50 Best Movie Bar Brawls
FIGHT!
Out For Justice (1991)
The Brawl: Steven Seagal's ponytail-wearing narcotics cop strolls into a pool bar and faces off against some wise-mouthed schmuck who just can't seem to stop talking. That is, until Seagal decides it's time to take these guys down…
Coolest Scrap: How does he take them down? My wrapping a cue ball inside a white cloth and smashing it into anything that comes at him.
Fight Club (1999)
The Brawl: When bar-owner Lou discovers Tyler (Brad Pitt) and his chums have been using his basement to host no-holds-barred fight nights, he's none too pleased, and comes stomping down to stop them. That is, until Tyler has a few quiet words with him…
Coolest Scrap: …and when we say 'a few quiet words', we actually mean Tyler pins Lou to the ground and lets loose a verbal tirade (and as much spit and blood as you care for). Needless to say, Lou realises this is one fight he should back away from.
Desperado (1995)
The Brawl: Antonio Banderas strolls into a bar and unleashes all hell with a little help from his bullet-spraying best bud. This is easily one of the cooliest bar brawls, not least because of director Robert Rodriguez's frenetic camerawork.
Coolest Scrap: El Mariachi (Banderas) takes out a bad guy, whose body pivots on the spot as it's pumped full of led.
Best Of The Best (1989)
The Brawl: Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) takes on a bar full of mullet-haired boozers who've started a fight with a big-hat-wearing Chris Penn. They don't realise that Lee's actually a martial arts expert…
Coolest Scrap: Not so much a scrap as a cool move, as Lee kicks a cigarette from the mouth of one of the boozers.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
The Brawl: A verbal smackdown, this one, as Will Hunting (Matt Damon) shows a bully who's boss without lifting a single finger - see, Will's got a brain on him, and he knows exactly how to use it to deadly means.
Coolest Scrap: "Are you going to plagiarise the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter?" TAKE THAT YOU PONYTAILED CHUMP!
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
The Brawl: You know the one. Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his pals are holed up in the Winchester sitting out the zombie apocalypse when said zombies manage to break in. Cue Queen on the jukebox and one of the coolest bar scraps EVER.
Coolest Scrap: Liz (Kate Ashfield) puts a fire extinguisher to good use against a zombie.
The Presidio (1988)
The Brawl: A massive brute (Rick Zumwalt) comes over to cause trouble with Detective Austin (Mark Harmon) and Colonel Caldwell (Sean Connery) during their coffee break, but didn't reckon on Caldwell being so good with his, um, thumb.
Coolest Scrap: Throughout the entire fight, Caldwell jabs his opponent with his surprisingly strong thumb. Genius.
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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
The Brawl: Of course, surely the most famous bar brawl ever, even though there's very little violence in it.
Coolest Scrap: Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has a disagreement with Greedo that results in laser guns going off and Greedo ending up face down on the table.
Serenity (2005)
The Brawl: Mal (Nathan Fillion) and co head to a bar on a distant rock to meet some black market contacts. Then a TV ad triggers something in River's (Summer Glau) subconscious that turns her into a fighting machine - she busts that bar up good and proper.
Coolest Scrap: The fight comes to a climax as River prepares to shoot Mal. Luckily Simon intervenes with a safe word that flicks River's 'off' switch. Close one.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Brawl: Considering this is a bunch of redneck goons going up against, y'know, ARNIE, there's not much of a brawl to speak of. Still, Schwarzenegger's T-800 gives his assailants what for in admirably economical fashion - then pinches a biker's threads and wheels. Nice.
Coolest Scrap: One guy attempts to take the T-800 down by thwacking him with a pool cue. Needless to say, it snaps like a twig and the T-800 doesn't even flinch.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.