Tears of the Sun is a 2003 American action film starring Bruce Willis as Lieutenant A.K. Waters, a US Navy SEAL commander who leads his team into Nigeria during a coup to extract Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), an American doctor. When she goes with the team to the extraction site along with 80 refugees from her village, Lena discovers that the SEALs' mission is only to take her. After a change of heart, Waters and his SEAL team then become determined to get the doctor and the refugees to the Cameroon border before the rebel militants can find them. The film was directed by Antoine Fuqua and retired Navy SEAL Harry Humphries served as the chief military technical advisor.
The following weapons were used in the film Tears of the Sun:
The pistol designed especially for US SOCOM, the Heckler & Koch Mark 23 is seen used by several Navy SEALs, including LT A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis), Ellis 'Zee' Pettigrew (Eamonn Walker), James 'Red' Atkins (Cole Hauser), Jason 'Flea' Mabry (Chad Smith), Kelly Lake (Johnny Messner), and Michael 'Slo' Slowenski (Nick Chinlund). In reality, however, the Mark 23 was not well received by anyone in the Special Operations community due to its size and weight, and there have been few, if any, documented cases of it seeing use in real combat operations.
Another real-life favored handgun of the Navy SEALs, the SIG-Sauer P226 is seen in the hands of Danny 'Doc' Kelley (Paul Francis) and Demetrius 'Silk' Owens (Charles Ingram).
In a scene added to the extended director's cut, LT Waters leaves the priest running the hospital a Walther PPK/S, telling him he may wish to use it on himself rather than be captured by the rebels.
LT Waters (Bruce Willis), Flea (Chad Smith), and Lake (Johnny Messner) use M4A1 Carbines as their primary weapons. Team corpsman Doc (Paul Francis) and radioman Zee (Eamonn Walker) also have accessorized M4 carbines (with M203 grenade launchers mounted). Flea has a Combat Military Optics LTD Marksman Series Model 100 scope on the carry handle, a cheek pad on the stock, a suppressor, and a custom paintjob of green and black. Flea and Lake have suppressors on their carbines. Both Lake and LT Waters have M68 Aimpoint scopes fitted on their weapons. When the team first arrives in Africa, their M4A1s are fitted with PVS-14 night-vision scopes which are removed once morning arrives. LT Waters' also has a D-LAP laser sight, essentially a more compact PEQ-2A. It is worth noting that they use the correct, modern flash hiders rather than the A1 style used on so many movie M4A1s and M16A2s.
A Springfield M1A with an aftermarket scope mount is carried and used throughout the film by Silk (Charles Ingram). It is covered in heavy custom camo and mounts a Leupold & Stevens Mark 4 LR/T 10x40 M1 rifle scope. It is noted as being of an M1A not an M25 Sniper Rifle by the notch which would normally contain the fire-selector switch. M21/25 rifles are fitted with a selector lock, preventing the Selective fire mechanism from working in anything other than semi-automatic. When a Civilian M1A is put into a Military M14 stock there is a great big empty notch in the stock where the selector lock should be.
The predecessor to the AKM, the AK-47, or more simply "AK", is seen. They can be noted by their milled receivers and lack of slanted muzzle brakes. Some may be Norinco Type 56 rifles. Carried and used by rebel militants, refugees and Doc (Paul Francis), who took it from a dead militant. He is never seen using it, but after the village raid, he most likely gave it to a refugee, as they acquired a lot of them then.
A few of the Marines disembarking the helicopter at the beginning of the film are carrying M16A2 rifles, as well as a few Marines at the end of the film.
M16A1 rifles are held by Nigerian soldiers in the opening scene of the director's cut of the film.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM16A1 with 20-round magazine - 5.56x45mmNigerian soldiers with Vietnam-era M16A1 rifles.Nigerian soldiers standing guard with M16A1s.Nigerian soldiers standing guard over the President and his family.
Machine Guns
M249 SAW Paratrooper
Slo (Nick Chinlund), the team's designated heavy-gunner and tech-guy is seen with a paratrooper model of the M249 SAW throughout the film. Silk (Charles Ingram) later uses the weapon during the climax firefight.
Red (Cole Hauser), the team’s designated heavy-gunner is seen armed with a Mk 43 Mod 0 throughout the film. Doc (Paul Francis) wields the weapon when Red runs to set-up a Claymore. A Marine who accompanies Captain Bill Rhodes (Tom Skerritt) also wields an Mk 43.
The M60D machine gun is seen mounted on SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, but it is never fired.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM60D machine gun - 7.62x51mm NATOError creating thumbnail: File missingAn M60D machine gun door-mounted on a Navy SH-60B Seahawk helicopter. Trivia note: The helicopters in the film are actual US Navy Seahawks from HSL-37 "Easy Riders" stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Oahu, Hawaii.
DShK
A DShK heavy machine gun is seen on a mounted platform of a flatbed truck. It’s hard to determine if this is a genuine DShK or a Browning M2 mocked-up as a DShK.
The team’s forward scout, Lake (Johnny Messner) carries a Remington 870 in addition to his M4A1. The shotgun is equipped with an extended magazine tube, a side saddle shell holder, and a "duckbill" muzzle attachment (designed to make the shot spray into a horizontal pattern). The team’s designated marksman, Flea (Chad Smith), takes the shotgun after Lake is shot, but the weapon was dropped and Flea switches back to his M4A1.
The team’s demolition man, Red (Cole Hauser), carries three M18A1 Claymores into the field with him. He uses two to ambush the rebels and later uses the last one to hold back enemy troops.
At the climax of the film, a pair of F/A-18A Hornets are launched to provide close air support for the SEALs, armed with M61 Vulcans as secondary armament, though the Hornets engage the rebels with air-to-ground missiles instead of their guns.
