Certainly, duels are fun to watch, and some of the most dramatic moments in a story. Even in the novel format, it would be possible to argue that Eowyn's confrontation with the Witch-king is one of the most memorable moments in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Not the
only dramatic moment, of course, but still a moment that sticks in many people's memories after reading the scene, in a way that other moments from that battle may not.
There is a scale of martial arts sliding from sport to combat, with most models fitting firmly on the sport side. Even when used to deadly effect, some martial arts-style moves are more for executing prisoners who aren't fighting back rather than for actually fighting an opponent who is trying to kill you. It's a martial art, it's meant to train someone for combat, but that doesn't mean they can all realistically be used in a warfare situation.
We do have some tournament-style duels in Silm Film already. Fingolfin competes in Tirion, prior to the incident where Fëanor points a sword as his throat. The obvious background there is that Tulkas likes to train, and would certainly invite the elves to train too - and it's all in good fun until someone pulls a real weapon in anger. Similarly, there is a tournament at Himring in Season 4 Episode 4, where Fingolfin and Maedhros do duel one another for fun.
There are plenty of movies that have found ways to incorporate dramatic duels. All of the
Star Wars films,
The Princess Bride, the first two Narnia films,
Pirates of the Caribbean, etc, etc, etc. Stage fighting is a thing for a reason.
And not all films go for 'realistic' in their depiction of fighting. Some go for 'cool and dramatic looking' without attempting much realism at all.
So, in the 2018
Robin Hood film, we get a weirdly steampunked quasi-medieval/quasi-industrial setting. And for the fight scenes, we get this:
Now, this archery style is clearly based on something very specific (and therefore 'real'):
May I introduce to you...Lars Andersen:
So, here's the deal - it's not 100% unrealistic that Taron Egerton's Robin Hood, a master archer, could pull off the stunts and trick shots depicted in the film. Firing four arrows in rapid succession or firing in two different directions as he falls through the air? Scavenging arrows on the run? Sure, why not. What becomes ridiculous is that these trick shots are successfully taking out armored opponents in a one man against a fortress scenario. Yes, arrows go through chain mail with any reasonable force behind them (chain mail is for stopping slicing, not stabbing). But we don't see him shoot at the gap where the eyes are - we see him shoot a guy dead in the center of his forehead through a helmet and skull. His enemies crossbows are powerful enough to do actual structural damage to the building they are in, but of course he can still run at the end. That's more in the 'oh, come
on!' category.
I'm not suggesting that's the most egregious thing about this film (for that, I'd say the total absence of Sherwood Forest really angered me), or even this scene (the perfect timing needed to ignite the oil from a getaway cart driving perpendicular to the oil line really bothered me), but it's certainly a depiction of 'fantasy' fighting, in the sense that the audience is meant to be entertained, not assume anything that is happening is realistic.
The problem is...the more fantastical your setting, the more effort you have to put into realism to convince the audience that your story is real enough to invest in, or go the humor/slapstick route. Our characters are all (prior to Season 5),
not human. Not a single human being on screen (outside of the Frame). Now granted, the elves are clearly our human-proxy-stand-ins. So that's fine. But...we really do have to be careful with
any 'video game' fighting or stuff that seems low stakes and flashy. We have to make sure the audience is always at least a tiny bit concerned that the characters could die here. They're not superheroes and they shouldn't appear to have plot-based immunity.
So, can we have a flashy/'trick' swordsman? Eh, I'd rather not. Can we have duels during battles? I think there are several places in the story that call for it, but I think those scenes should be very tense. I want to make sure all of the choices made serve the story being told in that scene first, and a desire for 'cool' or 'flashy' moves is a secondary concern. The grim meeting between Gothmog and Fingon on the battlefield at the Unnumbered Tears ends with Gothmog cleaving his helmet in half and bursting his head open. That's raw power, not skill. It's not a duel between two roughly evenly matched opponents. It's someone outclassed fighting for his life against a fire demon...and losing.
I recognize that swordfighting on film involves a lot more twirls and spinning of the blade then would be realistic. I'm okay with some of that creeping in to keep the audience happy. But I don't want to plan whole fight sequences around some cutesy move, either.
Basically, I want nothing at all like this to appear at any point in our story:
Leaving aside some of the silly waving around of swords that is happening in this clip, the whole concept of an 'honorable duel' between enemies only works if your enemy is not an evil creature. You can't do this between an elf and orc! And in our story, there are very few cases where elves kill one another (well, okay, there's 4 kinslayings and the death of Aredhel and Eöl). But at no point could someone send a message to the Sons of Fëanor saying 'if you can't defeat our champion in a duel, then give up your claim to the silmaril!' That...isn't an option. There just isn't a place for 'let's settle this with a duel to the death' outside of Fingolfin's challenge to Morgoth, and that...shouldn't feel like this in any way. There, all Fingolfin is asking for in the duel...is the opportunity to kill Morgoth. The stakes aren't in exchange for anything else - this is after the battle, and he's not expecting to walk away alive.
So, yes, I've been told the sword-fighting in the film that clip is from is more or less historically accurate for the Polish saber, and a fencing society was involved in the production. I'm not complaining about the sword fight...I'm complaining about the
entire context of the sword fight.