Lone Hero is a 2002 action film written and directed by Ken Sanzel, and starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Patrick Flanery and Robert Forster.
In a remote town in Montana, two bikers from the Iron Bandits gang show up at a local bar, rough up the patrons and rob the place. John, an actor and stuntman at the local Wild West tourist attraction, stands up to the thugs and Bart, the leader of the gang, vows revenge. After Bart is locked up, the entire biker gang shows up to bust him out. Then it is up to John and the other townsfolk to stand up to Bart and his cold-blooded killers.
Tropes:
- All Bikers are Hells Angels: The Iron Bandits are an outlaw biker gang with a reputation as Cop Killers. When their leader Bart is arrested, the Bandits take over the town, kill the local police, and hold the town's inhabitants hostage until John delivers Bart to them.
- Badass Bandolier: During his Lock-and-Load Montage as he arms up in preperation for facing the Iron Bandits, John straps a pair of bandoleers across his chest, filled with cartridges for his Colt Peacemakers. And, unusually for this trope, he is actually seen reloading his pistols from the bandoleers during the course of the fight.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: In their final Showdown at High Noon, John disarms Bart by shooting him in the arm; much to Bart's surprise because he thought he had done enough to goad John into killing him.
- Bound and Gagged: King has Sharon bound and gagged on the bridge when he meets with John to discuss swapping her for Bart.
- Car Fu: After being rescued from the Iron Bandits by John, Sharon drives Gus's truck through the Bandits, and then uses the truck to sideswipe one of the bikers off the side of the quarry.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Some expository dialogues in the barroom, where Tim is showing off the mobile phone he won in a poker game, explains that there is no cell service in Profit, and he would have to travel more than 100 miles before he could pick up a signal. This explains why none of the locals have a mobile phone and cannot call the state police when the Iron Bandits cut the phone lines and take over the town.
- Chekhov's Skill: In the cowboy show where John, Pablo and Tim perform as outlaws, Pablo stages a Railing Kill when shot by the marshal, landing in a hay wagon that conceals a crash mat. After the show, Pablo complains that one of the other two can do the fall next time as he is sick of getting bruised. During the final shootout, Tim is shot by one of the bikers and falls off the roof and lands in the wagon: it having been established that all three of them know how to stage the fall.
- Cop Killer: Bart, the leader of the Iron Bandits biker gang, takes a special delight in murdering cops. He takes the badge from every law enforcement officer he kills and wears them clipped to his belt as Creepy Souvenirs.
- Creepy Souvenir: Cop Killer Bart takes removes the badge from every law enforcement officer he kills and wears them clipped to his belt as trophies.
- Cut Phone Lines: The Iron Bandits biker gang downs the phone lines leading into Profit, and puts a false detour sign on the only road into town, to isolate the community before they ride in.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Zigzagged. When Gus shoots the fuel tank on one of the bikes circling his trailer, it explodes in a fireball. However, when Sharon rams one of the bikes off a cliff into the quarry, it just becomes a crumpled heap of scrap metal on the rocks.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The events of the film cover about two and half days.
- Fake Action Prologue: Opens with a Showdown at High Noon between a town marshal and a trio of Outlaws, which turns out to be part of a Wild West show at the local tourist trap.
- Gun Nut: John's mentor Gus does shooting displays at the ghost town tourist attraction. He lives in a trailer where he keeps a shotgun under the bed, a box of .45 cartridges in the silverware drawer, shotgun shells behind his record collection, and a grenade in his dresser drawer. When John breaks into Gus's locker at work looking for weapons to fight the bikers, he finds the locker is stuffed with dozens of guns.
- Guns Akimbo: Bill, in his role as town marshal in the Wild West, does this while shooting it out against the trio of bank robbers. In the climax, John does it for real in his running gunfight against the biker gang; wielding a Colt SAA in each hand.
- Gun Twirling: The actors in the cowboy show at the ghost town know how to do this. John does it for real when he holsters his Colt SAA before his Showdown at High Noon with Bart.
- I Have Your Wife: King kidnaps John's girlfriend Sharon and offers to exchange her for his jailed boss Bart.
- Meek Townsman: Pablo, Tim and all of the other customers in the bar develop amnesia about what the robbers looked like after Bart and Dog threaten them with what happens to people who inform against the Iron Bandits. Only John stands up to them.
- Molotov Cocktail: King blasts Pablo out of the building in the ghost town where he has taken cover by tossing a Molotov cocktail through the window.
- More Dakka: A Calico M950, converted in a full auto version with a 100 round helical magazine, is used by Bart during the assassination of a patrol police officer. It shreds the side of the police car he fires it at.
- New Old West: An actor in a Wild West show must become a mythical Western Hero when a biker gang descends upon a small Montana town.
- Pistol-Whipping: When Smokey tries to reach for the shotgun under the bar during the robbery, Bart delivers a savage pistol whipping with the butt of the nickel plated "1895 Commemorative" Single Action Army with pearl grips he was stealing. Later, in the mine, John knocks Bart out by slamming a shotgun butt into Bart's nose.
- Punk in the Trunk: After capturing Bart at Gus's trailer, John and Gus lock him in the trunk of John's car to deliver him back to the police station.
- Railing Kill: In the cowboy show where John, Pablo and Tim perform as outlaws, Pablo stages a railing kill when shot by the marshal, landing in a hay wagon that conceals a crash mat. After the show, Pablo complains that one of the other two can do the fall next time as he is sick of getting bruised. Becomes a Chekhov's Skill during the final shootout, when Tim is shot by one of the bikers and falls off the roof and lands in the wagon: setting up that he has actually survived.
- Shoot the Fuel Tank: When bikers are circling Gus's trailer, Gus shoots the fuel tank on one of the bikes, causing it to explode.
- Showdown at High Noon: The film climaxes in a Quick Draw confrontation between John and Bart in the main street of Profit.
- Super Window Jump: John escapes from the saloon by leaping out through the closed window. However, as this is the saloon that is used for staged gunfights in the Wild West show, there is a good chance the window actually has stage glass in it.
- Taking Over the Town: The Iron Bandits biker gang takes over the town of Profit and holds the inhabitants hostage until John delivers Bart to them. They cut the phone lines and divert the only road leading to town.
- Two Shots from Behind the Bar: Smokey has a shotgun clipped to the underside of the bar in his tavern. He tries to reach for it when Bart and Dog rob the place, but Bart is too quick and jams a pistol in his face before he can get it. The second time he tries for it, it earns him a savage Pistol-Whipping from Bart that lands him in hospital.
- Victor Steals Insignia: Cop Killer Bart takes removes the badge from every law enforcement officer he kills and wears them clipped to his belt as trophies.
- Weapon for Intimidation: John captures Bart and Dog by bailing them up with a Colt Peacemaker loaded with blanks.
- You Just Told Me: Bill, while attempting to negotiate with King and the Iron Bandits, tells King that he doesn't need the rest of the hostages since he already has John's girlfriend. Up until that point, King had not known that the woman he had snatched was John's girlfriend.
