As a big fan of sci-fi films, it's always awesome to see a great show down between the hero and the villain at the end of a movie. In anticipation of the release of Rian Johnson's awesome looking film Looper, in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt has to fight Bruce Willis, Complex has come up with a Top 10 list of best sci-fi movie face-off's.
I've included five of the ten entries below, make sure to head on over to Complex to see the complete list, which is pretty decent. Look it over and let us know if there are any other badass face-offs you can think of that you would add to it?!
Predator: Dutch vs. the Predator
"If it bleeds, we can kill it." Truer words were never spoken, Arnold. The movie's ultimate showdown is between the Predator and Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, Dutch (we know, it's a strange nickname for an Austrian). The intergalactic game hunter actually faces off with a gaggle of recognizable faces throughout the film, including Apollo Creed himself, Carl Weathers, Shane Black (the man who made action movie history with his sale of the script for Lethal Weapon) and former-wrestler-cum-Minnesota-governor Jesse Ventura. "The Body," as Jesse used to like to be called, titled his memoir after one of his character's most memorable quotes from the movie: "I ain't got time to bleed."
Aliens: Ripley vs. the Mother Alien
How do you improve upon a Ridley Scott classic that changed the face of sci-fi? Have James Cameron write and direct the sequel. Oh, and make the "Alien" in question plural. Nicely done. Along with a certain other part II (er, part V) later on this list, this epic 1986 sequel could qualify as the Godfather II of sci-fi action films in that many feel it's better than the original. Whatever your stance on Aliens, when Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), defending her little pal Newt, screams "get away from her, you bitch!" at the mother of all aliens (literally), you know it is on.
The Matrix Reloaded: Neo vs. Agent Smith(s)
OK, so maybe the Wachowski siblings went completely off the rails with the second and third installments of this ill-advised trilogy, but the promise of the original chapter—those 360-degree fight scenes and slow-mo bullet shots that would be ripped off ad nauseum for a decade to come—was fulfilled with the Neo vs. 1,000 Agent Smiths fight in The Matrix Reloaded. Honorable mention here goes to the first Neo vs. Smith showdown from The Matrix that led to Neo's death and resurrection (spoiler alert from 13 years ago!).
Terminator 2: Judgement Day: T-800 vs. T-1000
We told you Cameron was good at sequels! This 1991 follow-up managed to improve upon its own initial conceit, with Arnold's T-800 now being an antiquated model that's been reprogrammed and sent back from the future to protect the since-been-committed-to-a-mental-facility Sarah Connor and her now-teenage son, John Connor (who, as legend has it, will someday grown up to lead the resistance against the machines).The face-off this time is between Arnold and the T-1000, a new and improved "liquid metal" Terminator (played by the ever-creepy Robert Patrick) that can take the shape of anything it touches, and is seemingly impervious to any sort of gunshot. If only Skynet would send a cyborg back in time to tell Christian Bale not to do Terminator: Salvation.
The Empire Strikes Back: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader
Okay, so we made a crack about Star Wars in the intro, but that was about Ewoks, which don't show up until part III (er, part VI). But before that, Empire had one of the greatest face-offs in cinematic history: Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader. If you don't know the piece of information that gets revealed in their epic lightsaber duel, then you must be from a pretty remote part of Tatooine. It pains us to say it, but this face-off is the sci-fi champ.