MovieChat Forums > Ying hung boon sik II (1987) Discussion > Best shootout in the history of cinema?

Best shootout in the history of cinema?

posted 19 years ago by bobfred1288
52 replies | jump to latest

Let me first say that I am one of those people who thinks that John Woo is basiccally the God of action movies, so this post may be a tad biased because of that. And that I have only seen two other films that he has done, the first A Better Tomorow and Hard-Boiled. I was watching this one, and I found the first half to be surprisingly dull and overly melodramatic, at times even a bit silly. But starting at the shootout in the rundown old hotel about 1/2 of the way through, it finally kicked in to become one of the most spectacular and perfect action movies I have ever seen. The buildup to the climactic shootout was almost better than the action that followed (the montage set to that slow song during the funeral and whatnot) But when Chow Yun-Fat put on the trenchcoat and took out the sunglasses, my jaw dropped to the floor. And what followed was pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen in a movie.

Now this brings me to the point of this post: IS THERE ANY FILM IN EXISTANCE WITH A BETTER ACTION SCENE THAN THE ONE THAT ENDS THIS MOVIE????? Because if there is, I MUST SEE IT!!! Really, there is nothing even in the same league as this, and I seriously doubt that any American movie will ever top it. Any ideas would be great

You're obviously not a golfer...

[–] bengamoona 19 years ago

the shootout at rhe end of "the wild bunch" is pretty awesome.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] someguy09865 19 years ago

The part where he plays around with the grenades is hilarious.

[–] goddjango 19 years ago

The shootout at the end of Hard-boiled... duh

[–] someguy09865 19 years ago

The teahouse and warehouse shootouts were far better compared to the hospital scenes as a whole. Depends on which one you're talking about, though....

[–] RexDartEskimoSpy 19 years ago

Of course most of Woo's HK movies have great shootouts, but here are some good American shootouts (or at least some of my favorites):

Final scene of The Wild Bunch - already mentioned
Final scene of The Getaway - Steve McQueen wreaks havoc with a shotgun in another Peckinpah classic
The heist scene of Heat - one of the first shootouts I ever watched on screen
Final scene of White Heat - nice 40s shootout. One of the greatest endings ever.
Lobby scene of The Matrix - a contemporary classic

Of course, your average western has a good shootout scene somewhere in it, so I won't go into that. The Wild Bunch, however, is exceptional.

[–] mobocracy 17 years ago

The bank heist shootout in Heat may just be the best one ever filmed; it was so good that two guys actually tried to do it in real life (Bank of America in North Hollywood).

The problem with most movie shootouts is that either they're wildly unrealistic in terms of the actors handling the guns, ammo used, etc, or they're short and appear to lack dramatic impact.

[–] gmwhite 17 years ago

I agree. The ending of Hard Boiled is still the standard to measure the rest against.

[–] jdempcy 19 years ago

there's a reference to this scene in ep.5 of the Japanime series 'Cowboy Bebop.' (voted the most popular episode of the series on www.anidb.net - definitely worth seeing even if you're not an anime fan, it's rerun on Cartoon Network or you can buy the DVD online).

That whole ep. is very influenced by Woo. the final shoot-out is in a church, there are birds flying around (although not white doves, but black crows ...) and there's plenty of blatant Christian symbolism like a shot of a towering huge cross in the church, or long shot of a stained glass window, etc. not to mention John Woo's "director's thumbprint" of people drawing a weapon on each other at precisely the same moment, so they are both a split second away from killing each other .. in the CB ep. there is a "freeze-frame" like this with Spike holding the gun to Vicious, and vice-versa except with a katana ...

I'm not saying that the C.B. scene is one of the best action scenes ever (though it's certainly up there, albiet a bit short) -- but it is most certainly influenced by Woo and that it contains references to the last scene of ABT2...

[–] ZZT-X 19 years ago

You mean Session #5: "Ballad of Fallen Angels."
That was the first episode of Cowboy Bebop I ever saw, and it hooked me hard.

What gets me, though, is how a lil' frag grenade lets out that big of an explosion. :/

No matter, I love that scene regardless.
Oh, and here's that gun/katana face-off:
http://www.projectbag.com/cowboy_bebop/pics/fights/fight18.jpg
Most memorable shot of the series.

[–] Ohayou 19 years ago

I, however, am saying that the scene from Cowboy Bebop is one of the best ever - and the fact that it is short only adds to the intensity, and we don't have to bother watching a single second of even remotely uninteresting footage - it's all classic material.
And the two last episodes (The Real Folk Blues Part 1 & 2) are the best thing ever, out of anything. Plus, the last sequence is all an homage to John Woo and the final shootout of ABT2. We also have the first minutes of the episode "Pierrot Le Fou" to add to the greatest-action-scenes-ever-list.

Unfortunately, very few movies can match the action genius of John Woo (not even the Cowboy Bebop movie). The Killer and Hard-Boiled are my two favourite movies, and I haven't found any other contestant on that level. However, very honourable mentions should go to some:

Ninja Scroll (movie, series suck - feudal, no guns, but stunning swordplay and action)
Nikita
Léon (The Professional)
Terminator 2
Scarface
The Matrix
Equilibrium (Cubic)
Die Hard

I really thought that Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura had something interesting with Versus, but that turned out to be an over-the-top, over-edited and uncool mess.
Still, no need to be sad, for we can still play Max Payne 2 on our computers (note: for PC - not on consoles!) - truly the only interactive John Woo HK-style experience.

[–] legend21 18 years ago

I know it has been said but I'll say it again, you HAVE to see the ending shootout of The Wild Bunch. I have never witnessed a more violent, bloody, destructive, and simply amazing action sequence than in any other movie ever made. The rest of the movie is a masterpiece as well with the opening shootout being almost as good as the ending. They just released a dual layered digitally mastered special edition so you won't have to flip the disc anymore and the picture quality has been cleaned up dramatically. It also has some at least decent special features unlike the original release. Its cover is yellow while the original's is blue.

[–] Dave_Imboden 18 years ago

Glasses Yakuza, Runt Yakuza, and Green Shirt Yakuza vs. The Zombies in "Versus". The second half of the movie may have been a bit of a let-down, but this scene was just *beep* relentless.

Also, just about every scene in "Bad Boys 2". Wasn't a very good flick, but the action scenes were incredible.

____________________
"English mother *beep* , do you speak it?!"

[–] Dreadful_Shadow 18 years ago

Every shootout in John Woo's The Killer is pure genius. Try checking out those scenes.

"Your friends have a high mortality rate"

[–] GreasedUpDeafGuy 18 years ago

The Way Of The Gun. Awesome shootout in the end. Very accurate too. And what I mean by very accurate is they reload A LOT.

[–] iscream22 18 years ago

The End of Hard Boiled is awesome, but I Love the end of Better Tomorrow 2 (thats my fav).
The Killer, The Matrix, and Scarface are close runner-ups.

ISCREAM22 HAS SPOKEN!!

[–] raidenx19 17 years ago

Seconded. It was too bad he wasted all of the ammo in the Galil though.

[–] hoisonsauce 18 years ago

I thoroughly enjoyed the fight between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David in "They Live." I know that the ending sequence in "A Better Tomorrow 2" had a lot of weapons and carnage, but there's something mystifying about seeing 2 guys beating the crap out of each other for like 6 minutes straight. The fact that all of the fighting was real (except for face hits) makes it even more stellar.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] peterzrogers 18 years ago

hi guys, thought I would join this cool debate. I just watched A Better Tomorrow 2. Its quite bad until half way through when apparently Woo wrestles directorial control from Tsui Hark. Then it all kicks off. I thought A Better Tomorrow had the best ending until I saw The Killer. But this just blew me away! This is the best shoot out I ever saw. Also up there are the start of Nikita (check it out!) and the end of The Killer. I would argue that the best Generic Action end of film is either Ong Bak or the chainsaw duel in Tiger On The Beat. Watch those two endings as I whooped with delight. Also worth checking out the Street Fighter series with Sonny Chiba. The endings are nothing short of insane. I just have to mention the end of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it gets points for style rather than violence, but what an ending.

[–] peterzrogers 18 years ago

Hah! You got me thinking now. We should not forget the end of the original Assault On Precinct 13 and the Japanese DVD end of Kill Bill 1, where it does not fade to black and white (havent seen it myself yet). For shoot outs there is also the Chow Yun Fat film Blood Brothers (I think it was called that) which had an insane ending as well. Then theres the only film to have Jackie Chan blown to bits, Island Of Fire. I heard in Heat they used live ammunition, so the shoot out in the street gets major kudos. That said Predator was the first film to use a real Helicopter machine gun being held. The Matrix 1 gets points too. I think the shoot out on the train in Predator 2 (although not techically a shoot out) is a fantastic gun scene. Also how cool was the start of The Replacement Killers? And the start of Natural Born Killers and the shotgun scene in the uncut version? I really liked Open Range too, more recently, as it was a cross between Matrix and Wyart Earp. Too many films to choose from! A better tomorrow 2 is probably the best after all that ;-)

[–] lartrak 17 years ago

I think you mean Flaming Brothers. And yeah, its action climax is very good.

[–] benleinen 18 years ago

The Killer is the best john woo movie ever, better than all of his other movies combined, with better plots, better shootouts, and the *beep* Not to undermine A better tomarrow, which i like.

[–] legend21 18 years ago

To the thread creator, I hate to say it but you've already scene the 2 best shootouts being ABT2 and Hard Boiled. However, if you like John Woo then you NEED to see The Killer. Not only is the action good but the story and acting are extremely emotional and heart wrenching. I have a link here for the only uncut version available in the US. http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.533891/qx/details.htm
Enjoy!

[–] thssmn3 18 years ago

A great shootout is the scene "Guns Fists Knives" in Versus. It has zombies with guns.

[–] emuge 18 years ago

"I'm just watching a bad dream that I never wake up from"

[–] tobiasstockinger 18 years ago

I think the one from the end of the first BEtter Tommorow is a bit better, but ABT2's final scene is certainly up their with the finale's of "Scarface" and "The Wild Bunch", haven't seen "The Killer" or "Hard Boiled" yet though.

P.S. the Matrix can't hold a mtach to any of those sequences

[–] JohnDaWn13 18 years ago

Yeah the Church scene in The KIller was unforgetable, the Hard-Boiled scenes wer unstoppable and the ABT2 finale was an istant classic.

[–] Zvoni 13 years ago

Films with THE GRANDE FINALE

1. Commando
2. Death Wish 3
3. Wild Bunch
4. Hard Boiled
5. Better Tomorrow II

[–] confucius-3 18 years ago

You should check out the Bruce Willis flick "Last Man Standing." It is by no means a better film than any of Woo's HK work, but it has some excellent shootout scenes. Probably the best use of Colt 45's I've ever seen :-)

Personally, nothing comes close to the hospital scene in Hard boiled. The long tracking shots are without a doubt the best gunplay sequences ever filmed. I like the Killer better as a film, but I could watch Hard boiled over and over again.

Other mentions:
-Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (you MUST see this if you are a Peckinpah fan...it's so much more than an action movie however, be prepared)

-Saving Private Ryan (pretty serious stuff but excellent)

-Leon, the Professional (and maybe La femme nikita, but only a few shootouts in that one really)

But really, once you're seen HK Woo, you're spoiled from now on. He's the pinnacle!

[–] RexDartEskimoSpy 18 years ago

Holy crap, confucius, I totally forgot about Al Garcia. That's an outstanding Peckinpah flick! I second your recommendation to everybody here.

"What's wrong with showing a guy getting his head cut off?" -Humphrey Bogart

[–] iscream22 17 years ago

I like the shootout near the end of the Killer its pretty sweet!

ISCREAM22 HAS SPOKEN!!