Whilst getting a coffee just now and discussing Kevin Bacon’s awesomeness* in “The Following”, my French co-worker posed a quite thought provoking question about the reality of firefights in movies.

Has there ever been a movie firefight (call it a modern one) that has been even remotely realistic? I know that the bank heist firefight from Heat comes close, but are there others?

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K_cqGAoxks&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sBjTBYqLnQ[/video]

The Wire – The shoot outs in the streets seemed ‘realistic’ in that they just fired shots at random while running away.

I’m sure that’s how it’s done.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9fnVtz_lc[/video]

Difficult one because fortunately most of us probably aren’t in the position to judge what is realistic or not – but I think Black Hawk Down must rank up there.

Particularly the scene which depicts a soldier being deafened by a gun fired too close to his head which is what would really happen but not something you see very often in movies.

It’s got to be Leon (or True Romance) 🙂

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlo87UtXV5s&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

I liked the one in Breaking bad, between <spoiler> and <spoiler>- all shock and panic, firing wildly everywhere, hammers on empty chambers etc, settled by the first decent shot. Then, several series of post traumatic stress.

Firefight?

Backdraft.

There’s a good one in The Longriders and Carlito’s Way.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQZDFv0aTlk[/video]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCUZ02JWaek[/video]

I was watching that excerpt from the film The Veteran (I haven’t heard of or seen the film before) and was thinking I recognised the location. I think it’s the Heygate Estate where I used to spend a lot of time. Funny seeing places that are so familiar to you on the big screen.

True. I used to live not far from the shopping centre where the start of Kevin & Perry Go Large was filmed. The same place was also used for the GLC’s “Guns don’t kill people” video, in fact, you can nearly see my old flat in the bit where they are coming down the spiral car park entry/exit.

Difficult one because fortunately most of us probably aren’t in the position to judge what is realistic or not – but I think Black Hawk Down must rank up there.

Particularly the scene which depicts a soldier being deafened by a gun fired too close to his head which is what would really happen but not something you see very often in movies.

This…

Typically the firefights I’ve discussed with soldier colleagues and seen footage of are a lot slower than film ones and often involve an initial contact and 3-4 minutes of manic response followed by some time snap shooting before someone calls in air cover.

Equilibrium, without a doubt! 🙂

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4weEXyoXZKs[/video]

Pah, this is THE cinema gunfight

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXImy05SVQ[/video]

Not really a single firefight as such, but watching that opening sequence of the landings in Saving Private Ryan feels realistic, the sound of the rounds hitting the water and ricocheting off woodwork sounds like real rounds as opposed to blanks.

Have yet to see a firefight on film where somebody craps or wets themselves. So on that basis none of them are very realistic…………

Ninfan’s got it again..

In reality any shootout where people don’t fly 10 feet through the air when they’ve been shot. There is normally lots of screaming like girls, chaos, followed by calm, followed by what the F”’ now..

Opening scene of Saving Private Ryan the Beach assault is about as close as it gets but still not that close, everything else I’ve seen is practically comedy compared to reality.

I thought the Beach assault in Saving Private Ryan portrayed a very realistic firefight.

I thought the one in ‘End of Watch’ was pretty good & the stuff in Saving Private Ryan looked awesome, but on a programme that checked out the facts it wasn’t very realistic at all. (well the bit where soldiers were being shot underwater wasn’t anyway. Bullets slow down very quickly after they enter water apparently)

Heat. so good in the cinema.

It’s not a movie, but this one struck me as pretty realistic:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2tLKjeOstg[/video]

😉

Not watched all the above but imagine realistic would not make good watching.

Experience of shooting animals makes me question the way in movies one bullet is instant death. That’s unlikely unless you hit a 2 inch square area in the head or heart. And you’re not gonna make a shot like that on a moving target.

From experience of paint balling you never see who shot you and it’s usually in the back.

The assault scenes at the end of Zero Dark Thirty were filmed using members of NZSF in place of the actors, so the way they move, shoot etc is certainly very realistic even if some details are not.

Restrepo actually has a lot of stuff filmed in firefights. Obviously, there is a single camera, the cameraman being quite brave but as anxious as the soldiers around him to avoid being shot if possible.

The sequences are certainly not “exciting”.

That Spaced one is probably as accurate as any movie firefight. Documentaries on the telly last year following patrols in Afghanistan were I’m sure much more realistic and utterly terrifying.

+1 saving private ryan, especially the sound

Expendable 2. The airport fight and the one where Chuck Norris turns up

Wanted

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0493464/

😉

Michael Mann does good urban fire fights. As well as Heat, there is a good one in a club in Collateral. Also in the remake of Miami Vice. Always thought he should direct a Stalingrad film.
Good TV firefight in Boardwalk Empire involving Gyp Rosseti and someone pretending to be a paperboy.

Ronin. I remember it for the car chases mainly, but the gun fights seemed pretty good too

saving private ryan. Everything else is just hollywood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKdHuyQpHY

The Raid. 🙂

Lone Survivor

Act of valour.

Very good, good drills

I always think of the Firefight in Love, Honour and Obey, when Ray Winston shouts ” Fix Bayonets”