The List: The Top 5 Gun-Fu Shootouts
By Victor Ho FOR LA2DAY.COM 18 Aug 2008
Warning: The following Youtube videos contain R-rated violence and strong language.
I’ve watched a lot of action movies especially the crazy kung fu wire stuff. But what I dig most is the shoot ‘em up action that has recently blasted through the movie screens. It seems like the shootouts have become more creative with the recent hit, Wanted, and soon to be released, Max Payne. So I thought it would be interesting to list some of the greatest cinematic shootouts ever.
Microwave a bag of popcorn and let’s start with…
5. THE FINAL SHOOTOUT FROM THE WILD BUNCH
Sergio Leone did great with the spaghetti westerns starring Dirty Harry and harmonica man with a Death Wish. But it was this movie by Sam Peckinpah that made famous the slo-mo action sequence inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. His gritty work has influenced John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Korean director Park Chan-wook. Keep in mind that the main characters are all bad guys yet they defined the aging “heroic bloodshed” image made popular with the movies Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid around the time. This clip is just too crazy and the guys will shoot at anything, even innocent walls!
4. POLICE STATION SHOOTOUT FROM THE TERMINATOR
Rambo, Die Hard, RoboCop, Lethal Weapon… nothing comes close to the successful franchise of The Terminator series. This surprisingly low-budget movie by James Cameron gave our California state governor the breakthrough performance of the future (sorry I disagree with Conan the Barbarian). Since then, he has become an action icon with the blockbusters Commando, Predator, and True Lies. In the international spirit of the Olympic Games, this clip is dubbed in German for your enjoyment!
3. STAIRWAY SHOOTOUT FROM THE UNTOUCHABLES
This clip has got to be the smartest and most technical shootout ever shot on film - you can expect no less from director Brian De Palma. What’s so great is the time factor involved with the characters that creates the tension and all the obstacles that get in their way. Definitely a classic scene! Oh, and I heard there will be a prequel. De Palma can also serve a mean shoot ‘em up action at the end of the movie Scarface.
2. LOBBY SHOOTOUT FROM THE MATRIX
The Matrix trilogy by the Wachowski brothers catapulted the movie industry in visual effects. The same technology has since advanced to a higher level with the movie 300. With an obvious homage to action master John Woo, I actually believed Keanu Reeves knew kung fu (thanks to Yuen Woo-ping). It’s not quite number one but pretty damn close…
Nice list. Don't forget
Nice list. Don't forget about Tony Montana's bullet-riddled farewell in Scarface--another De Palma flick. SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!
Speaking of western shoot-outs, there are two that I believe outdo The Wild Bunch spectacular you use here. The first is the shootout in the cemetery in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly between Blondie (Clint Eastwood), Tuco (Eli Wallach), and Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef). Quentin Tarantino has said more than once that this scene, in his opinion, is the greatest piece of directing in film history (that would be Sergio Leone, of course, who could be arguably the greatest director ever).
Also, the final shootout in Kevin Costner's oft-overlooked 2003 film, Open Range, is absolutely brilliant due not only to its choreography, but also for its stark realism.
There's my two cents...
Yep, I had the shootout
Yep, I had the shootout scene from Heat on my original list which went up to ten. I agree on De Palma. The man has directed some of the most interesting scenes from the tracking shot in Snake Eyes to mind-blowing twists in Body Double.
Cool article - I watched
Cool article - I watched each fight (makes me want go out and kick somebody's ass!). The one that amazed me the most was De Palma's train station "Odessa Steps" homage. Freaking incredible (it was even better than I remember). De Palma often gets left behind when discussions turn to the greatest directors of the 70s - the holy trinity of Coppola, Scorcese, and Spielberg seem to hog most of the press - but, I'd put Brian D. at the very top of the heap when it comes to visual mastery and stylings...I'd probably add Michael Mann's downtown LA shootout in Heat to your list, too.
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Western shootouts are cool!
Western shootouts are cool! Just seeing someone shoot a revolver and then cocking the hammer to shoot another within a second is good cinema. I failed to mention some others also, like Tombstone and Young Guns. I also liked the railroad standoff between Charles Bronson and the three outlaws in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.