"Mack" from FutureWeapons is OK by me!

[hankdatank1362]

Well, he might not be the best actor.

I was at the gym earlier tonight, and the treadmill I was on happened to be in front of Headline Prime...and at 7 pm, Glenn Beck is on. After a bunch of garbage about the new minimum wage bill and Nancy Pelosi (I wasn't paying attention), I recognized the Mr. Clean-esque demeanor of Richard "Mack" Machowicz, host of FutureWeapons on the Discovery Channel, promoting the new season of his show.

Glenn Beck was asking typical talk-show host questions, such as "So America really has guns that can shoot around corners?!?!?!" (I assume he was referring to the CORNERSHOT system, and various imitations of)

And then Beck goes on to bash these so-called "Smart Weapons" by saying that if an innocent happens to be injured or killed using these technologically enhanced "fool-proof" weapons, then it will look like it occured on purpose. He actually said firebombing entire cities was better, because then people expect collateral damage.

Then, Mack proceeds to totally rebuke any point Beck was trying to make by talking, rather eloquently and intelligently, about how all these advancements in technology make our weapons more efficient and surgically precise, thereby reducing the chances that an innocent might be inadvertadly harmed.

Now I don't know how the actualy argument sounded (The TV was on Closed-caption, and I had my mp3 player on) but it read fantastic.

I formally retract anything bad I might have said about Mack. He's OK by me!

 

[Snappy_13]

Macks pretty cool

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

brace yourself

in a sec some folks will show up and bad mouth him and question the validity of his service record. of course most of them are pretty quiet about their own service.

 

[Hoppy590]

sounds like hes a smart guy, i just dont think hes a good presentor. but that maybe the writing staff trying to hype up everything


haha
cassandrasdaddy
that was almost clock work

 

[wooderson]

The writing staff hits the 'whoa' moments pretty hard, but he seems to enjoy himself.

I watch these shows (FutureWeapons, Mythbusters, etc.) to see stuff blow up, not for tacticool tips and hard science.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

heck

his presentation style is fair game and i'm not w=enamored of it myself the toys he plays with i like a ton. the folks who anonymously question his service are below contemptable. seals ain't shy if he was bs'ing i feel safe that someone would call him on it..and i mean a real man with cred not some 14 year old in his moms basement.

i had some draft dodger try to question bob doles injuries the other day hes someone i've met and i am hoping to see him soon

 

[Seancass]

danget, i just realised i forgot to watch that!

 

[bogie]

We just hate him because he gets to play with the stuff we wish we could.

 

[JLStorm]

I think the show is pretty cool, Mack sure does seem to whisper a lot for no apparent reason though.

 

[Zoogster]

Mack sure does seem to whisper a lot for no apparent reason though.

Maybe he is half deaf from enjoying those toys too often and is overcompensating for being too loud like many hard of hearing people are.

 

[thexrayboy]

Mack was simply restating basic facts to Mr. Beck. It is not the technology that kills it is application of technology that kills. Apply it carefully and it performs as intended, apply it indiscriminately and you get "collateral damage". Basically he was restating the rule, know your target and what is beyond your target before firing.

Journalists live on sensationalism. Facts, evidence, truth, these concepts can be rather bland at times and bland doesn't get ratings. Thats why the
uninformed who scream "the sky is falling" get the lead on a news report rather than the scientists who calmly refute the unfounded claims.

 

[CDignition]

I lost faith in him when he called a 7.62x39 AK round a ".308 Sniper round" used by US Snipers..He held it in his hand, it was easy to see how wrong he was...

 

[Biker]

Beck is an idiot. A few years ago he was worth listening to. Today? He's an idiot...or, as he puts it, a "rodeo clown", a wannabe Limbaugh.
Of course, Limbaugh is a parody of himself these days.

Biker

 

[bogie]

Watched the show... A little overdramatic, but hey... Looked like fun.

Also, it may have just been the angle, but I swear the scope tube was visibly deflecting on the .50 sniper rifle in one of the slowmo shots... I wouldn't want that on one of my rifles...

 

[Husker1911]

Biker, I'd sure enjoy spending an evening with you, old salt! Numerous sparkling adult beverages would be drunk, pal!

 

[The Cavalry]

Looked like they were shooting a British knockoff of the Barrett .50 cal on last night's show.

 

[dfaugh]

Yeah, I watched part of last nights show to...and he really, Really, REALLY needs to learn how to say "incendiary", especially if he's gonna use it in every other sentence in the segment:banghead:

Basically, its a cool/fun show w/ neat toys, but his presentation often needs some work.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I thought you knew that Incinderary rounds are just miniture Nukyular rounds, dfaugh

 

[Estela216]

I'm glad he didn't just sit back and take it. Good for him for defending proper use of firearms.

 

[50 Freak]

I don't question his service record. That boy can shoot, have you seen him hit long distance targets with an Tavor and a target 2000 yards away with the AS-50.

The only thing I find odd is that when he was shooting the Tavor and AK, he would blink his eyes as the gun went off. I'd think if your business was shooting guns at people, you'd learn how to not blink/close your eyes while pulling the trigger.

 

[HSMITH]

My only complaint with him is a pretty nasty flinch when shooting, I have seen it several times (because I like the show) and wonder how a SEAL could function with a flinch.........

 

[nico]

Basically, its a cool/fun show w/ neat toys, but his presentation often needs some work.

I agree. His knowledge of the subject matter often seems to be lacking (ie: saying American snipers use 7.62x39, like someone mentioned), but if he really does the shooting as they portray it, he's a damn good shot.

I noticed the scope base deflection on last night's show too.

I also hate him because he gets paid to play with toys I'll never even see in person

 

[Cosmoline]

The man held up a .308 and said it was the cartridge used in the AK-47, which pretty much rules him out as any sort of arms expert. That's a mistake so profound and fundamental that it's impossible to overlook. It's even more disturbing coming from someone who was supposedly trained to use battlefield pickups and third world weaponry.

I've also found his show, "Future Weapons" to be little more than a long sales pitch for military contractors spending billions of our dollars on projects of VERY questionable merit. Of course, "Mack" never questions it. The show is one of a batch, along with "Man vs. Wild," "Stunt Junkies" and others, that Disco. producers are pushing. They take an idea already explored by more traditional discovery shows and crank it "to the xtreeeeme." They're slick and have lots of flash and bang, but when you look beyond the style the substance is lacking.

That boy can shoot, have you seen him hit long distance targets with an Tavor and a target 2000 yards away with the AS-50.

I saw that sequence, and it was cut in such a way as to make it impossible to tell if he was actually hitting the targets from the distance he claimed. They'd have a closeup of him, then of the target, then of him again. There were scant wide angle shots.

My only complaint with him is a pretty nasty flinch when shooting, I have seen it several times (because I like the show) and wonder how a SEAL could function with a flinch.........

It does indeed make one wonder.

n a sec some folks will show up and bad mouth him and question the validity of his service record. of course most of them are pretty quiet about their own service.

Oh, give me a break. I don't give a flying monkey whether he's a SEAL or an operator or whatever. If he doesn't know a .308 from a 7.62x39, he AIN'T NO EXPERT. But he's got a square jaw and the camera loves him, so I expect he'll have a bright future in Sillywood.

 

['Card]

*chuckle*

I love that new Army recruiting commercial. Have you seen that?
"...not just the strength to get over, but the strength to get over yourself."

But I digress...

The show is harmless fun. It's not a training video. It's not an intelligence briefing. It's not a tactical analysis. It's not a detailed examination of near-future weapon capabilities. It's a guy shooting stuff and making stuff blow up. Is Mack an electrifying host? No. Who cares? Nobody watches it because they want to listen to the host.

As far as the occasional error is concerned... if I had to perform what is basically a 30-minute monologue on weapons and ammo, I'd probably make an error once in awhile too. I'll have to keep reminding myself that this tendency on my part makes me an instant idiot in the eyes of the internet.

 

[Cosmoline]

It goes beyond the errors. The more I watch, the less I trust anything I'm seeing. It's similar in that respect to "Man vs. Wild," where the host's main goal seems to be finding waterfalls to climb down while remarking at the extreme danger he's in and how lonely it is in the wild with only a film crew and a team of line producers to protect him The show it replaced, "Survivorman," was much more low-key but had a good deal of practical information. It rang true, and I trusted the host. If I watch a weapons show, I want it to be fact-based and unbiased. That doesn't mean they can't screw up. The HC's "Tales of the Gun" had its share of errors, but I never got the sense I was watching a song and dance show led by a snakeoil salesman.