Another piece of Top 10 gold from Luke Ryan and our friends at TheVine. This one’s entertaining. However off the top of my head I feel like Robocop and Spaceballs should be in the list.

Showdowns! What’s a film without a good showdown, huh? Crap, that’s what it is. Yeah, you know what, Godard, perhaps I’d care more about your films if you’d thrown down a few more epic fight scenes. And Matthew McConaughey? Have him punching a dude through a wall, then we’ll talk. Here’s ten of the best final showdowns ever seen in cinema. Good triumphing over evil has never been so goddamn epic.

10. The Matrix
God, don’t you just wish this whole franchise ended right after this scene and you never had to have the majesty of the first film forever sullied by the subsequent five hours of regrettable sequel? Seriously, I did not sit through all three films just to find out that Neo was magic and died for my sins.

9. Transformers: The Movie
This could well make it in based on soundtrack alone. But Hot Rod also takes down a city-sized, planet-eating super robot named Unicron using something called the Ultra Matrix, so there’s that too.

8. Aliens
This is shocking quality video, but the line “Get away from her, you bitch” is one of the most stirring things ever committed to film.

7. The Young Master
Taken from the climax of one of Jackie Chan’s earlier films, this fight goes for well over 17 minutes. Or to put it another way, this single fight accounts for almost 20% of the film’s total running time. Indeed, this fight is so goddamn long that it doesn’t even fit in a single YouTube video. It’s not even particularly good either. It just goes on. And on. And on. What always impresses me about these sorts of battles is that Jackie can withstand getting absolutely wailed upon by a dude for over 10 minutes, but then when the tables inevitably turn, the dude doing the wailing collapses after four well-placed blows. Maybe it’s the magic bong water Jackie drinks at the eleven minute mark…

6. Gladiator

To my mind, one of the better action films ever made and this is a fittingly epic final confrontation. The white armour, the rose petals: say what you will about Ridley Scott, the man does not shy away from spectacle. Screw elections, it kinda makes me wish we still decided leadership disputes in such fashion.

5. Enter The Dragon
See, the best thing about Bruce Lee was that when he beat a man, he damn well went ahead and killed him too. No Jackie Chan-style pussyfooting about here, just a whole load of ass-whoopery and some questionable camera angles. Also, I’m almost positive that at the 1:46 mark Bruce is kicking a coconut on a stick.

4. The Big Lebowski
Occurring after all the major narrative arcs in the film have been resolved, this showdown is completely irrelevant, awkward and crap. Noone actually knows how to fight, a nihilist gets hit in the stomach with a bowling ball and one of the main characters dies from a stress related heart attack. Brilliant.

3. Once Upon A Time In The West
Such an excellent exercise in underplayed tension. As in they pretty much just stare at each other in almost total silence for five full minutes.

2. Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi
The scene that launched the questionable life choices of a million nerds. And obvious selection, sure, but seriously, how incredible is this shit? Also, as someone who shares the name Luke, can I just say how remarkable it is that people to this day still respond to news of my name with the phrase “Oh, just like Luke Skywalker?”. Yes, exactly like that. Asshole.

1. The Princess Bride
“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Yeah, that’ll learn ya: don’t mess with the Montoyas.