Shooter: Difference between revisions

* [[Crazy Survivalist]]: Bob after the Ethiopia mission.

* [[Development Hell]]: It took 14 years after the novel came out before the movie was finally made. During this period several scripts were written and discarded, including one by Stephen Hunter himself (he admits that it wasn't very good, commenting "I'm a better novelist than I am a screenwriter"). The plans to make a film of ''Point of Impact'' began back in the mid-1990s, [[What Could Have Been|with Tommy Lee Jones intended to play Bob Lee Swagger]].

* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: We know Swagger's the best sniper because in the opening scene he {{spoiler|snipes a ''helicopter'' down.}}

* [[Fatal Family Photo]]: Bob's spotter just ''had'' to show a picture of his wife before they were assaulted. It's like Antoine Fuqua wanted to step into the shot, wave at the viewers, and yell "''this man is about to die!''" though a megaphone. But considering the rest of the movie.. it's understandable why they did it.

* [[Gunman With Three Names]]: Bob Lee Swagger. Lee may be a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald. Swagger to military joke; bullet trajectory calculations are sometimes called "SWAG" -- Sophisticated Wild-Ass Guess

** Swagger is the name of a man the author knew. He borrowed the man's name for both Swaggers.

** [[Snatch|Boris the Blade]] engineered the assassination. Good thing he can dodge bullets.

** [[Twenty Four|Shari Rothenberg]] is the love interest

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Well, yes.

** YMMV - Swagger is a USMC Scout Sniper after all. Though taking out the rotor of a ''moving helicopter'' from a standing position with an unsupported Barrett M82 - a 14+ kg weapon with a huge recoil - is still a bit of a stretch.

{{quote| '''Agent Memphis:''' You could hire a good lawyer and I'll call the Bureau. They can work out some kind of deal. This is explainable. You can prove that you didn't shoot the Archbishop.<br />

'''Swagger:''' I don't think you understand. These boys [[Kick the Dog|killed my dog]]. }}

*** Stephen Hunter refuses to pick a side. He thinks the bureaucracy is dumb, but is in favor of some of it. A good example is that though he is opposed to gun bans, he is a dedicated supporter of ''registration''.

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Many believe that the corrupt US Senator played by Ned Beatty was intended by the director to be a stand-in for Dick Cheney.

* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: Averted. Bob is shot in the shoulder and leg during the frame-up. He escapes, but moves with a limp. He's uses a first-aid kit to stop his bleeding. Later he makes a makeshift IV and dressing for his wounds. He still requires medical care to properly treat them, and get the bullets out.

* [[Playing Possum]]: Swagger is badly wounded after being shot twice, but as a highly trained [[Badass|Marine Scout Sniper]] he is far from disabled. He plays up his injuries so FBI Agent Memphis will get close to him, then quickly disarms him and steals his car.

* [[Pull the IV]]: Swagger does this to ''himself''; he's been shot and knows he's going into shock from blood loss, so he improvises an IV set using aquarium tubing, plastic soda bottles, and a ''basting needle.'' Once he's bolused himself with a liter or so of homemade sugar-salt solution, he yanks the line out and continues on his merry [[Badass]] way.

* [[Private Military Contractors]]

* [[Properly Paranoid]]: Bob Lee Swagger is this in spades, as evidenced by the Chekhov's Gun entry. Let's expand that a bit: {{spoiler|Taking the firing pins out of his rifles when he puts them away would be just as effective at preventing accidents or unauthorized use. But Bob goes the extra mile and replaces them with custom-modified pins that will not fire. The ''only'' reason for this would be to fool someone who was deliberately trying to frame him, and who would know to check the firing pin. Which means he planned for that exact scenario.}}

* [[Self Stitching]]: Bob's initial patchup, though unusually he follows it up by seeking proper attention from a (semi-)trained nurse.

* [[Shoot the Fuel Tank]]: A helicopter is taken down by shooting a propane tank it was hovering above.

{{quote| {{spoiler|"For the record, I don't like how this turned out any more then you do. But this is the world we live in. And justice does not always prevail. It's not the wild west where you can clean up the streets with a gun. Even though sometimes it's exactly what is needed... Bob Lee Swagger, ''you're free to go.''"}}}}

* [[Smug Snake]]: Col. Johnson just can't resist rubbing it in.

{{quote| "I win. You lose. Again."}}

=== In addition to many of the above tropes, ''Point of Impact'' provides examples of: ===

* [[The Dragon]]: Jack Payne

* {{spoiler|[[Evil Cripple]]}}: {{spoiler|Lon Scott, the real sniper. His immobility is a major plot point.}}

* [[Freudian Excuse]]: {{spoiler|Lon Scott was accidentally shot in the spine by his father at a relatively young age, paralyzing him, days after which his father committed suicide. Messed him up something fierce.}}