10 Most Intense Western Duels Ever

High Noon is notable for many reasons, but one above all was the fact that the events of the film were presented in real time. This established a level of intensity unfamiliar to most moviegoers back when it was released in 1952.

Granted, few films today are presented in real time as this reduces the director's ability to establish a scene, but that didn't limit Fred Zinnemann's direction of Gary Cooper in this western classic.

The final scene depicting Cooper standing alone against a horde of bad guys hunting him throughout the town is about as intense a gun battle as you can get when it comes to a Western, but despite the odds against him, he maintains his presence and takes out the bad guys, one after another.

Watching this scene, the viewer almost feels as if they are under the same level of threat as Cooper, which helps to engross the feeling of dread his character must have felt at the same time. Ultimately, the good guy wins by shooting the man hiding behind a woman hostage in a proper standoff that sees the bad guy dead in the end.