In honour of John Wick's return to the big screen in the spin-off film Ballerina, we’re trading words for fists, falling through cinema’s saloon doors and giving our eye witness accounts of the most bone-crunching, chair-smashing fight scenes of all time.

From the elegance of Chinese Wuxia to the grit of an old school brawl, the power of martial arts legends to the visual timing of a comedy icon, we explore how the on-screen punch up has evolved and what makes great big screen fisticuffs.

Tighten your kung-fu pyjamas, it's gonna get messy.

"Before we get started, does anyone wanna get out?" - Steve Rogers

Links to watch all featured fights:

Captain America - Elevator Fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYATf2A5GCQ&t=1s

Game of Death - Bruce Lee vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT-RfY2H23o

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Jen vs. Shu Lien Sword Fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzkhVVFRIIg&t=15s

They Live - Really Long Fight - Rowdy Roddy Piper vs Keith David

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhr3TzEknzY

City Lights - Boxing Match - Charlie Chaplin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9NfXIXzgnA&t=5s

Undefeatable - Final Fight Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvuGqr-u2Y&t=28s

Nobody - Bus Fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2un1aU7mT0&t=7s

Top Secret! - Underwater Barfight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfRi-a8hPh0&t=1s

The Raid 2 - The Kitchen Fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rp86b3CUMU&t=24s

Police Story - Mall fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B215g-Evv0U&t=2s

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With the live-action How To Train Your Dragon swooping into cinemas next week, we’re grabbing our shield and diving headfirst into the greatest quests that fantasy cinema has to offer.

From cursed swords to chosen ones, from ancient prophecies to dark sorcery, this episode is all about the epic journeys that define heroic fantasy. So whether you’re more Conan or Frodo, Ashitaka or Ash, there’s a sword and a saga waiting for you.

“I will avenge you, Father! I will save you, Mother! I will kill you, Fjölnir!" - Amleth

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This week, to celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Cesar and Greg tip their stetsons to the daredevils who leap off buildings, swing from helicopters, slide under trucks and somehow live to do another take.

From glass skyscrapers to collapsing houses, from shattered bridges to speeding trucks, this is stunt cinema at its boldest, wildest and most bone-shattering.

No CGI. No green screens. Just guts, gravity and a whole lot of bruises.

“I’m not afraid to get hurt. I’m afraid of making a bad movie.” - Jackie Chan

Watch the stunts here:

Casino Royale - Building Site Chase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxNbAwY_rk&t=306s

Mission Impossible 4 - Burj Kalifa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpMExwO0DMQ&t=124s

The Burglars - Quarry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErISCQRVVpo

Royal Wedding - Ceiling Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n7R61gtSZw

Live and Let Die - Crocodile Walk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDeUzB12ln8

Stagecoach - Yakima Canutt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5__GP5BBm6I

Raiders of the Lost Ark - Truck Drag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGB0ZvO8J5k

Police Story - Pole Slide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqpB4cVLBm8

Steamboat Bill Jr - Falling Facade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0I7R_NCe4

True Lies - Bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQUTtwNLnQ

Follow the show:

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In the final chapter of 25 Years, 25 Films, Cesar and Greg take on the 2020s—a decade still in motion but already marked by seismic shifts in how films are made, distributed and watched. From intimate character dramas to epic sci-fi blockbusters, from genre-bending stories to razor-sharp social commentaries, they each choose their favourite film from every year of this decade, so far.

“I feel like a spectator in my own life.” - Julie

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Cesar and Greg are back on the mean streets of London for another trip to the church of film they call 'the cinema'. This time, to see Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's unbearably intense and visceral film 'Warfare'.

'Being anti-war is not the same as saying it should never happen' - Alex Garland

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To mark the release of Alex Garland's new film Warfare, Cesar and Greg enlist their favourite war movies. From the mud-soaked trenches of WWI to guerrilla combat in the Andes, from surviving air strikes to enduring months beneath the ocean, this episode spans the globe and every form of combat imaginable. Whether you are a hardened veteran or an inexperienced civilian, there is a cinematic battlefront here for you.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning." - Lt. Colonel Kilgore

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The journey continues! In part two of 25 Years, 25 Films, Cesar and Greg dive into the 2010s. A decade where streaming changed the game, superheroes dominated the box office and daring auteurs redefined cinema. From blockbuster franchises to indie gems, they each pick their favorite film from every year.

"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job.'" - Fletcher

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It’s Mother’s Day, so we're here to celebrate cinema’s greatest mums. From the loving, the tough, the rebellious and the downright terrifying, these mothers shape cinematic worlds big and small. Whether they’re shielding their kids from ghosts, aliens or harsh realities of the world, they prove that motherhood really does come in all shapes and forms.

"Get away from her, you b*tch!" - Ellen Ripley

Follow the show:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.