Entertainment

Guns in Movies: A Navy SEAL Sniper Picks His Favorite Scenes

(20th Century Fox)

Hollywood gets many things wrong with its portrayal of guns in movies; yet, it also gets some things right. So, this Navy SEAL has decided to share some of his favorite scenes with guns in movies.

But first, here’s my list of dos and please-don’ts which affected my choices:

  • Guns fire should fire the correct (or at least a believable) amount of bullets. Most handguns have 10 round magazines and there’s a reason they call revolvers “six-shooters!” Even in Legend of Zelda, your ammo runs out! As George’s dad from Seinfeld would say, “Get it together people!”
  • No sweeping each other with loaded guns! It’s police and military 101 to not point a loaded gun at something unless you are going to pull the damn trigger. Sloppy gun handling is like Bernie Sanders at a Trump rally, it’s just all sorts of wrong.
  • Gun noises are awesome, especially the sound of a shotgun or semi-auto Sig Sauer 9mm chambering a round, as is the smoking barrel whir of an empty machine gun in the Predator (what an awesome movie)!
  • Instinctive fire is a real thing but — and a big but at that — who agrees with me that the Compton gangster sideways shooting is just not an effective means of hitting your target? Can I get an amen? Thank you.
  • Two-handgun shooting is just not effective, although it looks pretty f***ing cool in The Matrix. However, in most cases, this two-handgun shooting is just silly.

OK, my Top 10 favorite scenes with guns in movies.

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Hollywood gets many things wrong with its portrayal of guns in movies; yet, it also gets some things right. So, this Navy SEAL has decided to share some of his favorite scenes with guns in movies.

But first, here’s my list of dos and please-don’ts which affected my choices:

  • Guns fire should fire the correct (or at least a believable) amount of bullets. Most handguns have 10 round magazines and there’s a reason they call revolvers “six-shooters!” Even in Legend of Zelda, your ammo runs out! As George’s dad from Seinfeld would say, “Get it together people!”
  • No sweeping each other with loaded guns! It’s police and military 101 to not point a loaded gun at something unless you are going to pull the damn trigger. Sloppy gun handling is like Bernie Sanders at a Trump rally, it’s just all sorts of wrong.
  • Gun noises are awesome, especially the sound of a shotgun or semi-auto Sig Sauer 9mm chambering a round, as is the smoking barrel whir of an empty machine gun in the Predator (what an awesome movie)!
  • Instinctive fire is a real thing but — and a big but at that — who agrees with me that the Compton gangster sideways shooting is just not an effective means of hitting your target? Can I get an amen? Thank you.
  • Two-handgun shooting is just not effective, although it looks pretty f***ing cool in The Matrix. However, in most cases, this two-handgun shooting is just silly.

OK, my Top 10 favorite scenes with guns in movies.

Enjoy and please link yours below in the comments.

 

Predator

Who doesn’t love a good mini-gun scene and this is one of the best. And can we take a moment of silence for having Arnold, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Bill “Mac” Duke, and Carl Weathers all in the same movie shooting guns? GOD Damn, son! Send it!

 

Dirty Harry 

What’s not to love about Clint Eastwood packing his 44 Magnum Hand Cannon in Dirty Harry? Watch the full gun scene below.

 

Act of Valor

Perhaps the most realistic shooting scenes ever are featured in Act of Valor. Real SEALs, real SWCCs, guns, and real tactics. Badass.

 

Saving Private Ryan

Flamethrowers, sub-machine guns, sniper rifles, tanks, and more. Some excellent 10 of 10 use of firearms in this movie. The movie is incredibly realistic. I still love the first scene with the UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) guy strapping explosives to the obstacles on the beach. Did you know the Navy SEALs were created from the UDT Teams?

 

Aliens

What’s not to like about an M41A Pulse Rifle with a grenade launcher? NOTHING! I especially love the bullet counter. I saw a version of this at a SHOT show one year; every gun should have this! Change at 10!

 

Heat

Dinero and Al Pacino and lots of guns. Nothing to see here folks… uh em. This heist thriller has some of the most badass shoot-out scenes I’ve seen.

 

Pulp Fiction

What I love about this scene is that it shows how what really matters is knowing how to shoot. This guy comes out of the bathroom with a Dirty Harry hand cannon and can’t hit shit. How many times have we seen this guy on the range? You know who I’m talkin’ bout.

 

Rambo First Blood

I was an M60 Machine gunner in my first SEAL Team platoon before going to sniper school. So, I have a real fondness for this 7.62 symphony of death and destruction. The shoot-out with the Sheriff is a great example of the M60 in action. “He drew first blood, sir!” Badass.

 

The Outlaw Josey Wells

“Captain Red Legs, I’d advise you turn back, you can catch’em later.” Famous last words.

Clint Eastwood (ah-hem, Josey Wells) sends these boys on a Missouri boat ride. The scene is a great example of long-gun-rifle marksmanship and shows why you don’t mess with Eastwood if he has a gun in a movie.

 

The Matrix

“Send backup, send backup!”

Even though The Matrix breaks some of my rules it does show multiple mag changes or gun drops which are to be appreciated. The other thing I like about some of the shooting scenes is that you can see bullet traces in slow motion. This looks the same on the sniper’s spotting scope but faster which was a cool surprise to me as a sniper when first watching this movie.

 

The Bourne Identity

“I work alone like you. We always work alone.”

This scene demonstrates how hard it is to hit a fast-moving target with light cover (trees) and how you can use birds to flush out your human prey. Great stuff. I love the Ludlum series and loved the books as a young voracious reader living on a sailboat with no television.

Also, Bourne partly inspired our character Finn and his memory issues in my and John Mann’s book, Steel Fear, and the FINN series.

It was hard to pick my favorites.

Hope you enjoyed the list and please drop links to your favorite guns in movies scenes in the comments section below. Tap, rack, bang!

About Brandon Webb View All Posts

Brandon Webb, a former Navy SEAL sniper and Naval Special Warfare Sniper Course Manager, is renowned for training some of America's legendary snipers. He is a multiple New York Times Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, and Speaker. Webb is the Editor-in-Chief of the SOFREP news team, a collective of military journalists.

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