Best Movie Shootout Ever

Heat, the visceral sound of the weapons.

Agree... Heat.

The orignal poster has a good list.

Here is my top 7 in no particular order:

Heat (the big heist)

High Noon (the final battle)

The Matrix (freeing Morpheus)

Bonnie and Clyde (when Gene Hackman's character dies)

L.A. Confidential (final battle)

The Wild Bunch (final battle)

The Untouchables (either the bridge or the stairwell)

sergio leone = best director wrote:

Opening scene in "Once Upon a Time in the West"

Ending shootout in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

YES Finally somebody mentions the Good the Bad and the Ugly...how can you say any shootout is better than this when the reality is, every shoot out you see is inspired by this shootout. it was the first and it was the best.

SVC, TypicalLetsrun, Whatever wrote:

Kevin Kline starred in the Big Chill and Sophie's Choice prior to Silverado.

Thanks--you're right.

tombstone - shoot out at ok corral

anEconomist wrote:

tombstone - shoot out at ok corral

similar.. the duel between doc and that bad guy.. cant remember his name.

Opening and closing sequences of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Platoon".

Do you really believe, however, that these things should be glorified?

I realize they may not be the greatest of all time, but I've seen two recent shootouts that were pretty damn impressive. First, as mentioned earlier, Shoot 'Em Up was freaking awesome. When he shot through the umbilical cord, some root beer came out of my nose. Also, the big action scene in Hot Fuzz was great. Those guys covered everything.

"Enemy of the State" restaurant kitchen blood bath

"Quigley Downunder" This isnt Dodge City, and you're not Doc Holiday. I didnt say I couldnt shoot a colt, just prefer my rifle (paraphrase)

"Support your local Gunfighter" comic ending with Swifty Morgan (Chuck Connors) shooting himself in the foot and Laddago Smith (James Garner) getting his ass blown up (donkey he was atop) The Mayor (Harry Morgan - MASH Col Potter) proclaims "That was my ASS."

Hot Fuzz

.5/10 on troll meter

The first or second week of Officer Candidate School for the Marine Corps they show the shootout from Heat to demonstrate just how badass an M16 is.

Some favorites:

Heat - my favorite

Unforgiven

Tombstone

The Matrix

The Last Samurai

Death Wish 4 (i think this is the one) - Super cheesy, but Charles Bronson is such the humble badass. Him and the local neighborhood people blowing away the gang members is pretty quality.

Other favorites, but not sure whether they count:

Saving Private Ryan (D-Day scene)

Seven Samurai (someone pointed out there is a gun in the last battle)

Unforgiven is definitely one of my favorites.

Some good ones mentioned already. I definitely agree with The Wild Bunch - that shootout was incredible by today's standards. When you factor in when it was made, it is simply mind boggling how far ahead of its time that film was. It is also easy to forget the opening massacre during the (somewhat) botched bank robbery, but that too was an outstanding action sequence. For a Western, that film did a pretty damn good job establishing what an action movie should be.

I also would like to point out the staircase shootout in the untouchables, not so much for the shootout itself, but for the amount of time that goes into building the tension of the scene. For a good seven minutes the viewer is literally on the edge of his/her seat over what's going to go down - when the situation does explode, it makes it that much more incredible to watch.

Finally, a couple that haven't been mentioned yet. If you can manage to sit all the way through Miami Vice, the closing shootout of that movie was pretty impressive.

For a much better movie overall, the closing shootout in "Carlito's Way" was very good, and a great (heart wrenching) end to the film. I highly recommend it.

White Heat

Great post, with excellent, well-thought-out points. A rarity in this forum.

The mass murder scene in Godfather 3 where they are locked into a room and the helicopters start the carnage. Michael escapes but everyone else is pulverized. Not really a shootout since the victims didn't have guns, but still impressive.

Best scene out of a crappy movie.