Corrected entry: The sniper continually switches shooting hands. During several scenes, Walberg shoots with his right hand (both helicopters, Barrett on Dinty Moore can, agents at boat launch). In other sniper shots, he shoots with his left hand (pistol [most], three guys on mountain-top, as well as dude with shotgun to girl's neck). He also does it with the knife (first guy into kidneys - right hand; second guy in neck from culvert -left hand).
Corrected entry: Right after Swagger takes the first shot at the helicopter with his M82A1, we see him from behind reaching his hand to reload the rifle. We hear a metallic sound of reloading but if you look carefully, his hand doesn't even touch the cocking handle.
Correction: The M82A1 is recoil-operated, which means he wouldn't have to reach for the cocking handle unless he inserted a new magazine, which he doesn't. In one scene it's even possible to see the gun operating and ejecting a shell. Why he would constantly reach for the cocking handle is beyond me.
The blanks used during filming had insufficient energy to cycle the bolt, therefore, he was required to cycle manually.
Corrected entry: In the beginning when Swagger's partner fires the M203 grenade launcher at one of the trucks, he was about 900 yards or more away from them. An actual M203 grenade launcher can only fire up to 500 yards. (00:06:40)
Correction: The maximum distance of 500 feet is inaccurate. He shoots the weapon from the top of a ridge which would allow for extra traveling distance.
Corrected entry: In the scene at Wahlberg's home in the mountains, Glover throws him a medal in a case and asks if he knows what it is. Wahlberg answers, "The Congressional Medal of Honor." This is incorrect. It is simply the Medal of Honor. (00:12:10)
Correction: Up until fairly recently, the medal's official name was indeed The Congressional Medal of Honor. It is only recently that the name has been changed, but the old name is still often used in daily speech. In fact, the name of the official society for recipients is still "The Congressional Medal of Honor Society". See http://www.cmohs.org/medal.htm .
Corrected entry: As mentioned in a DVD feature, the film portrayed bullet trajectory as a straight line. This is inaccurate due to gravity. If the snipers within the movie were to realistically shoot the targets at such a long distance, they would need to aim upwards and shoot in an arc. The trajectory was done straight to save from the (complex) explanation of the physics, and ultimately, to save the gory simulation of an actual hit with an arc trajectory.
Correction: The scene that portrayed the shot on the target during the assassination was in fact inaccurate to avoid excessive gore. The scenes showing the crosshairs were factual, however. When shooting at long range, a sniper will adjust the scope for windage (left/right) and elevation (up/down) based on the bullet, range, and environmental factors to cause the crosshairs to be situated exactly where they need to aim. Therefore, though the line of sight is directly at the target, the bore of the gun is pointed up to compensate for the drop of the bullet. An example of this concept can be given with a .308 shooting a 208 grain projectile with a ballistic coefficient of .6 and muzzle velocity of 2600 fps, 300 yard zero and 5 mph crosswind. At 1,000 yards, the shooter would have to adjust the scope nearly 30 minutes of angle or hold the crosshairs over the target nearly 300 inches or 25 feet. Likewise, the wind drift would be about 39 inches or the shooter could adjust the scope about 1.9 minutes of angle. Adjusting the scope is by far easier. Keep in mind that the gun used in the movie is not a .308, but a .408 Chey Tac.
Thanks for a very intelligent reply. You could have added that the very popular (in the US) .308 has a very poor (as long range) ballistic coefficient. The 6.5x55 Swedish (used in the old Mauser m96), though outperformed at shorter distances, with its much better BC has the same energy at 1350m as the .308 at 1000m.
Corrected entry: In the scene where the gunny walks into a room he has rented and after buying things to patch himself up, notice the gunshot wound that was on his right shoulder is now on his left, then in the next scene it is back on his right shoulder again.
Correction: Look again - he walks into the room and he sees his reflection in the mirror/glass - that's why it looks like it was his left shoulder.
Corrected entry: During the final conversation between Danny Glover and Ned Beatty, as the camera pans back and forth during the conversation, watch the background. You can see a crew member's legs caught in the shot.
Correction: The person you see is not a crew member but the other body guard walking around with a gun.
Corrected entry: Near the end of the movie where the bad guys have Donnie's widow, they are all in the mountains(an obviously cold place) yet they are not dressed appropriately nor is their breath visible.
Corrected entry: As Swagger walks out of the airplane hanger, a huge American flag is displayed hanging on the wall. It has the stars displayed on the right, but it should be on the left. Every military person knows that.
Correction: The flag is not hanging against a wall, but rather in the center of the hangar from the ceiling, thus both sides would be visible from inside the hangar. You are only viewing the left side due to the direction it is hung.
The flag does look like it's against the wall.
Sure looks like it's hanging from the wall to me. Nonetheless, should've turned it around, for "movie accuracy"
Corrected entry: When Gunny snipers the shotgun (and hand) off the bad guy in the snow covered mountains, his rifle is right-handed bolt, and he shoots right-handed except for the mountain scenes. He closes his right eye before he shoots, and it even shows a close-up of his left finger on the trigger, obviously a flipped shot.
Correction: He was shot in his right shoulder at the beginning and switched to left hand shooting for the remainder.
Corrected entry: If you watch the scene on the snowcapped mountains where the two helicopters land, and pay close attention to the location of each sniper, you'll see that there is no possible way each sniper could assume his position without the others seeing them: the whole shootout would have occured long before the helicopters landed.
Correction: All of the snipers are on the same side, and to take out Swagger. Swagger waits to take them out until the helicopter lands to show the others that he can take out such long targets, as well as to scare them.
Corrected entry: When Walhberg is on his cell phone at his cabin talking about leaving for a few days and having his dog fed, it's already been established he is living up in the mountains in an extreme remote area. How is his cell phone getting any signal?
Correction: Take a look at http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/ - wireless coverage is pretty ubiquitous, even in remote, mountainous areas. Plus, judging by the timeline of Presidents and some of the computer technology, this story takes place a few years in the future, so wireless coverage could have expanded even more. If he built the cabin himself, he'd probably choose an area with reliable cell coverage so he could stay connected.
Corrected entry: In the scene on the mountain top, Sarah Fenn picks up the senator's Beretta and shoots the already wounded FBI agent. She fires around 5 shots and then you see the slide lock back. However the Beretta would typically have 15 round per magazine. Even the magazines during the ban would have had 10 rounds.
Correction: There might have been just five rounds in the magazine when she took it. How could you possibly know that wasn't the case?
Corrected entry: In the scene with the helicopters landing on the mountain top there should have been snow blown up around them as they land from the force of the blades.
Correction: When landing high in the mountains the snow usually has a layer of ice. The wind at those altitudes blows much of the loose snow away, leaving only the ice layer. When a helicopter lands there is very little loose snow to be blown away.
Corrected entry: Right after Swagger's friend is killed by the helicopter we see him revealing his M82A1 sniper rifle. After every shot he makes Swagger is reloading the rifle by cocking it, but his rifle is semi-automatic and doesn't need to reload after every round fired.
Correction: The rifle is M107/M82A1. Right after Swaggers' friend is killed he is seen taking up sights on the rifle which is semi-automatic. He kept having to pull the charging lever because the spent brass kept getting jammed in the ejection port because of the dust.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Wahlberg delivers his recon report to the secret service agents on the likely assassination locations, there is a huge flag hanging in the airplane hangar. It is behind him as he leaves after delivering his report. The flag is hung backwards - - would never happen in a real government location. American flags are always hung with the blue union section in the upper left to a viewer.
Correction: Wrong, wrong. An American flag on soldier's right shoulder is always on the top right, colors lead into battle, a hanging US Flag colors ALWAYS top left. The US Flag code does not have exceptions you're suggesting. Most likely, they reversed negative post-production, and didn't think about the flag's orientation.
Correction: The flag is hung so that the union is in a relative position to other things or directions, not so it is automatically to the left of the viewer. For instance, on a street that runs north and south the union must be to the east. So, if you're heading north the union would be to your right. It would only be to your left if you were traveling south. The flag isn't hung incorrectly in this scene, we're just seeing it from an unusual angle.
Corrected entry: When Gunny cuts through the back seat of the FBI cruiser and pulls out the medic bag he grabs the quick clot and uses it. He has been in the mountains for 36 months as stated on screen so how did he know about quick clot and how to use it. I am a medic in the military and we have just recently (within the last 6 months) been trained on and issued quick clot. Quick clot is very dangerous if not used properly and CAN do more harm than good.
Correction: Apparently he just got lucky. He was really out of options and did not have very much choice either use the quick clot that he found (the name describes it enough for anybody to know what its for) or bleed to death. He made a snap decision and it ended up paying off and being correct. Also he was using the internet at his cabin on his laptop. Who is to say he did not research the quick clot on military pages while surfing since he is into stuff like that.
If he really did research the quick clot on military pages while surfing, then he would know that you don't quick clot on anything other than the arms, or legs.
He would also know that you don't open quick clot with your mouth. If even a small amount of it gets in your mouth it will cause a very large amount of pain, and a massive case of cotton mouth.
Corrected entry: Swagger is shot twice during the set-up and you see him apply "quick-clot" to both wounds, one at his shoulder and one near his hip, but when Donnie's widow is patching him up, there is no mark on his hip where a wound should be. Likewise when his dressing is being changed and he gets up. The wound on his hip should be visible even in poor light.
Correction: Swagger doesn't get shot in the hip. He gets shot lower, in the thigh, for which there is a visible "wound".
Corrected entry: In the scene where the news anchor puts out the information that the suspect is tentatively identified as Bob Lee Swagger, the picture of Mark Wahlberg in full BDU "Battle-Rattle" shows him with a full-on goatee. The USMC does not permit facial hair.
Correction: More than likely Swagger was involved in Spec Ops in the Marines. Most Spec Ops in any branch allow for "Modified Grooming Standards" to blend in with the local population.
Corrected entry: When Swagger is laying in bed recovering at his spotter's girlfriend's house, there is a lamp with the shade pulled below the bulb that is turned off on the desk, but the mirror has the lamp turned on?
Correction: What you see above the lampshade is not a lightbulb, it is a lamp finial. If you pause the movie at 00:53:01 you can see a dimpled texture to this finial ball. The mirror is angled out from the wall - which is obvious when paused at this timestamp. Therefore, what you are seeing is a 'birdseye' view of the illumination from the bulb below.
Correction: Since the scenes take place at completely different times, there's no mistake here. It's probably intentional to show the level of the character's skill. Ambidextrous accuracy takes quite a lot of talent and/or practice.
Phixius ★