Ultimate Fights

Trivia tidbits I learned watching this program: Stanley Kubrick considered Liam Neeson's fistfight in Crossing the Line to be the best bare-fisted fight scene ever filmed; the amount of cocaine heaped on Al Pacino's desk at the time of the final gunfight in Scarface equaled approximately three kilos; and Rambo was actually named after the 19th century French writer Rimbaud! FlixMix's latest movie clip compilation (see review of Boogeymen on VL Online-11/01), spotlights 16 of the "most intense fights from the movies," with the DVD sporting a commentary track by Tsui Hark, as well as an optional movie trivia pop-up feature, an interactive "Name That Frame" game, and a behind the scenes look at how to stage a film fight. Needless to say, the title alone--Ultimate Fights--constitutes fighting words, as certain omissions will be noted (The Matrix, Raging Bull) and certain choices will be questioned (the girlfight in Girlfight is loads better than the girlfight in The Player's Club). For the record, here's a partial list of the more notable clashes of the cinematic titans: Rumble in the Bronx and Legend of Drunken Master (characteristically inventive Jackie Chan ballet fisticuffs), Blade (final fight sequence, best scene in the movie), Gladiator (it's Russell Crowe's legs vs. the tigers), Timecop (in which Jean Claude Van-Damme does the very impressive butterfly split on the kitchen counter), Fist of Legend and Black Mask (both featuring Jet Li), and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (the first rooftop fight between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi). Sure to be popular, this inexpensive "best of" is a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)