50 Best Movie Shoot-Outs

Predator (1987)

The Shoot-Out: Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team lead an assault on a guerrilla encampment.

The Weapons: These guys are indecently well-armed, but nobody has anything as cool as Blain (Jesse Ventura), with “Old Painless” M134 Minigun.

Coolest Kill: Dutch and George Dillon (Carl Weathers) tag-team on a helicopter trying to escape.

Collateral (2004)

The Shoot-Out: Vincent (Tom Cruise) tracks down his latest target, Peter Lim, in a nightclub, pursued by both cops and a drug lord’s men.

The Weapons: Vincent’s weapon of choice is a Heckler & Koch USP45.

Coolest Kill: Vincent shoots Lim, reloads, and then fires a few more to be sure.

Open Range (2003)

The Shoot-Out: Two vs eight, as bad guy Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon) brings his gang to finish off Boss (Robert Duvall) and Charley (Kevin Costner). And then the townspeople rejig the odds in the underdogs' favour.

The Weapons: Boss is loyal to his Remington 1987, but Costner prefers the ‘Peacemaker.’

Coolest Kill: Charley doesn’t wait to exact revenge on Butler (Kim Coates), the henchman who killed his buddy Mose.

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

The Shoot-Out: Mr Smith (Clive Owen) turns the tables on his pursuers by rigging up string-controlled booby traps at a gun factory.

The Weapons: What the film claims to be the fictional Hammerson brand are actually Heckler & Koch MP5A3s.

Coolest Kill: Pulling all the strings at once fires a rotating submachine gun that takes out all of the surviving assailants.

The Lady From Shanghai (1947)

The Shoot-Out: Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) confronts her husband Arthur (Everett Sloane) and her lover Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) in a hall of mirrors.

The Weapons: Small calibre pistols. Despite the setting, this is a domestic tiff.

Coolest Kill: The Bannisters kill each other but it’s difficult to tell amidst the breaking glass who got the best shot.

Road To Perdition (2002)

The Shoot-Out: In pouring rain, Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) catches up with his old gang, led by the boss who betrayed him, Rooney (Paul Newman).

The Weapons: Sullivan’s got a Thompson M1921 submachine gun. Nobody else stands a chance.

Coolest Kill: Sullivan leaves Rooney for last. Rooney does nothing to stop him. “I’m glad it’s you.”

The International (2008)

The Shoot-Out: Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) tracks assassin “The Consultant” (Brían Francis O'Byrne) to the Guggenheim Museum, only to find that the killer’s handlers want him dead.

The Weapons: The Consultant carries a Glock 17. Salinger picks up whatever he can find.

Coolest Kill: A goon is distracted by a wheelchair The Consultant has pushed down the museum’s ramp, giving him time to shoot him.

Tombstone (1993)

The Shoot-Out: Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) take on the Clantons at the OK Corral.

The Weapons: Pride of place goes not to Wyatt Earp's famous custom-made Colt Buntline, but Doc’s calling shotgun.

Coolest Kill: Rapid fire from the Doc puts paid to Billy Clanton (Thomas Haden Church).

No Country For Old Men (2007)

The Shoot-Out: Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) tracks down drug-money absconder Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) to his motel hideout.

The Weapons: Traditionalist Moss uses a sawn-off Winchester 1897. Avant garde Anton has a captive bolt pistol, aka a cattle gun.

Coolest Kill: An innocent truck driver has his throat opened by Chigurh’s cattle gun.

Public Enemies (2009)

The Shoot-Out: The Feds, led by Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), catch John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) napping at Little Bohemia.

The Weapons: Chiefly Thompson submachine guns, but check out the Colt Super "Machine Pistol" used gleefully by Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham).

Coolest Kill: Purvis catches up with Baby Face, so at least he gets one of his targets.