The Latest from Cactus Tactical: Gun Fights and Films

Gun Fights and Films

Today we explore a couple movies with a strong female lead role. We feature two of my favorite films from the talented Angelina Jolie, Wanted and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Both very different films, one with tales of secret societies of assassins and another with ties to mythology and archaeology.

#1 Wanted

Released in 2008, Wanted is an action film that is an adaptation of the comic book series created by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. The film follows Wesley, an ordinary office worker who is recruited into a secret organization of assassins known as The Fraternity. The film also stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.

We open the film with a brief introduction to a fairly unhappy young man named Wesley Gibson. He takes pills when he's stressed, works at a dead-end job with an overbearing boss, and has a live-in girlfriend that is sleeping with his "best" friend. The character's life feels devoid of happiness and in general seems like a life unfulfilled.

Elsewhere, a man called "Mr. X" meets with a ballistics expert to find out who made a particular bullet. She observes that the bullet is not traceable to a particular gun. It is revealed later that this is because it is the last stage of a multistage bullet. Then, suddenly, a sniper shoots the ballistics expert in the head from a nearby building. Mr. X leaps through the window and shoots his opponents in mid-flight, killing them. He lands on the building and begins talking to a man on a cell phone, unaware that he is standing on a marked spot. He notices it as the man, named Cross, fires a multistage bullet from across town, killing Mr. X by going through the back of his head and out through his forehead. The cinematography for this scene is chilling, precise and absolute mastery.

As we cut to a pharmacy, Gibson meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who tells him his father was an elite assassin who had been killed the day before. Gibson replies that his father has been long gone. At that moment, Cross appears, gun in hand. The woman opens fire on Cross. Gibson and the woman escape from the resulting shoot-out and have a wild car chase in the streets of Chicago. The woman brings Gibson to the headquarters of The Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins. The group's leader, Sloan, formally introduces Gibson to Fox, the woman from the night before, and invites him to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. Sloan tests Gibson by making him shoot the wings off a fly. When Gibson refuses, a gun is put to his head, triggering a panic attack. Gibson somehow manages to shoot the wings off several flies. Sloan says that he was able to do that because his heart beats 400 times a second when he's stressed. After running away in fear, Gibson wakes up the next day hoping everything was a dream, but discovers his father's gun, and that he has $3.6 million in his bank account. At work, Gibson decides to submit to the frenzy of his new life and tells off his boss, bashes his duplicitous friend with a computer keyboard and storms out. Gibson then sees pictures of himself and Fox on the front page of several newspapers as wanted fugitives for the pharmacy shooting. Then he notices Fox, who has been waiting outside, and she gives him a ride back to the Fraternity headquarters.

Once his training is complete, Gibson is given orders to kill people from the Loom of Fate, a loom that gives the names of the targets through a binary code hidden in weaving errors of the fabric. While on his first assignment, Gibson has second thoughts and hesitates killing his target. In a flashback we learn that he told Fox it isn't right to kill people without knowing anything about them or why they deserve to die. Fox then relates a childhood story, about a judge handling a sensitive case, and the defendant had ordered him assassinated. A hired killer held the young girl at knifepoint as they waited for her father to return home. The killer then lit the father on fire as the young girl watched, and then branded his initials into her neck. Fox explained that the man who killed the judge had been targeted by the Fraternity several weeks prior to the events of the story, but their assassin had failed to carry out his duty. Fox then tells Gibson The Fraternity's motto is "Kill one and maybe save thousands". As she prepares to leave, he notices initials branded on her neck and realizes the story was about her. Back to present we watch as Gibson bends a bullet trajectory to kill the target a moment after this recollection.

Gibson's focus is generally fixated on Cross and he bides his time to get revenge on Cross. Fox feels that it is too early but Sloan gives her another order where the target is Gibson. Gibson and Fox travel to the Fraternity's original base of operations in Europe. The two easily capture Pekwarsky and force him to take them to Cross. The meeting leads to a confrontation between Gibson and Cross on a moving train. Fox steals a car and crashes it into the train, eventually causing the train to derail when it reaches a bridge over a deep ravine. Gibson is about to fall into the ravine before Cross catches his hand, saving his life. Gibson unhesitatingly shoots him. Before Cross dies, he tells Gibson that he is his real father and that the Fraternity had been lying to him. Fox confirms the truth and explains that Gibson was recruited because he was the only person that Cross wouldn't kill. Fox then tells Gibson about the kill order on him and raises her weapon to shoot him. Gibson, however, shoots the glass underneath him and plunges into the river below.

Gibson awakes in an apartment across the street from his former apartment. He finds Pekwarsky there. Upon inspecting the apartment, he discovers it belonged to his father, who had been closely monitoring him his whole life. Pekwarsky hands Gibson a loom weaving and tells him to decode it. Gibson is shocked to discover Sloan's name in the weaving. Pekwarsky explains that after Sloan discovered that he was the next target stated by the Loom of Fate, he started manufacturing his own targets and after discovering this Cross goes rogue and Sloan turns the Fraternity against him. Since then Sloan has used false kill orders to direct the Fraternity as mere contract killers. Gibson realizes that Cross had never actually tried to kill him in their previous confrontations; he had been assassinating Fraternity members to keep them away from Gibson. Pekwarsky departs after giving Gibson plane tickets, stating that his father wished him a life free of violence. While exploring the apartment further, Gibson discovers a secret room containing all of his father's weapons and maps. He even finds a supply of the Exterminator's mini-bombs, realizing that the Exterminator had been working with his father. Gibson then devises a plan to take out Sloan and the Fraternity. Upon entering Sloan's office, he finds himself surrounded by Fox and her fellow master assassins. Gibson tells them that Sloan is killing for profit by providing his killers with fraudulent kill orders. He then attempts to kill Sloan, but is disarmed by Fox.

Fox asks Sloan if this is true. Sloan then reveals that all of their names had come up in the weaving, and that he had merely acted to protect them. He then goes on to explain that if they truly believe in the code then they should take their lives right where they stand. Otherwise, they should kill Gibson. The other assassins decide to kill Gibson, but Fox turns on her fellow assassins. She "curves" a bullet to kill the assassins who had been standing in a circle, then throws her gun to Gibson before stepping back into the bullet. Sloan escapes. Gibson, penniless once more, does not know what to do with himself. While Gibson provides a voice-over, the audience sees a young man sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle much like Gibson did at the beginning of the film. The man types the name "Wesley Gibson" into Google and searches for it but does not have any results, as in the beginning of the film. Sloan appears and points a gun at the man's head. At that moment, the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy and looks down. Sloan also looks down and realizes he is standing on a marked spot. He then looks up and says, "Oh, fuck", before Gibson, who is actually miles away, shoots him in the head from the comfort of his own apartment, from the same window his father killed Mr. X at the beginning of the movie. It is also shown that the same bullet passed through an energy drink his former best friend was holding as his unfaithful girlfriend looks on in shock, and passed through a donut his former boss was about to eat mere moments before it killed Sloan.

The movie ends with Gibson breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience and giving an overview of his last six weeks as an assassin saying, "This is me taking back control of my life. What the f**k have you done lately?"

This movie is packed with shoot outs, it was tough to focus on just a few scenes and weapons. High action intensity in nearly every scene. I narrowed it down to a few so let's take a look.

Fox (Angelina Jolie) packs a custom Safari Arms Matchmaster 1911 clone with a Wilson 10 round magazine, Parrish 1911 Bushing Compensator (which would cause a muzzle flash that would likely blind her in low-light situations), engraved ivory grips, and custom engraved slide throughout the film. The official website of the film describes: "Fox's weapon of choice is a custom .45 caliber SAFARI MATCHMASTER semi automatic pistol. Although she prefers its lightweight versatility, she is a virtuoso with any firearm which exists".

A very rare nice shot of the pistol. The Safari Arms Matchmaster used by Angelina Jolie in the film. Note Safari Arms Lion logo - .45 ACP.

Fox aims her Safari Arms Matchmaster. Note her tattoo which reads "Teneo Vestrus Vox", roughly translated from Latin as "I hold your voice." or more exactly "(I) have thine voice" in Middle English

To see the grocery shootout scene you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/q2pzOimT9so

Fox shows her true devotion to the Fraternity when she curves a bullet that miraculously circles the whole room

Wesley (James McAvoy) is seen using several Browning Hi-Power pistols during the shootout in the mill using both his and some captured from assassins.

Browning Hi-Power - 9mm.

Wesley fire his Hi-Power with a Jericho 941 akimbo.

Wesley fires his Hi-Power in the mill.

To see the rampage of Wesley, you can check it out here: https://youtu.be/37KddyjUxnQ

Fox pulls a Sawed-Off Double Barreled Shotgun from under the seat of her car and fires it at Cross during the chase. The gun makes the typical "pump-action cocking" sound when drawn.

Stevens Hammerless 1960s era shotgun - 12 Gauge.

Fox fires the shotgun at Cross.

To watch the scene with the curving bullets on the train between Cross and Gibson, you can watch here: https://youtu.be/qD6IXIE0cok

Wanted is a great movie all around, thrilling and filled with plot twists. Grab some popcorn, turn off your phone and get lost in a movie this week.

For more information on the weapons used in this film go to: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Wanted

#2 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Released in 2001 this feature film adaptation of the popular Tomb Raider videogame series. Angelina Jolie stars as the iconic adventure heroine who searches around the world for a mysterious relic. The film was directed by Simon West and cast included Daniel Craig, Iain Glen, and Jolie's real-life father Jon Voight, who portrays Lara's father in the film. Jolie would reprise her role in the 2003 sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

The film opens with Croft in an Egyptian tomb, seeking a diamond at one end of a chamber. As she approaches she is attacked by an intimidating robot. After an intense chase and battle, she disables it by ripping out its motivational circuits. She takes the diamond, which is revealed to be a memory card labeled 'Lara's Party Mix,' and inserts it into a laptop computer inside the robot, whereupon it plays her carefully chosen music. It's then revealed that the scene took place in a practice arena in Croft's home, and that her assistant, Bryce, programmed the robot, to challenge her in combat.

We also find out that it is the day of the first phase of a planetary alignment, culminating in a solar eclipse on the Earth, which happens once every 5,000 years. In Venice, the Illuminati search for a key to rejoin halves of "the triangle," which must be done by the final phase of the alignment. Mr. Powell, an Illuminati member, makes assurances that they are almost ready, but in reality he has no idea where to find the key.

Cut back to Croft's butler, Hillary, trying to interest her in several projects, but she ignores them. 15th of May, as Hillary is aware, is the day that Croft's father disappeared many years earlier. She has not recovered from his loss. Later that night, Croft has a dream reminding her what her father said about the alignment, and an object linked to it called the Triangle of Light. Waking, she is aware of a clock ticking. Searching for it, she discovers a secret chamber with a carriage clock that had spontaneously begun ticking. Bryce probes it and discovers a strange device hidden inside the clock.

Since the device resembles a clock, Croft consults a clock expert friend of her father's, Mr. Wilson. She believes it is connected to the "Triangle of Light," but Wilson claims he has no knowledge of the clock or the Triangle. Croft encounters Alex West, a fellow tomb raider with unscrupulous methods. They are attracted to each other, but Croft cannot abide his for-profit attitude and the two frequently are in conflict. That night, Croft is contacted by Wilson, who tells her that he gave her name to a man named Manfred Powell in regards of the clock. However, it is revealed that Wilson is also a member of the Illuminati.

The next day, Croft sees Powell in his home, and shows him photographs of the clock. Later, while discussing it with Bryce, she points out that Powell was lying about his knowledge. That night, armed commandos invade the house and steal the clock despite Croft's attempts to fend them off.

The following morning, Croft receives a letter from her father, arranged to arrive after the beginning of the alignment, where he explains that the clock is the key to retrieve two halves of the mystic Triangle of Light, which is revealed to be an object of phenomenal destructive power that granted its wielder power over time and space. Initially housed in a city built by those who worshipped the object, misuse of the Triangle's power destroyed the city and so it was split into two halves; one was hidden in a tomb in Cambodia, the other half in the ruined city itself, in modern-day Siberia. Her father urges her to find and destroy both halves before the Illuminati can find it.

In Cambodia, West figures out part of the puzzle on how to retrieve the triangle half, but Croft manages to successfully grab the piece and escape the temple after fighting off and destroying a huge six-armed guardian statue.

She and Powell arrange to meet in Venice, since each of them has what the other needs to finish the Triangle. Powell proposes a partnership to find the Triangle, and informs Lara that her father was a member of the Illuminati, which she vehemently denies. Though hesitant at first, she, along with Bryce, meets with Powell for the trip to Siberia. Inside the tomb, there is a giant model of the solar system, which activates as the alignment nears completion. Croft retrieves the last half of the Triangle, but when Powell tries to complete it, the halves will not fuse. He realizes that Croft knows the solution to the puzzle, and kills West in order to persuade her to complete the Triangle to save both West's life and her father's. Croft reluctantly complies, and they then struggle for control of the Triangle, with Croft prevailing.

Croft then finds herself in a strange alternate existence facing her father. He explains that it is a "crossing" of time and space, and urges her to destroy the Triangle instead of using it to save his life. She leaves her father and returns to the chamber, where time is slowly running backwards from the point where Powell killed West. Croft takes the knife he threw into West's chest and reverses it, then destroys the Triangle, which returns time to its normal flow and directs the knife into Powell's shoulder. The chamber begins to self-destruct, Everyone turns to leave, but Powell tells Croft that he killed her father and retrieved his pocket watch with a picture of Lara's mother inside. Croft fights him to retrieve it, killing him and escaping as the chamber comes down around her.

Let's take a look at some of the weapons featured in this film.

The signature pistols of Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) in the film are Heckler & Koch USP Match with stainless slides. The handguns are 9mm models, not .45 ACP as previously believed. This is evident as throughout much of the film, Lara's USP's are equipped with JetFunnels (H&K's fancy name for flared magazine wells) which are not available for the .45 version and the corresponding 18-round 9mm magazines. As in the original videogame, she keeps her handguns prominently holstered on her thighs and almost always draws them both at the same time. She also carries custom mag holders to facilitate quicker reloading of both handguns.

Heckler & Koch USP Match - 9x19mm

Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) uses her twin USP Match pistols during the opening training exercise.

Lara uses her custom mag holders to reload both her guns simultaneously

Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) acquires a Steyr TMP from a member of the raid team and uses it to score several kills.

Steyr TMP - 9x19mm

Lara fires a Steyr TMP while riding a Triumph.

During the raid on her manor, Lara is seen trying to open her armory, which contains several weapons, including a Vz. 61 "Skorpion", a Steyr TMP, Heckler & Koch MP5's and a SPAS-12 shotgun.

To watch the scene where Lara defends the manor you can watch here: https://youtu.be/QhDRkf_XGVw

To watch the scene in the garage you can watch here: https://youtu.be/nzjEYhUtRGc

Get some girl power in your life this weekend and yourself a Croft-a-thon by playing the video game or watching the sequel. These films are fun and have some great fight scenes. Enjoy!

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Labels: action films, adventure, angelina jolie, cinema, films, gunfights, guns, lara croft, movies, tomb raider, wanted, weapons