MovieChat Forums > Sniper (1993) Discussion > What's a 'touch guy'?

What's a 'touch guy'?

posted 19 years ago by billyfish
15 replies | jump to latest

OK, it's a typo, but there it stands for all to see in the summary.

On a separate note, is it a coincidence that the main character of the movie is named Thomas Beckett? It also happens to be the name of an Archbishop of Canterbury, a buddy of King Henry II who was elevated to that post simply because he was "the king's man," but who nevertheless was killed by that same king after Beckett opposed him. Similarly, sniper Beckett has grown a little too big for his britches, and the nefarious government official tells Miller to take out Beckett if he gets in the way.

Nah, no one in Hollywood is that well read. Total coincidence, I'm guessing.

Big guffaw, same nefarious official to Miller: "We're giving you rank -- you're a GS-9." Hah! Give me a break! Any snot-nosed kid with a college degree gets hired at least as a GS-9 (same was pretty much true in 1993, when the movie was made, in case you're wondering). A Master Gunnery Sergeant would no more take orders from a GS-9 than a GS-9 would be put in charge of ANYTHING. Hollywood. Geez, those guys ought to read more, or at least talk to real people once in a while.

[–] lordbectler 19 years ago

Ha, I thought only my bootleg copy said touch guy.

[–] Film-o-Phile 19 years ago

I'm not a Sniper fanatic, so that's probably why I missed it, but where does it say 'touch guy'? What was it supposed to say?

[–] afjarvis-1 18 years ago

And it should also read 'A' U.S soldier and not 'AN' U.S soldier.

[–] coxm-1 18 years ago

A E I O U - the vowels always take "an" in front of it. An Orange, An Apple, a fool, a tool, an United States Soldier. Basic English.

[–] afjarvis-1 18 years ago

'A E I O U - the vowels always take "an" in front of it. An Orange, An Apple, a fool, a tool, an United States Soldier. Basic English.'

I can't believe you said that.

It's A United States....The 'U' is pronounced YOU so it's treated like a consonant.Basic English!

And it's...vowels always take "an" in front of THEM.

[–] coxm-1 18 years ago

'A E I O U - the vowels always take "an" in front of it.

[–] afjarvis-1 18 years ago

Are you really that stupid or are you just kidding?

[–] Badmojo99 18 years ago

On the subject of Stupidity, GS-9s, Master Gunnery Sergeants, and Hollywood not paying attention.

I find it totally hilarious that this is a story about a Master Gunnery Sergeant who is still out in the bush, snooping and pooping like he's a 20 year old Corporal. A Master Gunnery Sergeant is a Marine who has been in the USMC to the tune of 20+ years, he is an expert in his field, and his job is to serve on a Staff at the Regimental, Division, MEF level as an advisor and a trainer. A Master Gunnery Sergeant from the Scout Sniper community would, in all probability be either a Regimental Operations Chief for an Infantry Regiment, working in the G-2 Shop at Division, or, working at Weapons Training Battalion MCB Quantico, VA. Every Master Gunnery Sergeant I have ever met (and I've met quite a few) was a crusty old bastard with a coffee cup surgically attached to one hand and either a plug of tobacco in his lip or a cigarette in his mouth every hour on the hour. They don't go out crawling through the bush in a ghillie suit to drill a drug dealer from 1000 yards, that *beep* is for Lance Corporals and Corporals.

Also, several times in the movie somebody refers to Beckett as "Gunny". If you are going to refer to a Master Gunnery Sergeant by the slang term for his rank, the correct term is "Master Guns". (You also have to pretty much be drinking buddies with him and married to his daughter to call him that) If you ever called a Master Gunnery Sergeant "Gunny" you have just verbally demoted him from E-9 to E-7 he would not appreciate that and would probably do something awful to you.

[–] blackknight40 18 years ago

BadMojo has got it right. By the time a Marine makes the rank of Master Guns he is content to let the younger generation of HOGs to go out and get some while he stays behind and polishes a chair with his @$$.

And yeah, NOBODY in their right mind would EVER call a Master Gunnery Sergeant "Gunny". Not twice anyway.

"I'm goin' to war...with every one of them carpetbaggin' sons a B!#+c#es!"

[–] jannello 18 years ago

Yeah, this bothers the crap out of me every time that I watch this movie. I can't imagine a Master Gunnery Sergeant still out in the bush at all, much less still out as a sniper. Also, Tom Berenger in no way looks like he's been rode hard and put up wet enough times to be even be a Master Gun... it's just plain unrealistic. And no one that I knew in my 4 years in the Marine Corps ever called a Master Gun "gunny," not even the officers. What's more, he loses half a finger and there are sequels that don't involve him sitting on his rear waiting for his med board? I'm calling the BS flag on that one too!

Life is a sexually-transmitted disease.

[–] rygraves9 18 years ago

Ya, United States is proper so it's actually "a" United States Soldier. Sorry but that's basic English.

[–] jeremywong1965 18 years ago

Vowels are preceded by "an" not as a rule but for phonetic necessity. In the case of United or USA, it is easier to say "a US soldier" than "an US soldier", just as it is easier to say "an orange" than "a orange." Therefore, "a US soldier" is the correct form.

Don't say anything is basic English, because if it turns out you're wrong, you might look really, really stupid, as opposed to just stupid. Besides, there is no such thing as basic English; English grammar has so many exceptions to the rule that few people get it right all the time.

[–] gcarpenter-3 18 years ago

Uh, yes.... basic English, huh?

As a couple of people have pointed out to the person who thought their own 'basic English' was good, the indefinite article 'an' is used before a vowel SOUND, not intrinsically a vowel itself.

Trust me, I'm an English teacher...

Keller

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kayakangler 18 years ago

Yup, I was kinda annoyed by the BS about them calling Becketts Character Gunny all the time, but what really frosted my butt, was the Junior Troops giving him crap throughout the whole movie. First in the snack bar/pool room near the beginning.... and then in the helo when his spotter is whacked and the crewchief tells him he'll need both dog tags.

I was a Staff NCO in the Corps myself... and E-3s and E-4s wouldn't have given an E-6 crap like that in the pool room, let alone an E-8 or an E-9...

As for the loss of a finger sending Beckett out of the Corps.... some have remained on duty these days with artificial limbs... prove you can do your job, and you can stay on duty. They had an instructor teaching close combat that had a hook for a hand for two years.

jps