15. The Bride Vs. The Crazy 88 - Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
A deliriously violent homage to Japanese chanbara movies, the extraordinary 10-minute-long scene of bloodletting in Quentin Tarantinos Kill Bill is quite possibly the most unforgettable action sequence of the decade referred to as the noughties. The scene in question showed that, with a good sword, it's possible for one woman to stand alone against 88 of the craziest, most bloodthirsty thugs a Yakuza crime lord has to offer. Blood flows in geysers, limbs fly and heads roll as Uma Thurmans Beatrix Kiddo (aka The Bride) cuts a swathe through the evil O-Ren Ishiis (Lucy Liu) personal army. Few people ever imagined that Uma Thurman could be taken seriously as an action star let alone a martial arts action star. Needless to say, she proved the naysayers wrong.