The Top 20 Movie Shootouts
Following up on our previous list of the Top 10 Movie Fights, we decided to turn our attention to the best movie shootouts, which have not only greatly influenced movie-making but video game development as well (see John Woo's Stranglehold). A few items need to be addressed before we get to this list. First and most importantly, we decided on a simple rule: no war movies. Our thinking is that the action scenes in war movies, while impressive in their own right, aren't meant to be enjoyed the same way action movies are. The Normandy beach attack in "Saving Private Ryan" is amazing, but it's also grueling, painful and draining to watch; in short, it's not entertaining. Hence, no war movies. This wasn't an easy decision, as we were forced to leave out many great films with classic scenes, from "Three Kings" and "Full Metal Jacket" to "Blackhawk Down" and "The Dirty Dozen." Nevertheless, we wanted this list to be about entertainment.
We also decided to limit each movie to one entry; hence, the opening teahouse scene in "Hard Boiled" and the bank robbery in "The Wild Bunch" are great in their own right, but we unfortunately had to leave those out in favor of better scenes from the same movies. In addition, we wanted to stick to pure shootouts, so a great action scene like the helicopter chase in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was left out because it's really more of a chase scene with amazing stunts than a gunfight.
There are more qualifications. Another important element, we felt, was to include scenes that involved two or more opposing parties shooting at one another. Unfortunately, this eliminated movies like "Aliens," which have some fantastic action scenes but don't really qualify as shootouts because it's only the Colonial Marines shooting aliens. Also, we felt both sides should have guns. And finally, these scenes aren't all about bullets and blood. Acting, music and sound effects all matter; these elements help enhance what might otherwise be standard action scenes.
So while some entries on this list only involve a small number of gunshots, they have far greater impact because of powerful acting, memorable music and brilliant setups.
In ordering these scenes, we decided to use several criteria to rate them. First and foremost is the golden rule: if you really can't remember the scene all that well and have to go back and watch the movie, then it probably doesn't deserve to be on the list. Second, we gave consideration to the length and duration of each; longer, more difficult sequences were given more weight. We also took history into consideration, as some old films were given high marks because of their influence and inspiration for many modern action films (witness the works of Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone and you see their fingerprints on the movies of John Woo and The Wachowski Brothers).
Lastly, we considered a simple question: was this the best scene in the film? When you think of this particular movie, is this shootout the first image that pops into your head? The answer doesn't always have to be yes, but it sure does help a scene's ranking.
So here it is: the 20 greatest shootouts in movie history:
20. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): Final shootout with the Bolivian police
I hesitate to put a spoiler warning here since this movie has been out for almost 40 years and the ending is one of the most referenced in popular culture, but here it is all the same (ed. note: spoilers ahead). This scene makes the list more for the dialogue than the action, but it is both mixed with the fact that it's the climax of the entire film that makes it memorable. No one has ever been able to recreate the amazing chemistry between Robert Redford and Paul Newman from this film although the same pairing in "The Sting" (1973) came close. Writer William Goldman's dialogue kept the scene light and fun despite its tragic inevitability. Even when the Bolivian army showed up we still held out hope that they might get away.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid get ready for one last charge.
It can't be all witty dialogue and performance to make it a great "shootout" though. Sundance pulls off some unbelievable shooting feats and single-handedly keeps the Bolivian police force at bay allowing Butch to make it to their horses for more ammunition. They never talk about surrender, but that may have more to do with their ignorance of the sheer number of soldiers surrounding them before their last rush into the street. We know their ultimate fate, but we never see them die. Instead we are left with a single memorable frame of their charge into the street, guns blazing while the sounds of the army's rifles fade into silence. It may be the greatest ending to any film out there, and it's certainly a shootout worthy of this list.
Best Moment: The immortal last charge of Butch and Sundance.
Memorable Line - Butch: "Is that what you call giving cover?" Sundance: "Is that what you call running?"
Trivia - While it may be a fantastic ending for a film the historical fate of Butch Cassidy is still under debate. Theories range from both men committing suicide during the shootout to them escaping San Vicente and living for several more years.
- Travis Meacham
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