Favorite climactic battles in media?

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Another one for the Siege of Helm's Deep.

Other ones:
Armstrong vs. Raiden - what a bonkers conclusion to a bonkers game.
Let's dance

Battle for Hill 400 from Call of Duty 2(iirc it was the conclusion to Allied Campaign)

Skyfall's ending at Bond Manor

Kitchen Showdown from Raid 2

Mad Max Fury Road.

Yes, all of it.

The Prewitt building sequence in The Dark Knight. I firmly believe this to be one of the main inspirations for various gameplay aspects in the Arkham games such as detective mode, and everything works beautifully. The fact that the site used for it is the then-incomplete Trump International Hotel and Tower does nothing to diminish its awesomeness.

Yeah, i like that someone else remember's probably the best action sequence in Nolan's Batman movies.

Which reminds me:
Now, i'm cheating here a bit, because of the structurless nature of that film, but those dogfights are chronologically last, and conclude the story told in Dunkirk.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Both movies in The Raid series are pretty good but the second one has the best finale fight.

Saving Private Ryan, John Wick 2, Immortals, and The Dark Knight Returns Animated all come to mind. I honestly think the end of The Fellowship holds up with the sequals in terms of climactic fights. It feels so intimate and intense, especially Aragorn's confrontation with Lurtz. Boromir's horn echoing through the forest gives me tingles.

Troy as well if you count the Hector/Achilles fight as the climax. I do.

 

[Kyrian007]

Since Metroid and Zelda have been brought up:

-Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finale, with Twilight Princess a close second

-Metroid: Fusion finale, with Super Metroid a close second

Staying away from things that others have mentioned, I'd have to say the raid on the Cylon mining operation in the BSG episode "Hand of God" late in the first season. Yes, I know its almost a direct ripoff of Star Wars' Battle of Yavin.

Um, how?

Also not sure if that counts as a climax.

Anyway, I do like that episode, but if we're talking about climaxes, I'd go with the ending of season 3 (for somewhat obvious reasons).

It starts with a planning session where the good guys have to throw the dice on one impossible plan upon which rests the fate of everything. It ends with a trench run and threading the needle with a well placed shot. It all comes down to one pilot with great skill doing the impossible. I don't mean any disrespect by using the term ripoff btw, if you are going to rip something off... do it that well and nobody's going to care. The Battle of Yavin itself was inspired by the movie "The Dam Busters" so one could say Lucas ripped that off. Again, who cares... it was awesome.

And climatic... I had BSG all ready for a re-watch a year or so after I'd seen it for the first time. I got to Hand of God, watched the episode, remembered that it wasn't going to get any better than that... and just decided that with that victory they won. That gave them the fuel they needed to find earth - The End.

It saved me a lot of time.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

I think everyone's already given some good suggestions for movies so I'll just focus on games.

Ahem... Halo: Reach - Lone Wolf

*mic drop*

Oh, and also Dust: An Elysian Tail. OK, that's it. Actually, no. Banjo-Kazooie. And Serious Sam: The First Encounter. Alright. NOW that's it.

I'd also really like to add Max Payne to my list, but the game's spectacular gameplay balance went right out the window during the entire second half of the game when the enemies all turn into bullet sponges. What should have been an incredibly epic and final showdown/shootout became an annoying slog purely because of that.

 

[springheeljack]

The final duel in Once Upon a Time In the West
Everything about this scene is perfect the cinematography, the acting, the music, all of it just perfect.
The entire movie had been a buildup to this one scene and they really delivered.
In terms of like actual battle scenes I would say the last 20 minutes of Red Cliff was incredibly amazing

 

[Hawki]

It starts with a planning session where the good guys have to throw the dice on one impossible plan upon which rests the fate of everything.

Hardly unique to Star Wars.

It ends with a trench run and threading the needle with a well placed shot. It all comes down to one pilot with great skill doing the impossible.

Okay, but that's only at the very end. Most of the battle takes place in space and above the asteroid itself.

Again, who cares... it was awesome.

True enough, but it always irks me that Baltar has no reason to guess where the target is in this case, does so anyway, and then fears he might be wrong. Likewise, there's no reason for Adama to keep Roslin out of the loop. I get why it's done for narrative reasons, but they're not backed up with in-universe justification.

So, I like the episode, but it's not the high point for me. Generally speaking, BSG's seasons for me go 3>2>1>4.

Ahem... Halo: Reach - Lone Wolf

*mic drop*

The endings to Halo 1 and Halo 3.

(I'd drop the mic, but my ears are still ringing.)

Banjo-Kazooie.

Um...that actually makes sense. 0_0

 

[Arnoxthe1]

The endings to Halo 1 and Halo 3.

Halo: CE has a great ending but I hesitate to call the last battle it has one of the best climatic battles I've been in. Halo 3 same thing except moreso. I wasn't a super huge fan of Halo 3's campaign in general. It gets the job done absolutely but it doesn't really do anything more than that.

 

[Tanis]

Obiwan vs Maul

 

[Hawki]

The endings to Halo 1 and Halo 3.

Halo: CE has a great ending but I hesitate to call the last battle it has one of the best climatic battles I've been in. Halo 3 same thing except moreso. I wasn't a super huge fan of Halo 3's campaign in general. It gets the job done absolutely but it doesn't really do anything more than that.

Okay, but does Reach really count as a "climatic battle?" It has a great ending with Lone Wolf, sure, but it's presented as an anti-climax. There's no glory, no hope, Six is going to die, and no-one will know nor care (Halsey's monologue aside).

Obiwan vs Maul

Phantom Menace or Rebels?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Okay, but does Reach really count as a "climatic battle?" It has a great ending with Lone Wolf, sure, but it's presented as an anti-climax. There's no glory, no hope, Six is going to die, and no-one will know nor care (Halsey's monologue aside).

But two things. We're talking about climatic battles, not endings. And the Lone Wolf battle was amazing not just because it was a really cool campaign set-piece but the entire context around it. Of saying goodbye one final time and giving it your all despite the fact that you know it's hopeless. That you know you're going to die. It was the final run of Bungie's Halo. And that is the real climax.

 

[Hawki]

Okay, but does Reach really count as a "climatic battle?" It has a great ending with Lone Wolf, sure, but it's presented as an anti-climax. There's no glory, no hope, Six is going to die, and no-one will know nor care (Halsey's monologue aside).

But two things. We're talking about climatic battles, not endings. And the Lone Wolf battle was amazing not just because it was a really cool campaign set-piece but the entire context around it. Of saying goodbye one final time and giving it your all despite the fact that you know it's hopeless. That you know you're going to die. It was the final run of Bungie's Halo. And that is the real climax.

Disagree.

I mean, that's why it's good, because it's anti-climactic. Because of how low key it is and whatnot. I mean, Reach has a great ending, but if we judge it by the battle it presents, and contrast it to the bombast of Halo 1/3, then it comes up short.

 

[Rangaman]

Pirates 3 is an underappreciated movie.

It's not that it's an awful movie, it's just that the franchise had obviously run out of steam by the end of the second movie and most of the third film is spent trying to hide the fact that there's virtually no plot to it and that it's about twice as long as it needs to be.

Though to be fair, I'll take the largely forgettable but inoffensive third movie over the forth and fifth movies (and that weird, racist Lone Ranger movie).

And Pirates 3 at least had a good enough ending that felt like an appropriate send off for all the characters:


And really? They ran out of steam? This is the last movie where they at least put effort into it and cared.

What I meant was that by the end of Dead Man's Chest, they'd run out of things for the main cast to do. I agree with you that Pirates 3 actually isn't a terrible film, it's decent all things considered and effort obviously went into it. But you can just tell that they had run out of ideas by this film. Again, this movie is 40-50% filler material. There's a whole bunch of scenes and plot threads that just go nowhere and add nothing. Had this movie cut out all the unnecessary shit and been 80-90 minutes instead of nearly three hours long, it would've been a much better film.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Pirates 3 is an underappreciated movie.

It's not that it's an awful movie, it's just that the franchise had obviously run out of steam by the end of the second movie and most of the third film is spent trying to hide the fact that there's virtually no plot to it and that it's about twice as long as it needs to be.

Though to be fair, I'll take the largely forgettable but inoffensive third movie over the forth and fifth movies (and that weird, racist Lone Ranger movie).

And Pirates 3 at least had a good enough ending that felt like an appropriate send off for all the characters:


And really? They ran out of steam? This is the last movie where they at least put effort into it and cared.

What I meant was that by the end of Dead Man's Chest, they'd run out of things for the main cast to do. I agree with you that Pirates 3 actually isn't a terrible film, it's decent all things considered and effort obviously went into it. But you can just tell that they had run out of ideas by this film. Again, this movie is 40-50% filler material. There's a whole bunch of scenes and plot threads that just go nowhere and add nothing. Had this movie cut out all the unnecessary shit and been 80-90 minutes instead of nearly three hours long, it would've been a much better film.

I think the issue with the movie is that they were clearly trying to set up a bigger universe than they actually could make and they made it too soon.

Like the Pirate Lords of Shipwreck Cove, the east india trading company, the laws behind the supernatural elements.

Heck one thing I always questioned was the whole "the Dutchmen MUST have a captain" but they never explained the true negative concequences of if it never has a captain? The worse they said is one crew member saying "The Dutchmen needs a living heart, or there will be no captain, and if there is no captain, there is no one to have the key?"

I feel like the writers forgot to write a proper concequences as to why the Dutchmen needs a captain.

But I love some filler moments like the Many Jacks scene, it was to clearly show that Jack has been driven insane in his time in the Locker and even out of the locker he's still traumatized to a degree.

 

[Kyrian007]

It starts with a planning session where the good guys have to throw the dice on one impossible plan upon which rests the fate of everything.

Hardly unique to Star Wars.

It ends with a trench run and threading the needle with a well placed shot. It all comes down to one pilot with great skill doing the impossible.

Okay, but that's only at the very end. Most of the battle takes place in space and above the asteroid itself.

Again, who cares... it was awesome.

True enough, but it always irks me that Baltar has no reason to guess where the target is in this case, does so anyway, and then fears he might be wrong. Likewise, there's no reason for Adama to keep Roslin out of the loop. I get why it's done for narrative reasons, but they're not backed up with in-universe justification.

So, I like the episode, but it's not the high point for me. Generally speaking, BSG's seasons for me go 3>2>1>4.

Uhh yeah, I said it wasn't unique to Star Wars, the whole battle was ripped off from an earlier movie. And as for Baltar, there isn't any need? Knowing Baltar's character it without a doubt wasn't even a choice to him whether or not to make that guess. He HAS to be the expert. That's just in his nature, its who he is. NOT making that guess... may just as well have him slink into supporting cast and fade out of the show entirely. Yes, he could have been wrong. But that thought wouldn't influence his decision over the possibility of simply not being right. To be right, to be the expert... he has to make that guess. For him, its the only way forward. And Adama, no justification? He wants to trust Roslin, but can he? It's only all of humanity on the line after all. Its perfectly reasonable that he might still not trust someone who is new in her position, that he only met a couple of weeks before, that he can't be entirely sure isn't a Cylon.

 

[Hawki]

And as for Baltar, there isn't any need? Knowing Baltar's character it without a doubt wasn't even a choice to him whether or not to make that guess. He HAS to be the expert. That's just in his nature, its who he is. NOT making that guess... may just as well have him slink into supporting cast and fade out of the show entirely. Yes, he could have been wrong. But that thought wouldn't influence his decision over the possibility of simply not being right. To be right, to be the expert... he has to make that guess. For him, its the only way forward.

Baltar's an egotist, certainly, but so much of an egotist that he's willing to play pin the tail on the tactical map in the hope that he just happens to get it right? He realizes his error later, but even in the context of the moment, it's a big leap.

And Adama, no justification? He wants to trust Roslin, but can he? It's only all of humanity on the line after all. Its perfectly reasonable that he might still not trust someone who is new in her position, that he only met a couple of weeks before, that he can't be entirely sure isn't a Cylon.

Roslin was "confirmed" to not be a cylon in the previous episode through Baltar's device. Not confirmed to the viewer since everyone gets a free pass, but Adama doesn't know that. And Adama already has to share this plan (presumably) with all of his pilots, and all fo his command staff, any of whom could also be a cylon. Roslin may not be military, but she's still the president, and still, in theory, the commander in chief. Not telling her could easily backfire if she tried to assert authority over a plan that, until the release of the second Viper wing, was going south.

 

[Kyrian007]

And as for Baltar, there isn't any need? Knowing Baltar's character it without a doubt wasn't even a choice to him whether or not to make that guess. He HAS to be the expert. That's just in his nature, its who he is. NOT making that guess... may just as well have him slink into supporting cast and fade out of the show entirely. Yes, he could have been wrong. But that thought wouldn't influence his decision over the possibility of simply not being right. To be right, to be the expert... he has to make that guess. For him, its the only way forward.

Baltar's an egotist, certainly, but so much of an egotist that he's willing to play pin the tail on the tactical map in the hope that he just happens to get it right? He realizes his error later, but even in the context of the moment, it's a big leap.

And Adama, no justification? He wants to trust Roslin, but can he? It's only all of humanity on the line after all. Its perfectly reasonable that he might still not trust someone who is new in her position, that he only met a couple of weeks before, that he can't be entirely sure isn't a Cylon.

Roslin was "confirmed" to not be a cylon in the previous episode through Baltar's device. Not confirmed to the viewer since everyone gets a free pass, but Adama doesn't know that. And Adama already has to share this plan (presumably) with all of his pilots, and all fo his command staff, any of whom could also be a cylon. Roslin may not be military, but she's still the president, and still, in theory, the commander in chief. Not telling her could easily backfire if she tried to assert authority over a plan that, until the release of the second Viper wing, was going south.

Baltar's guess didn't seem very out of character to me. This was a guy who's carelessness led to the death of nearly all of his species, and he seems to be a massive egotist... still. Meaning one of the most massive blunders in all of history didn't diminish his ego. It seemed to make him worse, to give him even more of a need to prove he is as awesome as he thought he was. Making a guess about the target seems right in line with that.

I got the impression that Adama never really completely trusted Baltar and his Cylon testing machine. Or rather he was a fan of trust, but verify. And Roslin being commander in chief is very much in theory. Should she have tried to give an order or assert any authority, unless it was something he was about to do anyway, Adama would never have allowed her to wield any actual martial authority at that point. He barely went along with her claim to the Presidency in the first place.

 

[Hawki]

Baltar's guess didn't seem very out of character to me. This was a guy who's carelessness led to the death of nearly all of his species, and he seems to be a massive egotist... still. Meaning one of the most massive blunders in all of history didn't diminish his ego. It seemed to make him worse, to give him even more of a need to prove he is as awesome as he thought he was. Making a guess about the target seems right in line with that.

Baltar's got an ego, and that ego is part of why he let Caprica Six into the mainframe (along with other, more...biological reasons), but I don't think it's as high as you claim. Remember, he tried to back out of making the cylon detector before Head!Six bullied him into it, explaining how he could create one. He is genuinely intelligent, and does have a high opinion of himself, but even then, he could understand the limits of his intelligence. So why, in this case, does he take a wild guess? If he wants to keep his ego, maybe not take gambles that could shatter his reputation?

I got the impression that Adama never really completely trusted Baltar and his Cylon testing machine. Or rather he was a fan of trust, but verify. And Roslin being commander in chief is very much in theory. Should she have tried to give an order or assert any authority, unless it was something he was about to do anyway, Adama would never have allowed her to wield any actual martial authority at that point. He barely went along with her claim to the Presidency in the first place.

You're right that Adama still likely has misgivings about Roslin, and that the situation in the fleet is that the military has more leeway than they would under a traditional government. But even then, Adama has bowed to Roslin before (e.g. when they search for Starbuck), and if he doesn't trust her, why have her in CIC in the first place? Either trust her and fill her in on the plan, or have her stay out of the operation. Going halfway is a potential recipe for disaster.

 

[Groxnax]

How about the final space battle in The Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

One heck of a game of chicken.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Just got back from seeing Ready Player One in theaters, and that last big battle was Freaking epic! Watching an army of characters from all across fiction facing down an army of faceless drones was an incredible experience. The movie itself was pretty good too.