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Flight of the Intruder: Difference between revisions
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==Berthier Rifle== | ==Berthier Rifle== | ||
Near the start of the film where a peasant in a rice paddy takes a pot shot at the A-6 Intruder piloted by Lieutenant Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton ([[Brad Johnson]]) and his Bombadier/Navagator Lieutenant Morgan "Morg" McPhearson ([[Christopher Rich]]) | Near the start of the film where a peasant in a rice paddy takes a pot shot at the A-6 Intruder piloted by Lieutenant Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton ([[Brad Johnson]]) and his Bombadier/Navagator Lieutenant Morgan "Morg" McPhearson ([[Christopher Rich]]) with a French-made Berthier bolt-action rifle (possibly either the Model 1907-15 or the Model 1907-16 rifles). "Morg" was fatally wounded by the shot and was bleeding to death by the time the two returned to their carrier. | ||
[[Image:Fusil Mle 1907-15.jpg|thumb|none|500px|Berthier Model 1907-15 Rifle]] | |||
[[Image:FOTI-M9130 01a.jpg|thumb|none|500px|The 'well fed' Peasant aims his Berthier rifle at the A6 Intruder aircraft. Like many shots in the film, the 'fire' of the weapon is animated afterwards (this was before digital effects).]] | [[Image:FusilM1916.jpg|thumb|none|500px|Berthier Model 1907-16 Rifle]] | ||
[[Image:FOTI-M9130 01a.jpg|thumb|none|500px|The 'well fed' Peasant aims his Berthier rifle at the A6 Intruder aircraft - 8 x 50R mm. Like many shots in the film, the 'fire' of the weapon is animated afterwards (this was before digital effects).]] | |||
[[Image:FOTI-M9130 01BadAnimationA.jpg|thumb|none|500px|An example of the animation of the 'fire' of the rifle. The 'light cast' on the shooter and his cargo was animated into the shot via rotoscope. This was filmed before Digital effects. This is a somewhat bad animation, however it is only for one frame, so it is not noticed by the audience.]] | [[Image:FOTI-M9130 01BadAnimationA.jpg|thumb|none|500px|An example of the animation of the 'fire' of the rifle. The 'light cast' on the shooter and his cargo was animated into the shot via rotoscope. This was filmed before Digital effects. This is a somewhat bad animation, however it is only for one frame, so it is not noticed by the audience.]] | ||
Revision as of 08:44, 8 November 2009
Flight of the Intruder is a 1991 film about Vietnam war Naval Aviators, most notably the pilots and crewmen of the A6E intruder, the electronics warfare plane that help jammed enemy radar during air warfare. The A6E Intruder carried offensive missiles but was not outfitted with defensive guns, like many fighter jets. The film was directed by John Milius, who had previously directed such films as The Wind and the Lion, Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn. Despite being a high action film with lots of aerial combat sequences and excellent special effects, Flight of the Intruder was a box office bomb. The film suffered greatly from being released during the height of the real life ground war in Operation Desert Storm (1991).
The following weapons were used in the film Flight of the Intruder:
Berthier Rifle
Near the start of the film where a peasant in a rice paddy takes a pot shot at the A-6 Intruder piloted by Lieutenant Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton (Brad Johnson) and his Bombadier/Navagator Lieutenant Morgan "Morg" McPhearson (Christopher Rich) with a French-made Berthier bolt-action rifle (possibly either the Model 1907-15 or the Model 1907-16 rifles). "Morg" was fatally wounded by the shot and was bleeding to death by the time the two returned to their carrier.
Mosin Nagant M91/30 Sniper Rifle
Near the end of the film, an N.V.A. sniper (Dr. Akio Mitamura) can be seen using a sniper version of the Mosin Nagant, chasing after the protagonists as they're trying to flee from the combat zone after being shot down in order to be rescued by helicopter.
M60 Machine Gun
Near the end of the film, an HH-3 "Jolly Green" rescue helicopter sent to airlift "Cool Hand" and Commander Fanke "Duke" Camparelli (Danny Glover) can be seen armed with an M60 machine gun for the door gunner, though the choppers rely mostly on the A-1 "Sandy" ground-attack planes to clear out most of the enemy ground fire for them.
M1911
An M1911 appears in the film as the sidearm of Lt. Commander Virgil "Tiger" Cole (Willem Dafoe) during the film. He can be seen cleaning it when discussing the "Sam City" mission with "Cool Hand" (Brad Johnson). It is a Government Issued M1911, not the M1911A1, as it has the straight back strap and no relief cuts around the trigger guard on the frame.
Colt Mark IV Series 70
Virgil "Tiger" Cole (Willem Dafoe) has a blued Colt MK IV Series 70 pistol when he is shot down over enemy territory. His series 70 pistol has the same diamond grips he had on the M1911 on the ship.
M1911A1
The only instances where an actual M1911A1 appears are in the holsters of the Marines who escort Cole and Grafton for their court martial, however, these pistols are always holstered (so it is only a guess that they are indeed M1911A1 pistols) and later in the hands of Commander Camparelli (has his survival sidearm). Camparelli uses the M1911A1 to kill a Pathet Lao soldier and the gun is later used by Grafton to take out an NVA sniper.
Smith & Wesson Model 12
Grafton (Brad Johnson) carries a K-Frame 6 shot Smith & Wesson Model 12 "Airweight" Snub nose revolver. The Model 12 was built between 1953 to 1986 and had an alloy frame, designed for pilots. It is basically an alloy frame Model 10 snub revolver. It is distinguishable from the Model 36 or USAF M-13 because it is a 6 shot revolver as opposed to a 5 shot. The actor Brad Johnson also has large hands, so a J-frame revolver would look much smaller in his grip.
Smith & Wesson Model 36
Lieutenant JG Jack 'Razor' Barlow (Jared Chandler) is seen preparing for Operation Linebacker II, and loading his small J-Framed revolver. It appears to be a 5 shot Smith & Wesson Model 36 - .38 Special.
SKS Rifle / Type 56 Carbine
The SKS rifle is seen commonly mixed in with AK47 variants amongst the enemy troops at the end of the film. Being that they all appear to have the Chinese style 'pig sticker' spike bayonet, they should officially be called "Type 56 Carbine" (the name for the Chinese SKS).
After being shot down, Virgil Cole (Willem Dafoe) accidentally stumbles upon an NVA soldier (Eddie Badiang) armed with an Type 56 Carbine. The soldier attempts to shoot Virgil but his aim is knocked off as Virgil kicks the muzzle of the weapon just as he fires, though still suffers a mortal wound from the shot, Virgil then using his survival knife to kill the soldier.
AK-47
AK-47s were used by NVA soldiers throughout the film. We never see any truly good closeups of the guns, however, they look to be Poly Tech Legends and not Norinco Type 56 rifles.
Replica AK-47
In some shots, the rifles appear to be the Hudson AK-47 replica (a Japanese metal replica gun) that is commonly used in films for non-firing scenes.
Long Barreled AK variant
M14 Rifle
M2HB Browning Machine Gun
There are several appearances in the film of Browning M2HB heavy machine guns, erroneously shown being used by North Vietnamese forces as anti-aircraft weapons when in reality they'd be using DShK heavy machine guns instead. M2HB's also appear in a quad mount used as the main armament of a faux ZSU-23/4 anti-aircraft vehicle instead of the real vehicle's quad 23mm autocannons.
RPG-7
Seen briefly, an NVA soldier carries an RPG-7 while riding in a troop truck. Though the RPG-2 was much more commonly used by the NVA (known as the B-40 rocket), the RPG-7 is not impossible, considering that the events occur in 1972.
Gun Platforms
Mocked up Soviet ZSU-23 Mobile AA gun
We see an excellent mocked up ZSU-23 Mobile AA gun. This is probably the same ZSU-23 that was mocked up for the film Red Dawn, however, it makes one wonder what the cost was of shipping it from Newhall, California to the island of Kauai, HI. This ZSU is armed with quad Browning M2HB heavy machine guns for its main armament (note the guns in the Red Dawn ZSU were different as they were mockups that never fired. This ZSU does fire its Browning M2HB machine guns at the oncoming American planes. It should also be noted the ZSU-23 is an anachronism as the system did not enter into Vietnamese service until 1975, well after the period in which the movie takes place.
Miniature Fake ZSU-23 Gun
In the studio sound stage shots, we see a lot of excellent, but obvious miniature models. One of the models seen firing "acetylene flashes" to simulate AA fire is a miniature model of the ZSU-23.