10 Most Intense Shootouts In Movie History

8. Desperado - What's In The Guitar Case?

Desperado shootout
Columbia Pictures

Desperado is one of those movies that features a lot of gunfights, but none so well orchestrated as the ones that happened in bars. The film opens to a rather storied telling of a fight that leaves 12 dead in one bar, but the truly intense battle doesn't come until a little later in the movie.

When the Mariachi makes his way to the Tarasco bar, he had his guitar case with him, which is exactly what the bad guys were looking for. A momentary subterfuge left them believing the case held a guitar until the disguise was lifted to reveal more guns in the case than could possibly fit.

What follows is an over-the-top gunfight choreographed in such a way as to honor every gun battle that came before it. Throughout the course of the fight, 22 bad guys get taken out, but not all of them by Mariachi.

One bad guy is killed by his pals when he is used as a human shield, the Pick-Up Guy, played by Quentin Tarantino gets his brains painted all over the wall, and the bartender gets popped by an arms dealer.

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Contributor

Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com