Showdown At High Noon: Difference between revisions

[[The Hero]] (or B. A. L. C. A. H. w/N. N. G.) and the [[Big Bad]] stand at opposite ends of the street, hands hovering over their holsters. The camera cuts between their faces, their twitching fingers, the faces of the frightened crowd, and of [[Between My Legs|the combatants framed by the opponent's legs]]. Long seconds pass. On a cue known only to the gunfighters, hands slap leather and shots ring out.

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== Film ==

* ''[[High Noon]]'', despite what one would think, actively ''subverts'' this, as the hero sneaks up behind the gang of villains, gun already drawn, and yells for them to drop their guns before shooting one in the neck and leading to a tense chase. Furthermore, noon only marks the ''arrival'' of Frank Miller and co., not the showdown itself.

* Common in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns:

** In the unauthorized [[Spaghetti Western]] remake of ''Yojimbo'', ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' (1964), the [[No Name Given|man with no name]] faces down the baddest tough-guy in town. As in the original, the bad guy has the most sophisticated weapon in town, this time a repeating rifle.

* Most films about the gunfight at the OK Corral usually turn this bloody ambush into a [[Showdown At High Noon]].

* ''[[The Matrix]]'', in the subway station. It even had newspaper tumbleweed. Of course, given the fact that both combatants could dodge bullets like crazy, it quickly turned into a [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours|kung fu showdown]] rather than a gunfight.

* ''[[Yojimbo]]'' (1961), the [[No Name Given|ronin with no name]] prepares for a [[Jidai Geki]] version of the showdown -- problem is, his opponent has the ''only'' revolver in town.

* The endings of the western spoofs ''[[Support Your Local Sheriff]]'' and ''[[Support Your Local Gunfighter]]'' are both extended parodies of this trope.

* ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]''. While in a firefight in some ruins, Spyros Pappadimos and a German officer find themselves facing off, each armed with a machine gun. They advance slowly toward each other and eventually start firing. {{spoiler|Both are killed in the gun battle}}.

* Inverted in ''[[Blood Rayne|Bloodrayne]] 2: Deliverance''. The vampires controlling the town tell Rayne, "You've got until High Midnight to get out of town."

* ''[[Once Upon a Texas Train]]'' climaxes with a showdown between Cotton's gang of [[Young Gun|Young Guns]] and the combined team of retired outlaws and retired Rangers in a ghost town.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Subverted in ''[[Wayne and Shuster]]'''s Fist Full of Dollars sketch where, after the climactic gunfight in which dozens of bullets are fired at Schuster with no effect, he reveals that he was using the old "brick wall under the poncho" trick.

* Happens in ''[[Psych]]'', between a policeman and... a cowboy (not a real cowboy - this is the one at those little re-enactment tourist traps), after it's uncovered he's been whacking people to try and keep a gold cache under the town secret. The cowboy's SAA, however, was real. {{spoiler|Cop wins.}}

* In the episode of ''[[The Prisoner]]'' where Number 6 is an old-west sheriff, he has a [[Single-Stroke Battle]] shoot-out with the henchman of the [[Once Per Episode|latest]] Number 2.

* The final confrontation between Jack Keenan and Frank Butler in ''[[Wild Boys (TV)|Wild Boys]]'' is a Type 2.

 

 

== Music ==

* [[Crowning Music of Awesome|The Megaman remix-band]] [[The Megas]] make the battle between Megaman and Quickman sound like an embodiment of this trope. It's all built up with Quickman as the "sheriff"; with lines such as "Quick on the draw, in this town I am the law. Is what they say true? Does death wear blue? Can he fall?" The conclusion comes with "My circuits slow. I'm not scared anymore. Reach for my weapon and in turn you're reaching for yours. My circuits slow. What they said is a lie. The shots are heard and the bullets scream death as they fly", essentially also making this an example of a [[Single-Stroke Battle]]. In the end, the winner is {{spoiler|Megaman. But what did you expect? He's the hero.}}

* ''Big Iron'' is this trope in spirit, when the Arizona Ranger and Texas Red have their showdown.

{{quote| ''The morning passed so quickly it was time for them to meet,''<br />

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

{{quote| '''Hobbes''': I get to be the zoning board!}}

** His mom didn't let them play with guns.

* You get to participate in a few of these in ''[[Call of Juarez]]''.

* There was a Nintendo Light Gun game called ''[[Wild Gunman]],'' and a version of it appeared in ''[[Back to The Future]] Part II''.

* Used as a [[Mini Game]] in ''[[Kirby]]'s Adventure'' for the NES. Amusingly, the same Mini Game was recycled using [[Single-Stroke Battle|this trope's Far Eastern counterpart]] in ''Kirby Superstar''

* The ancient [[ZX Spectrum]] western-themed adventure ''The Wild Bunch'' used version B if you decided you wanted to kill the bad guys, rather than just bring them in to the sheriff (killing them was more rewarding). The trick was that you had to let the bad guy move first, so that's it's self-defence to shoot him rather than just plain old murder.

* ''[[Billy Frontier]]'' has an unusual spin on this where rather than simply being the first to draw after a signal, you also have to play a LITERAL [[Simon Says Mini Game]] during the “glare at each other sullenly” stage.

* ''[[Live a Live]]'' has one of the A variety in its Wild West chapter. The protagonist and his nemesis each take five steps (on account of the small viewing area), draw and shoot... at two different outlaws hiding on the sidelines.

* Tin Star is full of this, they're Always comical too, if you miss one of the shots you may kill a passing bird or even shoot down the belts from your opponent, causing his pants to fall down.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Spoofed in the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon ''Drip-Along Daffy'': Daffy and Nasty Canasta do version A, but before a single shot is fired, Porky defeats Canasta with a wind-up toy soldier... with a ridiculously powerful musket. The crowd already has Porky up on their shoulders when Daffy, still walking towards the showdown, realizes what happened.

* [[Bugs Bunny]] ''literally'' expands the town for Yosemite Sam in the cartoon ''Bugs Bunny Rides Again''. Sam doesn't care.

* ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'' had one, though it was at sunset and not at noon.

* One episode of ''[[Western Animaiton/The Simpsons|The Simpsons]]'' featured Homer slapping people everywhere he went challenging them to duels to avoid having to pay for things. Unfortunately when he challenges an old fashioned Texas cowboy to a duel, the man naturally accepted. At the end of the episode they finally duel with the customary ten steps when the Texan is distracted by a pie Marge cooked. Homer, in a move that was idiotic even for him, reminded the man that the duel was not over. The Texan apologized for his rudeness and promptly shot Homer in the shoulder.

* ''[[The Backyardigans]]'', being the kid-friendly show it is, played this relatively straight, replacing the shootout with a ping-pong match.

* In the ''[[Western Animaiton/Re Boot|Re Boot]]'' episode 'The Episode With No Name' Andraia and a nameless female Guardian have a showdown in the streets. Slightly modified since Andraia uses projectile spikes, instead of a gun. She still wins.