ROB ROY - SWORD FIGHT

One of the greatest sword fights ever put on film. Cunningham (Roth) has stolen Rob Roy MacGregor's (Neeson) money, murdered his brother and best friend, burned his house and raped his wife. Now MacGregor must kill him or die.

I threw in the happy ending because of the beautiful music and stunning Scottish scenery.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• rob
• roy
• macgregor
• liam
• neeson
• tim
• roth
• swordfight
• scotland

[Otacon144]

@darthroden - Cunningham lost because he got overconfident. All those little cuts when he clearly had the skill to kill him outright? He's toying with MacGregor - he wants to humiliate him as much as he can. He's taken everything else from him - he's going to savor this. He thinks he's already won.

MacGregor doesn't really "live by the sword." He's just a farmer who's had awful things done to him and wants justice. And he gets it when Cunningham lets his guard down.

[DanieLaixer]

@TheXeeman Do you mean Qui-Gon Jinn?

[bgdancer100]

@Otacon144 In point of fact, the actual Rob Roy MacGregor was reputed to be the best swordsman in the Highlands during his lifetime.

[DickLodge68]

@agmor1 We simply disagree then. If you think Neeson was a warm, believable character in Episode One, I'd say you're off your rocker. That is a classic example how some actors need a good story and direction, neither of which the Phantom Menace had. That movie was an embarrassment! Admittedly, I haven't seen all Tim Roth movies, but I find him to be a very capable actor and in Rob Roy, he was brilliant.

[agmor1]

@DickLodge68 Certain actors, though, can transcend poor material, such as Meryl Streep, Roger Allam, Bruce McGill and Gary Oldman. Roth can't, or at least has not in poor projects. Lots of actors have appeared in bad films, but Roth is also bad in them. For instance, I thought that Neeson actually did well in Menace: he managed to create a warm, believable character, whilst most of the other actors came across as stiff and uncomfortable with the material.

[mzytryck]

Truly awesome fight. Does anyone know if they used doubles for this, or if Roth and Neeson were trained to be that good? Either way, the choreography is superb, they actually do look like they are trying to kill each other, and even the noise of the blades clashing and scraping sounds angry compared to the musical "ting" you hear in other films. The only other sword fight I've seen where you feel the characters' hatred and tiredness like this is the Christopher Lee climax of The Four Musketeers.

[Bfdidc]

Rob Roy came out the same year as Braveheart, which got all the attention. I much prefer Rob Roy as a movie.

[DickLodge68]

@agmor1 Roth is obviously a great actor. Here's where you might disagree...direction, story, and script is everything. Many great actors need a great director to lead them. Look at Liam Neeson here, compared to him in SW Episode One. The story and character development has a huge impact on the actor's role. So, what I'm saying is that Tim Roth is a gifted actor....only if.

[agmor1]

This is the last time in which Tim Roth was legitimately awesome, before he repeated himself with silly vocal tics and behavioural mannerisms. The simplicity and power of his acting choices in this scene (including his almost-smile as he puts his sword to McGregor's neck) show an actor with legitimate range and precision. His recent work does not compare to this subtle, well-drawn and entertaining performance.

[TreasonousBastard]

@SchwarzerFrost1989 That Rob wins the fight through raw determination, which he possesses because he's fighting for more meaningful things. That Cunningham has him on the ropes via finesse, deception, and subtlety, and is attempting to humiliate him and defeat him slowly, also is symbolic of basically everything that Cunningham is and has done already in the film. The way the fight plays out represents who both of them really are as characters, symbolically.

[SchwarzerFrost1989]

@TreasonousBastard Was is the symbolism here?

[TreasonousBastard]

@ijustwanttowatchmovs The blade might have been sharp enough to bite into the bones of Rob's hand and get stuck, though. I think there are a lot of possibilities that make this vaguely plausible, but in the end the symbolism is more important than how realistic it is. And, let's be fair, this movie overall deserves high marks for realism and historical accuracy in costume, idiom, social structure, technology, etc.