Best Gun Movie for American Gun Culture
- Thread starter learn2shoot
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I've seen hundreds and hundreds of movies in my life, so can't remember them all. If one is looking for a movie in which a very legitimate use of a firearm solved a deadly problem -- not a western shoot-'em-up, not a war movie, not some never-happen action fantasy -- but ordinary circumstances, just rent, or buy a copy of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, staring Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish.
None better.
L.W.
None better.
L.W.
dogrunner
Member
Not the most accurate of films from a technical perspective but damned sure insightful in terms of why we are what we are is "April Morning"....Robert Urich.
As the shot to hell retreating British soldier says: "Surrender! Who to, they have no leader"!
As the shot to hell retreating British soldier says: "Surrender! Who to, they have no leader"!
DougDubya
Member
Best TV series was Northern Exposure. Everyone in the show, except for Doctor Fleischman, had at least one gun, and firearms violence was virtually nonexistant in Cicily, Alaska (it showed up in dream sequences set in the far more barbaric New York).
You had erudite, brilliant people who engaged in hunting and shooting sports, and Maurice Minnifield even wooed an Alaskan State Trooper with a custom Browning HiPower.
One of my favorite scenes was Ruth Ann, the septigenarian store owner, engaging in debate with another woman while they stalked the fields, shooting at pheasant.
You had erudite, brilliant people who engaged in hunting and shooting sports, and Maurice Minnifield even wooed an Alaskan State Trooper with a custom Browning HiPower.
One of my favorite scenes was Ruth Ann, the septigenarian store owner, engaging in debate with another woman while they stalked the fields, shooting at pheasant.
Tom Fury
Member
Can't believe it:
No votes for Firefly?
Sorry; Its' still about the best and least offensive presentation of guns being a part of personal freedom I can think of.
+1 for the original Death Wish. Isn't The Brave One a remake? Was it a good one?
+1 for Tales of the Gun; Any discussion of "Gun Culture" should touch on "How we got here" as TOTG does.
Winchester '73 and The Shootist too. Maybe; A History of Violence.
Cheers, TF
No votes for Firefly?
Sorry; Its' still about the best and least offensive presentation of guns being a part of personal freedom I can think of.
+1 for the original Death Wish. Isn't The Brave One a remake? Was it a good one?
+1 for Tales of the Gun; Any discussion of "Gun Culture" should touch on "How we got here" as TOTG does.
Winchester '73 and The Shootist too. Maybe; A History of Violence.
Cheers, TF
Sans Authoritas
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SVTruth wrote:
That would be ideal, SV, but it would have to lose about 70% of the cheesy lines, and it must have an entirely different soundtrack!
-Sans Authoritas
That would be ideal, SV, but it would have to lose about 70% of the cheesy lines, and it must have an entirely different soundtrack!
-Sans Authoritas
while there have been some good movies suggested, NONE of them come anywhere close to attempting to describe or portray "American Gun Culture" with any sort of realism. at all.
My recommendation to the OP would be to first understand that American Gun Culture and Hollywood movie culture are practically diametrically opposed and searching for movies to learn about the former is an utter waste of time.
Instead, read the first few chapters of John Ross' book _Unintended Consequences_ and your friend will get EXACTLY what you're looking for.
edit: btw, any chance your friend's in Delft?
My recommendation to the OP would be to first understand that American Gun Culture and Hollywood movie culture are practically diametrically opposed and searching for movies to learn about the former is an utter waste of time.
Instead, read the first few chapters of John Ross' book _Unintended Consequences_ and your friend will get EXACTLY what you're looking for.
edit: btw, any chance your friend's in Delft?
icebones
Member
i liked the attention to detail in "SHOOTER" if you dont mind swagger cycling the m82a1 by hand dueing the first part of the film!
just a minor filming mistake though...
but then again you really cant count on hollywood to be true to the fact, especially on guns.
how many times in movies do cars blow up when the gas tank is shot?
just a minor filming mistake though...
but then again you really cant count on hollywood to be true to the fact, especially on guns.
how many times in movies do cars blow up when the gas tank is shot?
Offwhite
member
I would definitely have to agree with these. Also I'll throw in a couple of movies that not only I love but also my father, who is in his late 50s so that you don't just think I'm some young punk, even though I look like a tattooed mountain man (God I miss the mountains).
Lucky Number Slevin
Boondock Saints
Someone mentioned The Patriot, which I would agree to a certain extent. I think to show the importance of how it was/is a vital tool for our existence to defend ourselves against a tyrannical or now in our present situation, socialist government.
Leif Runenritzer
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Deacons for Defense, starring Forest Whitaker. Seriously.
Am i the only one who's seen this? It's as good as it gets when it comes to Hollywood. It depicts responsible, black adults arming themselves with guns, M16s even, for the protection of their families, and their rights. There are no shoot-outs and no vigilanteism. Rather it shows how being armed is a deterrent and a proper means of attaining liberty.
Am i the only one who's seen this? It's as good as it gets when it comes to Hollywood. It depicts responsible, black adults arming themselves with guns, M16s even, for the protection of their families, and their rights. There are no shoot-outs and no vigilanteism. Rather it shows how being armed is a deterrent and a proper means of attaining liberty.
have you lost your friggin minds?
please tell me what scene in any one of these movies depicts the american gun culture that exists on THR.
those movies are all about CRIMINALS and mostly psychotic ones at that. NONE of them are about average americans and their guns.
plexreticle
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Bambi
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
Good Lord what are you people trying to communicate here?
Natural Born Killers? Thanks for the post Mr Helmke........
From the OP:
Natural Born Killers? Thanks for the post Mr Helmke........
From the OP:
strangelittleman
Member
Magnificent Seven
Road to Perdition
Nevada Smith
Once Upon A Time In The West
The Bravados
The Professionals
Open Range
Road to Perdition
Nevada Smith
Once Upon A Time In The West
The Bravados
The Professionals
Open Range
tinygnat219
Member
I agree with Open Range, Quigley, Death Wish, and The Brave One are close seconds only you need to turn those two movies off after they get to the halfway point because they then turn the vigilante route. Open Range is probably best since it shows the American frontier spirit of self-reliance. Quigley is your typical heroic cowboy movie.
Forget "Shooter". That movie was complete anti-war propaganda and had lots of trouble following the book which was MUCH better. Forget Red Dawn as well even if the points are relevant, the scenario really isn't.
Truth is, there's not a lot out there that could really be considered "Pro 2nd Amendment"
Some others that come to mind: Rough Riders: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118453/
The Quick and the Dead: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093811/
Forget "Shooter". That movie was complete anti-war propaganda and had lots of trouble following the book which was MUCH better. Forget Red Dawn as well even if the points are relevant, the scenario really isn't.
Truth is, there's not a lot out there that could really be considered "Pro 2nd Amendment"
Some others that come to mind: Rough Riders: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118453/
The Quick and the Dead: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093811/
stevelyn
Member
No movie is going to do it because they don't portray the realities of American gun culture.
Too bad they can't get The Outdoor Channel over there. The Wednesday night line up is exactly what you're looking for.
Too bad they can't get The Outdoor Channel over there. The Wednesday night line up is exactly what you're looking for.
belus
Member
I want to second this suggestion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOAJgtHSo8EVaarok said:
edit: there's a second video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKTgWCzMUUg
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Tom Fury
Member
Sigh:
Tell us about the one you thought you saw but can't remember; chances are we've seen it.
I think we've established that Hollywoods' take on us is at best, less than informative, and at worst, twisted and exploitative in search of $.
I have been watching a British series where they have sent their intrepid correspondent to study real American culture; of course he had to work us over and no, he didn't get it at all.
That said, I think the only way to study it and gain any meaningful insight is to come see it in context, up close and personal. She needs to come over here. (And be prepared to lose the mindset she can preserve by judging it from a distance).
What you can't describe adequately is the freedom we feel about most things, which extends to firearms. Its' not in the EU frame of reference.
Tell us about the one you thought you saw but can't remember; chances are we've seen it.
I think we've established that Hollywoods' take on us is at best, less than informative, and at worst, twisted and exploitative in search of $.
I have been watching a British series where they have sent their intrepid correspondent to study real American culture; of course he had to work us over and no, he didn't get it at all.
That said, I think the only way to study it and gain any meaningful insight is to come see it in context, up close and personal. She needs to come over here. (And be prepared to lose the mindset she can preserve by judging it from a distance).
What you can't describe adequately is the freedom we feel about most things, which extends to firearms. Its' not in the EU frame of reference.
Cosmoline
Member
No way! The Shootist is an *ANTI GUN* film. It links personal firearms with murder, and ends with Wayne's character nodding with approval as Opie puts down the firearm. It's a lot of dreck.
Cosmoline
Member
I think some of you need to re-read the OP
CNYCacher
Member
Wasn't there a DVD documentary called "In search of the second amendment" or something like that?
Tom Fury
Member
RE; Shootist
I never saw it that way; More of an anti-glamorized violence film. I believe Books rightly perceived that young Opie had come to worship at the altar of violence and the Dark Side of his own past and lifestyle. He didn't largely have the time to communicate the honor of serving the law and his country and community, or of knowing other men Good and Bad who didn't flinch.
Death doesn't care what you're trying to do when it comes; I think the Duke was trying to split the difference between his and the characters' own mortality and the truth of who he (Books) was. No Father would wish his son to choose that lifestyle for the reasons Opie would have chosen it. Having been somewhat thrust into that role, I think Books had to make something better of it as he could. At least leave the boy disillusioned that living by the sword was the way to go. I think Books' approval was of the fact that Opie had made a choice that was his own as a man, instead of continuing without thinking into the romantic gunfighter mentality he had been possessed of before.(Opie the mall Ninja...).
The movie is also about the end of an age; romantically a lawless time; granted maybe in some ways a freer one. Don't know I'd pay the price to go back to it. I believe the film rightly evokes the ambivalence of the change in culture. I also believe the gun culture is responsible to what we portray about violence and how we allow it to become part of our lives. (Or am I the only one who fears that for every stereotype theres' a prototype...know a couple mall Ninjas, and I know some folks who are the archetype of the worst things said about us).
Anyway, I think The Duke handled the issue much more cleanly and with much more integrity than Eastwood (The Unforgiven).
Don't even bring up Mel Gibson.
I expect you are up against the European stereotype that we (Americans, not just shooters) are impossibly violent and dangerous; good luck.
Freedom is about having the character to make difficult choices, and not flinching from the responsibility; tell her about that part of it.
cheers, TF
I never saw it that way; More of an anti-glamorized violence film. I believe Books rightly perceived that young Opie had come to worship at the altar of violence and the Dark Side of his own past and lifestyle. He didn't largely have the time to communicate the honor of serving the law and his country and community, or of knowing other men Good and Bad who didn't flinch.
Death doesn't care what you're trying to do when it comes; I think the Duke was trying to split the difference between his and the characters' own mortality and the truth of who he (Books) was. No Father would wish his son to choose that lifestyle for the reasons Opie would have chosen it. Having been somewhat thrust into that role, I think Books had to make something better of it as he could. At least leave the boy disillusioned that living by the sword was the way to go. I think Books' approval was of the fact that Opie had made a choice that was his own as a man, instead of continuing without thinking into the romantic gunfighter mentality he had been possessed of before.(Opie the mall Ninja...).
The movie is also about the end of an age; romantically a lawless time; granted maybe in some ways a freer one. Don't know I'd pay the price to go back to it. I believe the film rightly evokes the ambivalence of the change in culture. I also believe the gun culture is responsible to what we portray about violence and how we allow it to become part of our lives. (Or am I the only one who fears that for every stereotype theres' a prototype...know a couple mall Ninjas, and I know some folks who are the archetype of the worst things said about us).
Anyway, I think The Duke handled the issue much more cleanly and with much more integrity than Eastwood (The Unforgiven).
Don't even bring up Mel Gibson.
I expect you are up against the European stereotype that we (Americans, not just shooters) are impossibly violent and dangerous; good luck.
Freedom is about having the character to make difficult choices, and not flinching from the responsibility; tell her about that part of it.
cheers, TF
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rickomatic
Member
Here's a good one.
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