There was a lot of terrific swordplay in Kurosawa's body of work, none finer than that between Toshiro Mifune and his arch rival. The setting was perfect: the old general against the new general, surrounded by the troops, all of whom are in awe of the prowess before them.

The first hour of the movie may get tedious, but it all builds up nicely, as we know that Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura are going to have to take out the whole Yakuza clan on their own, Robert with his gun, and Ken with his katana. Ken is just way too cool as he slices and dices through baddie after baddie.

There were certainly a lot of set-to's in Highlander, and of course, the climactic confrontation between Connor and Kurgan takes the cake. One of the nice touches of the movie is the great variety of swords, from two-handers to katana, to scimitars. Didactic, as well as a feast for the eyes!

Errol Flynn had some great moments with a sword in his hand, but even Robin Hood was topped by this one. Like many others--and this was among the first--the film leads up to the inevitable fight between between Flynn and Basil Rathbone, one of the great villains.

Once again, I've bundled Star Wars movies together. The Obi-wan/Vader battle was a sentimental favorite, but Vader had his finest moments against son Luke in Jedi and Empire, the latter being the crowning moment. Greater still was the battle that took place during the finale of Phantom Menace, between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. If you watch carefully, you'll find the most well-rehearsed, perfectly choreographed and inhumanly executed fight ever put on film.

No doubt about it, this received the most requests from you--all but one reader said that this should be on the list. Why? More than the actual sword-work, it's the writing of the scenes, especially the earlier match between Inigo and Westley. Hilarious dialogue, brilliant shifts "I am no left-handed!", and great footwork make this one to watch over and over!