I felt compelled to share this on one of these boards, and figured this one was probably more able to appreciate it than the military surplus crowd.

I was looking forward to "Sniper 2" on Cinemax Saturday night. Had the timer set up and everything so I wouldn't miss it.

Well, for the most part, I thought it was a LOT better than the first one. The blinky reticles were gone, they actually used MIL-DOT SCOPES (I nearly had a heart attack), and there was some gen-u-ine "sniper talk" about full value winds, et cetera. Someone behind the scenes had done their homework.

However... said homework doer gets failing marks in the "props" department.

Without giving anything away about the movie, there is a scene where Beckett (Berenger) needs a rifle... and acquires one from a cache of guns and ammo in some kind of bunker/basement. I was all tickled! He sees this Mosin-Nagant on a workbench, and his eyes light up. Having a sniper version and a "collector," I was really thrilled to see such a fine shooter (really, for a combat rifle, they are -- usually a LOT better than you'd expect for $60 or so), and he goes over to pick it up. There's a gal in the scene with him, and he says to her about how this gun is (and I'm paraphrasing now) "A German Mauser 7.92, one of the finest guns the Germans ever built"... or words to that effect.

My heart sank.

My God. It was CLEARLY a Mosin-Nagant with the shiny-metal straight-bolt receiver. "A MAUSER?!"

Then... as if that wasn't heartbreaking enough... shortly after that, we see Beckett using the SAME gun... which now has not only a scope (I could live with that), but the receiver had suddenly been blued and the bolt, besides now being blued as well, was also now a "butterknife" bolt.

I just wanted to cry. The rest of it was pretty good, but they just screwed it up royally with these glaring technical errors, EASILY fixed by him just referring to the MOSIN-NAGANT RIFLES AS BEING SOME OF THE FINEST IN THE WORLD... but NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo... "a Mauser."

Oh well. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, I guess... but really, since the whole thing was done in and around Budapest, Hungary, I'd have thought SOMEONE could have helped Beckett avoid such stupid mistakes.

Russ

I thought it was pretty weak. Technically, and dramatically. Seemed like a cheap spinoff based on "enemy at the gates" and "behind enemy lines" put together.

I was disappointed.

MM

I would have to agree with MontanaMarine on this one.I could have spent a hour&half reloading.

Gosh, Russ you must be a glutton for punishment I presume? I've got the first "Sniper" on video and let's just say I haven't watched it very many times! In fact I can't remember much of it - suffice to say I apparently have tried to forget it! Hard for me to believe they made a sequel?
Did they STILL show the reticle held ROCK SOLID STEADY on the target (no jiggle, heart pulse, breathing, mirage, etc.)?

If you really want to find out movies flaws go check out The Nitpicker's Site. I'm sure Sniper will have many! I've managed to post a few "Weapons" nitpicks on their site (like the correct identification of the sniper gun used by the black chick terrorist in "Under Siege II" - who WAS that black chick anyway?).

Inquiring minds want to know.

Russ
Thanks mate I'll stay away from that one!Another film I hated was Wind Talkers! I thought they could have done so much with the story. When you see a bloke (Nick Cage) running down a hill firing a pistol one handed and 5 Jap's fall down dead from a distance of 100m it all gets to much!

Bakes

One of the classic screwups in the first Sniper was when he holds his finger up, "reads" the wind, proclaims "That oughta be worth about 2 clicks left for the wind", then goes and turns the ELEVATION knob.

Hollywood never was known for caring about accuracy in anything they do.

I know. Then there's the clicks left or right, whatever it was, in "Saving Private Ryan," executed by twisting really, really hard on the objective lens-end of the scope.

Russ

Russ, I have a close friend who works as a weapons props man in the local film industry (and have lent them firearms for some productions, on occasion) and some of the stories he tells about the actors/writers on the sets are both hilarious and sad at the same time. And considering the anti-gun people out there all seem to get there info from the movies (remember Bruce willis' "ceramic" Glock in Die Hard?) I really wish they could be a little more accurate. Oh well, Hollyweird, I guess. - Dan

I'm just as glad I haven't yet rented "Eneny at the Gates". The movie poster rendered on the video box shows somebody holding a left-handed Mosin-Nagant rifle. Is the gun also left-handed in the movie, or did they just print the negative backwards?

The final hunting scene of "The Deer Hunter" has DeNiro chasing a deer over rocky terrain (and keeping up with it) alternately aiming a left- and right-handed bolt action rifle at it.

No, it is not worth renting "Deer Hunter" to see that footage. The interminable Polish Catholic Pennsylvania steel town material at the beginning will have you thoroughly depressed before anything interesting ever happens.

H. C.

I've seen "The Deer Hunter" a few times, first in the theater. I don't recall the "rifle" scene... but if I ever trip across it (I get all the movie channels), I'll look for it. Yes, the first part was depressing. Actually, the whole thing was depressing.

Never noticed the "Enemy at the Gates" poster, I'll have to check it out, but the Mosin-Nagant is definitely right-handed.

Russ