Wizard Duels on film

[Threeshades]

If we count Jedi, we should also mention Avatar, the last airbender. Any battle between benders there should qualify.

Fabius Maximus wrote:

How about "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"? It's crap, but the special effects are rather pretty.

That movie's German title is literally "Duel of the Wizards".

[Shain Edge]

Vendle wrote:

I wish I could recall the name of it, but there was another 80's movie about two wizards. The final battle in a museum has animated skeletons of a mammoth and T-Rex. I think they both wanted a staff that manipulated space and time.

edit: MysticalMovieGuide.com may be helpful

It took me a bit of time to get to the movie name. I had to remember that the actor was also the main actor to 'Reanimator' = Jeffery Combs vs a reoccurring actor bad guy Brian Thompson as Kabal.

Found the movie I used to own on VHS, 'Doctor Mordrid'. The characters were 'Alchemists'. I really liked it.

[ShinHakkaider]

The final fight in ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND.
Where the two sorcerers / wizards summon spirits to possess the bodies of their apprentices to fight it out is pretty nice. It's also one of my favorite Sammo Hung fights.

[Kobold Catgirl]

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had the "Magic Duel" episode in season three. The actual duel is more just showing off to prove who's more powerful, but a few of the spells do target the rival caster, and it's referred to as a duel, so I'd say it counts.

There's also the short magic-off between the Princess and the Changeling Queen. It's a bit of a curbstomp, though, so if we're gonna count it, we should probably also count the utter curbstomp between Shining Armor and 'King' Sombra.

I have a feeling the next season will feature at least one additional fight, but that may be wishful thinking.

Regardless, moving on from pony, the wizard "duel" in The Name of the King technically counts. Oh, Uwe Boll, only you could take a freakin' wizard duel and make it boring.

Willow goes up against Giles in Season Six of Buffy--one of the best parts of that rather iffy season.

[Kalshane]

There's a nice wizard duel near the beginning of the first episode of the web series RWBY. (Unfortunately I'm finding that series to have great action sequences with woefully inconsistent writing the rest of the time.)

[Umbral Reaver]

How many of these are interesting applications of spellcraft against each other...

And how many are just lightshows thrown at each other?

Blasters are boring.

:P

[Tensor]

Harry Dresden saves Murphy from a bad guy.

vid = flick'em bick'em

[LazarX]

I remember the one between Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in "The Raven".

[Laurefindel]

There's a lot of spell flinging, lightning calling and laser-shooting wand action in several movies, but the Razel vs Bavmorda at the end of Willow has a real sense of duel and of specific spells.

The best for me remains Voldermort vs Dumbledore at the end of Order of the Phoenix. More than simple clashing coloured ray of lights, this duel clearly has magical attacks, parries, counterspells, counter attacks etc. I can't remember the one in Little China enough, but the duel in the Ministry of Magic is one of the best depiction of a wizard's duel to date IMO.

I can't remember any specific episodes, but there were some nice magic-fueled kung-fu/jiujitsu duels in Naruto and Avatar(the last airbender)

[Kthulhu]

James Jacobs wrote:

I'd have to nominate the battle between Lo Pan and Egg Shen from Big Trouble in Little China.

The most hilarious bit about this fight is that if you watch them (Lo Pan and Egg Shen), the somatic components seem to consist of pretending to have a video game controller. Methinks the name of that spell is Summon Mortal Kombat.