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29th Jan 2018

Counting down Gerard Butler’s 7 most badass moments on screen

JOE

Brought to you by Den of Thieves.

Great Scot!

We’re gonna go out on a limb and say that Gerard Butler falls somewhere between William Wallace and Nicola Sturgeon in a list of the greatest people to ever come out of Scotland. He’s like a bottle of Irn-Bru made flesh.

The actor has carved a career out of slapping his way through a whole host of bad guys on screen.

We happen to have a new slice of Butler coming our way on Friday, 2 February. Den of Thieves sees the actor share the screen with 50 Cent and O’Shea Jackson Jnr. in the hard-boiled crime thriller.

Seeing as the man himself is hitting the big screen once again, we thought it’d be a perfect time to revisit some of his finest on-screen moments.

He’s played a king, a god and presidential bodyguard… twice! Bask in the glory that is Gerard Butler.

7. Stoick the Vast

Clip via Terry Tamal

One of the few family-friendly films that you’ll find on the actor’s IMDB page, but a great one nonetheless. The How to Train your Dragon series is an underrated fantasy gem.

The brilliantly named Stoick the Vast is the father of the lead character Hiccup and chieftain to the Viking Isle of Burk. Butler brings his trademark rasp to a character that’s equal parts gruff and caring. Don’t let the age rating fool you though, Stoick is still a badass.

6. Where do you want to go for dinner tonight?

Clip Via Ahmed Ziadi

This is the big one. When it comes to taking his army into battle, King Leonidas of Sparta has no problem leading by example. The monarch brings his scantily-clad army to the brink of war against the Persian forces of Xerxes.

With a growl that sounds like a Nutribullet trying to make a smoothie out of pebbles, he tells his men to “Ready your breakfast and eat hearty… for tonight we dine in hell!”

5. Under my skin

Clip via bristow8411

A fight between Gerard Butler and Dexter’s Michael C. Hall set to the tune of ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ probably isn’t something you thought you needed in your life. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what you get in Gamer. This scene involves our favourite Scot taking on Hall’s evil business mogul who plans on taking over the world through some convoluted means.

There’s something pleasing about the juxtaposition of the song with the violence taking place on screen. Butler’s character Kable manages to best all of the villain’s henchmen, who in fairness are probably worn out from all the dancing that Hall is making them do.

4. It’s gonna be biblical!

Clip via Rayder4Life

In Law Abiding Citizen, Butler plays Clyde Shelton, a family man pushed to seek revenge in the most brutal ways following the murder of his family. The severity of his actions could make for a character that’s hard to root for, but such is Butler’s charisma that he manages to keep you on his side.

In the film’s pivotal scene, Clyde reveals the full extent of what he has planned and it’s big.

3. Let’s play a game…

Clip via Matt Cowan

It’s been five years and the debate still rages on. Academics have been at loggerheads, families have been split down the middle. Yet we still don’t have a definitive answer to the question of which 2013 White House under siege film is better. In one corner we have White House Down, starring Channing Tatum as a presidential bodyguard, in the other corner we have the Gerard Butler-led Olympus has Fallen in the same profession. Both films had the exact same premise and were released only a few months apart.

We’re likely to come down on the side of the Butler Joint, a movie in which his character Mike Banning inflicts severe head trauma to pretty much everyone he meets (he stabs three people in the head and breaks a bunch of necks). The movie also happens to have one of the best one-liners in any action movie ever. We’ll just let you watch it for yourself rather than try to do it justice in text form.

2. Highway shootout in Den of Thieves

Clip via STX Entertainment UK & Ireland

In his latest film, Butler plays the head of an elite LA squad who’ve been tasked with taking down a group of highly trained robbers and stop them from pulling off the greatest heist in history. While the bad guys are all former soldiers with a proper code of ethics, Butler and his crew are far from the good guys, all heavy-drinking rule-breakers with a penchant from strip-clubs and doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

There’s a particular scene involving a massive shootout in the middle of a very busy highway in Los Angeles proves that Butler is still one of the best in the game when it comes to action sequences.

1. This is Sparta!

Clip via Movieclips

Yes, we brought it up already, but 300 is deserving of two spots on this list. A film that plays perfectly to the actor’s strengths, the main one being, showing off his strength.

So intertwined is Butler’s own image with this film, the most iconic moment in the film also happens to be the most iconic moment of his career.

Let’s set the scene. The year is 479Bc. Messengers for King Xerxes have come to the gates of Sparta, demanding that Butler, AKA King Leonidas, submit to the Persian ruler or face complete annihilation.

How does the Spartan King respond? By kicking the motherfuckers down a bottomless well… naturally.

Check out our own Rory Cashin interview with Butler and the rest of the cast of Den of Thieves.

In gritty action thriller Den of Thieves, a notorious crew of bank robbers plan to pull the ultimate heist on the Federal Reserve Bank of downtown Los Angeles, right under the noses of the State’s most feared police unit. Starring Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, catch Den of Thieves in cinemas from 2 February. Search showtimes and book your tickets here.

Brought to you by Den of Thieves.

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