The Top 10 Best Movie Swordsmen
5. Wade Wilson – Deadpool and Deadpool 2
Wade Wilson might be an obnoxious loudmouth who’s original superpower was getting on everyone’s nerves, but when it comes to swordplay, the man is no slouch. While most people might be content with one katana, Wade wields two (named Bea and Arthur). While he tends to favor guns when it comes to mass murder, he also has a nasty habit of forgetting his ammo at home. Because of this, he’s had to get pretty handy with his blades and manages to cut through anyone who stands in his way. His true skill though lies in his unpredictability in combat as he often puts himself in harm’s to go for the killing blow. Of course, a few bullet holes are hardly an issue when you’ve got a mutant healing factor making you all but indestructible.
4. Kuwabatake Sanjuro – Yojimbo And Sanjuro
No one did samurai movies better than Akira Kurosawa and he often turned to legendary actor Toshiro Mifune to play the leads in those films. There were a ton of great swordsmen to choose from but for my money, Sanjuro was the greatest of them all. A wandering samurai, he was a master swordsman who used his cunning to defeat his enemies. Even outnumbered, Sanjuro would often devise a way to manipulate the odds in his favor. While ronin might not have been seen as the most honorable men in feudal Japan, Sanjuro often ended up doing the right thing under the guise of only being in it for the money. Once he took a job though, he saw it through to the end no matter how bloody it got.
3. Mace Windu – Star Wars
We’ve seen a lot of people wield lightsabers over the years from Jedi to Sith. To be honest, I’m not the biggest Star Wars geek on the planet, so I had to do a little research on this one. What I found was that Mace Windu was considered to be unmatched when it came to his skills with a lightsaber. That’s probably why he had a purple one rather than the traditional blue or green that all the others carried around. A member of the Jedi Council, Mace didn’t spend a lot of time in the field during the prequels. However, he stepped in a few times to finish fights. Most notable was the one against Darth Sidious who was only able to defeat him when Anakin betrayed the Jedi. Toss in the fact that he’s played by badass extraordinaire Samuel L. Jackson and there’s no arguing that he isn’t a “force” to be reckoned with.
2. Kenshin Himura – The Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy
There’s no arguing that anime isn’t filled with some of the most incredible swordsmen of all time. Now, I know I said that I would only include live-action swordsmen on this list, but, luckily for me, there was a live-action trilogy released a few years ago featuring one of the most beloved anime samurai of all time. Nicknamed the “Hitokiri Battousai,” Kenshin was one of the bloodiest assassins during the Bakumatsu war. Having taken a vow never to kill again, he wanders the countryside seeking redemption. However, his skills are needed once more to protect the country he once killed for. Still, refusing to take a life, he uses a “reverse blade” katana to fight against those who would destroy everything he’s worked to protect. Even with that “handicap,” his skills make him a brutal and dangerous opponent.
1. Li Mu Bai- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
When it comes to the best movie swordsman of all time, no one is better than Master Li Mu Bai. He appears in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which is filled with incredible fighters all trying to get a hold of the greatest sword in all of China, the Green Destiny. Despite so many skilled warriors being after it, he handily outmatches all of them. Even when it’s eventually stolen, he arrives just in time to rescue his beloved Yu Shu Lien and chases the thief into a bamboo forest. There she tells him he can have the sword back if he can get it in three moves. Being the best of the best, he does it in one. Despite his incredible skills, Li Mu Bai is a humble and kind-hearted man who puts his life on the line for the sake of others. Combined with his jaw-dropping martial arts skills, this easily earns him the top spot on this list.
Honorable Mention: Blade – The Blade Trilogy
The vampire hunter blade dispatches many of his enemies with a silver-tipped blade. Of course, he owes his incredible skills to the fact that he’s also part vampire, which grants him inhuman speed, strength, and reflexes. While he didn’t earn an official spot on this list, I still wanted to give him a shout out.
There are literally dozens of other great swordsmen from the movies. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the ones that made my list as well as who you might have liked to have seen earn a spot. As always, I’ll be updating this list as new and improved swordsmen appear on the big screen. So, make sure you check back from time to time to see how the rankings change!