Scenes I Go Back To: Duel To The Death
(Everything starts hitting the fan at about 6:50 in the clip above, but really, watch it in its entirety.)
What makes Duel To The Death the nigh-perfect film that it is? One word: ninjas. And not just your typical Sho Kosugi/Octagon brand of ninjas. We’re talking flying ninjas, exploding ninjas, ninjas who combine, Voltron-style, to form giant ninjas—it’s enough to boggle the mind. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Duel To The Death, once you factor in the psycho monks, physics-defying swordsmen, legless tyrants, and more.
Duel To The Death is the kind of movie that, just when you think you’ve got a handle on its insanity, throws out something new that instantly ups the WTF-ness factor by another order of magnitude. The first time my friends and I watched Duel To The Death, we were reduced to howling in disbelief as just how increasingly crazy, absurd, and kick-ass the film got. And just when we thought we’d seen it all, it turns out nothing had prepared us for this battle between the two protagonists (and rival swordsmen), and a whole gaggle of ninjas and their bad-ass, synth-heavy soundtrack.
It’s not the climax of the film—that also needs to be seen to be believed—but I think this scene does a better job of capturing the overall tone of the film. After all, it has exploding ninja heads.
This entry is part of my August blogging project, “Scenes I Go Back To”.
Comments
The Visitor
August 14, 2007 10:30pmthat’s what i keep telling people. every good movie needs only one thing: exploding ninjas!
btw, i thought the bad guy was going to end up naked in the end, seeing how his clothes were being gradually cut to shreds.
Mike
August 15, 2007 12:09pmYes, you are correct. The WTF-ness of this clip is very high. The talking, exploding head at the end (you know… the one with a tree branch through it) definitely takes this clip to a whole new level.