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Reservoir Dogs
The Stand-Off: Tarantino sure loves his stand-offs, and his debut Dogs climaxes with one of his best.
Enter Joe, who accuses Mr Orange of working for the LAPD. Mr White doesn’t believe him. Weapons are drawn in a three-way stand-off between Joe, Nice Guy Eddie and Mr White.
“We’re supposed to be fucking professionals!” yells Mr Pink. It ends badly.
Who Shoots First? Joe Cabot.
The Matrix Revolutions
The Stand-Off: “Give me the eyes of the oracle, and I will give you back your saviour,” teases the Merovingian in Club Hel as The Matrix Revolutions opens.
And points at Merv’s head. Initiating a 27-person stand-off, as over two dozen leather-wearing buffoons stand gun-to-face-to-gun.
Who Shoots First? Nobody, Trinity bargains their way out of the potential bloodbath.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Stand-Off: Perhaps the greatest existing example of the three-way Mexican stand-off, and a classic exercise in breath-bating, heart-pounding tension. Remember the Reservoir Dogs ' face-off? It's based on this.
With fast edits and close-ups that trace every bead of sweat, this six minute face-off deserves its classic status.
Who Shoots First? Blondie. Naturally.
The Quick and the Dead
The Stand-Off: Having already taken the life of a young Leonardo DiCaprio (his own son, no less), Gene Hackman's stock baddie gets his comeuppance against The Lady in Sam Raimi’s love letter to Sergio Leone.
Then she puts a bullet in him so big that sunlight streams through the gaping hole.
Who Shoots First? The Lady.
Back to the Future Part III
The Stand-Off: It’s 1557, and Marty McFly has travelled back to the Wild West. Going under the name Clint Eastwood (of course), he gets on the wrong side of local ingrate Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen.
Mad Dog shoots him anyway. He’s mad, that one.
Luckily, Marty has seen A Fistful of Dollars and has protected himself accordingly...
Who Shoots First? Mad Dog.
Tears of the Black Tiger
The Stand-Off: Cartoon violence featuring blood the consistency of paint, and colours that would make Speed Racer weep.
Seizing the opportunity, Dum fires. Their bullets collide mid-air, flashing sparks, then smash through Mahesuan’s teeth, killing him.
Who Shoots First? Dum.
The Killer
The Stand-Off: Trapped by the Triad in an abandoned church, Ah Jong’s climactic confrontation is a beautifully choreographed shoot-out from the master of action, Mr John Woo.
After the Westerns, Woo made shoot-outs cool again, and this scene has been cannibalised in countless later efforts.
Who Shoots First? Too many bullets flying to tell.
Desperado
The Stand-Off: Antonio Banderas walks in slow-mo and carries a guitar case that contains a gun in Rob Rodriguez's fiery Western.
Checking his guitar case, they find no evidence of any weaponry.
Preparing to kill him anyway, Mariachi defends himself in the nick of time by popping out two previously hidden pistols and shooting his way to victory.
Who Shoots First? El Mariachi.
Romancing the Stone
The Stand-Off: Having successfully procured the El Corazon jewel, author Joan Wilder meets vagabond Ira at a disused military fortress in order to give him the treasure map and save her sister's life.
Eventually, Jack is forced to surrender the jewel to Zolo... Who has his hand chewed off by a hungry crocodile...
Who Shoots First? The croc?
A Fistful of Dollars
The Stand-Off: Clint Eastwood heads up another classic climactic stand-off at the pinnacle of Sergio Leone’s dramatic Western.
Having survived being shot at by the Mexicans thanks to a cleverly concealed metal slab, No Name takes a final stand against evil Mexican Ramon. They grab, load and fire their weapons in a breakneck confrontation that would test any man's nerves...
No Name is the victor.
Who Shoots First? Both at the same time.
