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Best Movie Gunfights

AJUMP23

Member
I was watching Open Range yesterday and this is still one of my favorite Gun Fights in a movie. It is organic in its development it takes it time and the fight has ups and downs. It is just an amazing set piece that has been built up and leads to an amazing confrontation. Made we want to ask what other gunfights do you fellow Gaffers like.

 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
It feels like there's two types of gunfights. The John Wick, Equilibrium, The Matrix spectacle style. Then there are the Saving Private Ryan, Open Range grounded style. I much prefer the grounded type. My favorite of which comes from Lonesome Dove.

The viewer can easily understand the predicament. Characters have to solve their conflict in a realistic manner. The solve fits, and builds upon, the characters personality/myth. Robert DuVall plays Gus McCrae here, a wise, romantic, card player/gambler.

 
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jason10mm

Gold Member
That short Division prequel film Ubisoft did (I think I saw it on amazon, maybe hulu) actually has some really nice gunfights. Awesome detail stuff like buckshot making several small holes through a wall instead of just blowing a nice circle through drywall and good use of cover and team coverage while approaching a target.

Way of the Gun is awesome as well.

Anything Michael Mann, namely Miami Vice and Collateral and of course Heat.

Lots of asian war films are really good, they focus more on the large spectacle and less on hero characters mowing down mooks by the dozen.

These days basic gun handling, magazine changes, shouldering the rifle instead of firing from the hip, some use of sights, etc are pretty standard. We've almost gone too far with characters loaded down with TOO MUCH tac gear such that the actor, particularly these 100 pound slim women, struggle to even move or maneuver the weapon
 

GymWolf

Member
I know people shit on equilibrium because they look goofy, but when i was young, it looked cool as a whole fuck.

And bale is just so good in everything i watched with him in it.




For me this still looks way cooler than any dry action scene in john wick (also the difference in acting capability is pretty big between the 2)
 

AJUMP23

Member


I know people shit on equilibrium because they look goofy, but when i was young, it looked cool as a whole fuck.

And bale is just so good in everything i watched with him in it.




For me this still looks way cooler than any dry action scene in john wick (also the difference in acting capability is pretty big between the 2)

The probability meter just went off the charts.
 
Heat shootout scene. So raw and gritty that it has yet to be surpassed.



This is probably the GOAT.

Other good ones:

Tombstone End
John Wick 1-3 End
Atomic Blonde Mid-End (Right before fall of the wall)
Kate End
Matrix 1 End

This has to be included:



Also fantastic... Benicio's press check on the Beretta and then that one handed shot was fire.
 
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jason10mm

Gold Member
This is probably the GOAT.

Other good ones:

Tombstone End
John Wick 1-3 End
Atomic Blonde Mid-End (Right before fall of the wall)
Kate End
Matrix 1 End



Also fantastic... Benicio's press check on the Beretta and then that one handed shot was fire.
If menory serves Phillip does a one handed slide rack off his belt or something like that as well. Really nice stuff when the gun fight has been choreographed to the point where they can add this stuff in an appropriate place.

Some gun fights have the same over rehearsed feel as some martial art flicks, the Wick movies have this issue for me. Folks react a little to quickly, the weapon transitions or reloads are a little to slick and come right before shooting someone else, etc. A good gun fight needs ups and down, exhaustion, and confusion just like a good martial art scrum.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Not a movie, but...


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If menory serves Phillip does a one handed slide rack off his belt or something like that as well. Really nice stuff when the gun fight has been choreographed to the point where they can add this stuff in an appropriate place.

Some gun fights have the same over rehearsed feel as some martial art flicks, the Wick movies have this issue for me. Folks react a little to quickly, the weapon transitions or reloads are a little to slick and come right before shooting someone else, etc. A good gun fight needs ups and down, exhaustion, and confusion just like a good martial art scrum.
I agree - I think Wick suffers from an almost over-training issue. People are so well trained and choreographed that it comes off like the Matrix to a degree. But as a gun-aficionado, I love it. The gritty real shit like Sicario, Heat, and WotG is great too.
 

Ownage

Member
Isn't there a new Strike Back? How is it compare to the cinemax(?) version? That one was from the glory days of cable with all the guns, girls, and action you could want.
There have been two Strike Back shows. Both were excellent. The OG with Winchester and Stapleton is the best, but the trio later was great too. The second version ended in 2020. No word on another, but am sure something will come up.

For the record, I've seen all 8 seasons at least a dozen times, and am watching it again as we speak.

For some other great shows along these lines, check out Berlin Station. It's the best of Homeland and Strike Back on crack.
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
I know people shit on equilibrium because they look goofy, but when i was young, it looked cool as a whole fuck.

And bale is just so good in everything i watched with him in it.




For me this still looks way cooler than any dry action scene in john wick (also the difference in acting capability is pretty big between the 2)

Fucking loved that movie
 

Dural

Member
If menory serves Phillip does a one handed slide rack off his belt or something like that as well. Really nice stuff when the gun fight has been choreographed to the point where they can add this stuff in an appropriate place.

Some gun fights have the same over rehearsed feel as some martial art flicks, the Wick movies have this issue for me. Folks react a little to quickly, the weapon transitions or reloads are a little to slick and come right before shooting someone else, etc. A good gun fight needs ups and down, exhaustion, and confusion just like a good martial art scrum.

Phillipe and DelToro were fantastic, they both handled the guns like they’d used them before. Can’t say that about most movies, just so much more authentic. Gotta love the opening scene too.


OP and first reply have my other two favorites, both are so damn good. Anything from Taylor Sheridan has some good gun fights too, including Yellowstone.
 

sol_bad

Member
My god that Equilibrium scene is terrible. The editing is just horrendous and the stuntmen are just standing in the spot. And Chritian Bale isn't moving enough to be able to dodge so many bullets. Never seen the film myself and now I know why.
 

EekTheKat

Member
Some lesser known ones

Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon.



Something about the way this was shot made it so cool to watch back in the day

Tears of the Sun




Somewhat believable relative to Hollywood nonsense in that the protagonists get shot up and not completely protected by plot armor.

Enemy at the Gates








Black Hawk Down



Bit hard to watch in context, considering it's an adaptation of what actually happened. I remember being exhausted from watching this movie since the last half of the movie was almost nonstop gun fights. Good flick though that set the bar high for military films.
 
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Yoboman

Member
I know people shit on equilibrium because they look goofy, but when i was young, it looked cool as a whole fuck.

And bale is just so good in everything i watched with him in it.




For me this still looks way cooler than any dry action scene in john wick (also the difference in acting capability is pretty big between the 2)

I remember thinking this was the coolest shit

Now it just looks like a shitty game with dumb NPCs
 

GymWolf

Member
I remember thinking this was the coolest shit

Now it just looks like a shitty game with dumb NPCs
So like any action movie ever? everytime a single man kill multiple men in a movie it's because they are dumb npcs, in a real situation every star action movie would be killed in a matter of seconds from john wick to rambo (when he doens't use guerrila stealth of course)
 
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Dazrael

Member
No love for Shoot ‘Em Up with Clive Owen? The gunplay in that film is ludicrous but so inventive. It’s all about Woo for me though, the gunfights in Hard Boiled are still the GOAT even to this day.

In reality though gunfights wouldn’t last long at all, barely the blink of an eye. Check out the story of the ‘Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight’. I’m surprised a film hasn’t been made out of this, it’s a crazy tale.

 
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