Shoot-Out -- Realism

I agree too. Has to be my favorite western shootout.

I dont know how people were flying through the air from a shotgun/pistol blast though. But hey it sure helped add that "holly-sheit" moment to those scenes.

"Can you fly Bobby?"

Well, we don't know the kind of shot and gauge used in Duval's shotgun. Shotgun blasts are significantly more forceful than bullets, especially at close range.

But I agree there was bit much of that, but it's not like it was a John Woo film or anything with folks flying everywhere, more of like an embellishment but still mostly realistic...

I have been reading with some amusement, everybodys comments on here about how the impact of a bullet wouldn't affect a human body like portrayed in the movie. Now I agree, that two barrels of 00 buck with most of the energy spent going through a wall wouldn't lift a a guy off his feet and slam him into the other side of the alley. But, let me say this. Having participated in, and witnessed scenarios where projectiles were flying, the human body getting hit by a bullet or several, will often react in ways you couldn't imagine. Consider this: a person getting hit by a charging bull going 15 miles an hour, gets thrown in the air. (watch jackass).... Getting hit by a car going 40 or 50 will often throw the victim many feet from the scene of the accident. So, what happens when the human body is struck by a projectile going 950 FPS? (velocity of a colt .45 round) You tell me....

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This is one of my pet peeves, even in the real world. I've seen many moose, who might weigh 10 times the shooter, 'knocked down' by a hand held rifle, and try and point out to the shooter that it just looks that way. Unless said moose is right at the muzzle, less energy went into the moose than the human holding the gun, (because part of the energy is dissipated to the air through friction). According to Newton, exactly the same force was applied to the human as the bullet (opposite and equal). The moose drops because of shock to his system, not because he was 'knocked down'. It doesn't matter how heavy or fast the projectile is, if it knocks down a moose, it's virtually guaranteed to knock down the shooter.

The only way to compare a bullet from a hand held weapon to a bull or car, would be if a human threw the bull or car without being propelled backward LOL (see superman whose mass is obviously thousands of tons).

Of course the movie that doesn't show the laws of physics being violated is very rare....

You are spot on. There is a is a principle in self defensive shooting called 'the 50% rule'. This means that in a defensive situation, with the adrenalin flowing as you point out, you shoot at only half of your skill level. Now, if you are a practiced shooter, you are still going to be light years ahead of the Joe Dirtbag you're up against.

So, the lesson is, learn a correct skill set and practice.

The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

My favorite part was when Kostner fanned his Single action army and shot off 16 rounds simultaneously.

I kid, I really liked the shoot out, I think what makes it feel so realistic (when lets face it, movie magic is heavily in play the entire time) is the quick brutality of things. Most films (especially Westerns) like to pepper shootouts throughout the film in order to keep the audience paying attention. Personally I grew tired of that a long long time ago. So I think placing the shootout so near the end kept my attention going throughout things, who knew what was going to happen? And while I think it may have drug on a little bit too long near the end I was quite impressed with how things played out. Made it feel more real, at least to me.


Now, I came into the film as a Kostner fan (Part of me likes him simply because I know so many people that simply don't like him at all) but after watching it, I liked it on its own. I also really loved Duvall's performance. Maybe not the best film made, but it's one I'm proud to own.

Costner trying to hit Baxter but failing like six times was pretty good. Killing Baxter was the most important thing. That headshot was also a surprise but makes perfect sense in hindsight, kill the strongest shooter first when he's overconfident of his numbers.

I won't bother with a spoiler warning because by the time someone reads this far, it's too late.

IMO, that sequence where Boss blasts the guy in the alley through the wall is absolutely outstanding. It got to me on an emotional level -- good guy shoots bad guy in a rather spectacular maneuver.

The fact that Duvall did it made it even better. I actually cheered out loud when it happened, and the physics of it never entered my head.

I think the entire shootout is great. I particularly like that the gunshots are really loud, the way I imagine real gunshots would be.

... or how he refuses to use the ejector rod on his Peacemaker and instead shakes the gun around until the brass comes falling out of the cylinder.

And I don't get why he would do that.

- it doesn't make sense for the character (a seasoned gunfighter/shooter) to do it.
- it doesn't look "cool".
- it's more time-consuming and less reliable than simply using the ejector rod. Wouldn't you want to be ready to fire again ASAP in a situation where people are shooting back at you?

Oh well.. it's still a pretty great gunfight overall. Even though there probably never was an all-out shootout involving this many people and shots fired in the RL Old West. Even OK Corral was over in roughly 30 seconds.

And as far as aiming is concerned: If you check it again, you will see people *are* using their sights. Not a whole lot of shooting from the hip in this movie. When Costner tries to hit Baxter with his Winchester, he's using his sights for almost every single shot.