Doomsday Gun
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''Doomsday Gun'' is a 1994
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
produced by
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, dramatizing the life of
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
supergun designer Dr.
Gerald Bull Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he des ...
and his involvement in
Project Babylon Project Babylon was a space gun project commissioned by then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. It involved building a series of "superguns". The design was based on research from the 1960s Project HARP led by the Canadian artillery expert Gerald ...
,
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
's plan to build a supergun with a range of over .


Synopsis

The younger Catholic Gerald Bull is fascinated with large-bore guns, inspired by
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
's novel ''
From The Earth To The Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...
''. The older Dr. Gerald Bull's career as a successful large-bore gun designer takes a turn as he is defunded by the U.S. Army; he then produces weapons for China, Israel, and ultimately South Africa which results in his arrest and conviction for illegal arms dealing. After his release, Bull promotes his supergun idea to Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
, and, with funding through
BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...
, begins design work on the top secret project, "Babylon". Bull solves several manufacturing challenges by forging and assembling it in sections which are bolted together by flanges, and lining the relatively soft barrel material with an alloy sleeve to reduce wear on the barrel. British and U.S. government agencies are shown to be aware of Bull's activities, but do nothing to stop him. The Israeli
Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
tries to dissuade Bull, and goes so far as to threaten his life, with no effect. As the "Baby Babylon" version of the gun is assembled and tested successfully horizontally in Iraq, Bull's second in command, Cowley, quits after a roadside run-in with Mossad agent Dov, who also shadowed Bull. The Iraqis demand an additional, 45-degree, test of the prototype gun, using threats to coerce Bull into compliance. That completed test firing results in a direct hit on a target away, and Bull brags that the full size "Babylon" gun can fire "ten times as far." As production of the full-size sections of the gun continues in England and elsewhere, falsely documented as oil pipeline parts in order to evade export restrictions, the film depicts increasing threats to Bull's life from Saddam, and the Mossad agent/handler Col Yossi tells Dov that assassination of Bull will happen one way or another as he has too many enemies and not many friends. A threat to Iran, the Iraqis due to his knowing too much, Syrians, some African nations, and the Saudis. An embarrassment and liability to the UK and there is also the US who consider him a possible liability too. As the gun nears completion, Bull, while returning home, is gunned down at his apartment, where his body is discovered by his wife. The end text crawl states that Dr. Bull's murder remains unsolved, and that the U.S. contributed over $3 billion to Iraq in the years preceding the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
.


Cast

*
Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flori ...
as Dr.
Gerald Bull Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he des ...
*
Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...
as Col. Yossi *
Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...
as Jim Price *
Michael Kitchen Michael Roy Kitchen (born 31 October 1948) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama ''Foyle's War'', which comprised eight series betwee ...
as Chris Cowley *
Francesca Annis Francesca Annis (born 14 May 1945) is an English actress. She is known for television roles in '' Reckless'' (1998), ''Wives and Daughters'' (1999), ''Deceit'' (2000), and '' Cranford'' (2007). A six-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won the 1979 ...
as Sophie *
Alexandra Vandernoot Alexandra Vandernoot (born 19 September 1965) is a Belgian actress. Career While having starred in a number of French films, she is known internationally as Tessa Noël, Duncan MacLeod's girlfriend, in the fantasy television series '' Highland ...
as Marie *
Aharon Ipalé Aharon Ipalé (December 27, 1941 – June 27, 2016) was an Israeli-American actor, known for his roles in American and British film and television productions. His credits included '' Fiddler on the Roof'' (1971), '' Innocent Bystanders'' (1 ...
as Maurouf *
Zia Mohyeddin Zia Mohyeddin (; born 20 June 1931) is a British-Pakistani actor, producer, director and television broadcaster who has appeared in both Pakistani cinema and television as well as in British cinema and television throughout his career. Zia M ...
as Hashim *
Tony Goldwyn Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...
as Donald Duvall *
James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', ''The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performanc ...
as Sir James Whittington *
Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', ''Maurice'', ''The Madness of King George'' and ''The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he starred ...
as Jones *
Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
as Dov *
Marianne Denicourt Marianne Denicourt (née Cuau; born 14 May 1963) is a French actress, director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 50 films and television productions since 1986. She studied under Patrice Chéreau in 1985-86 at the Ecole du Thé ...
as Monique * Mark Ryan as SAS Man


Production

The film was shot on location in England, Belgium, and Spain, with post production at
Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...
. It premiered Saturday, July 23, 1994 on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
.


Reception

Reviews were mixed, noting good performances, with several faulting the script and direction. ''Variety'' reviewer Ray Loynd described the film as "politically biting", Langella's performance as "absorbing", and "fascinating, buoyant, ebullient", but described the story as appealing to "your brain, not your heart or your gut" and lacking major empathetic characters. ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' noted that though the film's direction was "competent without being eye-openingly fresh, it cannot override flaws in the script which make the film a dull experience", and gave the film two out of four stars. Its ratings notice indicates "extreme profanity, violence, tough situations." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review found the film's conceit of a "daunting but lovable" protagonist as a weapons designer to be "loopy", contrasting Bull in real-life as "a difficult man, prickly and quick to take offense" with Langella's portrayal as "endlessly charming." The film's writing was criticized for "quips and zingers that aren't worth the effort" and for "thoroughly defusing what might have been a tense drama with genuinely high stakes." The
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
review noted no flaws with the film, describing it as an "intricately woven thriller that demands the viewer's undivided attention" and praising Langella's portrayal of Bull. The film was nominated for a
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
cable Ace Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Ame ...
for best original
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
.
Doomsday Gun
' at
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...


References


External links

* * * {{Robert Young 1994 films HBO Films films Films set in Iraq 1990s biographical films American biographical films British biographical films Films about technology Films directed by Robert Young Films with screenplays by Walter Bernstein Films shot in Almería Films scored by Richard Harvey 1994 television films Films about the Mossad 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s British films