Shootouts No. 18 And 19

19. Robocop (1987): The drug factory

This was way back in the days when Kurtwood Smith was still a villain before he became the pushy dad from "Dead Poet's Society," the president of the Federation of Planets, and Red Forman. Watching this scene is fun in the same way that playing video games in God mode is fun. Sometimes you just want to be invincible and here we get to see punishment and vengeance met out without fear of any harm coming to our hero. As the action starts Robocop just stands there as if telling the audience with a smirk, "Don't worry folks, they can't touch me."

Robocop takes aim with his awesome sidearm.

Once Robocop starts shooting back, it's almost like he's wielding some kind of terrible dark magic allowing him to kill people by pointing at them. Every time he fires someone dies. It helps that he's armed with the greatest handgun in cinema history - although Hellboy's gun "The Samaritan" comes close - that deals quick death in short bursts, but even without it we're confident that Robocop could just punch them all to pieces. Officer Murphy's death scene earlier in the film is so gruesome and such an injustice that watching this armed-to-the-teeth, reanimated corpse stomping through bad guys the rest of the movie is truly satisfying. The whole scene is comic-book action complete with an unstoppable, posing hero and theme music filling the room.

Best Moment: Robocop's showboating with the no-look shot over his left shoulder.
Memorable Line: "Come quietly or there will be ...trouble."
Trivia: The real gun used to construct Robocop's weapon was a Beretta M93R with the barrel modified and extended to look like a casket. The M93R is commonly called an automatic (or machine) pistol but actually only works in semi-automatic and three-round bursts.
- Travis Meacham

18. Grosse Pointe Blank (1997): The Home Invasion

The pure action in this scene may not rank up there with the some of the others on this list, but the end of "Grosse Pointe Blank" mixes comedy and action into a perfect blend of movie enjoyment. Where else will you find Dan Aykroyd and Hank Azaria in a gun battle? Where else will you see someone shoot a guy then hit him with a pan then shoot him again then hit him with the pan again? It just doesn't happen in any other action movie but it's what makes this scene classic. Aykroyd's Grocer, the back-stabbing hit man who wants to unionize, is the perfect foil for John Cusack's independent-minded Martin Blank.

Dan Aykroud looks like he's having a lot of fun in "Grosse Pointe Blank."

There isn't any tension during this scene because we spend most of it laughing. Even the characters don't seem particularly worried about their safety and are almost completely aware of the ridiculousness of what's going on. Director George Armitage captures the look and movement of a Hollywood action movie in some shots but never betrays the comedy of the film to do it. The mood is always light and playful despite the fact that people are dying left and right. What really makes it though is how it ends. Blank is out of bullets and Grocer thinks he has him dead to rights. They both come out of their hiding spots and as Grocer yells "Popcorn!" Blank smashes a television over his head. It's absolutely fantastic and I still laugh about it.

Best Moment - The look on Aykroyd's face when he guns down Lardner and McCullers (Hank Azaria and K. Todd Freeman)
Memorable Line: "Popcorn!"
Trivia: Aykroyd quotes the Book of Revelation during the final shootout while lurking downstairs.
- Travis Meacham

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