MovieChat Forums > State of Grace (1990) Discussion > Final Shoot-out

Final Shoot-out

posted 19 years ago by girlzwillbegirlz
58 replies | jump to latest

Saw this film for the first time & liked it up UNTIL that final ludicrous shoot-out. OMG you can't be serious. Typical cliched Hollywood shoot-out, where the "hero" manages to land almost every single one of his shots at the mobsters whether he's flying through the air, rolling on the ground etc (wipes out 5 guys including Harris) yet even when they are shooting at him point blank, or as he's flying over the bar, they only manage to shoot him 2 times but shoot up everything else in the bar including the jukebox. Ridiculous. These experienced hardcore killers turn out to have the slowest reflexes & be the worst, most inept shots in the whole friggin mob if not all the East Coast. And to top it off, Ed Harris' character Frankie, the biggest, baddest one of em all, is shown walking towards Penn shooting straight at him point blank (at this point Penn is not shooting back) & with his last 6 shots somehow manages to hit glasses, bottles & lights all around him but hits Penn only once. I don't mind a little artistic license but c'mon people, as Borelli might say "this insults my intelligence".

"The neighborhood is disappearin' in a tide of yuppies & dog s**t" Frankie

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] docxavier951 17 years ago

For me, it's all about the visual artistry, and the final shoot-out is one of the very best slo-mo Peckinpah-styled scenes of violence ever...as for Frankie not being able to hit Terry, it perfectly reflects Frankie's ineptness as a mob boss, for Frankie is really just an immoral businessman...by the way, the film is running on IFC right now (I think it's my 8th or 10th viewing).

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[–] Draglu 17 years ago

All you said is bull***t. I mean I never saw a real shoot-out, I don't know what happens. Also I don't give a sh***t if it's real or not. I don't go to a movie to analyze the trajectory of a bullett entering Ed Harris' skull. Get a life. I liked the movie. We forget sometimes that movies are not reality and that movies shouldn't reflect reality. It's entertainment. The scene looks good and it's a great ending to the movie.

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse

[–] neeraj-14 16 years ago

i just finished watching this movie.
utter disgrace.
coming to the final shoot out when frankie is hit on the forehead, in the shot blood oozes out of his back, his suit is shown to be ripped off the back, but there is no bullet entry wound on his front. also if you slo mo that shot it is apparent that Ed Harris is hit by red paint on his forehead.

[–] Andz-P 16 years ago

I don't mind films being unrealistic but that final shootout did seem a bit out of place in this film.

[–] Studman_Productions 15 years ago

I thought it was a cool final scene.

[–] mloessel 14 years ago

I do agree that the final shoot out scene is a bit over the top. Penn walks into the bar and everything slows down. Meanwhile it's the New York St. Patty's Day Parade and all it set for a cliched shoot scene at a local bar. Is it believable? Well the good guy (Penn) enters the bar and all hell breaks loose. He happens to be a better shot then the bad guys and does a better job of shooting them as they can't seem to hit him. Some of their bullets hit him but not fatally. Penn has a final point blank shootout with the really bad guy (Harris) and puts a bullet in his forehead. In the end, (Penn) the good guy gets hit about three times and manages to survive. He sits there in the midst of the carnage, broken glass, and completely wrecked bar area. It's a very short scene and the viewers are left to draw their own conclusions.

[–] justal67 14 years ago

No one knows if he survives or not. Truth be told, I believe he dies and we just do not see it.
As for the gun fight at the end, he is hit 3 times, and 1 looks like a liver shot. Even Richie gets a shot in, you know the one Sean call Farking Stupid while waiting for Frankie's meeting with Barelli to end.
But seriously, the way the scene was shot might have been over the top to some, but it was a great scene.
It's Hell's Kitchen, bagpipes are playing in the background, the parade is being shown, and then BOOM.
And quit over analyzing movies. Jesus H Christ, everyone with a computer all of a sudden becomes a critic.
Either you liked it or you didn't. Plain and simple.

[–] estcst-3 14 years ago

Why is it every one IMDB seems to get in a tiff if someone brings up an issue with a movie they like? You'd have come off a lot better if you would have just let it go an disagreed instead of making other people seem like they don't have the right to comment on a film.

[–] bear022013-588-696101 14 years ago

Penn's character being a Boston Policeman coupled with firearms training that all officers receive...makes it entirely possible for a scene such as the one in question to occur..more often than not.
It is not easy for an urban gang member to miss everything but the MOVING TARGET.

[–] vlaks-0 14 years ago

I just imagine that there all really drunk, and their vision is seriously impaired.. that makes me accept it a bit more..

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Frieferskumski 13 years ago

If it's not illegal, please send me some of whatever it is that you've been ingesting! Please do this, watch the scene once more, this time counting the number of rounds that Terry Noonan (Sean Penn) fires off before the first knucklehead that is gunning for him actually retrieves his weapon from its' holster. Hint, it's in the neighborhood of five or six. Now that you've watched the scene once again, it's really OK for you to edit or delete the comment you posted above so that no one, that has not yet read it, will ever know that you wrote such a preposterous bunch of malarkey. No need to even thank me, I will consider this my good deed of the day because you sound like a nice enough person.

OP+1

[–] Sensimilla 13 years ago

mainly Harris as he walks towards Penn shooting, it just goes left right left righ hit left right, he seems to get worse the closer he gets, Harris isnt convincing as a boss at all either, comes accross as a complete idiot