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F. Murray Abraham with a sword and a grudge? Sign me up immediately.
TMDB
59
IMDb
64
Rotten Tomatoes
75
Audience Score
75
Google
85
Watch(FR)

By the Sword (1991)

90s sports cheesementor-protege tensionunderdog redemption

Overview

Drama

An elderly man named Max comes to the famous fencing coach Villar and asks to take him on as a coach. But the coach does not like his weapon technique, and he only takes Max as a cleaner.

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Content warning
sportssword

Standout Aspects

Acting

F. Murray Abraham commits harder than this material deserves.

Practical Effects

Actual fencers doing actual fencing, no CGI nonsense.

Best for:Streaming: Late-night discovery when you've exhausted every other fencing movie.·Solo: For when you want obscure 90s character actor deep cuts.
Jeremy Kagan

Director

Jeremy Kagan

ReleasedOct 7, 1991
Runtime1h 31m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady
Intensitymedium
Tonemixed
Feelmedium
Film Horizon

Top Cast

F. Murray Abraham

F. Murray Abraham

Suba

Eric Roberts

Eric Roberts

Villard

Mia Sara

Mia Sara

Clavelli

Christopher Rydell

Christopher Rydell

Trebor

Elaine Kagan

Elaine Kagan

Rachel

Brett Cullen

Brett Cullen

Gallagher

Doug Wert

Doug Wert

Hobbs

Ask about By the Sword

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

F. Murray Abraham won his Oscar for 'Amadeus' and reportedly took this role specifically to learn proper sword fighting.

Cultural

This was one of several 90s films trying to make fencing happen as a cinematic sport, following 'The Princess Bride' but predating the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' sword craze.

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