Scene of the Week: The Way of the Gun – Final Shootout

The Way of the Gun is the type of movie that is constantly being added to “underrated movies” lists. So much so, in fact, that I no longer consider it to be underrated. I guess it’s just “rated normally”?? Either way, it serves as the first in director Christopher McQuarrie’s long list of awesome action films. As a barely 30 writer/director, he took something that could have been a throwaway movie found in every bargain bin in America and made it a must-have action-noir found in every bargain bin in America.

The Way of the Gun has seen its share of love from the film community over the past 20 years because of the awesome script, but I feel that it makes sense today (on Christopher McQuarrie’s bday) to acknowledge just how amazing his action sequences are. His brother Doug McQuarrie, who is a real life Navy SEAL, worked as the technical/weapons advisor for the film and added a sense of realism that is rarely found in the action genre. It’s a breath of fresh air for a film like this. Characters who don’t seem to fit into society in any normal way, also don’t fight like common criminals. It also makes almost every other action film look stupid, by comparison. Check out the scene below and see if you can tell what other classic film uses that same location for its finale.