The Final Option (Original British Title: Who Dares Wins) is a 1982 action film directed by Ian Sharp (The Professionals) and starring Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, with Edward Woodward and Richard Widmark. Producer Euan Lloyd (The Wild Geese, Shalako) was so inspired by the storming of the Iranian embassy by Britain's Special Air Service in 1980 (an event Lloyd watched live in person and was later dramatized in the 2017 film 6 Days), he immediately got the ball rolling on a film about the SAS. Filming was done with the full cooperation of the SAS and the British Army and several sequences closely model the embassy operation. Lewis Collins, who stars as Captain Skellen, had actually passed SAS selection at one point, but was ultimately rejected due to his fame.
The following weapons were used in the film The Final Option:
SAS troopers are armed with Heckler & Koch MP5A3 submachine guns. All of the MP5s seen are fitted with "slimline" handguards and the original straight "waffle" magazines (during the actual embassy operation, photos of the real-life incident show that the SAS troopers' MP5s were fitted with the curved 30-round magazine that is now standard). This is one of the earliest appearances of the MP5 in popular media.
Most of the terrorists are armed with MAC-10 submachine guns. Some of them are fitted with suppressors. In the dialogue, they are described as being chambered in "9mm".
Error creating thumbnail: File missingColt Model 609 aka U.S. Army's XM177E1- 5.56x45mm. This Carbine utilized the partial magazine fence, the tear drop forward assist, but kept the 10" barrel and Flash hider/Suppressor that did not have a grenade ring (a later feature on the E2 model).Error creating thumbnail: File missing"Live bastards! Dead soldiers!"
Machine Guns
L7 Machine Gun
An L7 Machine Gun machine gun is seen mounted on a Land Rover at the SAS training facility.
Two SAS troopers suspended from a helicopter fire grenades from a Federal Gas Riot Gun.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingFederal M201-Z - 37mm. Upgrade from the L-5, the M201Z has a secondary ladder sight behind the latch and the barrel is ringed for a sling swivel. The L-5 has a plain smooth barrel.Error creating thumbnail: File missingIt may look a little silly, but they swing straight into the building right after blowing out the windows with the grenade launcher.
Other
Schermuly Training Grenade
The SAS troopers have Schermuly Training Grenades on their webbing. The body of the grenade is plastic with an open bottom with the interior filled with a paper wrapped pyrotechnic charge. Once the lever was released there was a two second delay before this charge was propelled out the base of the grenade and exploded about half a second later. Although, as the name implies, it was originally intended as a training grenade, but it was later found that it could also be used as a stun grenade, so its appearance on an SAS troopers webbing, particularly in the early 80s, is legitimate.
