moments near the end were he tries to 'bait' out a response, the little bark/sound he made and the feign he made after.. Nicely done.

I love the little taunt with with sword waggle, and the wild wave giving away he's about to strike. You can tell who's going to win, as well as have a tinge of hope for the balding man as he lunges forwards. Very well done conveying what they were thinking without a single word.

Superb scene, superb film. The story, costumes, fights, light, music, overall atmosphere and acting. Keitel deserved an Oscar!

Yes! I don’t need cuts every second to understand that a fight is intense.. Thank you very much

A well shot conversation is more intense than a lot of the blockbuster action scenes nowadays

The thing is. Footwork can still be impressive regardless of whether they do fancy things. The right music and cinematography, a realistic duel can impress modern audiences.

Wow. I wish more of this kind of fighting was in movies

I'll tell you why this seems realistic while other movies have unrealistic fight scenes. No background music.

I remember when I used to play fight with toy swords with my friends. The thing I always remember happening is that we’d always smash each other’s hands that always was a thing.

That hand slice made me wince

If you’ve ever sword sparred anyone in your life this is way more terrifying

I've seen a few comments of some people guessing and some wanting to know the cause of the duel; so here it is; The Mayor's son(the Balding guy who get's ran through) wiped his muddy boots on Feraud(Harvey Keitel, The Officer with the pigtails)'s Uniform, naturally Feraud took that as an insult and in which; Challeneged the Mayor's son to a duel.

In addition to the intense, desperate fights throughout - the momentary still shots that open many of the scenes are beautiful replicas of works of art. Ridley was really on a roll with his first three movies (this, Alien, and Blade Runner)

What make it real is that both don’t wanna die

the way he throws his hands in the air and walks off at the end just makes the whole scean

The sound design is what sells this to me. The swords seem to have weigh and actually sound dangerous when they hit each other.

we'll never see such filmmaking anymore

Another Ridley Scott masterpiece. Every scene is like a painting. Based on a true story of two adversaries in the service of Napoleon. The bald guy who is clearly terrified is not one of them.

Damn. The thing I'm impressed most about is how that guy pulled off manly pig tails.

In most modern sword fights the focus is on who will deal a strike whereas in this the focus is on who will not get hit. It's so nail-biting and tense.

For those who may not know, the loser chooses to stop fighting in this scene. It's is what is called in modern times a "psychological stop". He is not incapable of continuing to fight, and if he was a more fearsome opponent it would be unwise to leave the sword in him. The pain and mental shock of having been impaled causes the defeated to give up. The wound may or may not be fatal. With contemporary good prompt medical treatment, such a wound is very unlikely to be fatal. In the time depicted, it's more of a toss-up. Without medical care it's extremely dangerous, but given the circumstances of this duel (formal, with seconds, among gentlemen) good prompt medical care of the era would be near and the defeated has a pretty good chance of survival despite the relative inefficacy of surgery at that time. He was a fool not to surrender the fight when his hand was cut. Typically duels were fought to first blood, not death, but the defeated here cannot bear to lose and presses the fight until he is gravely wounded. He ignored his cut hand, and continued to fight. He chose not to ignore having been stabbed through the torso. But make no mistake, he was physically capable of continuing to fight and, while not appropriate for a duel, had he been more motivated he could have done so. In combat training it is emphasized not to give up and die because of injury. The wound may or may not be fatal, and even if it is you may be able to stop or kill the enemy. On a battlefield it is extremely important that soldiers continue to fight when injured. Otherwise more of their comrades will become casualties. Many fatal injuries are not immediately incapacitating. In this time period, much of the mortality was the wound not healing well and becoming infected. This wouldn't happen immediately. If you weren't bleeding out you might stay strong enough to fight for days or weeks. If you are bleeding out you have from a few seconds to a few hours before you lose your strength. Severing a major artery or vein causes the most rapid incapacitation, measured in seconds (still enough time for the victim to kill others) but otherwise the victim has at least some minutes and it won't stop the victim from continuing the fight to it's conclusion despite bleeding. In a real desperate struggle to survive with motivated combatants, there will usually be multiple wounds as they will fight until one of them is no longer physically capable of fighting. Many fatal wounds will often be sustained. This is what the study of wound ballistics is all about. It's not difficult to reliably cause a fatal injury, but very difficult to reliably cause immediate incapacitation. It's the difference between causing a wound that's not treatable, and immediately shutting down the body.

I love this scene. They communicate so much just off of body language.You can really see what’s going through Ferauds head from start to finish. Great acting and even better fencing.

After he stabbed him: L + No Damsels + Get Dueled + Touch gold!

Best and most realistic film ever !

This is exactly how imagined Mr Wolf in his free time

brilliant movie. criminally under-valued

A very underrated film. Full of similar scenes to this, very atmospheric, a real attempt to make it look authentic and some great acting from Carradine (the best of the Carradine brothers in my view) and Keitel. the music is excellent too.

2:11 I really enjoy the detail of the walk away, the emoting is nice, you have that shake which really hammers in the feeling of disgust and relief, "there! It's done!" kinda vibe. That being said turning your back on a mortally wounded person seems unrealistic, I've seen enough stabbing and actual blade fighting on camera to know no one simply slouches down, that's more common in animals shot by arrows.

Samuel Adams vs blue moon

One of the most interesting films I have ever seen. It does not feel like Hollywood, it has energy, the narration style has beauty, it is not demanding.

What a debut by Ridley Scott!!! We had no idea what we were in store for!!!

Masterful.. in the music placement, cinematography, choreography, and acting. I had no idea Harvey Keitel did a role like this, I'm going to watch it immediately!