History WorthyOpponent / LiveActionFilms

* In ''Film/{{Goon}}'', Doug and Ross Rhey view each other as this. Rhey was Doug's favourite hockey player growing up; and Rhey tells Doug that he respects him but hat he will also show him no mercy if they meet on the ice. When Doug wins their fight at the end of the movie, Rhey is actually smiling, happy to have finally met his match and passed the torch as the toughest guy in hockey before he retires.

* ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' features this with the rivalry between King Baldwin of Jerusalem and Saladin of the Muslims. The backstory mentions that they've been warring on and off for at least a decade, with Baldwin winning a smashing victory when he was only 16 before he contracted leprosy. When their armies meet again, after Saladin marches to avenge his sister's death, they meet in the middle of the battlefield and Baldwin promises that Raynald, the knight who raided a caravan under Saladin's protection, will be rightfully punished. Saladin accepts this and offers his physician's services to Baldwin, whose condition drastically worsened due to the forced march. After Baldwin dies and Guy takes over, Guy provokes an open war, [[TooDumbToLive marching his army into the middle of the hot desert with no water or supplies]], where they are cut to pieces. He is taken captive by Saladin, who asks him, "Were you not in the presence of a great king long enough to learn by his example?" When Saladin reaches Jerusalem, Guy is [[HumiliationConga stripped down, tied to a donkey, and paraded before the city walls to the raucous laughter of the Muslim army]].

** The last words of Robert Muldoon in ''Film/JurassicPark'' have him acknowledging a ''[[RaptorAttack Velociraptor]]'' as this after she manages to ambush him while he's trying to shoot her comrade.

* The Operative from ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', who genuinely respects his opponents for their ingenuity and tenacity: "We should have done this as men -- not with fire."

* ''Film/AKnightsTale'': Sir Thomas Coleville becomes this to William. Coleville is injured during their first match and William agrees not to strike him during the last round so he won't lose his reputation by withdrawing. Before their second match, William learns that Coleville is actually [[KingIncognito the Prince of Wales in disguise]]. Rather than withdraw like everyone else, William rides out anyway allowing the Prince one last match before his identity is exposed. The Prince appreciates the gesture, and later pays William back by releasing him after he's arrested for posing as a nobleman.