Though he'd been making television shows and low budget films for several years prior, writer-director Edgar Wright truly broke through in 2004 with Shaun of the Dead. Co-written by his leading man Simon Pegg, the zom-com paid homage to horror icons George A. Romero and John Carpenter and helped establish Wright's filmmaking hallmarks that would continue in years to come.
Though his films tend to quickly move the main protagonists around, he appears to enjoy setting important scenes in pubs. Seen primarily in his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, Wright's characters often find themselves in the thick of the plot while sharing a cold pint.
The First Post (The World's End)
The First Post marks the beginning of the infamous pub crawl featured in The World's End. Establishing Gary King's lack of recognition in the town he believed himself to be a legend, The First Post also highlights the "Starbuck-ing" similarity of the pubs that follow, which were set in real locations.
In addition to the meta-commentary on modern pubs, Wright and Pegg inject crucial dialogue hinting at Gary's struggles, evidenced by his inability to tolerate Andy Knightly's (Frost) sobriety. Needing his pals to share his same belief for retaining their youth, Gary berates Andy for drinking water instead of beer, setting up their heady brawl in the end.
Welcome To Sandford (Hot Fuzz)
Hot Fuzz finds Pegg's Nicholas Angel as a big-city fish in a small-town pond. Wandering through his new home of Sandford, Angel makes his way to the local pub, where Wright foreshadows multiple story elements that make repeat viewings even more enjoyable.
After introducing Frost's bumbling constable Danny Butterman as a town drunk, it's revealed that the local newspaper makes countless spelling and factual errors (much to the bartenders' chagrin), and Nicholas' black & white lawfulness conflicts heavily with the town's more relaxed approach of massaging the law for "the greater good."
Shaun's Intervention (Shaun Of The Dead)
Wright and Pegg waste no time in establishing the importance of one of the movie's main set pieces. The opening of the film finds Shaun staring off into space inside The Winchester, a local pub. Although it first appears that Shaun is contemplating life alone, his girlfriend Liz breaks his trance while attempting to express her displeasure with their relationship.
Through clever timing of dialogue and camera pans, Wright hilariously reveals that Ed, Shaun's best friend, and Liz's friends David and Dianne are there as well. In addition to introducing all of the main characters quickly, the scene also establishes running gags and story elements that'll be important as the narrative unfolds.
The Beehive (The World's End)
Named for the hive mentality that the mysterious invaders possess, The Beehive represents the ninth pub in the drinking circuit. The scene begins with Pierce Brosnan's Mr. Shepherd (with "shepherd" being an appropriate term) attempting to coerce Gary's gang into falling in line with The Network. However, once a now-drunken Andy realizes "O-man" (Martin Freeman) is already a Blank, an epic brawl breaks out.
Frost gets to show off some impressive fight moves, using bar stools as Hulk-like hands to smash through the blue-blooded Blanks, while Pegg hilariously struggles to both hold onto his pint and fight off an increasing horde of attackers.
Brotherly Bonding (Hot Fuzz)
Following an impressive artillery roundup, Nicholas agrees to celebrate with Danny at the pub. Here, Pegg and Frost's real-life friendship becomes apparent as their characters' screen chemistry rivals any pair in recent cinema history.
In a heartfelt moment between the two, Angel begins to let his guard down, sharing stories of his childhood and even smiling for the first time, while Danny displays a desire to be more like the buttoned-up Sergeant. Meanwhile, Simon Skinner (brilliantly played by Bond alum Timothy Dalton) arrives to steal the scene and foreshadow George Merchant's death with a series of sinister quips. Fun fact: Dalton looked directly at the camera in one shot, something Wright loved so much he added a cash register sound effect, as if Skinner were winking at the audience.
The Cross Hands (The World's End)
The fourth pub features the first confirmed appearance of the aliens known as Blanks. Initially hinted at in the conversation between Eddie Marsan's Peter with his high school bully who didn't remember him, the gruesome fight between Gary's crew and the Blanks establishes the film as a fully-fledged invasion movie and brings the gang together in their first moment of unity.
While the sci-fi brawl in the bathroom is the highlight of The Cross Hands, the previous scene establishes the alienation Gary also feels from his friends. They stage an intervention for him when he callously ignores Peter's story of the bully, and he stares longingly at the younger people in the bar as if he'd rather be with them.
Ed's Premonition (Shaun Of The Dead)
Following Shaun's breakup with Liz, he saunters to The Winchester for a pick-me-up with Ed. In addition to being treated to Ed's spectacular imitation of an orangutan, Shaun's spirits are lifted by his best friend regaling him with a plan for getting over Liz.
In typical Wright fashion, no scene is what it seems on the surface. In Ed's plan for the next day, he actually prefigures the plot of the film: the "bloody Mary" is the zombie attack on Shaun and Ed in the garden, "a bite at the King's Head" refers to Shaun's step-father Philip, "a couple at The Little Princess" is them picking up David, Dianne, and Liz, and "stagger back...for shots" is what the group literally does as they seek refuge in The Winchester.
The World's End (The World's End)
The aptly-named pub forms the concluding chapter of the film's twelve-pub arc. While the dual meaning of the literal world ending and the end of the pub crawl forms a satisfying conclusion to the story, Gary and Andy's heavy brawl behind the bar forms one of the trilogy's most emotional moments.
The audience learns of Gary's suicidal past as he painfully bares his soul to Andy, exclaiming he doesn't actually want to be sober because life never got better than the night they attempted the pub crawl as teenagers. However, Gary receives a chance to face his demons when The Network offers him the opportunity to live as his younger self forever, which he declines in memorably insubordinate fashion.
"Fired Two Guns Whilst Jumping Through The Air" (Hot Fuzz)
Paying off previously spoken dialogue is one of Wright and Pegg's greatest talents, and the pair does so gloriously in Hot Fuzz's final act. Riding into town on a literal white horse, Angel works to take down Sandford's criminal cult as Danny aids him. When the battle leads to the pub, Danny finally gets to live out his action movie fantasy.
Having earlier asked Nicholas if he'd ever "fired two guns whilst jumping through the air," the duo do exactly that as the bar owners open fire on them, leaping through the air in such a fist-pump moment. After a blazing firefight, Danny and the rest of the Sandford police force come together against Danny's father, the corrupt chief Frank Butterman.
Killing To Queen (Shaun Of The Dead)
The entire finale within The Winchester could comprise its own top-10 list of memorable moments, but, arguably, nothing tops the iconic Queen montage. After the bar owner makes a surprising return as a zombie, Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" suddenly starts playing on the jukebox.
Shaun tells David to "kill the Queen," grabs three pool cues and prepares for battle just as the drums kick in. In one of Wright's most impressive sequences, the gang beats up on the undead bartender, David flicks the fuses and creates a spectacular light show, and Barbara and Dianne sway while cheering the gang on, all choreographed brilliantly in time with the cheery tune.