The Top 10 Best Gun Fu Masters from Movies
Gun Fu Keeps Getting Better and Better!
I’m a huge fan of Gun Fu in movies. Ever since John Woo first employed it in Hong Kong cinema back in the 80s the fictional blend of martial arts and gunplay has gotten bigger and better over the years. While a lot of movies tend to separate fight sequences from shoot outs, there are some that blend the two concepts to create some absolutely awe-inspiring action sequences. Of course, there have been a lot of action heroes over the years who have managed to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds thanks to some well-placed bullets, but there have been relatively few Gun Fu masters. That’s why this week I’m counting down the ten most impressive Gun Fu fighters of all time. The ones who make this list are dual-wielding masters, who fluidly blend gunplay with close quarters combat in order to become the most efficient killing machines in cinema. So, get ready because these Gun Fu masters are coming at you and you can be sure they’ve already got one in the chamber!
10. Ah Jong- The Killer
John Woo is the Godfather of Gun Fu, which is why I’m kicking off this list with one of his greatest movie characters of all time. Ah Jong (Chow Yun Fat) is an assassin who finds himself caring for a woman he inadvertently blinds in a gunfight. Racked with guilt, he sets out to earn enough money for her to have ocular surgery the only way he knows how. Ah Jong earns a spot on this list thanks to his ability to dual-wield handguns with inhuman accuracy (one of the first staples of traditional Gun Fu films). As incredible as it is watching Ah Jong shoot his way out of any trouble he encounters, he doesn’t rank higher on this list because the game has changed quite a bit since he first debuted in the 80s. Still, Ah Jong is definitely a Gun Fu master.
9. El Mariachi- Robert Rodriguez‘s Mexico Trilogy
Everyone knows that Cartels are some of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the planet which is why the guitar strumming hero of the Robert Rodriguez’s El Mexico Trilogy has earned a respectable spot on this list. While El Mariachi was pretty cool and an inspiring indie movie, I’m going to have to go with Antonio Banderas take on the character in the second two films in the trilogy. No matter how impossible the odds seem to be stacked against el Mariachi, he always manages to shoot his way out of a bad situation. Like Ah Jong, he’s a fan of dual-wielding pistols when it comes to gunfights and always seems to dive out of the way at just the right moment. His skills even earned the attention of the CIA who were all too happy to make use of them.
8. Beck- The Rundown
Beck is a man who doesn’t like to use guns because bad things happen when he does. Most of The Rundown has him throwing down with some pretty impressive fisticuffs even while greatly outnumbered. However, it’s stupid to bring your fists to a gunfight and by the end of the movie, Beck has no choice but to pick up some weapons. This list has a fair amount of Gun Fu masters who dual-wield pistols, but when you’re as big as Dwayne Johnson you gotta pull out the big guns. The final shoot out features him taking on a private army with not just one, but two pump-action shotguns. Beck’s style of Gun Fu makes use of his incredible strength and athleticism to manipulate the battlefield around him leaving nothing but destruction in his wake.
7. Smith- Shoot ‘Em Up
Shoot ‘Em Up is almost cartoonish in its crazy use of Gun Fu. The film follows a homeless man who finds himself caring for a baby after its mother is killed by gangsters. Of course, being bad guys, they have no plans in letting the child live and set out to kill it as well. There’s only one problem, the man with the baby is Smith. Not much is known about Smith’s past, but the bad guys confirm he was a national sports pistol champion at age 10 before being recruited by the army. What he did in the military is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say he was very good at whatever it was. Smith uses his perfect marksmanship and situational awareness to make any gunfight seem one-sided no matter how greatly outnumbered he is.
6. Wesley- Wanted
While Smith might have been able to hit any target he aimed at, not even he could pull off Wesley’s signature move from Wanted. Wesley starts off the film as a pretty pathetic guy until he’s trained by master assassins to be one of the most lethal killers on the planet. By the end of the film, he’s literally able to sprint through a gunfight and hitting every advisory he comes across with perfect precision, without missing a step. When he runs out of bullets, he simply snatches a new gun and keeps right on going. Of course, a lot of Gun Fu masters can pull off similar feats, but none of them have shown the ability to “curve a bullet” to hit a target. He might start off a looser, but by the end of the movie, Wesley is a true master of Gun Fu.