There was a time when the Western genre ruled the world of cinema, telling stories of adventure on the American frontier. In these films, the art of the fast draw was the ultimate movie boss fight. No superheroes, no exploding buildings, no spaceships — just two duelists and the whistling wind over the hot desert sand.
The best gunslinger duels always have some kind of twist. Either the characters have a long history that's about to be resolved, or one of the duelists has some kind of third option under their poncho. The most memorable always include some kind of catchphrase or final word, punctuating the climactic moment.
7 A Fistful of Dollars (1964) — Ramon Aims For The Heart
This was the first movie in which Clint Eastwood appeared as the Man With No Name, but the popularity of what would come to be known as the Spaghetti Western ensured that it would not be the last. A Fistful Of Dollars is actually a remake of a Kurosawa film called Yojimbo, or at least that's what Toho's successful lawsuit against Sergio Leone determined.
This gunslinger duel, which has been copied, lampooned, and revised a thousand times in various mediums, doesn't start as a duel at all, but as an easy shoot for the bad guy, Ramon. However, Ramon has a weird superstition about shooting his enemies in the heart, and our protagonist uses this belief to turn the tables.
6 The Quick And The Dead (1995) — Ellen's Revenge
A duel is always more satisfying when the two characters have an untold past that happened to set the present string of events in motion. The Quick and the Dead tricks the viewer into thinking the final duel will take place between the big bad, Herod, and the leading man, Cort. However, it's Ellen that reaches for her gun.
Villains like Herod focus too much on immediate gratification, and don't consider how the things they do can come back to them. He murdered a town Marshal years ago and coerced his daughter to try and save him, with tragic results. He never considered the little girl would grow up to have a deadly quick draw.
5 Silverado (1985) — Cobb Vs. Peyton
The viewer never finds out what happened to drive a wedge between Cobb and Peyton. There's the story about the dog, but of course, there's more going on with that. When they face each other, the stoic goodbyes seem to indicate that when one goes down, their stories together are lost to time as well.
Peyton ends up caught between two rival groups when he arrives in the town of Silverado, and is afraid to act when Cobb takes a close friend hostage. There's only one solution, and that's a duel. This isn't the only image that Silverado borrows from classic Westerns, but the image of the duel itself is a familiar image, in broad daylight and with little more than a dusty street as the backdrop.
4 For A Few Dollars More (1965) — When The Chimes End
In the sequel to A Fistful Of Dollars, the Man With No Name doesn't take part in this duel, but intervenes instead. Lee Van Cleef plays the steely Colonel who's pursuing a criminal for professional and personal reasons, and he enlists the anti-hero nicknamed Manco to help him. It turns out his help was a lifesaver.
Both the Colonel and the villain El Indio have something in common, symbolized by the music box they each carry. The woman that El Indio raped and killed so many years ago was the Colonel's sister, and when the chimes end, he takes his shot and has his revenge.
3 The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly — And A Buried Treasure
This one is not just a great gunslinger duel set up between three opponents — its outcome determines whether the viewer finds out where the treasure is hidden. The mysterious loot, buried in an unnamed grave, is one of the reasons The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is such a great story.
The title of the movie is actually the nicknames of the three main characters: the villain, the hero, and the comic relief who also acts as the hero's sidekick. The hero wins the three-way duel, of course, partly because of a trick he plays on the Ugly.
2 Blazing Saddles (1974) — It's Hedley, Not Hedy
Bart would eventually have to meet and confront Hedley Lamarr, the show's bad guy, but of course in this kind of movie, things won't happen in a typical way. Bart pursues the corrupt entrepreneur and catches up to him in front of a movie theater, in keeping with the anachronistic fourth-wall breaks that make up the third act of Blazing Saddles.
Bart tells Hedley to reach for it, but he lies and claims he doesn't have a gun, which prompts Bart to drop his pistol and use his fists instead. Hedley conveniently remembers he does have a gun and tries to shoot Bart first, but the Sheriff of Rock Ridge dives and grabs his pistol again, getting the kill shot. Hedley Lamarr has enough breath for one last quip before he falls on his face.
1 High Noon (1952) — Four Against One
This film was one of the earliest Western movies that actually had a script, a decent budget, and some big-name actors. The genre rode a wave of popularity for decades partly fueled by the popularity of High Noon. It wasn't just about the final duel, either, but all the social implications that led up to it in the first place.
The plot and cast of characters read like the perfect classic Hollywood film. Gary Cooper plays Marshal Will Kane, lawman and newlywed to Amy, played by Grace Kelly. The criminals he sent to the state prison have returned after serving a few years time, and they're looking for revenge. Against the advice of most of his friends and even his wife, Will puts his badge on and goes to confront the bad guys, all of them, at high noon.