Realistic Gunfights In Movies

Chris L.

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In an attempt to save some money on gas and wear and tear on my car, I've been renting movies lately instead of taking my usual trips to the big cities.

One old favorite I recently watched was 'Witness', with Harrison Ford. Not that I've ever been into a real gunfight myself, but I never realized until now that the gunfight in the underground garage scene between Danny Glover's and Ford's characters seemed pretty realistic as far as movies go. There was no long drawn out sensationalism or other nonsense, and Ford's character, not realizing he had been hit until later and taking days to recover is the type of thing that can, and indeed has happened in real life. Even the sounds of the gunshots in the film didn't sound like the typical "hollywood" gunshots most of us are all accustomed to. The best part is that this was before most LEO's switched to semi-autos so we didn't have to deal with the typical 'semi-auto' cliches that most of today's filmmakers can't seem to resist (If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Ford's gun a Model 19 2&1/2" Combat Mag???).

Another movie that probably has one of the best gun battles ever filmed is the bank robbery scene in 'Heat', with Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, etc. I watched this several times and came away quite impressed and feeling that this would be as close to the real deal if that had actually happened as yet captured on film that I'm aware of.

Of course, those of you in LEO and the Military who were in actual gun fights may laugh at this thread, but it is not too often when Hollywood even comes close to portraying any kind of realism in gun battles.

Feel free to post your favorite examples of realistic gun battles on film. I need some more movies to watch! :D
 
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Can't offhand think of a good movie scene, but the scene in the detective novel, "Spiral" by David Lindsey, where Sgt. Stuart Haydon shoots the guy who just used a machine pistol to kill his partner is the most realistic gunfight in literature that leaps to mind. He sprayed the bush where the bad guy was with his 9mm Beretta and killed the opponent, then sat with his dead partner as he waited for the approaching sirens to reach them. He was in a state of near shock, which I found pretty authentic.

Oh: in, "Treasure Isand", when Jim Hawkins shoots the guy with the dirk from atop a mast, that seemed real, too. I believe it was in the movie version, also.

Maybe we need a separate topic about gunfights in books. ?? I don't want to interfere with this movie gun thread.
 
Open Range

The movie gun fight that immediately comes to my mind is the one in Open Range with Kevin Costner, and Robert Duvall. I think that it has to be my favorite. From the planning laying behind the water trough. Costner walking up to the bad guy, and giving him a blast in the head, through to the town folks chasing the last bad guy out behind the buildings.

Best Wishes,
Tom
 
Then gunfight between four professional gunmen in Appaloosa.

Took about ten seconds. Everybody took a hit. Best quote Ed Harris character "That was over quick." Viggo Mortensen character reply "Everybody could shoot."

I like Open Range, however they perpetuate the Hollywood myth that a shogun can blow somebody through the side of a building.
 
I know a lot of people think the North Hollywood bank robbers influenced the shoot-out scene in "Heat", but it was actually the other way around. I remember reading somewhere that the movie producers hired ex-SAS troopers as advisors and they demonstrated the "shock and awe" tactics used to break an ambush. I know a lot of people didn't really understand the concept of "violence of action" until they saw that particular scene in the movie. Also, in the movie "Collateral" with Tom Cruise, they also used an ex-SAS trooper to teach Cruise how to handle a handgun like a pro.

Regards,

Dave
 
The movie gun fight that immediately comes to my mind is the one in Open Range with Kevin Costner, and Robert Duvall. I think that it has to be my favorite. From the planning laying behind the water trough. Costner walking up to the bad guy, and giving him a blast in the head, through to the town folks chasing the last bad guy out behind the buildings.

Best Wishes,
Tom

I liked the movie, and have seen it probably a dozen times, but I sure wish I could find one of those fifteen shooters that Costner has when he fans it into the bad guys at the opening of the ball.
 
My all time favorite movie gun fight:

Water Hole #3:

Bad guy calls good guy out. Bad guy standing in the street, typical gun fighter. Good guy comes out of the bar, walks around his horse, pulls out a rifle, lies it over the saddle and shoots bad guy before bad guy even starts to go for his gun.

Classic.
 
I don't really remember the details of it but there's a shootout in the movie "Heist" between Gene Hackman and his guys, and Danny DeVito and his guys. They're all pretty much career criminals, but that doesn't necessarily translate into firearms proficiency or tactical smarts. I remember them all being very uncoordinated and uncomfortable with shooting the guns, stumbling around, not at all happy about being in a gunfight and scared - the way you'd expect guys to really be when being shot at.

At the end of it, Danny Devito is lying wounded and Gene Hackman is standing over him with a shotgun (a reversal of positions for Hackman compared to his role in Unforgiven). DeVito says, "Don't you want to hear my last words?" Hackman replies, "I just did."
Blam!

This is the second time I've thought of that movie in response to a thread here in the past couple of weeks - I need to find it and watch it again.
 
I know a lot of people think the North Hollywood bank robbers influenced the shoot-out scene in "Heat", but it was actually the other way around. I remember reading somewhere that the movie producers hired ex-SAS troopers as advisors and they demonstrated the "shock and awe" tactics used to break an ambush. I know a lot of people didn't really understand the concept of "violence of action" until they saw that particular scene in the movie. Also, in the movie "Collateral" with Tom Cruise, they also used an ex-SAS trooper to teach Cruise how to handle a handgun like a pro.



Regards,

Dave


From what I have read/heard, the director, Michael Mann, sends all of his actors in his action movies to a shooting school so that they might learn the basics of proper use of firearms. In the case of "Heat" I read that it was Gunsite for this movie. However it was done, the cast looked as if they knew what they were doing, and that flick probably tops the list of "realistic" gunfights, at least IMO.
 
Well Boys,

Y'all can say what ya want....But, gettin caught in a water trough with a
neck'd blond headed woman could lead to a lit'l fight of sorts in the picture shows, as well as in real life. ;):D:eek:


Steve McQueen & Linda Evans - Tom Horn ( 1980) - YouTube



A fight don't always end up in a shootin' spree

The Grey Fox - YouTube






Of course, those of you in LEO and the Military who were in actual gun fights may laugh at this thread,
but it is not too often when Hollywood even comes close to portraying any kind of realism in gun battles.

Feel free to post your favorite examples of realistic gun battles on film. I need some more movies to watch! :D

Dis-claimed:

The few dust ups I've un-willingly participated in...Weren't no fun a tall.

Movies are sometimes entertaining, but not very long on the real world kind of social conflicts.

I've been to the big city and I've saw the elephant...Been throw'd into a couple of stand offs and what-knots,
(up close and personal, where you could smell the peanuts) one of which was aliken to sumbody was gonna get
hurt real back in the next breath er two. It ain't no fun...I don't care what Hollywood sez.

Su Amigo,
Dave
 
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From what I have read/heard, the director, Michael Mann, sends all of his actors in his action movies to a shooting school so that they might learn the basics of proper use of firearms. In the case of "Heat" I read that it was Gunsite for this movie. However it was done, the cast looked as if they knew what they were doing, and that flick probably tops the list of "realistic" gunfights, at least IMO.

In the "extra features" on the Heat DVD it shows the actors training with live ammo. I think it shows Deniro and Kilmer shooting. That shootout in Heat was scary as...well, it was really intense. The best I can think of.
Sane is my favorite movie, but I'm pretty burnt out on it right now. In later years i have a little problem with Shanes's buckskin outfit in 1889. In the big shootout that was posted earlier shane draws a Colt SAA and shoots "Wilson". Wilson fires his gun as he falls and it's a double action revolver. Shane spins around and shoots the other guy but now he has a Colt double action Model 1878 and just fans his left hand over the top as he shoots. Here it is here.
shaneDA.jpg
 
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The last 10-15 minutes of "Thief" with James Caan.

The last time I heard, he was an anti-gunner, but somebody obviously taught him how to handle an M1911 in a very professional way.
 
Anybody see the latest James Bond movie? One of the bad guys at the beginning has a Glock 18 with a beta mag and just goes around spraying 9mm like it's nobodys business and somehow manages not to hit anything important (but one shot to Bond in the shoulder) after clearing the beta mag (100 rounds?) and 3 or 4 30 round stick mags...
 
I've never been in a gunfight or a war, but I was in a more than a few burning buildings in my career. I suspect that most Hollywood depictions of combat or LEO gunfights are about as accurate as Hollywood depictions of firefighting...which is to say not very. (For the record: Backdraft was laughable and Ladder 49 was actually pretty realistic.)

Now then, having said that...

One of my favorite Hollywood gunfight scenarios is the climax of High Noon. Gary Cooper, on his own, abandoned by his friends and neighbors, standing up to the bad guys...

High Noon Shootout - YouTube
 
in the movie "Collateral" with Tom Cruise, they also used an ex-SAS trooper to teach Cruise how to handle a handgun like a pro.

My CCW instructor used a clip of the "briefcase" scene from that movie to illustrate how quickly a gun fight unfolds. He also reviewed it step by step, and cited it as an example of pretty much perfect technique.

The clip can be seen by searching for 'Collateral "Briefcase" Scene - Tom Cruise (HD)' on youtube
 
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