Courtesy of "Kensho" on Tactical Forums..
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"I didn't come away with WOW but I can see why some would. Film definetly has impact and lots if punch.
Movie had former LAPD Vet Chic Daniels (which BTW, is all Scotty Reitz's techniques) as tech advisor and did a capable job.
Cruise has definetly been working with Modern Combat Pistol Technique (shoots what appears to be Modified Weaver) and as Beau correctly commented it was done similar in technical detail to "THIEF". Jimmy Caan did some training for "THIEF" and actually went to Gunsite to learn modern pistol technique. Cruise has gone somewhere to train and this time it was reality.
Way better than the unrealistic pistol techniques Woo did in Mission Impossible.
He does very convincing job and utilizes an excellent "Speed Rock", shoot from between legs on back, failure drills several times in film two to chest one to head (technically showed tightness of groups etc.) I believe Cruise used a H&K USP or H&K P 2000.
Good technical use of "tradecraft" and "skill sets". Film makes reference to the FACT that many people will employed in Private Security Details CONUS that have technical skills they learned from training for Middle East. Stay tuned on that in the future as society forges on.
Micheal Mann has a reputed hisotry of eye for technical detail. "HEAT" & "THIEF" has Beau points out and many more "Miami Vice" series, "MANHUNTER", Last Of the Mohicans, "INSIDER".
The story has some ironic lines and interesting metaphors. Tries to be painfully didactic but ulitmately Cruise falls victim to his own device...
two thumbs up for me...
Nice job using HAMMERS, CONTROLLED PAIRS, DOUBLE TAPS et al etc."
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According to someone else who read an interview that Cruise did, he trained with an ex-SAS trooper named Mick Gould. In any case, I was very pleasantly suprised by this film and it is on my "must buy" list. Seeing Jamie Foxx try to shoot the lock and then have to fiddle with the gun just cracked me up...
It is a pretty good piece of filmmaking, although I thought Jamie Foxx's gunfight winning "skills" (or lack thereof) at the end was a bit over the top... I was expecting it because it was a movie, but....
Roger Ebert thought the movie was pretty good from a cinematic standpoint... gave it 3.5 stars:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040806/REVIEWS/408060302/1023Dan
