Over the weekend, a terrifyingly entertaining news story about American shipmen, Somali pirates, hostage situations, daring escapes and ransom negotiations came to a fittingly thrilling conclusion in a shocking split second sniper riffle blaze. Amid all the hubbub over our first international pirate problem in recent memory, there’s a fascinating story of tireless concentration, exacting precision and unflappable reflexes being lost in all the headlines. Snipers saved the day (on rolling seas, all three taking out three separate targets at the same micro-second in the middle of the night, no less), so today we commemorate Cinema’s Top 7 Sharpshooters (NSFW, violence and language).

Dawn of the Dead (embedded in German for copyright reasons, and additional comedy)

Sniping can be fun, especially when the whole ethical problem of killing actual people is done away with by the convenient spread of zombie-ism.

The Professional

If there were a faction of the NRA strictly devoted to promoting sniper rights, this could be their first commercial. The tagline would read: “Sniping: bringing orphans and father figures together since 1994.”

Saving Private Ryan

Almost as remorseless as zombies, Nazi Germans make a great target for perpetually praying Barry Pepper, possibly the best thing about Spielberg’s WII super-epic.

Enemy at the Gates

This movie is really boring, as it turns out, because no matter how pretty and cool the sets are, it’s impossible to make sniper’s chief activities (sitting and waiting) exciting.

Full Metal Jacket

Unlike the entries above, Kubrick’s harrowing Vietnam movie showcases the after effects of poor sniper marksmanship.

Shooter

Mark Wahlberg does Jason Bourne as framed marksman Bob Lee Swagger.

28 Weeks Later

Like Dawn of the Dead but with faster targets and more gunmen.