Years ago I read a book called "Of Wolf and Iron" that has the best rules for knife fighting ever collected. To summarize... 1. Don't be the first to pull a knife, anyone who responds by pulling their own probably knows how to use it. 2. Anyone who pulls a knife on you is likely to have made that choice from experience. 3. The environment you're fighting in is trying to kill you. Chairs, stairs, bystanders and beehives will defeat your reflexes every time. 4. The best blade ever created is useless against a thrown rock, bottle, bat or a bullet. 5. The most important rule of knife fighting is FUCKING DON'T. Talk, run, grab anything else available to add range and space to disengage or get better weapons (or friends)
My dad had experience in real world situations and he told me " If a knife is involved, you will get cut! If your cut, your compromised, so eliminate the knife! " Sound advice in my opinion!
@@mcpheonixx A very wise old Polish man I knew used to say the perfect way to carry your fighting knife is clipped onto the bayonet lug of your M1 while it was fully loaded next to your seat in a tank while you operated the .50
A 6 to 9" fixed blade sheath knife has been the close range PDW of choice of humans for 3,000 years now for very good reasons but I'll just ignore all that practical history and defer to some *ucking contemporary moronic received wisdom based on what??
The best knife in 2' long, 1,2" brass or rebar rod. Anywhere you hit, the muscles are not working and possibly bone(s) are broken or shattered. Would say it works as a cold weapon shotgun.
The Stallone and Arnold rivalry is 100% real. Not to long ago Stallone auctioned a signed Rambo knife for charity. Arnold made a video poking fun at Stallone by doing the same with an even bigger knife from Predator.
So happy you included 'The Hunted', that knife was definitely the hero of the movie. No joke, i watched that scene where del toro just makes a knife out of some random steel, and my first thought was: "Ok, now i have a hobby"
@@zacinthewild yeah but watch Nutnfancy's take down of that knife....i agree with him, its Hollywood fantasy, not even that cool looking of a knife....the Rambo knife was way cooler in my opinion. born in 1980 so the 80s blades were part of my growing up. Even dressed up as Arnold from Commando when i was 8/9 for Halloween, knife, machine gun, vest, cammo, and everything!
In the John Wick clip, he didn't use the gun because he wanted to kill John wick with the knife. He was pissed at John for actions earlier in the movie, and it was personal.
The bus scene from Nobody (2019) tops it all for me, one hell of a scrap between a bunch of hoodlums and an old badass who hadn't fought in ages. Same people from John Wick worked on it and it's a blast, seeing that knife fight with my friends was awesome, even had us cheering. Not only does the MC end up using a seatbelt to protect his palm to catch a knife, but he even bludgeoned someone's teeth out using his watch. He also unloads and drops his revolver at the start, and what happens with the gun later in the fight was solid.
The Hunted was the movie that inspired me to start making blades, mostly cause I wanted a knife like that and wanted to make it myself. When I got around to it, some 12 years later, I was totally shocked to find out just how far from reality the knife making in the movie was, the fighting was a documentary compared to the "bladesmithing" :))))) Anyway inspiration doesn't need to come from reality, been making blades for 7 years now and loving it :)
Really how did you expect Aaron to make his knife in those circumstances? I like them trying to make it look like he found a good piece of scrap steel improvised a rough blade from it but they should of had him knap out a stone knife like LT did. God Jones & del Toro knocked that shit out the park didn't they?
I still have my directors cut . My friend Chino took me to the directors viewing ,Ben and Tommy did some training for the movie here , Got to meet Tuhan and several others that I now know I was honored to meet . I wish I knew where Chino was as we lost track of each other . We went up to the Elwa to find some chert and stood in the tree that Ben stands on in the movie .
@@robdeskrd well ... the class actually did both , if you watch the bonus material on the CD you will see some of the rangers from striker brigade and some of the class sitting in a circle practicing knapping . But the steel blade segment was unfilmed and fewer students . Many masters were here in that time frame and there is a (reality) story preceding the UFC and this movie , also here in washington we have woods like yew and goats beard that are both heavy ,dense and weapon capable , a yew wood froe will chop and split ceder . It was used by natives forever.
Love the Gerber M2, my Father bought one while in the Marines for his deployment to Panama back in the late 80s. I carried it in 2003 in Iraq and it served me well, still have it and still super sharp.
"Under Siege" was filmed during a period when certain knife fighting "experts" were extolling the 'superiority" of the reverse grip. Steven Segal was good at combining the popular with the plausible in his films. My favorite movie scene featuring the Gerber Mk II did not involve a fight: There is a scene in "Aliens" where Bishop (Lance Hendriksen) places the tip of his Mk II in the palm of his hand, and spins the knife like on its vertical axis like a top. The Mk II, when properly sharpened, had an extremely sharp tip, and even though it was not very heavy, there was no way it wouldn't puncture your skin even if you tried to carefully balance it on your palm without the spin. I had some very thick callouses on parts of my palms and fingers, and the Gerber would dig at least a sixteenth of an inch into them if I tried a balancing act like that. I surmised that "artificial persons" had skin tougher than cowhide.
Fun fact about the “Captain America vs. The Winter Soldier” fight is that is you pause any the part where he takes out the Gerber Mk2 you can see he also has a Benchmade SCOP right next to it!
plus one for a breakdown of the Korean Film "The man from nowhere"! That felt like some of the most brutal knife fighting I have ever seen, but I'm no expert.
Big single edge fighting knives in the mid-1800s were often built to be held in conventional grip, but the sharp edge was facing up. They were used to stab someone in an upward motion in the gut and go up through the vital organs. Fighting like that was very effective up close and very difficult to block. That is one style of knife I haven't seen reproduced very often since most people would look at them and think that someone put the guard on the wrong way..
Great episode, loved Adam's commentary and insight. Appreciate that he spoke intelligently about knife fighting without glorifying knife fights and provided practical survival tips like walking away and de-escalation.
I carried a Gerber Mk II for all my 8 years in the Infantry. Got it from Clothing Sales on post. Fantastic knife, but hard to sharpen. Worked awesome for cutting open MREs, and the saw blade worked great for cutting small saplings for camouflaging fighting positions.
Watching that Captain America fight without sounds in this video makes the fight More Brutal in my opinion. Like it actually would be in real life very little sounds at all just movement, attack and defense
Ice pick grip is still incredibly dangerous and lethal. Just watched a video the other day of a street murder. Two guys arguing and one had a knife in ice pick grip. Unarmed guy took his eyes off him for a second and knife guy jumped on him. Stabbed him 3-4 times in a second and then backed off. Dude bled to death while the knife guy fled the scene. Even if you have your own knife, I'd always recommend just leaving instead of fighting. Its never worth it.
1991's "A Grande Arte" also called "Exposure" with Tchéky Karyo and Peter Coyote has some excellent knife scenes. There's a couple of clips of the knife selection and knife training here on YT
I enjoyed Under Seige when it came out. But I have to say. Watching that scene reminds me of our two cats doing the cat-boxing thing before they launch into the zoomies.
my favorite knife moment is from the big trouble in little china where our hero kurt russell throws a knife at the powerful sorcerer lo pan he missed, then lo pan who has dark magic powers mind you he picks the knife then throws at kurt while kurt catches it mid air immediately throws at lo pan and kills him with the perfect headshot....ah miss the 80's
I love how the expert is like, “I don’t watch movies” and Zac’s routinely referencing movies like, “it’s gotta be gory… you now like an 80s Schwarzenegger movie” and that’s “how he got his scars”.
With the Hunted, I always was amused by the probable reality of watching Benicio really struggle to get the knife back out of the tree and also Tommy Lee not being able to easily withdraw the knife from his arm as it catches on bone etc. lol…love that movie. It just has a no nonsense, adult approach that I really enjoy.
"Olympus Has Fallen", the final fight scene. Even though it uses guns, knives, and fists, it's a very awesome knife fighting scene. And the finale is... brutal to say the least, albeit a bit over the top considering how the finishing move is made.
Something funny about the knife drop and catch from The Hunted, I used that move back in 2004 when my sister's boyfriend and I were having a friendly sparring match with wooden training knives. He said that was the slickest thing he ever saw and I got him hooked onto that movie too. Good times.
Korean movies have pretty cool fights. The Man from Nowhere has some over the top karambit (and not only) action but as far as the most realistic ones go I would probably go with the car scene from I Saw the Devil. It's a messy, fast and brutal scene that, while a bit over the top (maybe?), illustrates well how raw an actual knife fight would be. But of course, I love me some John Wick, Punisher (especially that prison scene), Raid or that bus scene from Nobody and such.
That was Vernon Wells going up against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who was also Wez in The Road Warrior. Probably one of the most unsettling and memorable screen villains ever. No one else could make a mohawk haircut look that terrifying. I will not be satisfied until I have a wrist mounted crossbow... 😛
Some great scenes there! I love John Wick but the Punisher was amazing. Also, hats off for including the Hunted. Another great movie. I had forgotten how stupid Under Siege was in almost every way.
If you have a Bowie knife or combat knife turning the knife spine towards the enemy and blade to you saves the edge of the knife if it’s slightly sharpened on the false edge you can cut or tear coming and going it’s said Jim Bowie fought that way also being shown by David Caradine
Fun fact commando was Arnold’s nod to the 80’s crazy movie stuff, when you watch it with this in mind the self awareness of Arnold becomes super amazing
The wrapped belt reminds me of the fighting treatises from five hundred years ago. They said if you didn't have a dagger for your second hand you could wrap your cloak around that arm and be able to deflect a blow with it.
At 22:17 - the guy is clearly using a crosswise sheath, ie the blade is across the small of his back. This makes total sense for a horse rider, as the sheath doesn't poke the horse, and you can easily draw to the side. Pistols often had cross-belly holster orientation for exactly the same reason and moden bikers looking for concealed carry options should consider trying one.
The thing is Steven actually bit that blade in half the first time he did it and they were like “Steven you ruined the shot” so they had to do it again. Tommy Lee Jones later died from just pretending to fight Steven. Then Steve shit his pants.
'Under Siege' was the first time I heard the term Navy Seal. From then on I've been obsessed with learning all about them. No b.s., this fight scene changed my life.
@@dajo9339 The movie is based on the novel "High Art" by Rubem Fonseca. I bought a copy once, hoping it would have more details about the knife fights, but it didn't. Back in the 90s, "Exposure" was frequently shown on the Showtime channel, that's where I first saw it. I bought the DVD off Amazon for $20. It's a Region 2 format DVD. "Exposure" sometimes goes by the name, "A Grande Art".
@@proteus5 right on thanks for the info, yes i saw it on cable too. The fact as a 17yr old i was watching that instead of skinamax at 1am, probably a good predictor of my knife addiction.,🤔
Fun video and interesting to hear the pro perspective. My personal favorite and classic knife scene in a movie is in Crocodile Dundee when he pulls the bowie vs. the auto and says "That's not a knife; that's a knife!"
And one of the most realistic way of winning a knife fight in the movies i remember. (not the cutting up the jacket of the criminal, but the idea of scaring away the guy)
I'm not sure if it was the first or second Crocodile Dundee movie, but when he goes to the gang's hideout to get their help, one of the guys made a comment about Mick's jacket, then asks him, "What do you think your chances of getting out of here alive are?" and Mick throws his knife, which sticks in the wooden beam just above the guy's head, and says, "Pretty good!"
The knife fight in The Hunted and The Punisher were my favorites. I liked that in The Hunted you saw both combatants getting cut. Sure it was embellished for film but getting cut in a knife fight is probably going to happen.
Great video. I've always loved the scene from Winter Soldier. I also didn't notice until this video that the Winter Soldier is also carrying a Benchmade SOCP dagger as well.
I know I'm late to the party, but has anyone ever heard of a movie called "Exposure" starring Peter Coyote? I've always considered it to be to knife fighting what "Enter the Dragon" was to hand to hand combat. The story is gritty and engaging, the cinematography is captivating, but I've never seen an analysis of the film by someone knowledgeable in knife fighting. I'd be very eager to hear commentary/analysis of the film by someone familiar with the subject.
That movie was based on the book, High Art, by Rubem Fonseca. The knife Peter chose was a Randall, basically a custom military K-Bar. The thug that stabbed Peter was using a Spyderco Endura with a stainless steel handle and serrated blade. The technique the thug used to open his knife is the Spyderco drop, you hold the blade by the hole and snap the handle down into your hand. I don't remember what kind of knife the teacher used, maybe a Randall?
I'll be honest I've still got my very first clasp knife, Normark's Big Swede. Bought it back in the 90's and it's still my go to for basic stuff, the very devil to sharpen but holds an edge like nothing else. I've the usual Gerber multitool and the blade is so soft by comparison. Had a couple of spiderco's..... they're so so, easy to hone but don't hold an edge. And I love that both of you agree with my own thoughts, a sharp mind is the best weapon ever.
The ice pick grip, (Holding it reverse) is a legitimate strategy. It's not used correctly by movies obviously but it's a historically backed style. There are manuals from teachers of medieval combat that teach techniques for it. It's by no means meant to be the primary way to fight, but it is a thing. Modern Rogue channel has a learning knife fighting video on their channel with the historical weapons guild, which goes into some of it.
Those rondel daggers in particular are very well suited to be held in that grip. I suppose the knife itself might dictate how effective that grip would be, but you definitely see that grip used a lot in historical treatises for large knives and daggers. I cannot stand when movies do that reverse grip with sabres and swords though- it is as if someone watching said "ohh, if that grip is cool for a knife or dagger, then it must be extra cool if I have a character fight with their longsword in a reverse grip!"
There a lot of historical documentation, court records, where leg injuries end armed combat. It’s theorized the loss of mobility is enough of a hindrance that the person knows any more fighting will end in their death.
Fellas, this video was pure bloody joy. Both of your enthusiasm, and the combo of knife knowledge and knife fighting knowledge. There better be more! And as for my fave knife fight scene, the kitchen fight in The Raid 2 is exceptional.
Yeooo when I saw The Hunted here I was greatly excited… it’s one of my favorite films and largely underrated-- but with that trying looking up 3 South East Asian films: The Man From Nowhere and The Raid & The Raid 2- both films have very spectacular and amazingly choreographed knife fights-- appropriately done where the “hero” gets realistic cut up--
The belt around the forearm made me smile, in medieval dagger manuals it’s not uncommon to see a coat or jacket quickly swirled around the free arm to try to provide some protection.
Commando was so great, It's probably his funnest flick. If Predator was not absolute perfection, then commando would probably be my favorite Ahhh'Nold flick. I can't remember if I ever bought it on DVD. I know it's cheesy but it's so good.
At the beginning when he asked why use a knife when you have a gun. I’d assume it’s because he at least started out trying to avoid drawing too much attention. You could probably stab someone and walk off the subway. Opening fire would make it a little more difficult to stay “stealth”. So it does make sense why he started out with the knife
Just before that scene, I believe they were both "stealthily" firing silenced pistols at each other out in the open in the station. I assume they are either out of bullets, don't want to draw attention shooting in a confined area like you said, or it is a ritualistic combat since they are part of an assassin society that has a lot of rules and traditions that get expanded on in each film.
In "Eye of the Needle", Donald Sutherland's character kills several people with his cool out-the-front switchblade. They are not necessarily knife "fight" scenes, but are memorable none the less because the knife, and the way he carries it hidden inside his sleeve, are so cool.
If you guys have another Movie Knife Series, I highly recommend the Hong Kong movie SPL: Sha Po Lang, in english its called Killzone. The best choreographed knife fight in cinema imho. Some of the moves were improvised as well on the fly. For me, that was peak Donnie Yen and Wu Jing. Also thank you for the amazing content.
LOVE knives and movies. This was great. I also collect “practical” haha, movie knives. The MKII is one of my absolute favorites (also Mad Max’s knife!) Have you seen the knife vs pipe fight in “The Abyss”? That damn Abyss knife was my grail knife growing up, but they are a freaking unicorn. Impossible to find an original, thousands of dollars to get a custom repro.
@@zacinthewild there's an awesome knife fight on the movie Extraction with Chris Hemsworth. Check it out. He uses a Karambit vs a guy with a sort of Ka Bar knife. Cool scene and great movie
One of the improvised disarms I did in a real situation, from stalemate, I bit the crap out of their thumb at the base and they dropped the knife. Not something I would suggest training much on or relying on but just keep it in the back of the mind.
Years ago I read a book called "Of Wolf and Iron" that has the best rules for knife fighting ever collected. To summarize...
1. Don't be the first to pull a knife, anyone who responds by pulling their own probably knows how to use it.
2. Anyone who pulls a knife on you is likely to have made that choice from experience.
3. The environment you're fighting in is trying to kill you. Chairs, stairs, bystanders and beehives will defeat your reflexes every time.
4. The best blade ever created is useless against a thrown rock, bottle, bat or a bullet.
5. The most important rule of knife fighting is FUCKING DON'T. Talk, run, grab anything else available to add range and space to disengage or get better weapons (or friends)
My dad had experience in real world situations and he told me " If a knife is involved, you will get cut! If your cut, your compromised, so eliminate the knife! " Sound advice in my opinion!
Everyone gets cut in a knife fight.
@@mcpheonixx A very wise old Polish man I knew used to say the perfect way to carry your fighting knife is clipped onto the bayonet lug of your M1 while it was fully loaded next to your seat in a tank while you operated the .50
A 6 to 9" fixed blade sheath knife has been the close range PDW of choice of humans for 3,000 years now for very good reasons but I'll just ignore all that practical history and defer to some *ucking contemporary moronic received wisdom based on what??
The best knife in 2' long, 1,2" brass or rebar rod. Anywhere you hit, the muscles are not working and possibly bone(s) are broken or shattered. Would say it works as a cold weapon shotgun.
The Stallone and Arnold rivalry is 100% real. Not to long ago Stallone auctioned a signed Rambo knife for charity. Arnold made a video poking fun at Stallone by doing the same with an even bigger knife from Predator.
Love it!
That’s true but Arnold was just teasing him. They were big rivals back then, but they’re friends now.
I watched an interview with Schwarzenegger, and that's exactly what he said. He and Stallone went back and forth bigger gun, bigger knife.
So happy you included 'The Hunted', that knife was definitely the hero of the movie. No joke, i watched that scene where del toro just makes a knife out of some random steel, and my first thought was: "Ok, now i have a hobby"
Same 🤣
Definitely an underrated film mate.
I came here to say this 😂
👍😁
If The Hunted wasn't included I'd click off immediately
@@zacinthewild yeah but watch Nutnfancy's take down of that knife....i agree with him, its Hollywood fantasy, not even that cool looking of a knife....the Rambo knife was way cooler in my opinion. born in 1980 so the 80s blades were part of my growing up. Even dressed up as Arnold from Commando when i was 8/9 for Halloween, knife, machine gun, vest, cammo, and everything!
In the John Wick clip, he didn't use the gun because he wanted to kill John wick with the knife. He was pissed at John for actions earlier in the movie, and it was personal.
The bus scene from Nobody (2019) tops it all for me, one hell of a scrap between a bunch of hoodlums and an old badass who hadn't fought in ages. Same people from John Wick worked on it and it's a blast, seeing that knife fight with my friends was awesome, even had us cheering.
Not only does the MC end up using a seatbelt to protect his palm to catch a knife, but he even bludgeoned someone's teeth out using his watch. He also unloads and drops his revolver at the start, and what happens with the gun later in the fight was solid.
Nobody was awesome I've never seen an action flick like that.
It had John Wick vibes but it definitely is more grounded in reality.
when he kicks the knife through the leg was nasty.
The fight at the end of both Raid 2 and the end of the Revenant are brutal fights.
Truth!
Someone else mentioned Raid 2. I’ll have to check it out!
@@spartanmodellc Check out both The Raid 1&2, you won’t be disappointed!
My fave is Crocodile Dundee's "THIS is a knife!" scene
That is a great scene! 😂👊🏼
It was damn polite of Tommy Lee Jones to let go of that knife as soon as Segal bit down on it.
Great commentary on the scenes from a professional who knows what it's like in the real world
The Hunted was the movie that inspired me to start making blades, mostly cause I wanted a knife like that and wanted to make it myself. When I got around to it, some 12 years later, I was totally shocked to find out just how far from reality the knife making in the movie was, the fighting was a documentary compared to the "bladesmithing" :))))) Anyway inspiration doesn't need to come from reality, been making blades for 7 years now and loving it :)
The title sequence of "Conan the Barbarian" and the open-mould casting of a steel sword, surely beats that for accuracy? 😉
Really how did you expect Aaron to make his knife in those circumstances?
I like them trying to make it look like he found a good piece of scrap steel improvised a rough blade from it but they should of had him knap out a stone knife like LT did.
God Jones & del Toro knocked that shit out the park didn't they?
I still have my directors cut . My friend Chino took me to the directors viewing ,Ben and Tommy did some training for the movie here , Got to meet Tuhan and several others that I now know I was honored to meet . I wish I knew where Chino was as we lost track of each other . We went up to the Elwa to find some chert and stood in the tree that Ben stands on in the movie .
@@robdeskrd well ... the class actually did both , if you watch the bonus material on the CD you will see some of the rangers from striker brigade and some of the class sitting in a circle practicing knapping . But the steel blade segment was unfilmed and fewer students . Many masters were here in that time frame and there is a (reality) story preceding the UFC and this movie , also here in washington we have woods like yew and goats beard that are both heavy ,dense and weapon capable , a yew wood froe will chop and split ceder . It was used by natives forever.
Yah, The Hunted was pretty garbage.
NEED to see "the man from nowhere" one of the best knife fights ever put to film
Love the Gerber M2, my Father bought one while in the Marines for his deployment to Panama back in the late 80s. I carried it in 2003 in Iraq and it served me well, still have it and still super sharp.
The Gerber Mark 1 was for me, a more EDC type fighting knife.
There were so many clones of this knife back in the day.
Being an 80's kid, the Comando one is for sure THE knife scene that stuck in my head all my life.
That's a Jack Crain LSS. He also did the knives for Predator
Let's parsy.
The Man from Nowhere. For me, the best knife in a movie I've seen.
"Under Siege" was filmed during a period when certain knife fighting "experts" were extolling the
'superiority" of the reverse grip. Steven Segal was good at combining the popular with the plausible in his films.
My favorite movie scene featuring the Gerber Mk II did not involve a fight: There is a scene in "Aliens" where Bishop (Lance Hendriksen) places the tip of his Mk II in the palm of his hand, and spins the knife like on its vertical axis like a top. The Mk II, when properly sharpened, had an extremely sharp tip, and even though it was not very heavy, there was no way it wouldn't puncture your skin even if you tried to carefully balance it on your palm without the spin. I had some very thick callouses on parts of my palms and fingers, and the Gerber would dig at least a sixteenth of an inch into them if I tried a balancing act like that. I surmised that "artificial persons" had skin tougher than cowhide.
I'm surprised neither of you mentioned Eastern Promises. To me, that's pretty much the ultimate cinematic knife-fight.
Commando is my favorite movie. I used to go to my grandma's house on the weekend and she would watch Commando with me. God bless her.
Yellowstone when the character Lloyd casually flings a folding knife into the character Walker's chest. Its uh, impressive haha
Fun fact about the “Captain America vs. The Winter Soldier” fight is that is you pause any the part where he takes out the Gerber Mk2 you can see he also has a Benchmade SCOP right next to it!
He also carries two Gerber Tonto's at the small of his back and in the FATWS Disney+ show the Winter Soldier has unidentified knives in his boots.
plus one for a breakdown of the Korean Film "The man from nowhere"! That felt like some of the most brutal knife fighting I have ever seen, but I'm no expert.
For me, who had a deal with knife fight, those knife fight scenes from "Gangs of New York" looks inpressive and quite realistic
you gotta watch the raid. that movie has the single best knife fight ever shot. I’m shocked its not in this video
Big single edge fighting knives in the mid-1800s were often built to be held in conventional grip, but the sharp edge was facing up. They were used to stab someone in an upward motion in the gut and go up through the vital organs. Fighting like that was very effective up close and very difficult to block. That is one style of knife I haven't seen reproduced very often since most people would look at them and think that someone put the guard on the wrong way..
Great episode, loved Adam's commentary and insight. Appreciate that he spoke intelligently about knife fighting without glorifying knife fights and provided practical survival tips like walking away and de-escalation.
Thanks for the kind words. 👊🏼
I carried a Gerber Mk II for all my 8 years in the Infantry. Got it from Clothing Sales on post. Fantastic knife, but hard to sharpen. Worked awesome for cutting open MREs, and the saw blade worked great for cutting small saplings for camouflaging fighting positions.
Watching that Captain America fight without sounds in this video makes the fight More Brutal in my opinion. Like it actually would be in real life very little sounds at all just movement, attack and defense
Ice pick grip is still incredibly dangerous and lethal. Just watched a video the other day of a street murder. Two guys arguing and one had a knife in ice pick grip. Unarmed guy took his eyes off him for a second and knife guy jumped on him. Stabbed him 3-4 times in a second and then backed off. Dude bled to death while the knife guy fled the scene. Even if you have your own knife, I'd always recommend just leaving instead of fighting. Its never worth it.
The videos of Keanu training and practicing in real life are as awe inspiring as the movies.
1991's "A Grande Arte" also called "Exposure" with Tchéky Karyo and Peter Coyote has some excellent knife scenes. There's a couple of clips of the knife selection and knife training here on YT
The knife fight in "The Hitman" should have been on the list. I loved that one.
The Hunted, Bourne Identity, Under Siege, Taken, crazy stuff. 😮
Extraction had a really long knife fight scene. I'm sort of surprised that wasn't in here.
I wish they had added the scene from 'DUNE' (2020), Where Paul Atreides fought with a Crysknife for the first time.
I enjoyed Under Seige when it came out. But I have to say. Watching that scene reminds me of our two cats doing the cat-boxing thing before they launch into the zoomies.
my favorite knife moment is from the big trouble in little china where our hero kurt russell throws a knife at the powerful sorcerer lo pan he missed, then lo pan who has dark magic powers mind you he picks the knife then throws at kurt while kurt catches it mid air immediately throws at lo pan and kills him with the perfect headshot....ah miss the 80's
I love how the expert is like, “I don’t watch movies” and Zac’s routinely referencing movies like, “it’s gotta be gory… you now like an 80s Schwarzenegger movie” and that’s “how he got his scars”.
Finally, a TH-cam expert that knows how to accurately hold a Bowie knife!
Thank you Sir!
Realistic or not, loved the knife/tomahawk fight scene between Uncas and Magua in the end of Last of the Mohicans.
With the Hunted, I always was amused by the probable reality of watching Benicio really struggle to get the knife back out of the tree and also Tommy Lee not being able to easily withdraw the knife from his arm as it catches on bone etc. lol…love that movie. It just has a no nonsense, adult approach that I really enjoy.
"Olympus Has Fallen", the final fight scene. Even though it uses guns, knives, and fists, it's a very awesome knife fighting scene. And the finale is... brutal to say the least, albeit a bit over the top considering how the finishing move is made.
Something funny about the knife drop and catch from The Hunted, I used that move back in 2004 when my sister's boyfriend and I were having a friendly sparring match with wooden training knives.
He said that was the slickest thing he ever saw and I got him hooked onto that movie too.
Good times.
The knife scene from No Man’s Land when they fight 5 on 5 in the middle off the battle field at night should be on this list here
Korean movies have pretty cool fights. The Man from Nowhere has some over the top karambit (and not only) action but as far as the most realistic ones go I would probably go with the car scene from I Saw the Devil. It's a messy, fast and brutal scene that, while a bit over the top (maybe?), illustrates well how raw an actual knife fight would be. But of course, I love me some John Wick, Punisher (especially that prison scene), Raid or that bus scene from Nobody and such.
That was Vernon Wells going up against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who was also Wez in The Road Warrior. Probably one of the most unsettling and memorable screen villains ever. No one else could make a mohawk haircut look that terrifying. I will not be satisfied until I have a wrist mounted crossbow... 😛
Some great scenes there! I love John Wick but the Punisher was amazing. Also, hats off for including the Hunted. Another great movie. I had forgotten how stupid Under Siege was in almost every way.
My favorite is from the accountant. Knife against belt!
If you have a Bowie knife or combat knife turning the knife spine towards the enemy and blade to you saves the edge of the knife if it’s slightly sharpened on the false edge you can cut or tear coming and going it’s said Jim Bowie fought that way also being shown by David Caradine
I just stopped this vid and found the hunted and watched it. What a film. Had a couple of issues granted but still,really solid movie
Kill Bill 1&2 & The Raid 2 had some sick blade action going on.
John Wick used a Douk Douk in part 3.The legendary knives used in the Algerian war.The Hunted is such a underrated movie
Fun fact commando was Arnold’s nod to the 80’s crazy movie stuff, when you watch it with this in mind the self awareness of Arnold becomes super amazing
The wrapped belt reminds me of the fighting treatises from five hundred years ago. They said if you didn't have a dagger for your second hand you could wrap your cloak around that arm and be able to deflect a blow with it.
The Hunted was one of my favorite as a more "realistic" fight. The karambit fight in the Extraction was fun too.
Ok I just fast forward to it and thank God you added it!
The mark ll boot knife was my first knife as a teenager, 1991 ish, I loved that knife!!! Lost somewhere along the way of life…wish I still had that
At 22:17 - the guy is clearly using a crosswise sheath, ie the blade is across the small of his back. This makes total sense for a horse rider, as the sheath doesn't poke the horse, and you can easily draw to the side. Pistols often had cross-belly holster orientation for exactly the same reason and moden bikers looking for concealed carry options should consider trying one.
The knife fight scene in extraction with Chris helmsworth is really good to... worth a watch
👊🏼
The thing is Steven actually bit that blade in half the first time he did it and they were like “Steven you ruined the shot” so they had to do it again. Tommy Lee Jones later died from just pretending to fight Steven. Then Steve shit his pants.
😂😂😂
'Under Siege' was the first time I heard the term Navy Seal. From then on I've been obsessed with learning all about them. No b.s., this fight scene changed my life.
LOVE it (and truer words have never been spoken): "the best use of self defense ever....when you are able to talk your way out of it"...
For a great knife fighting movie you should check out "Exposure". It was filmed in Brazil in 1991 with stars Peter Coyote and Tcheky Karyo.
Damn I haven't seen that since I was a kid..I've looked for it but can't find it. I think it was a book first
@@dajo9339 The movie is based on the novel "High Art" by Rubem Fonseca. I bought a copy once, hoping it would have more details about the knife fights, but it didn't.
Back in the 90s, "Exposure" was frequently shown on the Showtime channel, that's where I first saw it. I bought the DVD off Amazon for $20. It's a Region 2 format DVD.
"Exposure" sometimes goes by the name, "A Grande Art".
@@proteus5 right on thanks for the info, yes i saw it on cable too. The fact as a 17yr old i was watching that instead of skinamax at 1am, probably a good predictor of my knife addiction.,🤔
High art for me has the best most accurate knife fight , the first time you see Karyo fight he is cool calm and its over in seconds.
That's the movie I was thinking of, too. It was the first time I ever saw knife instruction. And Tcheky Karyo was bad ass.
In that first clip, both combatants are out of ammo, they'd spent the five minutes leading up to the fight shooting at each other.
I love The Hunted, but as a blacksmith/blacksmith, the whole forging scene is almost unforgivable lol
Knife lesson from Second Hand Lions with Robert Duvall and a bunch of punks. Liked the video.
Fun video and interesting to hear the pro perspective. My personal favorite and classic knife scene in a movie is in Crocodile Dundee when he pulls the bowie vs. the auto and says "That's not a knife; that's a knife!"
The best type of fight in that scene because it just scared the guy away.
And one of the most realistic way of winning a knife fight in the movies i remember. (not the cutting up the jacket of the criminal, but the idea of scaring away the guy)
Ive actually seen that one! Great scene! 😁👊🏼
I'm not sure if it was the first or second Crocodile Dundee movie, but when he goes to the gang's hideout to get their help, one of the guys made a comment about Mick's jacket, then asks him, "What do you think your chances of getting out of here alive are?" and Mick throws his knife, which sticks in the wooden beam just above the guy's head, and says, "Pretty good!"
@@ronstreet6706 think that's part 2 when he's sneaking in the mansion to save his woman.
Michael Mann's film Blackhat has some vicious knife work towards the end.
The knife fight in The Hunted and The Punisher were my favorites. I liked that in The Hunted you saw both combatants getting cut. Sure it was embellished for film but getting cut in a knife fight is probably going to happen.
Yeah for Hollywood, being realistic is kind of the opposite of what they are usually trying to do but it's nice when they do get something right.
Great video. I've always loved the scene from Winter Soldier. I also didn't notice until this video that the Winter Soldier is also carrying a Benchmade SOCP dagger as well.
my favorite knife fight quote is "Nobody wins a knife fight, you just survive, or not."
I know I'm late to the party, but has anyone ever heard of a movie called "Exposure" starring Peter Coyote? I've always considered it to be
to knife fighting what "Enter the Dragon" was to hand to hand combat. The story is gritty and engaging, the cinematography is captivating,
but I've never seen an analysis of the film by someone knowledgeable in knife fighting. I'd be very eager to hear commentary/analysis of
the film by someone familiar with the subject.
That movie was based on the book, High Art, by Rubem Fonseca. The knife Peter chose was a Randall, basically a custom military K-Bar. The thug that stabbed Peter was using a Spyderco Endura with a stainless steel handle and serrated blade. The technique the thug used to open his knife is the Spyderco drop, you hold the blade by the hole and snap the handle down into your hand. I don't remember what kind of knife the teacher used, maybe a Randall?
I'll be honest I've still got my very first clasp knife, Normark's Big Swede. Bought it back in the 90's and it's still my go to for basic stuff, the very devil to sharpen but holds an edge like nothing else. I've the usual Gerber multitool and the blade is so soft by comparison. Had a couple of spiderco's..... they're so so, easy to hone but don't hold an edge.
And I love that both of you agree with my own thoughts, a sharp mind is the best weapon ever.
Vernon Wells, the actor who played Bennett in Commando went on to play one of the best Power Rangers villain ever.
William Winder In the original Gibson Road Warrior. The crazy guy on the motorcycle, as far as I remember, that was also Wells.
The Debt Collector with Billy Connoly and Ken Stott has (in my memory) the most realistic knife fight ever.
The ice pick grip, (Holding it reverse) is a legitimate strategy. It's not used correctly by movies obviously but it's a historically backed style. There are manuals from teachers of medieval combat that teach techniques for it. It's by no means meant to be the primary way to fight, but it is a thing. Modern Rogue channel has a learning knife fighting video on their channel with the historical weapons guild, which goes into some of it.
Those rondel daggers in particular are very well suited to be held in that grip. I suppose the knife itself might dictate how effective that grip would be, but you definitely see that grip used a lot in historical treatises for large knives and daggers. I cannot stand when movies do that reverse grip with sabres and swords though- it is as if someone watching said "ohh, if that grip is cool for a knife or dagger, then it must be extra cool if I have a character fight with their longsword in a reverse grip!"
There a lot of historical documentation, court records, where leg injuries end armed combat.
It’s theorized the loss of mobility is enough of a hindrance that the person knows any more fighting will end in their death.
Fellas, this video was pure bloody joy. Both of your enthusiasm, and the combo of knife knowledge and knife fighting knowledge. There better be more! And as for my fave knife fight scene, the kitchen fight in The Raid 2 is exceptional.
Thanks! I’ll checkout Raid 2.
Yup, was gonna say exactly this, also my favourite knife fight scene (at least of those which came to mind).
Yeooo when I saw The Hunted here I was greatly excited… it’s one of my favorite films and largely underrated-- but with that trying looking up 3 South East Asian films: The Man From Nowhere and The Raid & The Raid 2- both films have very spectacular and amazingly choreographed knife fights-- appropriately done where the “hero” gets realistic cut up--
The belt around the forearm made me smile, in medieval dagger manuals it’s not uncommon to see a coat or jacket quickly swirled around the free arm to try to provide some protection.
Commando was so great, It's probably his funnest flick. If Predator was not absolute perfection, then commando would probably be my favorite Ahhh'Nold flick. I can't remember if I ever bought it on DVD. I know it's cheesy but it's so good.
At the beginning when he asked why use a knife when you have a gun. I’d assume it’s because he at least started out trying to avoid drawing too much attention. You could probably stab someone and walk off the subway. Opening fire would make it a little more difficult to stay “stealth”. So it does make sense why he started out with the knife
Just before that scene, I believe they were both "stealthily" firing silenced pistols at each other out in the open in the station. I assume they are either out of bullets, don't want to draw attention shooting in a confined area like you said, or it is a ritualistic combat since they are part of an assassin society that has a lot of rules and traditions that get expanded on in each film.
@@Fardawg I’m pretty sure they both had a few extra mags but I think it was a bit of everything mentioned here for sure
1:38 They’re both out of ammo. They went dry shooting at each other in the subway earlier in the scene.
The Accountant with Ben Affleck has an interesting knife fight scene.
I had a Tom brown tracker, I loved that knife. Ended up selling it to a guy in the 75th Rn.
In "Eye of the Needle", Donald Sutherland's character kills several people with his cool out-the-front switchblade. They are not necessarily knife "fight" scenes, but are memorable none the less because the knife, and the way he carries it hidden inside his sleeve, are so cool.
A Grande Arte, I will never forget this movie.
Man from nowhere. The finale has the best knife fight ever
Extraction had a pretty fun knife fight scene.
Just before the subway fight scene in John Wick 2, Common does run out of ammo
🤘
love these, surprised the extraction knife fight didnt make the video.
We all know the best “knife” fight is in Indiana Jones Raiders.
🤣🤣
I’ve actually seen that one! Great scene! 🤣👊🏼
I used to watch that scene religiously as a kid and laugh uncontrollably at it.
In John Wick, they are hit men but they try to do things discreetly. It's a theme throughout the series with ALL of the hitmen/women.
I go for seagal knife bite technique, total badassery😂
If you guys have another Movie Knife Series, I highly recommend the Hong Kong movie SPL: Sha Po Lang, in english its called Killzone. The best choreographed knife fight in cinema imho. Some of the moves were improvised as well on the fly. For me, that was peak Donnie Yen and Wu Jing. Also thank you for the amazing content.
No, just to flashy!
LOVE knives and movies. This was great. I also collect “practical” haha, movie knives. The MKII is one of my absolute favorites (also Mad Max’s knife!) Have you seen the knife vs pipe fight in “The Abyss”? That damn Abyss knife was my grail knife growing up, but they are a freaking unicorn. Impossible to find an original, thousands of dollars to get a custom repro.
You should have included the scene from the" Accountant " Ben Affleck
That would have been a great one! That movie is a blast.
You guy should critique The Man From Nowhere knife fight scene. It is crazy.
I loved this video. Great fight scenes and analysis. My favorite was the Winter Soldier scene.
Such a good scene!
@@zacinthewild there's an awesome knife fight on the movie Extraction with Chris Hemsworth. Check it out. He uses a Karambit vs a guy with a sort of Ka Bar knife. Cool scene and great movie
One of the improvised disarms I did in a real situation, from stalemate, I bit the crap out of their thumb at the base and they dropped the knife. Not something I would suggest training much on or relying on but just keep it in the back of the mind.