Silent Trigger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Silent Trigger | |
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| Directed by | Russel Mulcahy |
| Produced by | Nicolas Clermont Silvio Muraglia |
| Written by | Sergio Altieri |
| Starring | Dolph Lundgren Gina Bellman Conrad Dunn |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Silent Trigger is a 1996 movie starring Dolph Lundgren about a sniper and his female spotter (played by Gina Bellman). Lundgren plays a former Special Forces agent who joins a private agency as a paid assassin. The movie features some of the arguably most extreme sniper shootouts seen in film.
The movie takes place in and around an unfinished city skyscraper where the shooter (mentioned on movie cover as "Waxman") and spotter ("Clegg") set up a shooting platform on a top floor. The two arrive independent of each other, being just two of The Agency's assassins. As they meet, they both recognize each other, as they have been on a mission together before. This mission is portrayed in a series of flashbacks. In the first flashback Waxman and Clegg were supposed to assassinate a female politician. Waxman hesitates when the politician lifts a child, and while hesitating a helicopter shows up, landing soldiers in the courtyard behind the team's firing position. The two fight down the attacking force, including the machine-gun-equipped helicopter, whose pilot and copilot are shot through the canopy.
Returning to the main scene, we learn that the one of security personnel of the construction site is new on the job. The drug-addicted regular ("O'Hara", played by Cristopher Heyerdahl) attempts to win a statutorial position over him by scaring him. As Waxman opens a roof door, a light lights up by the security personnel, and the newcomer ("Klein", played by Conrad Dunn) goes to look for it.
The internal lift of the building is clearly audible, and Clegg watches over Klein's movements, when he arrives. She interrupts his inspections when he is about to open the roof door. She takes him to the lift, sending him downwards. However, as she is just talking him off, she sees Waxman sitting on top of the lift car. He mounts a bomb on the lift car, and, when the car starts moving, almost falls down the shaft. He is saved by Clegg, and they both attempt keeping up the "just business"-facade, although some appreciation can be felt.
While the two on the rooftop readjust their gear, O'Hara presumably desides to rape Clegg. However, Clegg pulls her small-caliber sidearm, and threatens O'Hara into the lift. When O'Hara returns downstairs, he picks up his gun and puts on body armor. He then surprises Clegg while she is standing over the sink of the top-floor bathrooms. Clegg pulls her gun on him, and puts a well-placed bullet in his chest. Unsurprised by this, O'Hara attacks Clegg, but is encountered by Waxman, and a violent fight takes place in an unfinished hall between various building materials. The fight is won by Waxman, and he ties the now bloody O'Hara to a toilet.
The inevitable spark between Clegg and Waxman leads them to make love in this part of the movie, while O'Hara is tied to the toilet. Afterwards, as duty continues, Waxman heads for the bathrooms, but sees water running out under the door to the bathroom. He pulls his gun, and finds out that O'Hara is gone.
O'Hara bears the toilet with him down the stairs. When he arrives downstairs, he is furious with revenge, grabs his shotgun and is about to go upstairs to finish off Waxman. Klein, the new security guard, shoots O'Hara with his shotgun, walks to the spot where the dying O'Hara lies, and in cold blood puts a final shot into him.
Upstairs, the two are engaging the target. As before, Waxman hesitates and doesn't take the shot. As history repeats itself for the two, Clegg pulls her sidearm and threatens Waxman to do his duty. Before the situation escalates, another shooter shoots the target four times, and when done, takes aim for Clegg and Waxman. Waxman quickly throws himself and Clegg away from the shot, grabs his rifle and shoots the adversary. While Waxman reloads his rifle (that is, unmounting the back of the rifle, placing a new round in the unmounted part, and remounting this into the rifle), another adversary picks up the laid shooters rifle, takes aim and shoots. Waxman once again manages to throw himself out of harm's way. Now, special forces fall through the roof window of the room. Waxman reloads his rifle and quickly takes one of them out. While he reloads, Clegg takes out one of their adversaries, and the rest seek cover behind the pillars of the room. Waxman's next shot goes into a soldier who stands below the platform he is placed on. The shot tears up the soldier's chest, unaffected by his body armor. A soldier has Clegg cornered, and Waxman positions himself below the metallic upper floor, on a rolling platform. He pushes off, and shoots the soldier repeatedly with his sidearm from below, while rolling underneath him.
When Waxman again is on the platform, he hears nervous footsteps from the left staircase to the platform. Unable to do much else, he feels for an avaible round on the gun's side, but there are none. When Waxman and the soldier see each other, a tense second goes by, and the soldier's full helmet is perforated by Clegg's shots from the opposing staircase.
Lastly, Waxman and Clegg are surprised by Klein, who has stealthily entered the room. He shoots Waxman in the chest with his shotgun, but is soon shot by Clegg who has picked up an MP5 submachinegun.
Clegg flees the skyscraper (in the assumtion that Waxman is dead). As she walks away from the building, the top of a nearby standpipe is shot off. She looks up, and sees Waxman throwing his sniper rifle off the building. She then smilingly walks away.
