Shootouts and gunfights are a rich cinematic tradition. Classic Westerns, crime movies, and war films have long hinged their climactic action beats on bloody gun battles between their heroes and the forces that oppose them. And they’ve only become more popular in the decades since. Over the years, shoot ‘em up set-pieces have grown and evolved along with film technology and audience tastes, translating to new genres and popping up in just about every kind of movie you can think of, from superhero actioners to meta-comedies and awards contenders.
WithBen Wheatley’s riotousFree Firearriving in theaters this weekend, which is essentially a feature-length shootout that will undoubtedly end up a future iteration of this list, the Collider staff rounded up our favorite movie shootouts to get in the ballistic spirit. A couple house cleaning notes of interest. We kept our selection to one per director. Filmmakers likeSam Peckinpah,Quentin Tarantino,Michael Mann, andJohn Woohave proven themselves masters of the shootout on so many occasions each could fill a list of their own. We love and admire their repeated excellence, but we also wanted to cast a wider net and highlight more films. Another important note is that this is a list of shootouts, not duels or Mexican standoffs. Though those motifs pop up, these selections are based on the thrill of action rather than the tension of inaction.
Without further ado, check out our picks for the best movie shootouts below and sound off in the comments with your favorites.
The Long Riders (1980)
Walter Hillhas famously said that every film of his is a Western. It’s easy to see how the Wild West template fit the band of outlaws moving about a city inThe Warriorsand a down on his luck journeyman bare-knuckle fighter settling into a town to make some money inHard TimesbutThe Long Riderswas his only full-fledged Western until his later career exploded with Western work (Geronimo,Last Man Standing, Wild Billand an episode ofDeadwood).
The Long Ridersis a chronicle of the Younger-James gang of outlaw brothers at the point where they were all parting ways as the dead-or-alive bounties became too rich for them to continue to ride side by side. Hill cast many real-life brothers in the roles (Stacy KeachandJames Keachare Frank James and Jesse James andDavid Carradine, Keith Carradine, andBob Carradinemake up the Younger brothers) and this gives the film a natural ease of brotherhood familiarity. It also enhances the early gem of a shootout where brothers are watching actual brothers explode with blood. The big bank robbery shootout feels very similar to the first shootout inThe Wild Bunch, except Hill is able to use more blood in slow motion thanSam Peckinpahever dreamed of. There’s also a slow-mo shot of horses jumping through glass! Advice: come for the shootout but stay for the amazing handkerchief-in-mouthknife fightbetweenJames Remarand Keith Carradine.— Brian Formo
Shoot ‘em Up (2007)
It’s not very often that your run-of-the-mill action movie opens with a bang-bang, shoot-em-up scene, but for a movie titledShoot ‘Em Up, it’s kind of a must-have. Though just deep enough on story to set things up for the rest of the runtime, this opening sequence is absolutely dripping with style. That style might not be to everyone’s liking, but it’s style nonetheless.
You know exactly what kind of bonkers action flick you’re in for when Smith (Clive Owen) kills a man with a carrot. Yeah. Granted, the man was a violent type who was about to cut a baby from the womb of a terrified woman, so you knew he was going to meet his maker, but this kill scene remains one of the best uses of vegetables as a weapon ever. Not satisfied with stopping there, the aforementioned shootout unfolds, showing off Smith’s uncanny marksmanship and ability to use his environment to his advantage. It’s just a tease of the craziness that’s to come, but it’s one hell of a start.- Dave Trumbore
Macgruber (2010)
So maybeMacGruberdoesn’t have the most stylish or even impressive shootout sequence on this list, but boy is it funny. The film subverts traditional action movie standards by presenting a hero who favors ripping people’s throats out over using guns, but whenWill Forte’s MacGruber is handed a semi-automatic, all hell breaks loose. As crafted by directorJorma Tacconeit’s a hilarious sequence in which not a single bullet makes contact, and Forte goes for broke with the most ridiculous faces ever seen from an action hero. Indeed, this twist on the action hero format is one of the reasonsMacGruberstands out (that and its sheer comedic brilliance), and this shootout scene in particular is unlike any other put to film in that it zero’s in on the title character’s total incompetence. –Adam Chitwood
The Way of the Gun (2000)
You would be forgiven for either forgetting or, more likely, having never seenThe Way of the Gun, the oddball early aughts actioner that starredBenicio Del ToroandRyan Phillippeas two ruthless criminals who get in over their head when they kidnap the wrong woman. It’s an offbeat film with some narrative missteps, but as McQuarrie has proved withJack ReacherandMission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, he is a filmmaker who knows his way around action. As the title suggests,The Way of the Gunpacks a bounty of fantastic action set-pieces, but the climactic final shootout is an unforgettable, impossibly tense sequence that keeps you so far on the edge of your seat it’s like you’ve got spikes in your back. McQuarrie doesn’t dress up the violence as his antiheroes charge headfirst into an ambush, and he amps up the stakes by setting the whole blowout against the backdrop of a bloody c-section where a doctor is desperately trying to save a woman and her baby. It’s visceral action, cleanly shot with a steady hand. McQuarrie translates an impeccable sense of geography and makes every bullet count in a battle where you better watch your toes when you take cover around the corner. –Haleigh Foutch
The Wild Bunch (1969)
While the final shootout may appear relatively tame to modern audiences, in 1969, it was a bloodbath withSam Peckinpah’s western diving into levels of violence rarely seen in American cinema. The shootout is a cacophony, but it’s not really meant to entertain. If anything, it’s a deconstruction of the fun westerns provide and it throws the viewer into chaos and bloodshed. While we occasionally keep coming to our main characters, Peckinpah doesn’t linger on a single shot for any length of time, throwing us headlong into the bloody madness unfolding. The Battle of Bloody Porch is constantly disorienting, never titillating the audience but rather challenging our preconceived notions of the genre. –Matt Goldberg
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Superheroes and shootouts don’t seem like they should go together, it’s almost too pedestrian, but the military heritage ofCaptain Americalays the groundwork forThe Winter Soldier’s tactical battle on a crowded city highway.Chris Evans’ Cap,Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, andAnthony Mackie’s Falcon put their military and mercenary training to use when they square off against the mechanically enhanced super soldier and his team of gunmen. We’ve seen this team battle apocalyptic odds, but the intimacy and relatability of the on-the-ground combat giveThe Winter Soldieran edge that can feel lacking in the more spectacle-oriented Avenger sagas. Joe and Anthony Russo proved their skill for shootouts when they turned Community’s paintball episode into a bonafide action film in miniature, and they bring that skill here, directing with a sharp eye for earth-bound action. The sequence mixes in hand-to-hand combat and superhuman feats, but it never loses a grounded sense of realism, even in the moments of heroic fantasy. –Haleigh Foutch
Dillinger (1973)
Warren Oatesis the unsung king of the neo-Western shootout. After manning the machine gun during the epic end ofThe Wild Bunch, Oates graduated to leading man shootout status in bothSam Peckinpah’sBring Me the Head of Alfredo GarciaandJohn Milius’Dillenger. Oates was perfect for a neo-Western because he wasn’t traditionally handsome, he looked and acted a little squirrely. And he frequently played drifters and his expressions and composure always added to that drifter story. He looked and talked like a man who had left a lot of shit behind in a previous life.
Though Oates fired many bullets in his day, it’sDillingerthat gets the nod here because the hideaway house gets shot all to hell. There are tommy guns, grenades, a kiss for good luck, a woman with a shotgun protecting her man leading to a more intimate confrontation apart from the massive one—everything you need for a great standoff.— Brian Formo
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hot Fuzzisn’t a comedy movie with action or an action movie with comedy, it’s a true action-comedy hybrid of the rarest order.EdgarWrightlayers laughs and action with unique skill, fulfillingboth genres in a single beat, and that talent is never more clearly displayed than whenSimon Pegg’s Nicholas Angel andNick Frost’s Danny Butterman ride in to clean up their town once and for all. Wright pays tribute to the greatest trademarks of film shootouts with glee, from classic westerns to the cinematic stylings Michael Bay, but never for a second loses the creative command that makesHotFuzza film that could only be made by him. –Haleigh Foutch
Django Unchained (2012)
So yeah, aQuentin Tarantinomovie had to land on this list. While Tarantino mastered the Mexican Standoff misdirect withReservoir Dogs, it wasn’t untilDjango Unchainedthat he really went all-in on an extended, bloody, gory, oh-so-Tarantino-y movie shootout. But it’s not just the staging and execution of the shootout at Candyland that makes it so memorable—it’s also cathartic. The action comes after two hours of watchingLeonardo DiCaprio’s Calvin Candie and his cohorts be absolutely vile, disgusting human beings, torturing their slaves both mentally and physically. Up until now, Django has had to keep his cool and stay under cover to save his wife’s life, but onceChristoph Waltz’s Dr. Schultz pops and shoots Candie, the gloves come off. It’s a tremendously satisfying release, laden with Tarantino’s signature dialogue and some smart subversion of expectations. And yes, it’s very, very bloody. –Adam Chitwood
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Despite being made in the late nineties,Curtis Hanson’sL.A. Confidentialis an old-fashioned noir. Set in the seedy streets of 1920’s Los Angeles, the film follows three officers serving in the corrupt law enforcement, each embracing or rejecting the criminality that surrounds them with their own moral code (or lack there of). The final set-piece findsRussell Crowe’s Bud White andGuy Pearce’s Lt. Ed Exley ambushed by a team of corrupt cops, outgunned and outmanned, but never outwitted. Hanson smartly avoids the hail of bullets route, making every shot and the moments between them count for all their worth. Hanson plays with concepts of high ground and low ground, letting his heroes win the day with their tactical smarts as much as their aim. It’s a clean and concise action beat that provides a well-earned victory worth cheering for. –Haleigh Foutch
