Top 10 Best Action Scenes In The Gray Man
#10: Cahill’s Sacrifice
When Sierra Six and Dani Miranda come into possession of a mysterious drive, they turn to the former London CIA station chief, Margaret Cahill. Now retired in Prague, Cahill is also dying. Cahill’s decryption of the drive reveals the corruption of Carmichael, Six and Miranda’s superior. Unfortunately, Carmichael’s men soon arrive and shoot up Cahill’s apartment. Miranda makes her escape, and Cahill tricks Six into leaving without her. When the assassins arrive, Cahill uses her lighter, her oxygen tank, and her stove to create a huge blast, taking the killers with her. While not as action-packed as some other moments, this scene is nevertheless an explosive and emotional one.
#9: Escaping the Well
In Vienna, Six is captured by a man looking to cash in on the bounty on his head. Trapped in a well, and with a hit squad led by the sadistic Lloyd Hansen, Six decides to flood his prison by bursting a pipe. Using a bomb, Six blows the lid, cushioned by the water and climbs out during the chaos. Using some improvised weapons and his would-be killers’ own guns, Six makes his way through them until Hansen pepper sprays him in the face. Their exchange of banter is a nice reprieve, but Six drops a grenade at their feet to make a quick escape. Lloyd soon catches up, but Miranda intervenes to save Six. It's a great first meeting of hero and villain.
#8: “Silver Bird”
Charged by his handler Donald Fitzroy with protecting his niece Claire, Six bonds with the sickly young girl over a few days. When Claire gets ready to bed, she puts on a record by Mark Lindsay, which plays the song “Silver Bird.” As this goes on, Six is alerted to an intruder. While “Silver Bird” plays in the background, Six battles the hitman, with the dim lighting and exterior shots giving the fight a lot of atmosphere. Claire catches on to what happened, despite Six’s attempts to deflect her attention. It may be “just another Thursday” for Six, but it’s one of the highlights of the movie. It even gets a callback at the film’s end when Six has to save Claire again.
#7: Maze Fight
After Miranda and Six’s assault on Hansen’s base of operations, more on that soon, Hansen captures Claire and holds her at gunpoint while going into a nearby hedge maze. Six pursues and the two agree to have a fight hand-to-hand to settle things. The sun rises as the two duke it out in and around a nearby fountain. Lloyd’s use of a knife may be against the spirit of the agreement, but his “death by a thousand cuts” methods are quite stylish and deadly. Eventually, Six gets him in a headlock, but before he can kill Hansen, the sociopath is shot by Suzanne Brewer, his associate who despises him. The conclusion’s a little weak, but the rest of the fight is an excellent final fight.
#6: Mansion Raid & Rescue
Top 10 Things You Missed in Disney's Haunted Mansion Movie
To rescue Fitz and Claire, Miranda and Six assault the mansion (or castle?) that Hansen has them held at. While Miranda charges the front, distracting the guards with rockets and a grenade launcher, Six moves in with stealth to retrieve the closest thing to family he has. While he gets the pair out of the room, Fitz is wounded, and buys time for Six and Claire to jump into the moat (definitely a castle), mirroring Cahill’s sacrifice to blow up their pursuers…though he doesn’t manage to get Hansen. Miranda’s fiery assault, matched with Fitz’s tragic end and the others’ watery escape helps make this one rollercoaster of a sequence.
#5: Six & Miranda vs. Lone Wolf
Top 30 Most Rewatched Action Movie Scenes Ever
In order to locate Claire, Miranda and Six go to a hospital to track her pacemaker. Unfortunately for them, they’re ambushed there by a mercenary, Avik San, also known as “Lone Wolf.” The trio uses weapons, as well as nearby medical equipment, in their 2 on 1 fight. However, while the fight may be uneven, it’s the Lone Wolf who comes out on top, retrieving the necklace drive and escaping, after basically defeating both Miranda and Six. The hand-to-hand combat is some of the best in the whole film here, with great dynamic movement, excellent camera work, and some longer takes that show off the action. We’re hoping that the rumored spin-off will feature San, because dang can the guy fight!
#4: Airplane Escape
Top 10 Greatest Airplane Movies
Although Fitz initially sets Six up with an extraction team to get him home safely, he alters the plan after Lloyd captures Claire. Forced to order Six’s death, he instructs them to kill Six. However, the elite agent is ready for them, fighting them off with things in the cargo area of the plane, from oxygen tanks to flares. Unfortunately, a bullet hits one of the former, setting off an explosion that rips a hole in the plane. The vehicle gets torn further and further apart as Six fights them off, until it goes down completely, with Six forced to jump without a parachute and fight a man for one while falling. It’s a thrilling sequence that leaves us, like Six, struggling for breath!
#3: Bangkok Festival
Six’s introductory scene in present day sees him on an assassination mission in Bangkok. While Carmichael orders him to shoot the target despite a risk of shooting a child, Six refuses, going in close instead. As fireworks go off for a local festival, Six takes down the target’s entourage with Miranda’s help. When Six confronts the man alone, he reveals he’s Sierra Four. This doesn’t stop Six from fighting him to the death though. Four reveals that Carmichael will probably kill him next and entrusts the necklace drive to Six, kicking off the film’s plot. The visuals and ambiance are spectacular throughout this sequence, and the fight, like the celebration, begins the movie with a bang!
#2: Prague Shootout
After the explosion at Cahill’s place, local police arrest Six, handcuffing him to a stone bench in a nearby square. Hansen’s men are in close pursuit though, and Six tries to get everyone out of the square, as they come in, guns blazing. Despite, or maybe because of, Six being sidelined, it’s still an intense shootout, as Hansen’s men must still contend with the heavily armed local police. Six is eventually able to use the chaos to break free of his restraints and escape onto a nearby tram. Speaking of which…
#1: Tram Chase
Yes, this follows directly on from the last entry, and it only ramps things up further! Six must fight off attackers aboard the tram, using his fists, a pistol, and a riot shield. Meanwhile, Miranda aids him by running interference in a bulletproof car against pursuers in vehicles. The chase sees Six fight in, on the side of, and on top of the tram, until it eventually derails, causing massive destruction. Six only barely escapes at the last moment. The whole chase/battle has us on the edge of our seats from beginning to end and it’s easily one of the best parts of “The Gray Man.”
