A thrilling and well-filmed shootout can define a film, and a film chock full of thrilling, quality shootouts can define a genre. Every year a new flurry of action movies make it into cinemas, but how many make it into the hall of fame?
Today’s Stuff to Watch takes a look at the action movie genre and features a few of the juiciest shootout scenes ever captured on film. Of course there’s no way I can include every quality shootout, so be sure to add your own in the comments underneath this article. Let’s lock and load!
Heat (1995) [IMDB]
Every time I think of this movie I can’t help but remember how gripped I was the first time I watched this scene. Of course the whole film is a quality production – but this particular scene sticks in your mind, has spawned countless references and even inspired a virtually identical mission in Rockstar Games’ GTA4.
Without a doubt a “must-see” action film, Heat stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro but doesn’t rely on high profile actors to sell the movie. Take a look at the clip below; it sells itself.
Watch: Heat Downtown Shootout Scene @ YouTube (Embedding disabled on all uploaded videos of this scene, sorry!)
Hard Boiled (1992) [IMDB]
It should come as no surprise that John Woo knows how to make a good action film, and with Chow Yun-Fat in a lead roll then you know the body count will be high. The plot’s as loose as it needs to be, but
