This is ground zero for Neeson’s ass-kicking, vengeance-seeking persona and still the best in his filmography. It helps he has Tim Roth to play against as Cunningham, a truly loathsome sociopath.
Roth appears to be having the time of his life wearing a British colonial wig, brightly colored garments, and brandishing a small sword, often with devastating results.
And they give him delicious dialogue like this:
“Love is a dung hill, Betty, and I am but a cock that climbs upon it to crow.”
It all culminates is one of the best duels in movie history. A tense and brutally violent affair Caton-Jones shoots beautifully. Clear, clean action with minimal cuts and nothing more on the soundtrack than the clashing of swords until its satisfying conclusion.