Guns of the Silver Screen: V22N3
By Kyle Shea
The Guns that Will Die Another Day
Pierce Brosnan first played James Bond in 1995’s “GoldenEye,” a very successful film which was a huge hit at the box office. It was followed by “Tomorrow Never Dies” and “The World Is Not Enough,” both were mixed for critics but did well at the box office. His final Bond Film, “Die Another Day,” was the same as well. In it, James Bond is captured by the North Koreans and tortured for information. He is eventually released in a prisoner exchange but is accused of giving secrets to the North Koreans. Now suspended from MI6, Bond attempts to set the record straight by looking for a rogue agent.
The first guns we see in the film are the movie prop OICWs. (Objective Induvial Combat Weapon) In the movie, one of the villains described it as a new Tank Killer. This is actually a Heckler & Koch G36K, a firearm that was made by the same company that had a part in designing the OICW. A second OICW that was made for the movie is actually a Micro Uzi. Both are in prop clamshells, the lower part of the Uzi gun is a G36. The OICW, or the XM29 OICW, was meant to be the new infantry weapon of the future. It is basically an assault rifle with a 20mm or 25mm grenade launcher built into it. It failed due to a number of factors, though there is talk about it coming back now and again.
The G36K is a variant of the primary service rifle of the German Army, as well as other countries. The G36 first saw service in 1996 and has seen action in the Kosovo War, the Afghan War and a number of other conflicts. It fires 5.56x45mm NATO usually from a 30 round box magazine or a 100-round C-MAG. The magazines are unique in that they have slots in the sides were you can attach another magazine to it. This allows you to carry as many magazines as you like and reload quickly. The G36K differs from the other variants in that it has a shorter barrel and a shorter fore-end. This is meant for the German Special Forces, along with the 100round C-MAG on the LMG version.
Throughout the movie, OO7 uses the Walther P99, instead of the traditional handgun of OO7, the Walther PPK. This first happened in an earlier Pierce Brosnan Bond film, “Tomorrow Never Dies.” The P99 was a more modern gun and looks more like a Glock. It was developed to be used by German police and was designed to hide under clothing, like the Walther PPK. It uses 9x19mm Parabellum from a 10 or more round magazine and is currently being used by Germany and a few other countries.
Other guns used in the movie were two Beretta handguns used by Halle Barry’s character, “Jinx.” The first is the Beretta 84FS, one of the many “Cheetah” pistol series. The other gun that Jinx uses is a Beretta 3032 Tomcat, a small handgun made for concealed carry or home defense. One unique thing about the Tomcat is that it has a tip-up barrel, where you swing the barrel up to load a single round. One Chinese agent in the movie carries a Gabilondo .22 Llama Model 17, a relatively lesser known gun that had its own holster.
“Die Another Day” is at best a fun movie. It has a few problems here or there, but by most movie standards is a fun action ride. Pierce Brosnan does a good job as James Bond and Halle Barry is a great Bond Girl. The villains are alright, though they are not as memorable as Oddjob, Jaws and Goldfinger. All in all, it’s a fun movie, so enjoy.
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V22N3 (March 2018) |
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