The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Veteran brings James Bond move alive in new film
Guy Ritchie's latest action-packed film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, tells the story of a top-secret organisation formed during the Second World War by Prime Minister Winston Churchill – the Special Operations Executive or SOE.
Paul Biddiss, a Parachute Regiment veteran-turned-military technical adviser to film and TV, worked on the Lionsgate film and has added a unique detail that fans of military accuracy on screen might find rather satisfying.
After researching how SOE agents were trained for console game Sniper Elite 5, for which he portrayed the main character during motion capture filming, Mr Biddiss included a rather satisfying detail during the filming of the movie that will please James Bond fans.
Determined to "set Europe ablaze" following the fall of France to Nazi Germany in June 1940, Churchill tasked the Special Operations Executive with creating a unique military unit that could operate covertly behind enemy lines.
These units were authorised to use lethal force, were highly effective in countering the German advance and answered to no one but the British government.
Instinctive shooting, the James Bond move used by real SOE agents during the Second World War and now Alan Ritchson in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, can be seen 16 seconds into the above trailer.
Action comedy Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, based on historian and author Damien Lewis' book of the same name, focuses on some of those seemingly fearless SOE agents and a small group of military officials, including James Bond author Ian Fleming played by actor Freddie Fox.
The SOE agent's "ungentlemanly" approach to warfare helped to change the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.
Mr Biddiss worked with action movie stars such as Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Alan Ritchson (Reacher), Eiza González (3 Body Problem), Babs Olusamokun (Dune) and Henry Golding (The Gentleman) and taught them vital details to help ensure their characters are as authentically like SOE agents as possible.
Mr Biddiss took the research he'd completed for Sniper Elite 5 and the training he'd received from fellow Parachute Regiment veteran and "one of the best pistol shots in the country", firearms instructor Bob Dunkley, and put it to good use.
He said: "The SOE were taught what is called Instinctive Shooting by two commandos, Fairburn and Sykes, and prior to [The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare], I worked on a game called Sniper Elite 5, which was about an SOE agent and I was the motion capture artist.
"I researched into the SOE training – knife fighting, pistol drawing... the weapons they used, the explosives, how they put explosives together.
"So when it comes to this fight scene, I explained to Alan [Ritchson] do you remember Doctor No, the actual opening barrel sequence when you see Sean Connery whip around very quickly and he performs a three-quarter hip draw?
"Well that was taught by the SOE and you're SOE.
"I was able to very quickly show Alan this is how you do this draw and it would be really good, if after you've done all the bits and pieces with your knife fighting and your stunts that we have a German come down and then you very quickly whip to one side and do a three-quarter hip draw."
Instinctive shooting was designed to ensure the SOE agent took the first shot because aiming accurately could slow them down and put them at a disadvantage compared to their opponent.
He said: "When I told Alan about all this, he was just like, 'Yeah, we gotta do that'."
Another level of detail to ensure as much military accuracy as possible is that iconic James Bond and Indiana Jones actor Sean Connery was taught this move for Dr No by one of Ian Fleming's friends, a former SOE agent.
Mr Biddiss also taught Mr Ritchson another unique technique sure to please military audiences.
He taught him how to "cook a grenade" - a technique where the person holding the grenade pulls the pin out and then lets the fly lever go before throwing it.
He said: "So you're holding this ticking time bomb in your hand and then you post it into the bunker, so there's very little time for the German to pick it up because by the time he tries to pick it up, it'll go off.
"So [Alan] did that as well and he loved that detail."
One thing you're unlikely to see in a film worked on by Mr Biddiss is the dreaded "Hollywood magazine".
The veteran found that working with actors with a lot of experience working on action movies meant that a lot of the time he was simply tweaking some inaccuracies such as reminding those with a gun to regularly replace their magazine.
He said: "Luckily enough, these guys have done lots of action movies before, so sometimes it was just tweaking some stuff.
"You know, like getting Henry [to not] forget to do a magazine change.
"You just emptied your magazine, you know, 30 rounds so you do a magazine change during dialogue. I always encourage actors to do a magazine change during dialogue... because it's very hard for the editor to take it out.
"Once an editor gets a film, they start chopping and you know, to try and get it down to the right time frame and they might... cut it out and then that's when people complain, 'Ah, Hollywood magazine!'"
The military adviser also taught Henry and Alan the correct way to use a commando dagger to cut a man's throat.
Mr Biddiss has worked with some of the hardest men and women in action films but does he think any of them could pass P Company?
He said: "Nah, none of them... not even Jason Statham.
"They're good at doing all the choreography and the movements and all that, but I very much doubt that any of them would be able to pass P Company.
"They might try and give it a bash but nah."
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