Why not stay in the apartment?

Not really. They were covered from an elevated position, and outgunned. The smart move would have been to stay in the apartment, where the were only two points of entry, fortify those positions, set up intersecting fields of fire, conserve ammo and wait for their backup. They left their only known point of hard cover/concealment and exposed themselves needlessly to defending themselves in a hostible, urban environment.

They should have stayed there.

I've trained in Urban Warfare, your point? There are certainly many other options than the two you've presented, including....seeking cover and waiting for support.

Yes, fortify with tables, or chairs, or the couch, anything. Make it difficult for the enemy to overrun your position. A table or chair or couch set up as a barrier to entry is essentially no different than concertina wire or sandbags in an OP in Afghanistan. When they were in the apartment, they weren't engaging in an urban conflict, they were at a very good position of cover, and could certainly have strong pointed that apartment for 5-10 minutes until the rest of the LAPD showed up.

Your reasons for not picking the AK are ridiculous. Ammo in a gunfight is ammo. You don't NOT pick up an offensive weapon (AK-47) just because it might run out of ammo in the future. A pistol is a self defense weapon, and the two cops were HILARIOUSLY outgunned by the gangbangers. You don't willingly engage in a gunfight against two or three AK-47's with only a pistol. If I'd run by that AK, I'd have picked it up. Holstering your sidearm and picking up that rifle would have taken all of 2 seconds. It's a long gun, it's got a stock, a rear sight and a front sight with a trigger. Any idiot with any minute amount of firearms training could get an AK-47 to operate. Gyllenhaal's character was a Marine. If you can operate the M16 platform, you can get an AK platform weapon to work.

That isn't true. Escape if you can, but only in rare instances would you engage an enemy with more personnel and superior firepower. Two reasons bunkering up may have worked

1: The gang bangers view was occluded. they couldn't see the officers exactly where the officers were and were shooting blind. Even better, go to the back of the apartment pulling the gangbangers through the door in single file. *Then* would be a good time to engage. Kill the first guy through the door and likely break the will of the ones following him
2: AK rounds are big and slow moving (as far as bullets go). They don't have nearly the penetrative power of other assault rifles.

In reality, I really do think the best tactical move would be to move to the back of the apartment and take defensive positions with a view of the front door, but this is a movie and a little artistic license is in order. Movie isn't the same without the dramatic ending and can't have that if Taylor and Zavala turtle until the reinforcements get there..


“There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior

Since they'd left the apartment, I agree that they should have picked up the AK (not Liberace's):). Also, when they shot the first gang member in his car after leaving the apartment, they should've taken the car and driven away. The main gang members were on foot and the other gang car may not have seen them or might not have been able to catch up.

I think the ending was the biggest cliche of this movie. It is filmed very realistically with the POV camera and the acting/chemistry is excellent.

It would have been a real surprise if they both got out alive and well. It would have defied audience expectation and the foreshadowing earlier in the film.

I found the part where half a dozen gangbangers firing AK's on full auto at a distance of max 50m can't hit two cops standing still completely ridiculous. Maybe after that the cops were certain there's something fundamentally wrong with the weapons these Mexicans had. Obviously they couldn't hit the side of a barn with them.

1. No such thing as a bulletproof vest
2. AK47's aren't inaccurate
3. Lack power? Yeah, no...they're powerful. And they had full auto ones as well.
4. Magazine =/= clip
5. Burst fire with a semi auto?

Anyway, I doubt anyone here has been in a firefight, myself included. We'd all probably panic, and the stress of the situation would make you do things that you think you wouldn't do. Stop talking tactics while you're sitting comfy in your chair or whatever.

Sitting in an apartment with paper-thin walls and a big ass open view into the room and trying to "defend" it against a force with more manpower and firepower is stupid, and obviously Gyllenhaal's character knew that, and you either run and/or die, or die sitting there. Who knows why they didn't pick up the gun, maybe the stress. They just wanted to get out of there quickly and didn't think about it, perhaps. As for the car, they didn't know the locations of the bad guys, maybe they were close and didn't want to become sitting ducks trying to get the car rolling.

It's also a movie.

balls