Guns in the movies.

Steve David said:
I read a a recent article about him that said he has a pretty serious thyroid condition. Never the less, his gun skills are still very good.
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True enough on the gun skills, but I don't believe much of anything that comes out of Hollywood in the way of "information." Often the term "thyroid condition" is a buzz phrase for, "I'm rich and I eat too much and I'm too lazy to work out anymore." I had high hopes for him when he first started making movies. Oh well....

Tom Selleck is a gun guy as well, and it shows in his movies. He seems to have an affinity for 1911's as well.
 
One of the things that I really find fascinating about guns in movies, and about reading imfdb, is the mock-up guns for sci-fi movies which are made from real guns. it is one thing to spot somebody holding a regular old Beretta or GLOCK, but try figuring out where some of these sci-fi guns come from!

Some of the most famous examples:
Aliens:
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Aliens
- The Pulse rifles are a mutant combination of a M1 Thompson, a Remington 870, and a SPAS 12.
- The "M56 Smart Gun" (sort of in the same spirit as Jesse Ventura's hand-held mini-gun) are made out of WWII MG42's and a steadicam rig!
- The flamethrower is an M16 cut apart and put together partially backwards.
- The Sentry Guns "were mock ups built upon WW1 German Spandau Maxim LMG 08/15 machine guns"
- Strangely, there are a host of other guns in the movie which are mid to late 20th Century bone stock. The armorers on this flick earned their paychecks if you ask me.

Star Wars:
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Star_Wars
- Princess Leia's gun is built off of a Vostok Margolin .22 LR Target Pistol.
- The Storm troopers gun is built off of a Sterling L2A3 submachinegun (barely disguised).
- The "heavy" Storm Trooper gun is an (really not disguised at all) World War 2 German MG34 machinegun.
- Of course everyone knows Han Solo's gun was a Mauser C96 Broomhandle with some mock-ups.
- A couple that are on the imfdb page that I never would have though of:
"Standard issue blaster rifle of the Rebel Alliance ground forces in both The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Both the A280 and A295 blaster rifle props were built from both the World War 2-era German Sturmgewehr 44 (The Empire Strikes Back) and from the M16 series rifles (Return Of The Jedi)."
"The blasters utilised by the Jawas were built from the British Lee-Enfield No.1 MkIII* series bolt-action rifles."

Weird, huh?

Now, to leap forward 25 years (or more)... in the new(er) Battlestar Galactica TV show (which some people on this website have probably worked on):
http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Battlestar_Galactica
A large number of the weapons used in that show are regular old contemporary firearms, I just note:
-The weird Smith revolver with the action completely shrouded (As it says on the webpage, I'm pretty sure they haven't used this since the mini-series, you always see the Five-7's now).
- The FN Five-7's with the sort of pistol version of an under barrel grenade launcher.
- The weird (and ugly) AR-15 mock-up at the bottom of the page.
- Note also the heavy use of ELCAN sights... Canadian influence?? (For those of you that don't know, this series is... or make that was... it has wrapped now... the last 10 episodes will air starting in January... made in Vancouver and surrounding area).
 
relliott said:
i always thought this one was the coolest thing ever.
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Ya the Blade Runner gun is a classic. I believe that the pistol (Smith J-frame) from the Battlestar 2003 mini-series (effectively, the pilot episodes) is a kind of tribute to that gun in some ways. The producers of Battlestar have been very up-front about the influence of Blade Runner on the show, and in particular the look (production design) of the series. They don't have the time or money that Blade Runner had, but they are going for some of the same themes and look in some ways.

I think the reason they went to the FN Five-7 based gun was, they wanted something that had a slide that moved... would lock back when empty, etc. It is good for dramatic effect.

One other thing about that show (hopefully I'm not the only one that watches it :redface:), the really kick-ass gun is the one the newer model Centurions have... a kind of machinegun that folds out of their lower arms on both sides. They are CGI (and there are no shell casings... always wondered about that)... but they make for an intimidating Sci-Fi opponent to be sure. I always think... the kinds of weapons the Colonial Marines and other humans have (5.7x28, 4.6x30, 9mm, .223, etc.) wouldn't even dint those "war droids"... but they have introduced into their mythology the idea that you need to use one of those under barrel mounted explosive things and bean them in the head with that. Great show.
 
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Stevie beat me to it but "Way of the gun" was one of the most accurate gun movies I have seen so far. Accurate reloading. Rounds go through walls. people don't fly a million feet when shot, people don't die instantly from being shot in the hip. Actually leading with a long range rifle and when spotted guy fires on him with a pistol and actually points at the moon in order to have rounds actually scatter around him. Really good movie. Miami vice was also really good. Love the scene of guys being torn apart in the car by the mulitples 50's.
 
relliott said:
.....Tom Selleck is a gun guy as well, and it shows in his movies. He seems to have an affinity for 1911's as well.
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And it showed. Even back when he did Magnum PI the gun scenes were well done with relistic round counts and lots of scenes where he would properly drop and replace a magazine. And he was one of the few actors back then that used a proper two handed hold. I wasn't even thinking of guns back then but even to me at the time it seemed like a nice touch of authenticity.

Segal? I never did think much of his acting. He's really bad along with some of the other martial arts actors like Chuck Norris and Claude Van Damme. For that matter Bruce Lee was pretty bad too but it was hidden by the production inherent in the Chinese martial arts movies of that time. They can all sure fight though. No issues there. But as soon as they open their mouths or have to "face act" with expressions it all goes to hell in a handcart.

Jackie Chan is the rare exception. He can act as well as fight. His movies I really love.
 
BCRider said:
And it showed. Even back when he did Magnum PI the gun scenes were well done with relistic round counts and lots of scenes where he would properly drop and replace a magazine. And he was one of the few actors back then that used a proper two handed hold.
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Ever see Quigley Down Under (No it's not a #### movie)? Seleck even talks about reloading in that one. A good old fashioned western...set in Australia.
 
relliott said:
We did some FX comp work for one of his movies, and the girl who was working on the project told me that Seagal had gotten so fat that he needed a body double for EVERYTHING. Pretty much all he could do in the movies was close shots where he could pose his face or deliver dialog. Hell, at one point he was so huge that all he could wear was a gown.

Very sad.
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LOL, thats too funny. i live in vancouver and he was at the riverrock casino just signing autographs one day . i heard about it an hour too late . i was sooo mad , it would have been awesome to meet casey ryback. i almost joined the canadian navy because of him. but the canoe was full and they didnt have enough supersoakers. i too had high hopes for him but i was young when he was in his prime. now its just a huge barrel of laughter watching his movies.

[/QUOTE] Tom Selleck is a gun guy as well, and it shows in his movies. He seems to have an affinity for 1911's as well. [/QUOTE]

ok about magnum, hes one of those "actors" you wish you had never met, after meeting him. hes the biggest douchebag. when i was like 10, i was in hawaii and it was around the time he was doing magnum. the hotel i was staying at had a restaurant in it ,he was leaving after his dinner and i stopped him for an autograph. now first it was night time, no one was around. theres a young kid asking for your autograph. what does he choose to do ,be an #######. he wasnt going togive it until i told him my favorite episode. then he was just a jerk about it. and just scribbled on a peice of paper looked like a 4yr old did it.

a couple years ago i was having dinner in yale town and guess who sat down at the table next to me, good old magnum himself. after my dinner before i left i leaned over and told him "when i was 10 i asked for your autograph in hawaii one night, you werent very nice,. but i wanted to let you know i still catch a rerun here and there on tv" no joke he said. "ahh musta been all the drugs i was on"

sorry about the hijack, didnt really have to do with guns, however i would like to say that magnum used a 9mm 1911, youd think a gun guy woulda at least used an actual 1911 45 for the show.
 
Fonix said:
I've been naming the guns since I was a small child. Every time there's one on tv or a movie, wife looks at me and says; 'what kind of gun is that'. She gets a kick outta me always knowing the model

I'm so in love with them, to me the gun steals the scene lol

Hollywood is however, amazing at f**king gun specifics up; revolvers firing 10 or more rounds, hand guns being loaded to the sound of a shotgun pump racking, big guns having no recoil. Dumb s**t like that
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I love the 10 shot revolvers and the machine guns that shoot unlimited ammo from their clips. :D
 
You know you're sick when you watch an old western and can spot a Great Western Arms six shooter as opposed to a real Colt.
 
WAY OF THE GUN was outstanding for gun play and guns, both carried 1911 Commanders and the gun play was fantastic.
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Agreed, this has to be the very best (realistic) fire fight and technical presentation of firearms usage put on film. The balance of the movie is crappy, but the fire fight sceens are well worth the sufferage through the first half of the movie. I bought the DVD just for the armaments action.........this is the only movie I have retained for Hollywood gun shows.
Rent it..........and yee shall see.
 
All the coments about the movie gun screwups I agree, the most irritating movie gun nonsense is when the hero-villian-cop-etc empties his-her 12rd pistol or 16rd semi in a small room, then speaks in a normal tone of voice!!! In the real world you would be laying on the floor with blood running out of your ears, or at least writhing in pain from a busted eardrum.
 
fat tony said:
I enjoyed 'Way of the Gun' but the part where he was shooting up the whorehouse with the Galil and 65,000 bullet holes appeared was a bit out there.
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I think the actual round count was bang on, they just got a little over zelus with the holes...the did all match up to the sound of gun fire and a 308 would punch through those mud hut walls without an issue, but the lines were too straight....hehe.
 
577/450 said:
All the coments about the movie gun screwups I agree, the most irritating movie gun nonsense is when the hero-villian-cop-etc empties his-her 12rd pistol or 16rd semi in a small room, then speaks in a normal tone of voice!!! In the real world you would be laying on the floor with blood running out of your ears, or at least writhing in pain from a busted eardrum.
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Yup, that's why having a silencer in U.S. is very useful for your AR-15, in a home defense situation.
 
A buddy at work just pulled up the scene with the big Nitro Express elephant double barrel from Tremors on YouTube. In that he fires off two rounds at the beast that just busted in through the basement wall. THe wife actually covers her ears a little but other than that nothing..... they should have dubbed in a ringing sound to make it more realistic..... :D
 
The only movie I can think of that address the issue of the deafening sound of firearms head-on... is the scene in Blackhawk Down where the one dude goes deaf from the sound of the M60E1 being fired right near his head. Other than that, I can't think of instances where characters are affected by the sound.

Firearms do seem to be getting a lot louder in movies though... which is a step in the right direction. The sound of the Joker's subgun in The Dark Knight... damn, that was pretty loud for movie gunfire. That whole movie was pretty loud.
 
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