Best Gun Movies
Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of gun cinema — measured across 2,172 indexed frames from 32 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.
Gun films over-index on cowboy hat, handgun and horse — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.
- 1
The Good The Bad The Weird (2008)
Kim Jee-woonDP Lee Mo-gaeIMDb 7.2TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
A guksu western. Three Korean gunslingers are in Manchuria circa World War II: Do-wan, an upright bounty hunter, Chang-yi, a thin-skinned and ruthless killer, and Tae-goo, a train robber with nine lives. Tae-goo finds a map he's convinced leads to buried treasure; Chang-yi wants it as well for less clear reasons. Do-wan tracks the map knowing it will bring him to Chang-yi, Tae-goo, and reward money. Occupying Japanese forces and their Manchurian collaborators also want the map, as does the Ghost Market Gang who hangs out at a thieves' bazaar. These enemies cross paths frequently and dead bodies pile up. Will anyone find the map's destination and survive to tell the tale?
- 2
Shane (1953)
George StevensDP Loyal GriggsIMDb 7.6TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →
Shane rides into a conflict between cattleman Ryker and a bunch of settlers, like Joe Starrett and his family, whose land Ryker wants. When Shane beats up Ryker's man Chris, Ryker tries to buy him. Then Shane and Joe take on the whole Ryker crew. Ryker sends to Cheyenne for truly evil gunslinger Wilson. Shane must clear out all the guns from the valley.
- 3
Rio Bravo (1959)
Howard HawksDP Russell HarlanIMDb 8.0TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →
Sheriff John T. Chance has his hands full after arresting Joe Burdette for murder. He knows that Burdette's brother Nathan, a powerful rancher, will go to any lengths to get him out of jail. Chance's good friend Pat Wheeler offers to help but within 20 minutes of making the offer is gunned down in the street, shot in the back. That leaves his elderly deputy Stumpy, the town drunk Dude - once a deputy and a pretty good shot when he was sober - and a young hand, Colorado, who used to work for Wheeler. Nathan Burdette meanwhile has a couple of dozen men at his disposal. Chance does his best to prepare all the while romancing a pretty gambler who goes by the name of Feathers.
- 4
Dead Man (1995)
Jim JarmuschDP Robby MüllerIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →
In the late-1800s, the meek accountant from Cleveland, William Blake, spends the last of his already meagre savings to get to the frontier community of Machine where a job awaits him. Eager to make a fresh start, Blake arrives at his destination, only to discover that the position no longer exists. Gravely wounded and on the run from a relentless trio of bounty hunters after a deadly shoot-out, William flees the inhospitable industrial town and has a chance encounter with the enigmatic Native American spirit-guide named "Nobody", who believes Blake is the reincarnation of the visionary English poet, William Blake. Now, before the endless American wilderness, the two companions embark on a peril-laden odyssey of mysticism, transformation, and spirituality, until William crosses over into the spirit world. What lies on the other side?
- 5
Christopher McQuarrieDP Rob HardyIMDb 7.7TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →
Two years after Ethan Hunt had successfully captured Solomon Lane, the remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into another organization called the Apostles. Under the leadership of a mysterious fundamentalist known only as John Lark, the organization is planning on acquiring three plutonium cores. Ethan and his team are sent to Berlin to intercept them, but the mission fails when Ethan saves Luther and the Apostles escape with the plutonium. With CIA agent August Walker joining the team, Ethan and his allies must now find the plutonium cores before it's too late.
- 6
First Blood (1982)
Ted KotcheffDP Andrew LaszloIMDb 7.7TMDB 7.5See in full on FrameThrower →
Sylvester Stalloneas John Rambo
Richard Crennaas Col. Samuel Trautman
Brian Dennehyas Hope Sheriff Will Teasle
John J. Rambo is a former United States Special Forces soldier who fought in Vietnam and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, but his time in Vietnam still haunts him. As he came to Hope, Washington to visit a friend, he was guided out of town by the Sheriff William Teasel who insults Rambo, but what Teasel does not know that his insult angered Rambo to the point where Rambo became violent and was arrested. As he was at the county jail being cleaned, he escapes and goes on a rampage through the forest to try to escape from the sheriffs who want to kill him. Then, as Rambo's commanding officer, Colonel Samuel Trautman tries to save both the Sheriff's department and Rambo before the situation gets out of hand.
- 7
Ran (1985)
Akira KurosawaDP Takao SaitōIMDb 8.2TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →
Tatsuya Nakadaias Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
Akira Teraoas Taro Takatora Ichimonji
Jinpachi Nezuas Jiro Masatora Ichimonji
Japanese warlord Hidetori Ichimonji decides the time has come to retire and divide his fiefdom among his three sons. His eldest and middle sons - Taro and Jiro - agree with his decision and promise to support him for his remaining days. The youngest son Saburo disagrees with all of them arguing that there is little likelihood the three brothers will remain united. Insulted by his son's brashness, the warlord banishes Saburo. As the warlord begins his retirement, he quickly realizes that his two eldest sons selfish and have no intention of keeping their promises. It leads to war and only banished Saburo can possibly save him.
- 8
True Lies (1994)
James CameronDP Russell CarpenterIMDb 7.3TMDB 7.1See in full on FrameThrower →
Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads a double life. At work he is a government agent with a license to do just about anything, while at home he pretends to be a dull computer salesman. He is on the trail of stolen nuclear weapons that are in the hands of fanatic terrorists when something more important comes up. Harry finds his wife is seeing another man (Bill Paxton) because she needs some adventure in her life. Harry decides to give it to her, juggling pursuit of terrorists on one hand and an adventure for his wife on the other while showing he can Tango all at once.
- 9
Killer Joe (2011)
William FriedkinDP Caleb DeschanelIMDb 6.7TMDB 6.5See in full on FrameThrower →
Finding himself in considerable debt, Chris, a Texan drug dealer, decides the only solution is to murder his mother to collect the insurance money. Getting together with his father, the ex-husband of Chris' mother, they decide to hire Joe Cooper (a contract killer) who also happens to be a police detective. The plan is that the money will go to Chris' sister Dottie. However due to the size of the contract fee, Chris agrees that Joe can take Dottie as a retainer until the insurance comes through.
- 10
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Joel CoenDP Barry SonnenfeldIMDb 7.7TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →
Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne) is the right-hand man, and chief adviser, to a mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Trouble is brewing between Leo and another mob boss, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), over the activities of a bookie, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and Leo and Tom are at odds on how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Tom is in a secret relationship with Leo's girlfriend, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who happens to be the sister of Bernie. In trying to resolve the issue, Tom is cast out from Leo's camp and ultimately finds himself stuck in the middle between several deadly, unforgiving parties.
What gun films are made of
How much more often each element appears in a gun frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — cowboy hat is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.
- cowboy hat4.3×
- handgun3.5×
- horse3.5×
- rifle3.3×
- fedora2.4×
- mountain2.4×
- leather jacket1.9×
- smoke1.7×
What breaks the pattern
The Party (2017) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.
Method
Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 2,172 frames from 32 films carrying the gun label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.
Machine-readable: /api/list/gun
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