When we think about action scenes on television, we often certain pivotal points of a show. Good examples may come in the form of a couple of Vikings. However, what tends to happen most of the time is that fight scenes and battles are seldom the stars of a television series.
Into The Badlands stands out precisely for this reason. The show has some of the best fight scenes on television, and it hasn't disappointed at all since it first premiered back in 2015. Fight scenes are brutal, fluid, and have a huge amount of production value thrown in the mix. There's plenty of fight scenes to choose from, and it's not an easy task. However, with the show recently coming to and end, it's more than time we take a closer look at the 10 most brutal action scenes from Into The Badlands!
The River King Boat Fight
On the sixth episode of the final season of the television series, we got to see an incredible showdown that pit Sonny and Bajie against the River King's thugs. What set apart the fights from the third season and the ones we saw during the previous seasons was the much more creative use of scenery. The choreography was always impeccable, but this time around, the characters' surroundings made for even more exciting fights.
This fight, in particular, deserves a round of applause directed towards the art and props departments. The boat where the scene takes place makes it that much more exciting, and fans will have a hard time believing that it was actually a studio, and the entire boat set was built on top of it.
Quinn VS The Widow
The fight between two of the greatest warriors on the show came our way during the very first season of Into The Badlands and it did not disappoint. One of the best things about the show is how it doesn't shy away from giving fans confrontations they didn't even know they needed until they got them - and then having audiences crying for more.
The Quinn VS the Widow showdown did a phenomenal job at showing us what Quinn was capable of. The man had a brain tumor, and he still took the fierce fighter that is the Widow for quite the spin. Plus, the moment when their swords click and slide around is nothing short of absolutely epic.
The Widow VS Ryder's clippers
Undoubtedly one of the best fight sequences we ever saw the Widow take part in, this fight scene from season two left everyone gasping. If there were still any doubts about just how lethal and dangerous she is when it's time to fight (hardly, but still, skeptics do exist), then this action scene surely put every single one of those doubts to rest.
When it comes to the element of surprise, no one can deliver a good fight scene like the Widow and the Butterflies. The choreography was superb, and the moments where the Widow shows us what she's got climbing a staircase and on top of platforms make us wonder whether or not we enjoyed her even more before she became one of the better guys.
Quinn VS Sunny
Did anybody say epic? Because that's exactly what the final battle of the second season was. Quinn was one of the best villains on television, and it helps that the actor who brings him to life, Marton Csokas, is such a compelling, charming person, who just so happens to do a brilliant job of becoming the sadistic bad guy that is Quinn.
In what's one of the biggest challenges in Sunny's life, at the end of season two he confronts the one person who, in the eyes of many fans of the show, is the only one who can give him a run for his money. And again, let's not forget that Quinn has a brain tumor. The way this fight went down just goes to show that when he was young and healthy, there was probably not a soul out there who could even come close to beating Quinn.
The Blind Cannibal Assassin Fight
You know, when you put the words blind, cannibal, and assassin together, it just tends to amount to something taken directly from a child's worst nightmare. Or anyone's worst nightmare, to be honest. Even though Into The Badlands got us used to watch some pretty horrible things, nothing came quite close to the creatures on this season three episode.
However, it did make for one of the most spectacular fight sequences in the history of both the show and television itself. Much like what happened with every fight on the third season of the show, the ambiance was top-notch and added a feel of unease that went perfectly with the scenes. Once again we see creativity and art come together in the way that Sunny fights.
Sunny VS Moon
Fight scenes wouldn't be possible without choreography. After all, much of what is happening during these action-packed scenes relate to the way the people are moving, both away and towards each other, and how each step they take directs them to the next moment. It's like dancing, except a lot more dangerous.
We've been singing the praises of Into The Badlands's clear gift for superb choreography. And one of the fight scenes that most clearly depicts this gift is the showdown between Sunny and Silvermoon. What sets this scene apart from the others it that this isn't about survival, which gave the audience a different kind of stakes. It was different, but it was also absolutely phenomenal in its own right.
The Widow Bar Fight
Yes, we definitely miss the Widow from the first couple of seasons of the show. We're not saying it was a horrible thing that during the last season she slowly became more of a moral character and less of an ambitious villain-like persona. It's great character development! But there's no denying that some of her ruthlessness was lost along the way, and nothing really compares to the fighting scenes she served us in the beginning.
One of the best showdowns in the whole show is definitely the bar fight where the Widow takes on the role of the protagonist, and literally wipes the floor with her opponents. She's graceful and lethal, and this is the exact moment where audiences learn why people fear her so much. We would too, after all.
Sunny VS The Widow
Keep in mind that this fight is the one that took place on the first season of Into The Badlands. It happened in the fifth episode of the show, and this scene is important for several reasons. Number one, it's one of the first few times we see Sunny fight - and boy if that isn't important. This left fans with an amazing after-taste, so huge kudos for that. Secondly, we don't only see Sunny fight, we see him fight against someone like the Widow, who's already established herself as a force to be reckoned with.
Thirdly, it's mesmerizing. It's not that the other scenes on the show aren't - they all are, in a way, and that's what sets them apart from other action scenes on television. But this one in particular, while being brutal, is also magical in the sense that it's almost like watching two professional dancers. It's simply brilliant.
Sunny VS The Ambush
It's always absolutely fantastic to see a character take down an opponent. It's even more satisfying when said character manages to defeat two enemies. But when it's dozens? That's something worthy of the big budget Hollywood movies, including all the honors that come with it - Oscars, BAFTAs, you name it. And that's exactly what this fight scene from the first season was.
The showrunners could have chosen to surround Sunny with dozens of enemies and then cut to a scene where they all laid down on the floor defeated. But they didn't; instead, they took the difficult path and choose to have all the choreography in place to give us an epic showdown of Sunny defeating all of them, in one of the most complex moments of the entire show. Sunny was ambushed, and he came out victorious - and audiences got to experience every minute of it.
The Final Battle
Into The Badlands might have ended, but everyone involved in making the show the powerful reality that it is made sure it went down with an absolute bang. For years, we've been blessed with some of the most intricate, powerful, and brutal fight scenes ever depicted on television, many of which are listed above. But none quite managed to reach the peak that was the final battle of the show, that took place not long ago.
The final battle amounts to an almost ten-minute long sequence involving all the main characters of the show. It was divided into three sequences within itself, giving everyone a chance to shine, and bringing together all the knowledge and experience that inevitably comes with making epic battles come to life on screen. Fans might have been extremely disappointed by the fact that Into The Badlands is over - but there can be no discussion about the way the show met its legendary end.