Doomsday was a 2008 sci fi action film, written and directed by Neil Marshall, who wrote and directed the previous film Dog Soldiers. As is done with many British Filmmakers, he uses actors from his earlier movie to star in his current one. In fact nearly the entire cast of Marshall's film Dog Soldiers appear in this movie.
Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) uses a custom suppressed Walther P38 as her main handgun during the capture of the slaver's ship. Later the same handgun is used by Sol during the highway chase scene.
Bill Nelson (Bob Hoskins) uses a S&W Model 64 (the stainless steel version of the Model 10) to try and save Prime Minister John Hatcher (Alexander Siddig) from a rampaging infected man.
DDS soldiers are shown using a modified version of the Vektor CP1 pistol. Their version has an extended ported barrel and a module under the barrel which holds both a light and laser. The laser turns on when the trigger is depressed, but this is most clearly seen when Eden Sinclair uses it during daylight.
A guard, during the assault on the slaver ship, carries a Armscor BXP submachine gun. This weapon was selected due to the scene being filmed in South Africa and being readily available to South African Armorers. The weapon is only briefly seen.
The L85A1 assault rifles are used by British soldiers during the initial outbreak of the Reaper Virus (circa 2010) which would almost correct (they would have the upgraded L85A2s). Upon close inspection, the rifles do seem to be Airsoft rifles with the flashes, bolt movement and flying brass casings digitally inserted later, but they did a good job on many of the scenes. What is odd is that the L85A1 rifles have the tiny Union Jack Flag sticker on them, which as far as I know, only appears on the toy guns.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingL85A2 - 5.56mmError creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Soldier in his Chemical warfare suit prepares to shoot at an infected man in Scottish territory with an L85A1 Rifle - 5.56mmError creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Soldiers fires his L85A1 Rifle - 5.56mm. If this was a CGI effect, as some believe, it was an excellent job.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBritish soldiers line up on the wall to repel the rampaging Scots with their L85A1 rifles - 5.56mm. The SUSAT scopes are clearly visible, which would be mounted on South African Vektor CR-21 rifles later in the film. Note the British Union Jack stickers on the receivers, which seem to be only on the airsoft guns.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAnother veteran of the film Dog Soldiers, Katherine Sinclair (Emma Cleasby) begs the evacuating British soldiers to take her little girl who has been wounded in the eye. In this shot there is a view of the L85A1 rifles.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe heroic British Soldier Johnson (Stephen Hughes) who gives up his seat so that the little girl can get evacuated on the helicopter, uses his L85A1 rifle to stop the mobs from rushing the Huey.
Vektor CR-21
Most of the DDS agents carry Vektor CR-21 assault rifles equipped with flashlights, laser sights, and sound suppressors. In the early part of the film, DDS agents carry CR-21 rifles with the original South African optical sight. During the mission in the badlands, the DDS Soldiers carry CR-21 that have SUSAT optical sights mounted.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingVektor CR-21 - 5.56x45mmError creating thumbnail: File missingEden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) sits and talks with Bill Nelson (Bob Hoskins) after a mission, with Sinclair's Vektor CR-21 sitting to her side - 5.56x45mm. Like Michaelson's rifle, this has the original SA sights.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMichaelson (Tom Fairfoot) takes cover from the shotgun blasts fired by the Bathtub Blonde clutching his Vektor CR-21 - 5.56x45mm. Note that in the boat sequence the CR-21 rifles have the original South African sights on them.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAfter the APC crash, Sgt. Norton (Adrian Lester) comes out with his South African Vektor CR-21 Assault rifle - 5.56x45mm. Here the advantage of a bullpup design is evident as Norton continues to fire with only one hand.Error creating thumbnail: File missingEden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) fires her Vektor CR-21 with British SUSAT sights - 5.56x45mmError creating thumbnail: File missingSgt. Norton (Adrian Lester) aims his South African Vektor CR-21 Assault rifle as he waits for Kane's enforcers in the forest - 5.56x45mm. During the mission, the Vektor CR-21 rifles have British SUSAT sights (as on the L85A1 bullpup rifle).Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn a behind the scenes shot, film director Neil Marshall shows off one of the Vektor CR-21 bullpup assault rifles - 5.56x45mm
Heckler & Koch G36K
Soldiers at the government Headquarters in London are seen with G36K rifles.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn a behind the scenes shot, an assistant to the director clearly holds a G36K Rifle from the weapons table. Again we see two 30 round magazines clipped together.
Customized L42A1 Sniper Rifle
A British sniper stationed on the wall snipes an infected man with an L42A1 bolt action sniper rifle in a thumbhole sniper stock with a Parker Hale Bipod and elevated sniper cheek rest - 7.62x51mm.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Sniper with a modified L42A1 Sniper Rifle in a thumbhole stock and Parker Hale Bipod - 7.62x51mmError creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Sniper looks at his handiwork with his modified L42A1 Sniper Rifle in a thumbhole stock and Parker Hale Bipod - 7.62x51mmError creating thumbnail: File missingIn a behind the scenes shot, we can see the sniper rifle on a table with many of the other guns from the film.
South African Vektor R4
One of the guards of the slaver ship that's docked in the harbor carries a Vektor R4 with stock folded.
A Neostead shotgun is used by Chandler (Rick Warren) and then Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) during the sweep of the abandoned hospital. The shotgun is used to blast a hole in the elevator ceiling and cut the cable. In the DVD extras, the director Neil Marshall claims that this is the only movie so far that has featured this unusual South African Pump Shotgun.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingNeostead Shotgun - 12 GaugeError creating thumbnail: File missingMaj. Eden Sinclair aims the Neostead shotgun she has commandeered from Chandler (Rick Warren) - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe group retreats to an elevator, as Maj. Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) aims the Neostead shotgun - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMaj. Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) fires the Neostead shotgun - 12 gauge. She, like other actresses in this film, doesn't blink nor flinch during firing of her weapon. The filmmakers sure trained their actresses well!Error creating thumbnail: File missingIn a DVD feature, Director Neil Marshall shows off the Neostead Shotgun used in Doomsday (2008). He claims (although wrongfully) that this shotgun has not been seen in a film anywhere until now, having the Neostead been used in the Italian movie Milano-Palermo: Il ritorno.
Armsel Striker
Miller (Chris Robson) uses a Rotary drum shotgun like the Armsel Striker during the crashed APC scene. What makes this scene confusing is that the shotgun used really looks like a low end Cobray Streetsweeper and not the higher end Armsel Striker. Since this scene was filmed in South Africa one would expect the armorers to favor the better made Armsel Striker shotgun. One theory is it is an older version of the Striker which had a key style that was eventually copied by SWD/Cobray for the Streetsweeper, but as far as the film goes, the shotgun more closely resembles what we now know to be the StreetSweeper and not the Striker, despite all the facts pointing towards the Striker.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSWD/Cobray Street Sweeper with short barrel and top folding stock for comparison - 12 gauge. This shotgun, like the one in the film, as the same number of vent holes, same lack of front sight blade and same folding key style knob for winding up the drum. The one in the film has it's top folding stock extended.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMiller (Chris Robson) uses a Armsel Striker with top folding stock after the APC crash - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMiller (Chris Robson) fires his Armsel Striker with top folding stock extended - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMiller (Chris Robson) and his Armsel Striker. It is not a Armsel Protecta because it is not a keyless drum and has a top folding stock - 12 gauge.
Sawed Off O/U Shotgun
Richter (Jeremy Crutchley), the trafficker in Scottish slave labor, uses a sawed off Over/Under double barreled shotgun to kill his business associates (whom he thinks betrayed him) and to hold a DDS Agent John Michaelson (Tom Fairfoot) hostage - 12 gauge.
A blonde woman, bathing in the cast-iron tub aboard the ship, uses a Musler 12 gauge shotgun with extended magazine tube and pistol grip. Note: Either this is a special left handed eject model or the entire sequence has been 'flipped' in post. This shotgun normally has an ejection port on the right side just like a Mossberg 500 (upon which the shotgun is based), so this footage must be reversed, since the gun is not like the Ithaca 37 which has no side ejection port.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingBathtub Blonde (Lily Anderson) reacts negatively to being interrupted from her soak in the tub and grabs a Musler 12 gauge shotgun with extended tube/barrel and pistol grip - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBathtub Blonde (Lily Anderson) racks the action on her Musler 12 gauge. Visible is the magazine tube end cap and mount that attaches to the munitions cup at the end of the barrel - 12 gauge.Error creating thumbnail: File missingNot just another excuse to show a woman in a bathtub, this shot clearly shows the forearm and where it ends at full forward position.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBathtub Blonde (Lily Anderson) shows an almost Terminator style ability to NOT blink nor flinch during the firing of multiple shotgun blasts indoors - 12 gauge.
Heavy Weapons
Vektor SS-77 Machine Gun
Instead of the British Army issued L7A2, the trooper on the top of the armored vehicle is using a Vektor SS-77 GPMG. This is because the sequence in question was filmed in South Africa so armorers used what was at hand.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Soldier manning a South African SS-77 GPMG, standing in for a more appropriate L7A2. Since the first plaque in the film is heavily implied to take place in or near the year 2010 (with the rest of the film taking place 25 years later in 2035 AD, the use of the L7A2 would still be correct.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Soldier about to fire on Rioters. This shot offers a good back view of the South African SS-77 Machine gun - 7.62x51mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingBritish Soldier fires on panicking civilians with a South African SS-77 Machine gun - 7.62x51mm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAfter gunning down dozens of innocent people, the British Soldier is attacked by an enraged mob and beaten to death. Visible is his South African SS-77 Machine gun - 7.62x51mm.
Twin Barreled Sentry Guns
The British army in the story, abandons manning the wall about five years after the northern lands were sealed off and have been using Motion sensor activated Sentry Guns to destroy anything that moves. Sgt. Norton mentions that the guns only wreak havoc on the 'local wildlife' since they haven't had a human target for twenty years, just as the guns focus on and destroy a rabbit. The guns themselves are just fabricated props and not based on any real world firearm or auto cannon.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingMotion sensors move the roving Sentry guns with bright searchlights mounted beneath the barrels.Error creating thumbnail: File missingSentry guns search the landscape. It is hard to gauge an approximate caliber due to the fact that there is nothing familiar that is close enough for scale.
Vektor MG-4
During the hospital scene, the DDS troops pass a Vektor MG-4 version of the Browning M1919 machine gun. It's mounted on what looks to be an anti-aircraft tripod and the debris of twenty five years of neglect.
British soldiers fire CS gas and smoke grenades at the crowd from atop the quarantine wall. Though difficult to clearly see, they are single shot launchers with twin pistol grips, strongly resembling the Defense Technologies 1315 37mm launcher.
A fabricated Prop Sci Fi Fragmentation Grenade is used when Carpenter releases on inside the APC after his throat has been slashed by a savage starved girl.
Bandoleers of these long silver fabricated HE grenades are seen on the armory table and also carried by Sgt. Norton throughout the film. They are most prominent during the castle escape when Norton retrieves his bandoleer from the castle armory and starts blowing things up. The grenades are fabricated Sci Fi Props.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingSgt. Norton (Adrian Lester) always carries a bandoleer of HE grenades during the mission. Here he retrieves them from the castle armory and uses them to blow apart rooms in the castle.
Silicon Foam Grenade
Sci fi prop "Silicon Foam" grenades are used during the escape from the hospital to enable the DDS soldiers to survive an elevator drop by encasing them in foam. Miller (Chris Robson) refers to them as "Silicon Foam Grenades" during the initial meeting with Major Eden Sinclair.
Normally antique weapons (like bows and arrows) are avoided in that there is no way to identify the make, model or history of the weapon used in a film, however, they are sometimes listed when used by major characters, to track how many times they appear in gun heavy films. In films like Geronimo or Braveheart there is no need to list the bows and arrows since they are expected weapons, however, listing their usage in modern or sci fi movies is an interesting statistic though they do not merit their own weapons page.
