Dateline Movies Countdown: Best Senior Battles in Movies

Sometimes, the best fight scenes in movies, does not necessarily mean involving two masculine fighters with pumped-up muscles slugging it out to the very end.  Sometimes, we have to give credit to those older people who with their experience and knowledge throughout the years have mastered their craft and will certainly give their opponent, one hell of a fight.  Now in Dateline Movies, we will tackle those awesome fight scenes involving two elderlies, fist VS fist, cane VS cane, mind VS might, whichever you prefer.

Mr. Carl Fredricksen VS  Charles F. Muntz - UP 

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Up is a computer-animated, comedy, drama and adventure movie all rolled into one made by Pixar Animation Studios and was released on May 29, 2009.  It stars the voices of Ed Asner as the elderly widower Carl Fredricksen, Christopher Plummer as the old explorer Charles Muntz and Jordan Nagai as the young Wilderness Explorer scout named Russell.  

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In this hilarious fight scene, Fredricksen who is 78 years old and Charles Muntz, aged about 92, battle it out, using sword against an improvised quadropod (and some dentures), inspite of their back problems.

* age of characters courtesy of pixar talk at  http://www.pixartalk.com/2009/07/fredricksn-muntz-age/

Henry "Razor" Sharp VS Billy "The Kid" McDonnen - Grudge Match 

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Grudge Match is a comedy movie released in 2013 and stars Robert De Niro as  Billy "The Kid" McDonnen and Sylvester Stallone as Henry "Razor" Sharp, two aging Pittsburgh boxers, back to the ring again, after almost 30 years of retiring as boxers, fighting for one last time to settle their differences in a finale called "Grudgement Day".  

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I cannot find a video of their fight scene.  Instead the video here shows the agonizing and the grueling pains these two men willingly undergo to be in a proper shape to act as really boxers in spite of their ages.  As we all know Sylvester Stallone is famous as Rocky Balboa for his Rocky movies, which as of last counting has already 7 film franchises and another one is set to be released next year 2017 for Creed 2.  Robert De Niro, on the other hand, made his mark in the movieworld with his black and white sports drama flick about the life of Jake LaMotta in 1980, Raging Bull.  For his portrayal of the role as Jake LaMotta, Robert de Niro won the Best Actor Award at the  53rd Academy Award.  So this two are really worth watching and colliding as boxers and they know how to kick one's ass.  Their dedication to bring this movie into fruition is something worth seeing.

Agent Frank Horrigan VS  Mitch Leary - In the Line of Fire

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A movie directed by German film director and screenwriter Wolfgang Petersen, In the Line of Fire stars multi-talented Clint Eastwood as the aging Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan who is haunted by his past due to his failure to protect  then President John F. Kennedy and John Malkovich as the former psychotic CIA agent hellbent on assassinating the present President of the United States.  

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Angered that Frank was able to foil his attempt to kill the President of the United States, Mitch dragged Frank to the external elevator of the hotel, stops it midway and knocks out the lights to prevent sharpshooters in taking a clear shot at him.  Wisely using his earpiece to communicate with his team below, Frank gives instructions to them to aim high and fire at the elevator. As the glasses of the elevator shatters, Mitch falls but was caught by Frank. Unfortunately, Mitch decided to die instead of spending life in prison.  A memorable scene and a great example of using mind against might.  

Yoda VS Senator Palpatine (Darth Sidious) - Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

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Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on May 19, 2005 and was directed by George Lucas.  It was the third and the last installment of the Star Wars Prequel trilogy that started with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999 and followed by Star Wars Episode II: Attack of The Clones in 2002.  It stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Frank Oz.  It is set in a galaxy far, far away.

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874 year old Jedi Grand Master Yoda (played by Frank Oz) engages in a ferocious battle against the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious (played by Ian McDiarmid) under the guise of Senator Palpatine at the Senate Building. After waiting for a long time to this battle against Yoda, Darth Sidious unleashes the full power of the Dark Side and Yoda countering it with his full Jedi force, green lightsaber against red lightsaber duel, Force Lightning against Force Push . An epic battle nonetheless (complete with the orchestral and choral accompaniment) that unfortunately ends in a stalemate.

Gandalf VS Saruman - Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Rings

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is an adventure-fantasy film based upon the book of JRR Tolkien and was made into a film by Peter Jackson. It was released in 2001 and stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm and Andy Serkis. It is set in an imaginary world called Middle Earth where Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, Hobbits, Dark Lords, dragons and magic exists.

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Of all the fight scenes in these countdown, I think this is the best of them all. Ian McKellen as the Istari Wizard named Gandalf the Grey and Sir Christopher Lee as the fallen head of the Istari Order named Saruman the White, fighting it out with their magic staff. At first Gandalf was seeking the help of Saruman against the coming threat of Sauron. But unfortunately, Gandalf becomes aware that the head of his order has succumbed to the dark side.    

There you have it folks, my countdown of the Best Senior Battles in Movies.  How about you, what's your favorite Senior Battle?