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Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
The American (2010)
The Assassination: Hitman Jack (George Clooney) hops onto a bike and chases his target, who’s in a car that’s racing off ahead.
Why It's Great: It’s George Clooney. On a bike. Firing a gun.
Even Tom Cruise doesn’t look this cool doing that.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
The Assassination: The Bride (Uma Thurman) prepares to take down nemesis O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu).
Which means going through the Crazy 88s first, before finally confronting O-Ren Ishii in a snowy garden.
Why It's Great: It’s rip-roaring rampage, involving the sort of bloody violence only Tarantino can deliver.
Collateral (2004)
The Assassination: “Yo homey, that my briefcase?”
Having just offed attorney Sylvester Clarke, deadly assassin Vincent (Tom Cruise) arrives in the alley where he left Max (Jamie Foxx), only to find two guys have stolen his briefcase …
Why It's Great: Vincent’s quick. Like really quick.
Those guys couldn’t have picked a worse man to rob.
Haywire (2012)
The Assassination: Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is posing as the wife of MI6 agent Paul (Michael Fassbender).
But when they get back to their hotel room, Paul attacks Mallory, having been assigned to assassinate her by boss Kenneth (Ewan McGregor).
Why It's Great: Carano pulls no punches in one of the most violent scrabbles we’ve seen in a while.
It’s all the better because she emerges victorious. Poor Fassy.
Nikita (1990)
The Assassination: While on holiday with her boyfriend, newly-trained assassin Nikita (Anne Parillaud) receives a call about her next mission and is forced to kill a woman through the bathroom window – while her boyfriend’s in the other room.
Why It's Great: It’s the perfect example of Nikita’s utter inability to escape her new employers.
Even when she’s on holiday, she’s on the clock.
Gangs Of New York (2002)
The Assassination: On the anniversary of his father’s death, Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) attempts to kill Bill (Daniel Day-Lewis) by throwing a knife at him.
Problem is, Bill deflects it, then decides to teach Amsterdam a lesson …
Why It's Great: Anything with Daniel Day-Lewis letting out his inner crazy is automatically great.
JFK (1991)
The Assassination: Kevin Costner narrates footage of the JFK assassination, which masterfully blends both real-life video footage and cleverly-orchestrated reconstruction shots .
Why It's Great: It brilliantly captures the drama of the scene – shaky cams, grainy video, great sound design.
Shocking stuff.
The Proposition (2005)
The Assassination: Charlie (Guy Pearce) finally takes down his brother Arthur (Danny Huston), who he’s been charged with assassinating.
Two shots and he’s done.
Why It's Great: The assassination itself is shocking and long overdue, but it’s what comes after that makes it awesome – Charlie finds Arthur watching the horizon turn red at sunset.
The Day Of The Jackal (1973)
The Assassination: The Jackal (Edward Fox), disguised as a one-legged French war vet (genius) at a Liberation Day ceremony, trains his rifle on de Gaulle.
Except he misses by an inch when de Gaulle leans in to kiss a veteran…
Why It's Great: Director Frederick Forsyth is a master at sweaty-palmed tension, and this film is no different.
If you can watch this scene without scooching to the edge of your seat, you can’t possibly be human.
