Doomsday Gun (1994) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Robert Young

Writers (WGA):

Walter Bernstein (written by) and
Lionel Chetwynd (written by)

Release Date:

23 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Thriller

Plot:

Dr Gerald Bull was a genius at designing and building superguns. (Very large long range guns capable...

Plot Keywords:

Saddam Hussein | Gun | Scientist | Museum | Lipstick

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Frank Langella	...	Dr. Gerald Bull
Alan Arkin	...	Col. Yossi
Kevin Spacey	...	Jim Price
Michael Kitchen	...	Chris Cowley
Francesca Annis	...	Sophie
Aharon Ipalé	...	Maurouf
Zia Mohyeddin	...	Hashim
Tony Goldwyn	...	Donald Duvall
James Fox	...	Sir James Whittington
Rupert Graves	...	Jones
Clive Owen	...	Dov
Murray Melvin	...	Shop Manager
Marianne Denicourt	...	Monique
Alexandra Vandernoot	...	Marie
Roger Hammond	...	Mackler

Runtime:

120 min | Germany:141 min (DVD version) | Australia:107 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Near the end of the film, when Monique hands Gerry his loaf of bread, the reflection of two crew members can be seen in the car window.

Movie Connections:

References Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

An Inconvenient Canadian

Just a quibble to correct Jonathan from Hoboken's identification of Gerry Bull as an America. He was Canadian (you can even see him brandishing his Canadian passport in the final airport scene with Price (Spacey) near the end.) Gerry Bull was an inconvenient Canadian, in that he thought too big for a Canadian, and, like many other Canadians of talent and vision, eventually had to leave the country to achieve what he wanted. He was a brilliant supersonic aerodynamics engineer, who had contributed to the Avro Arrow program, and had run HARP (High Altitude Research Program) which had been, ahem, aimed at achieving spaceflight using guns, a la Jules Verne. It had operated the original 'supergun' in the Caribbean, with battleship guns put end to end. Bull gave up on Canada when Canada gave up on him, and that's when he became the international long-range artillery guy, selling his expertise to whoever paid - Israel, South Africa, Iraq. I figure if Israel could knock out Saddam's Osirak nuclear plant with an air strike, it wouldn't be past them to knock off the guy about to give Saddam a supergun with which to shell Tel Aviv.

The movie, though heavy on the CIA-is-the-root-of-all-evil conspiracy theories, was entertaining and not that bad, especially as a made-for-TV job, with, I thought, pretty good casting (I always like Michael Kitchen).