The Latest from Cactus Tactical: Gunfights and Films - 80's Science Fiction Future Edition

Gunfights and Films - 80's Science Fiction Future Edition

The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction film directed by James Cameron that stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character who is a killer cyborg sent by machines from the future with the sole mission of eliminating Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the woman who will give birth to the leader of the future human resistance. Michael Biehn co-stars as Kyle Reese, a human soldier also sent from the future in order to protect Sarah. Arnold Schwarzenegger would reprise the role in the sequels Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) as well as appear via CGI in 2009's Terminator Salvation. He returned to a starring role in the 2015 sequel Terminator: Genisys. This franchise has been around a long time and gone through many changes in cast but sticks with the plot line while still maintaining twists and turns with plenty of action packed sequences. As film technology advances so did the Terminator films, going from the initial cybernetics to the current model in high definition CGI. Let's take a look at this iconic film of futuristic robotics.

Over an apocalyptic battlefield in the year 2029, the ruins of the city of Los Angeles are dominated by robotic war machines, some like tanks, others are hover crafts, a title card tells us that in the future, humans will wage a long war against an enemy known as the Machines. The "final battle" however, will not be fought in this future world, but in the past, specifically our present, as in that night.

The scene then opens up to Los Angeles, May 12, 1984 at 1:34 am. At the Griffith Park Observatory overlooking the city, lightning emanates from above a garbage truck, knocking out power. The driver sees an object ahead of him and flees as the electrical surge dissipates. The object is revealed to be the Terminator, a naked and heavily muscular cyborg. We watch as he stands up and starts walking toward the city where he is spotted by three young punks. The Terminator orders the men to give him their clothes, and the punks produce knives in response. The Terminator swats two of the punks aside, the third manages to stab him; but the Terminator tears open the punk's body with his bare hands, and kills him. One of the subdued punks immediately takes off his jacket and offers his clothes to the Terminator.

In a downtown alley, a homeless man sees another bright, circular light just above the ground, similar to the one at Griffith Park. A scarred, naked man appears who is muscular but much smaller in size than the other man who arrived in a similar but seemingly more painful fashion.This is Kyle Reese. Reese takes the homeless man's pants, just as a police car pulls up and two cops yell at him to freeze. Reese is able to hide and attacks one of the cops, taking his pistol and demanding the cop tell him the date and year. The cop becomes puzzled by Reese's question. When the cop's partner arrives, Reese runs into a department store. He steals several items, including a pair of Nike sneakers and a long coat and escapes the store. In another alley outside, he steals a shotgun from an unoccupied squad car. Finding a phone book nearby, he looks up the name of the woman he's been sent to find: Sarah Connor.

The Terminator steals a car and goes to a local sporting goods store where he has the owner show him several assault weapons and a pistol with laser sighting. The owner tells his customer that he can take the rifles right away but the pistol has a waiting period. As he explains the process, the Terminator casually loads the shotgun and shoots the clerk. Shortly after, the Terminator finds a phone book and looks for a name we see a second time, that of Sarah Connor. The Terminator discovers three listings in the Los Angeles area. He goes to the address of the first listing; as he walks to the front door, a small dog barks at him. When this Sarah Connor opens the door, the Terminator forces his way inside and shoots her with the pistol he acquired. Not long after, at the diner where she works, Sarah's co-worker drags her to the television where she sees a news report about women sharing her name being murdered by an unidentified assailant.

That evening, Sarah and her roommate, Ginger, prepare for separate dates. Ginger's boyfriend, Matt, will be coming over to spend the night. Sarah gets a message from her date, who cancels. Sarah decides to go out for pizza and sees another news report where the police announce the death of another woman sharing her name. Sarah becomes worried, and when she sees she is being followed, she ducks into a small dance club called Tech Noir. She tries to call Ginger, however Ginger and Matt are too busy to hear the phone. Not long after Sarah's call, the Terminator attacks and fatally shoots both Ginger and Matt, before hearing Sarah's voice on a message machine saying where she is. Sarah then phones the police department and is connected to Lt. Traxler, the detective investigating the Sarah Connor killings. He tells Sarah to stay put until he can get a squad car to her. The Terminator arrives at the club, dispatches a bouncer, and works his way inside.

In the meantime, Reese has also entered the dance club. Sarah is spotted by the Terminator, which aims its laser sighted pistol at her. Reese fires on the Terminator, hitting it with several blasts and knocking it to the floor. He tells Sarah "Come with me if you wanna live" and Sarah sees the Terminator impossibly rise to its feet. Reese and Sarah escape through the back door of the club, with the killer chasing them. As the chase begins we learn that the Terminator is a weaponized robot who's only mission is to eliminate Sarah Connor. During the chase, Reese frantically identifies himself and explains that Sarah has targeted and that the killer chasing them is not a man but a machine called a "terminator"; a metallic combat chassis covered with living human tissue to make it appear human. Reese tells Sarah that the first and larger 600 Series Terminators had rubber skin, but the newer 800 Series are very hard to identify which is why he followed Sarah and waited for the Terminator to make it's move so he could identify it.

While hiding out in a parking garage, Reese also explains that Sarah is destined to give birth to the humans' future leader John Connor. Reese goes on to say that a nuclear war will be initiated by a new, powerful computer system know as "Skynet" that is going to be tasked with controlling all defense systems. Reese himself has not seen the ensuing nuclear holocaust but was born and grew up destitute and dystopian ruins. He was enslaved and marked with a bar code and was forced to work loading bodies into incinerators. The human race, he says, will be on the verge of extinction when Sarah's son, John, is able to organize the remaining humans into an effective resistance movement that, by the time Reese will be sent back to the present day by Connor himself, had actually defeated Skynet. In desperation, Skynet has sent the Terminator to the present day to murder Sarah and eliminate John Connor's existence. Reese also explains that the Terminator pursuing Sarah, is a new model, one that appears infinitely more human than its predecessors. Reese tells her the android will bleed, sweat and even has bad breath to enhance the disguise. Reese is doubtful that he can defeat the android without having the advantage of advanced weaponry from the future.

While hiding out in a parking garage, Reese gets rid of his first car and steals a second one. The Terminator finds them there and the chase resumes. Reese has Sarah take over driving and is able to hit the Terminator with a few blasts from his shotgun. Sarah stops their car and the Terminator crashes into a wall. When she and Reese are arrested, she sees that the Terminator has escaped the scene.

At Traxler's police precinct, Sarah is told that Ginger is dead and that Reese has been given to a criminal psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Silberman. His story about the Terminator is treated as the babbling of extreme delusion. While watching the videotape of the interview, Silberman eagerly says that a case like Reese's could be career-making. During the interview, Silberman asks Reese why he didn't bring weaponry from the future with him, to which Reese replies that only living material will go through the time portal. Reese quickly becomes agitated and begins to scream into the camera that the Terminator must be destroyed or it will not stop until it kills Sarah.

The Terminator goes back to a shoddy hotel room where it hides out. It removes one of its eyes that had been damaged when it was shot by Reese. Under the eye is a sophisticated robotic eye that glows red. It dons a set of sunglasses, changes into different clothes and marches out to resume the hunt for Sarah, taking a pump-action SPAS shotgun and an AR-15 automatic rifle.

At the police precinct, the Terminator arrives in the foyer just as Dr. Silberman is leaving and asks to see Sarah. The desk sergeant refuses to let the Terminator in. The Terminator looks menacingly at the desk sergeant and the most famous line is spoken in utter calm - "I'll be back." The Terminator goes outside and one minute later crashes a car through the front door. It marches through the precinct, mercilessly shooting every officer in its path. The Terminator gets to a circuit panel and after ripping out a main circuit cable, shoves the live wire into the fuse box creating an electrical surge that blows out all lights in the building, leaving the policemen at a disadvantage. In the battle, Traxler is killed and Reese escapes confinement. He finds Sarah and the two escape the precinct.

While hiding out in a sewer tunnel, Sarah realizes that Kyle's story is true. Reese tells her more about the future where humans barely survive amid the wreckage of cities and the predictions of the Terminators. Initially, Skynet's vehicles, HK's, would use infra-red technology to find and kill humans. Kyle mentions that John Connor's talent for strategy helped the Resistance to defeat them. Later, the new Terminators, also known as "infiltrators" like the one he and Sarah are on the run from, appeared and began to find hidden bunkers where humans hid out. Sarah lapses into sleep and has a nightmare of a firefight where Terminators break into a human sanctuary and massacre scores of civilians. Kyle himself is there; after finding a place to rest after a Resistance patrol, he takes out a Polaroid photo of Sarah and admires it. Alerted by dogs at the entrance to the bunker, Reese joins the valiant fight to destroy a Terminator that has gotten in. The Terminator, carrying a heavy plasma gun, slaughters everyone and causes an explosion that cripples Reese. Reese sees the picture of Sarah being burned nearby.

Meanwhile, the Terminator is back in its seedy motel room hideout looking at an address book that it took from Sarah and Ginger's apartment and sees a list of names including that of Sarah's mother who lives upstate. After harshly dismissing the hotel owner, the Terminator then leaves its room and gets on a stolen motorcycle and takes off on the road.

Later, the duo on the run reach a roadside motel, where Kyle goes to purchase chemicals needed to make explosives. While he is shopping Sarah showers and phones her mother, telling her the phone number where she is, unaware that the Terminator is on the other line and recreating the voice of Sarah's mother. Sarah's mother is nowhere in sight, but the appearance of the cabin's knocked down front door with a large shotgun blast hole in it suggests that the Terminator most likely forced its way in and probably shot Sarah's mother and waited for Sarah to call. The Terminator then phones the motel and, using its real voice, asks the desk clerk to give him the motel's address.

At the motel, Sarah and Kyle make a stockpile of pipe bombs filled with plastique, a compound that Kyle had learned to make and teaches Sarah to make as well, also showing her the cautious process involved to make the bombs. When Sarah asks Kyle if he has ever had a lover, he replies he has not, a fact that touches Sarah. Kyle then mentions having a photo of Sarah and how he has fallen in love with her. Realizing he has gone too far, he furiously begins loading explosives, but Sarah stops him and kisses him. The two lose their inhibitions and have sex. Their consummation results in the conception of Sarah's and Kyle's son, John.

That evening, the Terminator tracks them to the motel and the two flee again in a stolen pickup truck. As they race down a wide highway, Reese makes a valiant effort to destroy the Terminator with the pipe bombs he and Sarah made, however, he is hit by gunfire. Sarah manages to knock the Terminator off it's motorcycle and her truck flips over.

The Terminator recovers and is immediately struck by a semi-tanker truck and dragged for a short distance. After the driver stops, the Terminator kills him and takes control of the truck, attempting to run down Sarah. Sarah is able to get Kyle out of their wrecked pickup before the Terminator runs it down.

Near a factory, Kyle uses another pipe bomb to detonate the truck's tank trailer, which explodes. As Reese and Sarah embrace, the Terminator emerges from the wreckage, its "flesh" completely burned off. Reese and Sarah retreat into the factory, which is automated. Reese switches on as many of the machines as he can, making tracking more difficult for the Terminator. They are finally cornered and Reese places his last bomb in the endoskeleton of the Terminator, which explodes, scattering pieces of the android. Sarah, nursing a severely injured leg, manages to find Reese, but he's dead.

She is suddenly attacked by the top half of the Terminator's skeleton. She desperately crawls away, finally luring the Terminator into a giant hydraulic press. She traps it there and, as it mindlessly tries to break her neck, pushes the button activating the press. The Terminator is crushed until its red glowing eye fades, singling it's extermination.

Sarah is taken to an ambulance and sees the paramedics loading Kyle into a body bag. Later, she is driving a Jeep in the desert, a large dog in the passenger seat, seemingly towards Mexico, stopping at a gas station. She is more visibly pregnant with John Connor and has been recording her voice using a cassette player; the tapes are for her son. One of the questions she poses is whether or not she should tell John about Reese being his father and if that will affect his decision to send the warrior back in time to meet and save Sarah. While the Jeep's tank is filled, a young boy takes her picture with a Polaroid camera. She and the boy bargain over the price and she buys it. The boy says something in Spanish and the gas station owner tells her he said "A storm's coming!" Sarah sees the storm approaching her response indicates she is aware of what is coming and will ride it out.

This movie was absolutely a milestone in science fiction films of that era. The movie is pretty cheesy by today's standards but it's still an action packed thrill ride, especially when it was released. Let's take a look at the weapons used in this classic movie.

The ".45 Longslide" that the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) acquires in the gun store is an AMT Hardballer Longslide with a primitive laserlock sight (a one-off made by someone from a company that would later become SureFire) shortly after his arrival from 2029. The pistol is first seen used to terminate two women from a phone book who share the name Sarah Connor. When he arrives at the apartment of the real Sarah Connor, the Terminator is seen with it when confronting her roommate, Ginger Ventura (Bess Motta). Upon tracking Sarah to the Tech Noir nightclub, the Terminator loses this weapon when Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) intervenes in the attempted termination, at which point he switches to his IMI Uzi.

AMT Hardballer Longslide with laser lock sight as used in the film - .45 ACP

In 1984, laser sights were rare, and required a high level of power. This helium neon laser needed 10,000 volts to turn on, and a further 1,000 volts to maintain its brightness. The cables were run up Arnold's arm to a battery that was in his M65 field jacket. The laser was activated by his other hand.

A shot of the Terminator inspecting the gun.

The Terminator aims the .45 at Ginger's (Bess Motta) answering machine.

The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) aims his .45 at Sarah's head seconds before being stopped by Kyle Reese.

To watch the gun shop scene you can do so here:

Another weapon the Terminator acquires from the gun store is a full-size "Uzi 9 millimeter" as stated specifically in the film. The Terminator purchasing an Uzi with a short barrel would be rather unrealistic, since civilian semi-auto Uzi carbines were always sold with a 16" barrel per legal requirements. A short dummy barrel was sometimes installed to entice buyers; the gun sold here, however, is just a regular open-bolt Uzi. Director James Cameron mentioned in the magazine "Soldier of Fortune" that he assumed that in story terms the Terminator had converted the Uzi and the AR-18 into full auto weapons in his hotel room. The Terminator uses the Uzi mainly in the Tech Noir nightclub, when Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) interferes with his attempts to terminate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). After losing his .45, the Terminator unloads several rounds at the nightclub, killing quite a few innocent bystanders, but fails to hit Sarah, or Kyle. He loses the weapon when Kyle uses his Ithaca to blast him out of the club's window. Another Uzi with a wooden stock is very briefly seen in a flashback sequence of Kyle Reese remembering the "Skin Job" Terminator attacking his Resistance base.

IMI Uzi - 9x19mm

The gunshop owner (Dick Miller) retrieves the Uzi from a shelf. Note that the short barrel is installed, which if live would not be legal to sell over the counter, even in 1984.

The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) whips out his Uzi at the Tech Noir night club. Though in the story, the Terminator 'converts' an over-the-counter semi-automatic Uzi Carbine, the weapon used by the film's armorers was an open bolt select fire Uzi. They wouldn't convert a Carbine (and pay the ATF tax stamp) just for the sake of the film, when they could use existing full auto Uzi Submachine guns from Movie Armory inventories.

The Terminator fires his Uzi at Sarah Connor.

To watch the scene in the nightclub you can watch it here:

Upon arriving in present day Los Angeles, Reese (Michael Biehn) procures an Ithaca 37 shotgun from an unattended police car. In addition to having a high-capacity magazine tube, Reese saws off part of the stock to give it a pistol grip instead, making it easier to conceal under his trenchcoat. He is also seen attaching it to himself with a piece of rope. Reese notably uses it against the Terminator in the Tech Noir nightclub shootout and the ensuing car chase after he and Sarah escape the car garage. Between acquiring the Ithaca and discharging it for the first time in the night club, Reese pumps the handle three times. First when he saws off the stock, again when he wakes up from his nightmare and for the third time just before shooting the Terminator at the nightclub. Not a single time is a shell ejected from the extraction port, which suggests Reese unloaded it prior to sawing off the stock, and only loaded it before he entered the nightclub.

Full-stocked Ithaca 37 with extended magazine tube and sling - 12 Gauge. The one in the film has a sawed-off stock and lacks a sling.

For the best slings in the business you can check out what we have in stock here: rifle and carbine slings

Kyle retreats from the alley with his Ithaca 37.

Kyle wraps a string around the Ithaca's sawed down grip.

Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) fires his Ithaca 37 at the Tech Noir nightclub.

Kyle fires his Ithaca 37 during the car chase with the Terminator.

During the assault on the police station by the Terminator, several police officers head to the armory and begin passing out M16A1 rifles with 20-round magazines. Lt. Edward Traxler (Paul Winfield) is seen with an M16A1 and uses the rifle to shoot the Terminator in the back (which resulted in the Terminator turning around with his own AR-18 rifle). Detective Hal Vukovich (Lance Henriksen) opens up on the Terminator with one after finding Traxler wounded by the cyborg. The Terminator returns fire with both the AR-18 and SPAS-12.

M16A1 - 5.56x45mm

Traxler, Vukovich, and a few other officers prep their M16A1s.

Lt. Traxler (Paul Winfield) fires his M16A1 before being gunned down.

To watch the police station shoot out you can do so here:

So many great scenes it was hard to narrow it down. Grab some crackerjacks and fire up the tv for a great movie marathon you can watch the whole Terminator franchise.

To see more about the weapons used in this film you can go here: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Terminator

Another iconic futuristic movie, RoboCop, was the 1987 science fiction action film that marked the first American film directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. Peter Weller stars in the film as Alex Murphy, a Detroit police officer who after being gunned down by a vicious gang, is resurrected by a mega-corporation as the cybernetic law enforcement officer of the future. As he begins his new life as "RoboCop", Murphy starts to regain a bit of his humanity with the help of his former partner Anne Lewis. The popularity of the RoboCop character would spawn two more feature films, a 1994 live-action series, two animated television series, a four-part movie miniseries as well as a 2014 remake.

The movie opens with a news report advertising the way of life in this future, which seems to be far from ideal. Among other stories, three police officers have been murdered and a fourth, Frank Frederickson, has been left critically injured in an attack by unofficial Old Detroit crime boss Clarence Boddicker, wanted for the deaths of over 31 police officers. The Detroit Metropolitan Police Department's union representatives blame Omni Consumer Products (OCP), who have recently entered a contract with the city to run and manage the DPD, for putting their men in such dangerous environments.

At the Metro West Precinct in Old Detroit, officers respond to a variety of cases when veteran officer Alex Murphy arrives, having been transferred in from another department. Desk Sergeant Warren Reed gets Murphy a set of riot armor and introduces Murphy to the other cops, who are not happy about how OCP seems to be trying to run the police force into the ground. As Murphy and the other cops are suiting up in the locker rooms, one of them suggests that they go on strike to pressure OCP into giving them better working conditions. At that point, Reed and another officer come in, carrying an evidence tray. Reed removes Frederickson's nameplate from his locker, announcing that Frederickson has died, much to the disappointment of the other cops in the locker room. Reed tells them that a memorial service will be held the next day and admonishes them harshly about striking.

Murphy is brought upstairs where he sees a criminal assaulting his arresting officers. The female officer involved quickly beats the suspected criminal into submission. This is Anne Lewis, a hardened and experienced cop. Reed decides that she will be partnered with Murphy. They leave to go on patrol; Murphy insists that he drive the car.

The action changes to OCP Headquarters, where executives Donald Johnson and Bob Morton are on their way to a board of directors meeting. They're elevator dialogue consists of what the meeting might be about. Johnson figures that the Old Man is greenlighting the Delta City project, despite Morton pointing out that OCP never does anything ahead of schedule. Morton thinks that Dick Jones is trying to show off his ED-209 series.

The Old Man, as he is known, starts the meeting off by reminding everyone that he has had a vision for over a decade, of demolishing "Old Detroit" and redevelop it as a high-end utopia called "Delta City." There's a problem with Old Detroit: it's riddled with crime, and this crime must be eradicated before they can build Delta City. To that end, OCP President Richard "Dick" Jones has funded the development of a new type of law enforcement robot: the Enforcement Droid Series 209, ED-209 for short.

To demonstrate the droid's effectiveness, Jones asks a younger executive, Kinney, to volunteer as a test subject to simulate a typical arrest and disarming procedure. Kinney is handed a Desert Eagle pistol, and Jones instructs him to use it in a threatening manner. Kinney aims the pistol at ED-209. When he cocks it, ED-209 immediately turns on and aims its machine guns at Kinney, ordering him to drop his gun in the next 20 seconds. Kinney immediately tosses the pistol away, but ED-209 suddenly steps forward, growls and tells Kinney he now has 15 seconds to comply, as he is in violation of Penal Code 113, Section 9. The board goes into chaos and the scientists frantically try to shut ED-209 off as Kinney tries to hide among his fellow executives, who push him back into the line of fire. When ED-209 reaches zero, he declares that he is authorized to use physical force and opens fire, throwing Kinney onto the model of Delta City and riddling him with bullets. He continues to shoot Kinney for fifteen seconds, only stopping once the engineers are able to unplug him.

The Old Man is not happy with the outcome of Jones's product, citing the expense involved in designing the droid and the potential for lost interest payments, even though Jones insists that this the problem is a simple glitch. Morton takes advantage of the opportunity to tell the Old Man about his own project. He and the people at Security Concepts have been working on a backup plan in the event that ED-209 would not function properly, known as "RoboCop." Morton also states that he hopes to have the first RoboCop in prototype within 90 days, and he's had the police force restructured so that the best candidates for the project are in the highest risk areas. The Old Man is impressed by Morton's idea and decides to put his project up as priority. Jones, however, is not pleased at being upstaged.

Meanwhile, Lewis and Murphy are out on patrol and stopping for coffee. Murphy is relaxing by spinning his pistol on his fingers, which he explains to Lewis a move he learned from a television show that his young son watches. He believes that all good cops like him need to be role models to their kids. As they are chatting they are interrupted by a radio call about a pharmaceutical company being robbed by a group of men driving a silver panel truck. Murphy and Lewis jump into their car and drive off to track them down.

In the back of said panel truck are Clarence Boddicker and his gang - Bobby, Leon Nash, Joe Cox, Steve Minh, and getaway driver Emil Antonowsky, who have just successfully robbed the aforementioned pharmaceutical company and emptied the store's safe of money. Boddicker is furious to find that Bobby had burned all the money when blowing the vault's door open, rendering it useless. He goes off on a tirade on Bobby, slapping him several times, but is stopped when Emil looks in his reviewer mirror and yells that there's a cop on their tail. Leon rushes over to the back doors, looks out the window, and sees Murphy and Lewis following them. Boddicker orders Emil to slow down so they can ambush their pursuers. Emil thinks Boddicker is crazy, but reluctantly obeys, as Boddicker and the other gang members begin loading their shotguns.

In the police car, Murphy radios for help, but to his and Lewis' dismay, there is no backup available to assist them. He draws his pistol and Lewis' sidearm as well and they speed up, hoping to take the panel truck by surprise.

On Boddicker's signal, Bobby kicks open the back doors and the gang members open fire in to empty air. They wonder where the unit has gone, until Emil looks out the passenger window and sees Murphy and Lewis driving alongside them. Boddicker rushes to the passenger window, shotgun in hand and fires at Murphy, who fires back with twin pistols. Lewis drops back behind the truck, and Murphy opens fire again. Suddenly, Bobby falls, two bullets in his right leg. The other gang members continue shooting, and riddle the car with bullets. Boddicker decides that Bobby's time to be useful has expired so the other gang members grab him and Boddicker asks, "Can you fly, Bobby?" Bobby pleads for his life, only for the other gang members to throw him onto the police car, crushing the windshield. Lewis is startled and spins the car out while Boddicker and his gang drive away, cackling manically. Lewis and Murphy back up, rolling Bobby off the car, and then drive off in pursuit.

Murphy and Lewis track the truck down to an abandoned steel mill. They become separated as they split up to search for Boddicker and his men. Lewis stumbles on Cox as he is relieving himself. He attacks her and pushes her from a catwalk, knocking her unconscious. Murphy finds Emil and an unnamed henchman watching a terrible sitcom. Surprised by Murphy's appearance, an unnamed thug tries to grab a shotgun, but is shot dead by Murphy. He forces Emil to surrender. But as Murphy is about to put his handcuffs on Emil, Steve Minh and Leon Nash appear with shotguns in hand and train them at his head. As the two advance on Murphy, Emil disarms Murphy, then grabs his own shotgun, pumps it.

At this point, Boddicker himself shows up, and kicks Murphy to the ground with the butt of his shotgun, demanding to know where Murphy's partner is. This is answered when Cox enters the room and jokingly talks about taking out Lewis. Boddicker puts his hand on the side of Murphy's neck and asks the cop what he thinks of him. Murphy replies, "Buddy, I think you're slime." The other gang members laugh, and Boddicker admits that the problem is usually that cops do not like him, and he does not like cops.

Boddicker throws Murphy to the floor and aims his shotgun as he moves it across Murphy's body while miming the sound of a tracker, until he shoots off Murphy's right hand. Murphy tries to stifle the bleeding with his left hand as he stands up and tries to stagger away. Emil then takes his turn and fires, the bullet ripping off Murphy's right arm at the shoulder. Murphy screams in agony as Emil, Leon, Cox, and Minh proceed to empty their shotguns into Murphy, riddling his torso with bullets. Lewis is a witness to most of this, though she doesn't see Murphy getting hit, but from behind a chain link fence, she can see the gang shooting firing-squad style. Amazingly, when the gangs' shotguns run out of ammo, Murphy is still alive. Boddicker casually lights a cigarette, then pulls a pistol and shoots Murphy in the face. Murphy falls to the floor, while Boddicker and his men depart. Once Boddicker leaves, Lewis finds Murphy's mutilated body. Murphy is rushed to a nearby hospital but there is little that the doctors can do and he is declared dead.

We cut to a montage from an unknown perspective as Bob Morton and his staff take Murphy's body and turn it into RoboCop. RoboCop is built with a unique set of schematics and state-of-the-art equipment including titanium and Kevlar-laminated armor and mechanical hands that can exert 400 fl/lbs of force. Morton is very pleased with the work being done.

Several months later, Morton unveils RoboCop to his fellow OCP executives. A large convoy of scientists and engineers transport him to Murphy's old precinct. At the station, Reed is dealing with a repeat offender at the desk when a large team of scientists and men and women in lab coats start wheeling equipment in through the front door. Reed is about to protest to Morton and his assistant when he is interrupted by odd-sounding footsteps. Behind a pane of frosted glass, we see RoboCop striding in. The other officers eagerly run through the halls to see what is going on as RoboCop is led to his charging station and command center in the holding cells.

At the command center, the engineers tell Morton that RoboCop is fed a rudimentary paste to sustain his organic systems. Johnson tries the paste out and finds that it tastes like baby food. To make sure RoboCop works, they use a pen to test his tracking abilities, and a voice stress analyzer to test his ability to record and playback. Morton then asks RoboCop what his three prime directives are. 1. Serve the Public Trust, 2. Protect the Innocent, and 3. Uphold the Law. Possibly unknown to Morton and most of his staff, a fourth directive has also been uploaded but is not revealed, listed only as "Classified".

Lewis and some other officers are next seen on the shooting range, but everyone's attention is distracted when RoboCop shows up and begins shooting his own custom pistol, as part of a test of his sharpshooting skills. RoboCop is a straight shooter, successfully using his gun to obliterate the cardboard target. After the demonstration is complete, RoboCop puts his gun away, and we notice that he twirls it around his fingers on his right hand before storing it in a leg holster built into his right leg. Morton tells Reed that RoboCop will need transportation. Reed grabs a set of car keys from his desk and tosses them. RoboCop snatches them out of the air and departs. Morton watches him, saying, "Go get 'em, boy!"

RoboCop's first night is quite active. It starts at a mom-and-pop convenience store, when a robber wearing a trench coat enters, and buys a magazine. As he is paying for it, he asks the owners to empty their cash register and safe. When they stall, he whips out a rifle and orders them to give him their money. The robber trains his weapon on the husband and orders him to open the safe. The husband stalls, and the robber, furious, kicks aside a pile of beer cans to reveal the safe, and threatens to shoot the wife. As he is counting to three, RoboCop suddenly barges in and orders him to drop his weapon. The robber fires at RoboCop, but his bullets only bounce off the machine's bulletproof casing. He continues shooting until RoboCop uses his super strong hand to bend the barrel of his rifle. The robber decides to try fleeing, and RoboCop delivers him a blow and throws him into a refrigerator.

RoboCop is later driving when he receives a report of a sexual assault in progress. Two lowlifes are chasing down a blonde woman and attempting to cut her hair and rape her. One of them is about to cut her skirt open when a police car screeches to a stop. RoboCop emerges and draws his firearm. One of the two men grabs the woman and threatens to slit her throat. RoboCop's second directive activates. He tracks, aims his pistol, and fires it with an aim so precise that the bullet goes through the woman's skirt between her legs and hit her hostage taker in his testicles. While the hostage taker collapses, screaming in pain, the grateful woman rushes up to RoboCop and hugs him gratefully, and he offers to call a rape crisis center.

Later still that night, disgruntled ex-city councilman Ron Miller enters City Hall with a submachine gun and takes the mayor and his staff hostage, and kills an aide who refuses to cooperate. The police and SWAT team arrive and set up a perimeter. Reporters gathered at the scene are interviewing Lt. Hedgecock, the hostage negotiator, but are distracted when another police car arrives, breaks through the crime tape and comes to a stop. RoboCop climbs out and is swarmed by the media. The police work to get the reporters out of the way, and RoboCop tells Hedgecock to stall Miller, while he himself goes inside and starts making his way to the second floor.

Hedgecock gets on the mic and offers to hear out Miller's demands. Miller demands to have his old job back. He also demands a bigger office and a new car on the city's bill. Hedgecock offers the 6000 SUX, but eventually Miller loses his patience. He grabs the mayor and pushes him to the window. As Miller prepares to execute the mayor, RoboCop punches through the wall, grabs Miller and pulls him backwards, his submachine gun firing wildly into the air. RoboCop then spins Miller around and punches him out a glass window, and he falls to the street.

Bob Morton is thrilled by the success of his product, and the fame that RoboCop brings him. However, Dick Jones is still very angry about Morton's upstaging him, and vows revenge. He also warns Bob that his creation's service record had better be spotless.

Some nights later, RoboCop is resting when he begins having seizures as memories begin to flow through his head, which we realize are the last things Murphy ever saw. As it begins with a flashback shot of Clarence Boddicker shooting him in his hand. RoboCop then writhes as he imagines Boddicker's gang emptying their shotguns into him, which causes the reading on a graph to go off the charts. Things get to a head when in his dreams, he sees Boddicker pull a pistol and shoot him in the face. RoboCop stands up and leaves to find these men when he is confronted by Lewis. RoboCop has no reaction to Lewis, until she refers to him as Murphy. As the cyborg officer leaves the precinct, one of the doctors assigned to RoboCop calls Morton, who shows up and reprimands both Lewis and Reed for interfering with his project.

In a different part of town, Emil arrives at a gas station on a motorcycle with a submachine gun and robs the bookish attendant on duty. Emil then waits as his gas is pumped into his bike. He is about ready to shoot the attendant when RoboCop shows up, pistol in hand. RoboCop steps towards Emil, saying "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!" Upon hearing those words, Emil immediately realizes that he's dealing with Murphy, the very man he and the rest of Boddicker's gang murdered at the steel mill. He screams, "We killed you!!" panics, and tries shooting at RoboCop, to no avail. RoboCop pauses, recalling where he remembers Emil from. Emil then uses the leaking gas pump and lit cigarette to blow up the gas station. As he flees, his motorcycle is shot out from under him by RoboCop. RoboCop takes Emil into custody and uses a data spike built into his right hand to access the police mainframe and look up Emil's data and known associates. One of the names on the list is Boddicker's name. His rap sheet includes charges for the murder of Officer Alex J. Murphy.

Bob Morton is cavorting with two high-priced hookers in his house. It is going well until the doorbell rings. Morton goes to answer the door, thinking it's someone delivering champagne, but is shocked when he opens the door and Clarence Boddicker himself enters, carrying a suppressed pistol. While holding Morton at gunpoint, he orders the two hookers to hastily depart. Once they are out, Boddicker shoots Morton in the legs several times, leaving them unable to stand. While Morton gasps in pain, Boddicker then takes out a CD and plays a video message for Morton from Dick Jones. Jones tells Morton that he refused to follow OCP protocol and became too ambitious in pushing past Dick's authority, and he's cashing Morton out of the equation. Boddicker primes a hand grenade, pulls the pin with his teeth, and puts it on the coffee table, just out of Morton's reach and leaves. When the timer hits zero, the grenade detonates and blows up Morton and his house.

Meanwhile, RoboCop tracks down Leon Nash to a nightclub, and demands to know where Clarence is. Clarence is at a meeting with a competitor at a competitor's cocaine processing factory. RoboCop arrives and threatens to arrest them all. They open fire and RoboCop kills most of the gangsters and finds Clarence. He brutally beats Clarence, tossing him through several plate-glass windows, as well as threatens to break the crime lord's neck. Clarence begs for his life, revealing his connection to Dick Jones. RoboCop realizes that he is a police officer and cannot simply kill Clarence out of revenge.

Back at the police station, the officers have voted to go on strike. After a huge gunfight in a cocaine factory owned by a rival gangster, RoboCop brings in Clarence Boddicker and orders him to be booked on charges of murdering police officers. Dick Jones arranges for Clarence to be freed on bail.

RoboCop goes immediately to Dick Jones' office. As he marches in, he plays a video recording of Clarence's admission of his connection with Jones. RoboCop charges Jones with aiding and abetting and attempts to arrest him, but his systems immediately begin to shut down due to a "Product violation." Jones explains that Directive 4 was created by himself to prevent OCPs "product" from taking action against an OCP Official.

Jones activates ED-209 to destroy RoboCop and admits that he had Bob Morton killed. RoboCop is damaged, but manages to escape by running down a flight of stairs. This plan works because ED-209's massive feet render him unable to climb or descend stairs without falling -- the robot throws a temper tantrum while RoboCop escapes. Several officers attempt to stop RoboCop for his supposed attack on Jones, opening fire and damaging him severely. Upon arrival Lewis rescues him and they both retreat to a hidden factory. RoboCop repairs most of the damage to his robot body and removes his helmet, revealing the face of Murphy. Murphy asks what happened to his wife and son; Lewis responds that they moved away after Murphy's funeral to start a new life. Lewis tries to comfort him but he asks to be left alone.

Released from jail, Clarence meets with Jones, who chastises Clarence for involving him, saying that RoboCop's recorded video of Clarence's admission is admissible in court. Dick orders Clarence to destroy the cyborg. At first, Clarence declines the offer, however, Dick is able to change Clarence's attitude by offering the crime lord free reign during the construction of Delta City. Delta City is a planned community that will replace the crime-ridden streets of Detroit, the concept conceived and championed by The Old Man. Clarence will be permitted to extend his influences in drugs, prostitution and gambling to the workers of Delta City, an offer that Clarence knows is too good to pass upon. Dick agrees to provide Clarence with military-level weapons and gives him a tracking device to find their common enemy.

Clarence rallies his gang of thugs to go out and kill RoboCop. Jones had given them large .50-caliber rifles to destroy their nemesis. The crew tracks RoboCop and his partner to the abandoned steel mill where they're hiding. One by one, they are defeated and killed by Lewis and RoboCop. Joe Cox is killed almost immediately when Murphy targets and shoots him; Emil drives his truck into a giant tank filled with toxic waste that melts his flesh. Lewis, involved in a car chase with Clarence, is injured when the villain shoots her several times. Murphy becomes pinned down by scrap metal dropped on him by Leon, and is immediately attacked by Clarence, who wields a large rail bar. Murphy is able to fend off Clarence's attacks and stabs Clarence in the neck with his data spike, killing the crime lord.

RoboCop returns to OCP and, using the giant rifle taken from Clarence's gang, destroys the ED-209 Jones has guarding the entrance to their headquarters. RoboCop interrupts a meeting of the OCP board and openly accuses Dick Jones of murder and states that his programming will not allow him to arrest any executive of OCP. Over Jones' protests that the cyborg is psychopathic, Murphy uses his data spike to play the video of Jones' admitting to Morton's murder, which Murphy had recorded just as Jones activated ED-209 in his office.

Jones grabs a gun and takes The Old Man hostage, demanding a helicopter to safely evacuate. The Old Man angrily fires Jones, voiding Directive Four and allowing RoboCop to take action. RoboCop shoots Dick Jones several times, who falls out a window, screaming as he speeds toward the pavement below. The Old Man thanks the cyborg for his actions, asking what the cyborg's name is. RoboCop pauses for a second before responding: "Murphy."

Another action packed movie filled with futuristic thrills. Again, we didn't have the CGI then that we do now but this film still has some great scenes. Let's take a look at some of the weapons used.

The main weapon used by RoboCop (Peter Weller) is the "Auto 9". This is a Beretta 93R machine pistol which was heavily modified for the film, featuring a longer barrel with an enormous compensator/flash hider shaped like a casket, plastic grips, and a taller rear sight to match the raised front sight. Typically, RoboCop fires this weapon in 3-round burst mode. The fictional stats of the weapon claim it has an implausibly huge 50-round magazine.

Beretta 93R "Auto 9" - 9x19mm

RoboCop fires his Auto 9 on the range.

RoboCop shows that he can fire his Auto-9 without targeting visually.

A close-up of the Auto 9's compensator in action, as RoboCop practices at the range.

To watch the scene with the directives and the gun range you can watch here:

Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) uses two different types of the Desert Eagle in the film. His main weapon is an Desert Eagle Mark I in .357 Magnum with an elongated threaded barrel (sometimes fitted with a suppressor). He also uses one without the extended barrel during the drug lab shootout. A chrome (or possibly nickel) version is used by Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) in the climax of the film. The chrome pistol is the same weapon used in the infamous scene in which the hapless OCP executive Kinney (Kevin Page) is hamburgered whilst "threatening" the ED-209 prototype. The Desert Eagle was originally supposed to be RoboCop's main firearm, but it looked too small in RoboCop's hands once the suit was completed.

IMI Desert Eagle Mark I - .357 Magnum. (One of the guns used by Kurtwood Smith has a threaded barrel.)

Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) holds his suppressed Desert Eagle. The suppressor is somewhat pointless, as he blows the house up moments later.

Clarence with the Desert Eagle during the final confrontation. Note the extended & threaded barrel.

To watch the final shootout you can do so here:

When Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) and his gang are asked by Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) to kill RoboCop, they are provided with an experimental military weapon being developed by OCP called the "Cobra Assault Cannon". The Cobras are actually older-specification Barrett M82 long-range .50 BMG rifles which have been dressed up extra plastic housing over the receivers and fitted with gigantic scopes (The scopes were originally supposed to show computer-generated targeting information, but this idea was scrapped due to budget constraints). The Cobra fires some type of powerful high explosive incendiary round that explodes upon impact (judging by the lack of substantial recoil, this is likely some form of low-pressure grenade); in the film, Clarence Boddicker memorably tests the weapon by firing it at the 6000 SUX sedan stolen by Joe Cox (Jesse D. Goins), destroying the vehicle (much to Cox's chagrin). Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) obtains one of these rifles and uses it against Leon Nash (Ray Wise) during the shootout at the abandoned steel mill. After RoboCop and Lewis take out Boddicker and his gang, RoboCop takes one of the Cobra Assault Cannons (presumably, the same one used by Lewis) to the OCP office building and uses it to destroy the ED-209 Robot out in front.

Barrett M82 - .50 BMG (12.7x99mm)

"Wait... wait a minute, Clarence! Clarence!!"

Boddicker demonstrates the power of the 'Cobra Assault Cannon' (actually a modified Barrett M82) on Joe's new car, much to his protests.

Emil {Paul McCrane} with his Cobra Assault Cannon.

Lewis holds the Cobra Assault Cannon.

To briefly see the Cobra in action you can watch here:

For all your tactical needs don't forget to visit us here:
Rifle barrels

To see what other weapons were used in this film you can go here: http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/RoboCop_(1987)

Grab some soda and plenty of snacks and catch up on the Robocop franchise for the upcoming holiday. Plenty of time to eat and watch great movies. Enjoy!

Labels: action movies, cops, films, futuristic, gear, gunfights, guns, movies, robocop, robots, science fiction, the terminator, weapons