Favourite Western Showdowns

[Miko]

Oh you fucking cunt! Can a mod change the title of this thread to "Favourite Western Showdowns" please

Thanks

As most of us probably sort of maybe possibly know, the Western Movie is usually heading towards a duel between our main characters, over some kind of personal dispute which has usually managed to get an awful lot of other people killed in the process.

So with that in mind what are your favourite showdown's?

I'll start shall I? Thankyou *Spoilers Ahead, but I've put them in tags so crisis avoided*

For A Few Dollars More

Spoiler

My first one goes down the obvious route of coming from a Dollar's film, less obvious in that it's For A Few Dollars More. Lee Van Cleef "Douglas Mortimer" has just found "El Indio" the man that that raped his sister causing her to shoot herself, he also stole a musical watch from her which he uses to countdown to a duel saying "When the chime finishes, begin" or words of that ilk.

Unfortunately for Van Cleef Indio's already taken him by surprise and shot the gun out of his hand, now he sets the watch off with Van Cleef's gun on the ground and his in his holster. Just as the music is about to finish Clint Eastwood strolls out with identical pocketwatch which he's taken from Van Cleef and continues the music, while holding a rifle at Indio he proceeds to return Van Cleef's gun and holster to him, in order to even the odds. The duel proceeds pretty predictably from there with Van Cleef gunning down our bad guy.

El Dorado (1967)

Spoiler

Same film as Rio Bravo only better if you ask me, anyway, our hero's are pretty banged up, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum have both been shot, Mitchum's on crutches and Wayne's paralysed down one side, the only help they've got is a crazy old man and a James Caan that cant shoot. The bad guys have a hostage who they're willing to return to his family (The McDonalds) so long as the family sell their land to them, and to make matters worse Mitchum's had to go cold turkey from being an alchoholic and John Wayne has already accidently shot one of the Macdonalds kids

Still, bold as ever Wayne rides up to the saloon they're keeping the hostage in to provide a distraction for the rescue party (Mitchum and the others). After some banter between Wayne and the scarred faced bad guy about "finding out who was best" the party strikes and Duke (the old man) blows his bugle, using the distraction Wayne dives off his carraige and proceeds to shoot scarred up guy about 5 times. During the ensuing gunfught James Caan manages to shoot his shotgun, killing 2 of the badguys and getting John Wayne in the leg as well. Pure quality

I had more I wanted to put in, but I dont want to be here all day. Let's hear yours.

 

[dizzle1119]

I'm partial to the triangle of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo from Tombstone.

Earp can't beat the guy, but his dying friend can...and he has nothing to lose. Classic...

 

[Chardee Macdennis]

For me it has to be Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo. My favorite movie of all time. Doc and Johnny were essentially the same person that chose different lots in life. Every one knew they were the two best guns in town, until Doc ultimately showed him who was best. Also, the scene in Tombstone where Doc waived his shot glass imitatating Ring waiving his gun was freaking EPIC!

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Once Upon A Time in the West steals this for me. Through nearly 3 hours, it's what the audience has been waiting for and when it finally arrives, it cuts to a flashback that explains a guy's nickname and makes the villain realise who it is he's facing.

The direction and music both collaborate to build the tension and excitement for a good few minutes before the guns go off. A great pay-off to a fantastic film where tension is the name of the game.

 

[Dutchboy241]

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Spoiler

One of my favorite westerns of all time and to me the epitome of the showdown. It's not the classic two people, but the scene here to me is perfect.
All the character's play their roles perfectly. The music builds to a amazing climax. An epic film that was all leading up to this. This is how to make a finale.

Unforgiven

Spoiler

Not a strict showdown but it's got the tone to it. William and Bill were leading to this point from the start of the film. Eastwood's delivery in his little speech is bone chilling, his best acting. What's so great about it is that neither character is really all that good. William is the hero but he's a person that has done horrible things and can't escape from his past, he likes it even. Bill is the sheriff of his town and doesn't want the violence, but he's far to cruel to be anything but a villain. Some great lighting and I love how down played it is. It's so great because it's trying to be realistic (natural lighting and no music). First rate work in also one of my favorite westerns.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I'm going to have to go with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly here. You spend a long time getting invested in the story and immersed and by the point you're reaching the climax, you're awaiting to see just who will be victorious in their race for the gold. So when all three characters come together in the cemetery with the gold at stake, and they all back off around the enormous circle, it's a wonderful cinematic sight. The intense close-ups of the eyes and hands, the long shots of all three in the cemetery and the fast cuts all make this well edited/directed, but what really makes it, for me at least, is the music. I love Ennio Morricone's score of this film and it just adds that extra element of greatness. It turns a great film into an astonishingly brilliant one, and that's never more apparent than in the climactic duel. "The trio" as it's called is a great piece that builds to a powerful, fast climax, much like the end of the duel itself. In fact, have a listen:

[YOUTUBE]cWo__6Xn6Qs[/YOUTUBE]​

 

[JWGunslinger]

Definitely have to go with the Showdown before Doc(Val Kilmer) and Johnny Ringo(Michael Beihn) throw down. I absolutely love Val Kilmer as Doc, his lines and mannerisms throughout the movie are brilliant and some of the best ones are in this scene.

[YOUTUBE]JGpajGj07BU[/YOUTUBE]

 

[IT Factor]

Any of the Clint Eastwood or John Wayne westerns are great with their showdowns being epic. I'm also a big Charles Bronson fan and the westerns that he was involved with. Pretty much any western that doesn't drag too much and has a great story, I love.