MovieChat Forums > Sniper (1993) Discussion > Problems.

Problems.

posted 22 years ago by TheDiesel
12 replies | jump to latest

One of the most blatent problems I saw with this movie is more of a nitpick than an obvious error. Marines never wear their rank on their covers. Other services, such as the Army, do this, but the Marine Corps didn't during this time period.

Another annyoing nitpick, is the behavior of the infantry Marines (during the scene when Zane challenges another Marine to pool) towards a civilian and ESPECIALLY towards Berenger. This behavior does not exist in the Marine Corps, and never has. Berenger plays the role of a Gunnery Sgt. No Gunnery Sgt, whether active duty, reserve, or even former-marine, would be treated like this by a junior Marine.

And another thing, snipers aren't considered 'spooky' or any more special then a regular infantry grunt in the Marine Corps. Snipers are FIRST and FOREMOST grunts EVER before being considered a Sniper (Snipers must go through Infantry school prior to scout/sniper school). Snipers fill a billet in the Marine Corps, and thus, are respected for what they do, and what they are.

My question is, what the HELL is a civilian going out on a mission with a seasoned Marine like Beckett? It would never happen in real life.

Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty good flick. It didn't have any basis in reality, so I hope no one gets the impression that this is anywhere near what would happen in real life.

Some other nitpicks, whilst Im at it :

Billy Zane patrolling with his sniper rifle -
A sniper rifle is not, in any circumstance, a patrollable weapon. It is a single shot rifle, that is hindered from patrolling by a number of factors, including the scope, which is a long distance mechanism. The only thing imaginable is that, if he encountered resistance, fall to the deck and engage the enemy. The idea of them carrying these weapons in the ready is ludicris, and retarded.

Too many sniper rifles in the team. -
A scout/sniper team consists of (bear minimum) 2 individuals (Unless your Carlos Hathcock). Only ONE of these people would have a sniper rifle. The other person, in this case, would have an m-16. The sniper in the team would have been carrying a 9mm.

Wheres their food? -
Realistically, these Snipers, (since their mission required longer then a few hours), would have brought a lot more supplys. They would have brought packs, sleeping systems, MRE's, extra water, guily suites, maps, flares, a camera, and so forth.

Talking too loud -
It was pretty funny seeing the two of them talking so loudly in the jungle. In a real mission, they would have been restricted by noise discipline. There language would have consisted of hand signals. When it was time to rest or sleep, they would lay down on the deck (not chilling on a tree), in a concealable position, and take turns at watch (one person sleeps whilst the other stays awake). REAL marines don't remenise about past fishing trips on a mission. They stay focused, and alert, and get the job done.

Zane is in command? -
No politician (well...Clinton probably would) would put a stupid-ass olympic civilian in charge of a real-life mission such as this.

Thats all I can think of right now.

[–] bartblommyisgod 20 years ago

wasn't Zane with the NSA?

and wasn't he a former SWAT?

even so. I would seem unlikely I suppose

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] derreay 20 years ago

thediesel,

You're obviously a BTDT. You pretty much mentioned it all - those are the most glaring examples of the film's inaccuracy. I agree with most all your points. On the rank insignia on the covers - it may have happened back in the "Old Corps." I mean if you ask some older devildogs they'll tell you Marines never wore nametapes on their utitlities, etc. I'm just saying the rank on the cover may have been a possibility. Other than that, I agree with everything you wrote.

to the second post,

IIRC, Miller was in AROTC, won a silver medal in the Olympics, and was a DC sniper when the NSA called him in. The fact of the matter is, Miller's background does not qualify him to lead the mission they were tasked with. If you argued the reason he was tasked for the mission was because they (higher headquarters) wanted an outsider involved then that would be a miniscule little bit closer to the believability side.

aleroy,

What are you typing? Did you copy that from some Soldier of Fortune article or something? Are you trying to say that they (the snipers) could have used a Ka-Bar, a satchel charge, and a 10mm pistol to close with and destroy the enemy? Jeez... you must be some type of commando

[–] hammer41 20 years ago

The Marine Corp stopped wearing rank insignias on thier covers back in 1987,the order was issued by the then Commandant Gen. Al Grey. We though is was a pretty good deal since it would be one less thing to get gig'd on during inspections.

One of the things I found funny was when they were heading back to helo, Zane stayed back to provide cover with an empty weapon...

[–] agmajik 20 years ago

some of the things i noticed that maybe you didn't:
[generally]
Overall for a hollywood movie the technical details weren't too bad. Remember that Zane's job was to take out Beckett. He was becoming a liability which I think was the political basis of this movie. Why not recruit a newbie civilian who has no love for the corps?

[Patrolling with Sniper Rifle]
If all you have is a sniper rifle than I say push with the c**k u got. But Zane has a G3 type rifle (seems popular in hollywood movies), IMHO I would take the FAL hanging over the pool table any day. In any case the G3 is a semi-auto .308 with what looks like medium range optics (10X maybe). Granted these optics are overkill for anything less than say 150 yards, it's pretty good for medium to long range shots. So why not patrol with it?

[food]
Gee must be nice to have all those MREs and supplies and stuff. But since when did logistics ever mean anything to the military? Let alone food, supplies, camping gear or any extra baggage that would otherwise give away your position. I tend to believe that you pretty much starve and get really thirsty out wherever you are until(if) you are extracted. I noticed that the Gunny had his Ghilley rolled and tied on his patrol pack. He had some other supplies on his patrol pack that I didn't really bother looking at.

[rifles]
IIRC basically one guy (the sniper) has the Sniper Weapon System (SWS) in a .50 cal or .308 type caliber and the spotter would probably use a .308 semi-auto battle rifle (like the G3 type mentioned above). Who would want to rely on a .223 for >500 yard shots? Can you even drop anything with a .223 at greater than 500 yards? Check your ballistics on that.

[empty weapon]
It's hard to catch but on approach to the LZ Zane has a 20 round mag inserted in his G3 (extends from receiver). Usually he uses a shorter, lower profile, 5 round mag. So it seems he has plenty of rounds for the pursuers and it would not appear his rifle is empty.

[–] carmenelectra_fanboi 19 years ago

About the to many sniper rifles thing that can be a problem but might be correct

since a lot of teams consist of the m82,m40,m24 and the m4,m16 that is wrong but on missions that there is not gonna be any type of situation that a ar or carbine would help the spotter would use a m21,SR-25,mk-12

and the rifle is actually sr-9 tc made by h&k the same that makes the g3

you move left then right bam you just took 7.62mm sniper rifle bullet to the head

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] carmenelectra_fanboi 19 years ago

either its a sr9 or if u go to http://hkpro.com/hkaction11.htm theres a pic of a modded g3 that looks like psg-1

but it even says that it's a sr9 here on imdb not on the boards but the actual page its under trivia i thinks

you move left then right bam you just took 7.62mm sniper rifle bullet to the head

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jaylee7777 18 years ago

What do you expect from Luis Llosa.... the man who gave us such memorable classics as THE SPECIALIST and ANACONDA...:)

[–] TheDiesel 17 years ago

True