"Most Dramatic "Last Stands" in Cinema?" Topic

There have been some pretty memorable "last stands" in movies.

Some of my favorites:

-- Errol Flynn and company overrun by Anthony Quinn and hundreds of mounted Sioux warriors in "They Died with Their Boots On."

-- The surviving Spartan hopilites surrounded by the Persian host, refusing to give up the body of their king (Richard Egan), in "300 Spartans."

-- Gorman and Vasquez in a desperate rear guard action against the "Aliens," giving Ripley and crew a chance to escape.

-- Henry Fonda and Victor McLaughlin overwhelmed and ridden down by the charging Apache warriors in "Fort Apache."

-- Robert Taylor, the last of his small band of defenders, firing on the advancing Imperial Japanese infantry from the protection of his own freshly-dug grave in "Bataan."

Any other epic "last stands" from movies that you found particularly memorable?

The whole Alamo movie, take your pick, is a last stand.

Can someone survive in a "last stand?", if so the Saving Private Ryan is my favorite.

Beau Geste?

The Lost Patrol?

Zulu Dawn

Khartoum

The end of Glory is like a reverse last stand, a charge to glory.

I loved 300, I thought that was probably the best.

beau geste?

YouTube link

Errol Flynn again.

Rocky Mountain. A small group of Rebs charging Indians

The Duke Wayne Alamo.

Until I think of another; I might add that I saw They died With their Boots on when I was very young. 1950's. That one always stuck with me.

Sahara 1943
Humphrey Bogart

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The Wild Bunch

Battleground 1949?

YouTube link

March or Die – Gene Hackman and the FFL vs. Rif Tribesmen.

No Man's Land.

No one gets out of this alive.

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Our heroes against the Bolivian army.

…Robert Taylor, the last of his small band of defenders, firing on the advancing Imperial Japanese infantry from the protection of his own freshly-dug grave in "Bataan."

Always liked "Bataan"… GREAT cast (Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Nolan (BRILLIANT as the deserter/re-enlistee whose original escape cost Robert Taylor the chance to become an officer ((IIRC)) and a young Desi Arnez as the zoot-suit latino.

"Cross of Iron"… not a "last stand as such, but still powerful.

"55 days at Peking',"Zulu",Die Brucke" and "I will fight no more forever"(Nez Perce"made for T.V. movie)

Saltflats and Leadpusher beat me to my two favorites: The Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. And, coincidentally, they're both Westerns from 1969.

And not exactly a heroic last stand, but who can forget about Tony Montana in Scarface?

The Wild Bunch, 9th Company, Platoon

"Operation Burma" has a pretty good last stand with just a handful of paratroopers dug-in on top of a hill manage to hold off a battalion of Japanese infantry just long enough for help to arrive. It's another Errol Flynn movie.

"Starship Troopers" had a pretty good last stand at the outpost getting evaced just before the bugs overran it.

Gary Cole in "Son of the Morning Star" Was a great last stand.
Waterloo, When the guard is surrounded by British cavalry and asked to surrender, and when they refused, Saw the cavalry move only to see that artillery was brought up.

The 13th warrior has a pretty epic fight at the end although not a last stand.

+1 to Bataan, one of my favs, Robert Taylor is great.

Go Tell the Spartans

For Whom the Bell Tolls has a dandy little mountain top last stand of Republican guerrillas surrounded by Nationalists. And then they call in the air strike…

Interesting. Several titles here I had not heard of previously.

Lots to look into!

Few dollars more
Serenity
Few moments from each of the LOTR films
Battle beyond the stars
Platoon
El CID
Spartacus
Jedi in one of the newer SW films in the arena hoth in empire strike back
Bridge too far
One of the episodes of band of brothers in the forest
Magnificent seven. Samurai one aswell
Avengers assemble
13 assassins
Most of Independence Day
Recently watched Richard burton in desert rats good film
Battle of Britain
All I can recall atm

Bobgnar already mentioned the classic Alamo

In EL CID, was it the Andalusian Muslims who made the "last stand" against the Spanish Christians?

It's been years since I've seen it, but I do recall the dramatic ending -- Charlton Heston as the dead Cid, strapped to his magnificent charger, leading the final attack against the Moors.

Poor Herbert Lom. Things did not turn out well for him.

Black Hawk Down – the snipers at the crash site.

Rob

Wild Bunch, Magnificent Seven, BC & the SK, Zulu, Platoon, The Iron Cross, Gallipoli?

Can't disagree with any of them but to me Bataan is #1.

Would Steve McQueen in the Sand Pebbles count?

Steve McQueen's last stand at the Chinese temple in "The Sand Pebbles" would definitely count!

I'd forgotten that one.

Wild Geese, run to the plane.

Billy, the Native American Special Forces soldier's hand-to-hand last stand against the Predator warrior on the great fallen tree bridging the river.

Gave Arnold and the rest another brief moment to effect their escape attempt.

Dog Soldiers?

Yes, that was certainly an epic last stand in "Dog Soldiers."

Quite an unusual film, but plenty of action!

And "Blackhawk Down." The snipers at the crash site!

-- Amazing how throughout history men (and women) have been willing to sacrifice themselves for their comrades.

The final battle sequence in Saving Private Ryan.

The final battle sequence in Home Alone. Just kidding, but it was good enough to spawn several sequels.

One of the , perhaps the most, memorable last stands is Night of the Living Dead. Even when you survive you lose.

"Night of the Living Dead" -- first saw that movie back in my college days.

We went to the Midnight Showing after we'd been partying mightily all Friday evening.

Was stone-cold sober again 15 minutes into the movie!

What a roller-coaster ride!

If I remember it right. Sean Connery in 'The man who would be king'

How about 'Assault on precinct 13'?

One of the best? Boromir's last stand against the Orks

"Assault on Precinct 13" -- I've never seen it. I'll have to look into this one.

"The Man Who Would Be King" -- I'd forgotten that one too. The riflemen trying to hold-off the disgruntled religious mystics; Billy Fish charging with his Kukri. Sean Connery walking the plank into the abyss. Pretty epic stuff.

Boromir's last stand against the Isengard Uruk-hai -- definitely one of the best!

Thought of another --

In "The Eagle Has Landed," the German Fallshirmjagers make an heroic "last stand" in the English village of Studley Constable against the American Rangers (backed up by an M3 halftrack with a turret-mounted .50 caliber machinegun). This allows Michael Caine (Colonel Kurt Steiner) to escape and make his attempt on the life of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The German paratroopers put up quite a fight and gave Michael Caine a chance to continue his mission, but that .50 cal and the Rangers tore up the mill, the public house, and even the church, making sure the Germans never saw home again.

I'm sure the British weren't too pleased having their town shot up by their allies, however.