50 Greatest Movie Rivalries
When friendly competition and clashes get really personal
Nick Falzone vs. Russell Bell (Pushing Tin)
The Rivalry: Hot shot air traffic controller Nick 'The Zone' Falzone has his job and marriage threatened by a laid-back, unconventional new employee Russell.
Darkest Moment: The perceived rivalry escalates quickly very early on when Nick cheats on his own wife by sleeping with Russell's.
Kiss & Make Up? Nick comes to the realisation that Russell was never a real enemy and seeks him out for advice on repairing his life. The pair then bond by standing together on a runway and experiencing a landing plane's turbulence.
Kevin McCallister vs. Buzz McCallister (Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York)
The Rivalry: Overlooked in a large family, Kevin finds himself at the mercy of troublemaking older brother Buzz.
Darkest Moment: Buzz humiliates Kevin during his solo at the Christmas concert by making fun of him with their candle props in front of the live audience.
Kiss & Make Up? Buzz shows respect for his brother at the end of the second film by letting Kevin open the first present under the tree. Mind you, he also seemed to show respect for Kevin at the end of the first film and that was obviously short-lived.
Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Homes: A Game Of Shadows)
The Rivalry: Sherlock uncovers a deeply embedded crime syndicate organised by criminal mastermind Moriarty, the only man with an intellect to match his own.
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Darkest Moment: Moriarty reveals that he killed Irene Adler – the woman who is the closest that Sherlock ever gets to having a love interest (aside from Watson)
Kiss & Make Up? Cetainly not. The only way this battle of wits is resolved is by – true to the original demise of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective – mutual destruction ensured by Sherlock throwing the both of them off a cliff and into the Reichenbach waterfall. Luckily, Sherlock is seen to survive the ordeal...
Cal Trask vs. Aron Trask (East Of Eden)
The Rivalry: Cal is the black sheep of the Trask family, resentful that his brother Aron seems to be their father’s clear favourite. This comes to a head when Cal and Aron’s girlfriend Abra realise they have feelings for each other.
Darkest Moment: Upset at yet another rejection from their father, Cal is consoled by kisses from Abra, and, when Aron sees them together, they have a violent confrontation.
Kiss & Make Up? Nope - shocked to discover that their father lied about their mother’s death, Aron leaves to join the army but, more importantly, Cal reconciles with his increasingly ill dad.
Professor X vs. Magneto (The X-Men franchise)
The Rivalry: Former friends, bonding over their mutant powers, become frenemies due to a differing ideal over mutants’ place in the world.
Darkest Moment: Revealed in X-Men: First Class , Magneto’s pro-mutant actions result in an unfortunate bullet-to-the-spine type accident for Charles Xavier, leading to his subsequent reliance on a wheelchair.
Kiss & Make Up? Never quite. It’s an ongoing rivalry, each wishing that the other would come round to their way of thinking. They quarrel over mutants’ superiority over homo sapiens, but otherwise enjoy a nice debate over a game of chess. It’s pretty much the most tragic bromance story in movies.
Helen Sharp vs. Madeline Ashton (Death Becomes Her)
The Rivalry: A long-term rivalry between actress Madeline and aspiring writer Helen kicks up a gear when the former steals the latter's fiancé - Ernest - and weds him herself.
Darkest Moment: After hearing Helen and Ernest plot her death, Madeline tries to kill Helen by shooting her with a double-barrelled shotgun, not realising that all she has done is given her rival a huge hole in her stomach.
Kiss & Make Up? They don't so much make up as resign to the fact that they'll only ever have each other as company, even if it does mean years of constant bickering.
Torrance vs. Isis (Bring It On)
The Rivalry: Recently appointed Toros captain Torrance plans to win their sixth consecutive title at the National Cheerleading Championship, but she finds out that her predecessor had been stealing all of their routines from the Clovers, led by Isis, who are finally eligible to compete in the championships themselves.
Darkest Moment: At the Toros’ home game, Isis and the Clovers turn up and perform the exact same routine, to humiliate them in front of their own school.
Kiss & Make Up? The Toros and the Clovers compete in the Nationals fairly, with the Clovers winning first place. It’s all ok though, Torrance and Isis and learned to have a mutual respect for each other. It just goes to prove that any bitter argument can be resolved through the medium of dance.
Annie Oakley vs. Frank Butler (Annie Get Your Gun)
The Rivalry: Annie competes in a shooting match with Frank - who rides into town with the Buffalo Bill Wild West show. When she wins, it starts her on a successful career with the show, a professional rivalry with Frank, and some stirred up feelings for him too.
Darkest Moment: After getting together and agreeing to marry, Frank's pride is hurt when Annie shows him the medals she has won. They have an argument, the wedding is called off and Frank and Annie challenge each other to one last shooting match.
Kiss & Make Up? Of course they do, but only after Annie loses the match on purpose to soothe Frank's ego and puts him in a place in the relationship where he is happy to marry her again. A positive example for every budding couple, we're sure you'll agree.
John Gustafson vs. Max Goldman (Grumpy Old Men)
The Rivalry: Former childhood friends have become bickering rivals and it all started when, decades before, John stole Max's childhood sweetheart May and married her. The ongoing feud is heightened when attractive college professor Ariel moves in to the neighbourhood.
Darkest Moment: Jealous that Ariel has been spending more time with John, Max uses his car to push his ice-fishing shack into the lake.
Kiss & Make Up? Max is happy for John to marry Ariel and even helps him with his tax problems, but the pranks will always continue...
Adam Bonner vs. Amanda Bonner (Adams Rib)
The Rivalry: Adam and Amanda are married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the same case in which a woman is accused of attempted murder for firing a gun at her cheating husband and his mistress.
Darkest Moment: Adam sees his wife with their neighbour Kip and tries to prove his point about the case by threatening them both with a gun... which turns out to be made of liquorice.
Kiss & Make Up? Tragically no. The pair end the film discussing their relationship in the past tense and seemingly dividing up their assets, However, this soon makes them sad and realise they still love each other, so there’s still hope for them yet.