I'm not a big Nick Nolte fan, but FAREWELL TO THE KING is a very good movie...with lots of circa-WWII weaponry.
THIEF and HEAT get a lot of well-deserved attention in these discussions, but there's another Michael Mann movie which ought be considered-- LAST OF THE MOHICANS. I particularly like the ambush of Col. Munro's forces after surrendering the fort. The war cries and the initial desultory musket fire, as both sides worked themselves up to engage, really captured the manner in which these types of actions generally unfolded. Wes Studi, as Magua, turned in a great performance (as always).
THE WAY OF THE GUN also garners a lot of attention. A similarly named John Frankenheimer movie YEAR OF THE GUN doesn't have as much gunplay, but pretty accurately depicts the tactics used by Italy's red brigades.
Of course, no list of gun/war movies could be complete without mentioning THE WILD GEESE (the Richard Burton/Richard Harris one...not to be confused with the egregious stink-bomb WILD GEESE II). Reportedly, a couple of the actors playing minor roles had actually served with "Mad Mike" Hoare. FN-FAL's, Uzi's, FN-MAG's, all against a backdrop of "soldiers of MIS-fortune" in Africa. Stirring stuff!
In a similar vein, THE DOGS OF WAR is a good one. It is worth the rental just for the opening scene involving the proverbial "last plane out". The Grenville grenade launcher is a bit overused in the finale battle (Hollywood simply MUST have its big, fiery explosions), but it's still a worthwhile flick.
Cornell Wilde's THE NAKED PREY isn't a "gun" movie, per se, but early in the movie there is some great footage of REAL elephant shooting. Of course, ZULU is a classic. The later ZULU DAWN is a great movie too. It deals with the British rout at Isandlwana, which led up to the defense of Rourke's Drift depicted in ZULU.
The William Freidkin remake of the French THE WAGES OF FEAR, which is inexplicably entitled SORCERER, starring Roy Scheider, isn't a "gun movie", but I'd wager that the "gun movie" fans on this list would like it...a lot.
Rosco
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rosco Benson on 2001-05-03 09:40 ]</font>