When I first started this segment I assured myself that I would only write about melee combat. For whatever reason I just assumed that my favorite fights in cinema were all pugilistic struggles filled with haymakers and brutal carnage. The more I wrote on the subject the more I realized just how much I enjoy other forms of combat as well. Not being the type to hold myself to my own ludicrous expectations I have decided to bring back the long awaited next installment of the "Favorite Fights" with a write-up on a famous western showdown.
Gun fights can be a lot of fun. Seeing the perfect marksman running through town against all odds picking off each of his/her opponents with little effort can provide a decent enough experience for the audience, but you know what's better? The slow and quiet gun fight. A fight that's between just two individuals where the hero completely outclasses the villain and toys with him like a cat batting about a mouse before devouring it whole.
But what's the purpose of a one sided fight? Shouldn't the two opposing forces be equal in power? Where's the tension and drama when the hero is forecast to win?
The devil's in the detail my lovelies.
In previous blogs I commented how pitting two equally powerful forces against each other can caramelize into a juicy cinematic treat. On the other hand I also paid close enough attention to pick out a few where there was no contest; famous clashes where the victor was chosen from the start and made no effort to hide this fact. Sometimes it works, but there has to be a reason behind it.
Ramon, the bad guy, is arrogant, cruel, and single-minded in his quest for personal gain and glory. Throughout the film we see him forming a thin relationship with Clint Eastwood's character only to see that trust betrayed. Ramon is a mean spirited guy who is so assured of himself that he generates this aura of self-imagined invincibility. The cruelty he imposes on the innocent makes us want to see him answer for his crimes.
Towards the end of the film when the stranger walks back into town seeking revenge, the audience is now thoroughly prepared to watch Ramon pay. Rather than picking Ramon off quickly though, the audience gets to indulge as Clint mentally tortures Ramon; instilling fear and doubt with every calculated move.
Once squared off, the man with no name dispatches every single one of the Rojos in one clean sweep but leaves Ramon standing. Both men go for their firearms and before Ramon can even get his rifle readied, the man with no name has his gun trained on it's target. Ramon at this point realizes that Clint could have killed him twice over and yet still he lets him live. The movie stirs a deadly chill as we gleefully get an intimate look into the terror that rocks Ramon's very essence. Sweat pours from his face as he stares down the last moments of his life and we the audience know that he deserves nothing more than to die horribly by Clint's hand.
Above all else, the man with no name wants Ramon to understand that he is inferior. He wants to Humble this deranged murderous outlaw before he takes him down.
The stranger allows Ramon one last opportunity to beat him. In a thunderous flash that forgoes any stylized camera work or idiotic gunkata, the man with no name shoots Ramon. We get a first person point of view as the camera spins and the slow death rattle chokes its way from Ramon's last breath just before he collapses upon the sun bleached dirt.
Ramon claimed that with his rifle no man armed with a pistol could defeat him - oh the irony.
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