Top 5 gun guy movies

[evilberger]

Sinners and Saints is a quality gun flick.

 

[zenmonger]

Funny that this thread came up when today I was trying to remember if a reference to the 1911 that I think occured in 'The Wild Bunch' (?) where someone noticed that one of the Bunch carried a 1911 and commented that the pistol was military issue only and illegal for civilians to own. I wondered if that was historically accurate for that time period. Anyways, good to see 'The Professionals' (with an 's', though I also enjoyed 'The Professional') mentioned by some. 'Joe Kidd' is a good one for aficionados of turn of the century firearms. Remember Don Stroud taunting Eastwood with his Mauser broomhandle? Of course, threatening Clint always ends in tears - bad idea. Another 1911 moment in film that I loved was 'Saving Private Ryan' when a desperate Tom Hanks was shooting at the approaching Tiger tank that gets blown up by a P-51. Not knowing that a mustang has blasted the tank, Hanks gives a quizzical look to his 1911. Funny. I also appreciate the guns in 'Layer Cake', a British gangster movie. Given a choice from an arsenal of pistols, Daniel Craig picks one of the most impractical ones, a P-08 Luger with the extended "Navy" barrel. I'm biased in this case, since I have one complete with the wooden and leather holster that doubles as a shoulder stock.

 

[pigiron]

one of the Bunch carried a 1911 and commented that the pistol was military issue only and illegal for civilians to own

Well after all, The Bunch *were* in the business of stealing government ordnance. I thought that William Holden's 1911 along with the temperance marchers at the bank robbery and the Kraut advisors to the Mexicans pretty much purposefully staked the time period of the movie to right before Pershing crossed the border in his effort to put down Pancho Villa.

PS - The "Ryan" movie would have been a tad sweeter and perhaps more accurate had the tank been taken out by a Thunderbolt but there probably weren't many of those still flying when the movie was shot. I've never been able to get past the Tom Hanksy "feel good" scene where the squad totally deviates from its mission in order to risk the whole operation to take out that German machine gun position. Hanks character should have been court-martialed for that.

 

[OregonTJ]

Tombstone (I'm your huckleberry)
Blackhawk Down
Quigley Down Under
John Wick
Open Range
There are a lot of worthy titles mentioned, and a few I haven't seen, but will now.........

 

[loofa]

Not completely a "gun guy" movie but I love this picture. Liked the movie too.

 

[41mag]

well dang......musta had a misspent youth...n' adulthood....n'geezerhood....as of those mentioned can only claim attendance at 'nearly 20' of the Grand List.....

 

[zenmonger]

Well after all, The Bunch *were* in the business of stealing government ordnance. I thought that William Holden's 1911 along with the temperance marchers at the bank robbery and the Kraut advisors to the Mexicans pretty much purposefully staked the time period of the movie to right before Pershing crossed the border in his effort to put down Pancho Villa.

PS - The "Ryan" movie would have been a tad sweeter and perhaps more accurate had the tank been taken out by a Thunderbolt but there probably weren't many of those still flying when the movie was shot. I've never been able to get past the Tom Hanksy "feel good" scene where the squad totally deviates from its mission in order to risk the whole operation to take out that German machine gun position. Hanks character should have been court-martialed for that.

Yes, the period of 'The Wild Bunch' was well established, but I was wondering if it was true that the 1911 was military issue only when it came out, and if so, when could civilians legally own them? I noticed that in 'Titanic' the bad guy (Billy Zane's character) brandished a fancy engraved 1911, and the Titanic sank in 1912. Trivial details, for sure, but I can't help but wonder.

Spielberg's adoration of the P-51 goes back to 'Empire of the Sun' (1987), but I agree that a Jug would have been much more appropriate as a tank buster. I can't think of a single movie that features an actual flying P-47. 'Ryan' also has one of my pet gun peeves in movies: belts of machine gun ammo clearly showing crimped blank cartridges.

 

[Aero Denezol]

1. Red Dawn - The Original (lots of good ol' fashioned Cold War M-16 vs. AK action)
2. Platoon (more M-16/AK action)
3. Full Metal Jacket (for the M-14s)
4. Public Enemies (Tommy Guns and 1911's galore)
5. The Hurt Locker - people hated this movie I know, but the gun battles were awesome
6. Blackhawk Down