Probably the movie the bugged me the worst was "Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis. I believe he is shooting 1911's in .45 ACP. In his hand it only produces a little muzzle flip. But the guys hit with these magic bullets are picked up and knocked backwards about 5 to 10 feet through window panes or do back flips, etc. Even being fairly young when I saw it, it was so exaggerated and unrealistic it bothered me. Of course that just matched the script, acting and the rest...
Movie gun myths/reality comparison/debunked
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mcdonl
Member
What kills me is when they do show the guy/gal racking the slide. It must be an unwritten rule that you cannot have one in the chamber if you are carrying on camera.
So true! I always find it hilarious when in a T.V. show or movie that they have a pump shotgun pointed at a bad guy. If the bad guy makes the tiniest move, they slide the pump to let the BG know they mean business! Sooo, you were covering the BG this entire time with no shell in the chamber?
Puts a smile on my face every time.
xcgates
Member
Just watched Grosse Pointe Blank, and at the beginning of the movie there is a scene where one guy with two revolvers fires a steady stream of 20+ rounds into 3 guy on the ground, then discards the guns when they "run out".
The first time I ever watched it, my friend and I ran back and forth over that section trying to count just how many rounds a revolver supposedly could hold.
The first time I ever watched it, my friend and I ran back and forth over that section trying to count just how many rounds a revolver supposedly could hold.
qajaq59
Member
That one just drives me up the walls.
Quoheleth
Member
Personally, my favorite SPOOF gun scenes are in BLAZING SADDLES...
- the scene where the bad guys are all lined up to shoot the Ringo Kid. He's counting, "1....2....3...." and the bad guys guns are all "recoiling" without the sound of a shot going off.
- none of the guns are cocked yet they always fire
- the 500 yard pistol shot (yeah, I know...Elmer did it, but Gene Wilder ain't Elmer) to set off the explosives
There are probably more. I know, this isn't exactly what you meant, but those scenes always make me smile (along with most of the movie).
Q
- the scene where the bad guys are all lined up to shoot the Ringo Kid. He's counting, "1....2....3...." and the bad guys guns are all "recoiling" without the sound of a shot going off.
- none of the guns are cocked yet they always fire
- the 500 yard pistol shot (yeah, I know...Elmer did it, but Gene Wilder ain't Elmer) to set off the explosives
There are probably more. I know, this isn't exactly what you meant, but those scenes always make me smile (along with most of the movie).
Q
dwave
Member
I think the directors play too many video games using the "unlimited ammo cheat"
The shotgun thing bothers me too. What I love the most though is the movies where the person racks the shotgun, then a few minutes later does it again. If I remember right it was done in Stargate.
The shotgun thing bothers me too. What I love the most though is the movies where the person racks the shotgun, then a few minutes later does it again. If I remember right it was done in Stargate.
cougar1717
Member
Great thread. Here's a few more:
The head shot must be a perfect tiny hole between the eyes or on the forehead, usually with very little mess. (Or in some cases with a whole lot of mess.)
Firing with accuracy at someone through a wall.
Shotguns that put a basketball size pattern straight through a wall.
The silenced revolver in Magnum Force. (It even made the "psst" sound!)
The head shot must be a perfect tiny hole between the eyes or on the forehead, usually with very little mess. (Or in some cases with a whole lot of mess.)
Firing with accuracy at someone through a wall.
Shotguns that put a basketball size pattern straight through a wall.
The silenced revolver in Magnum Force. (It even made the "psst" sound!)
xcgates
Member
dwave, one of the reasons I actually liked the Resident Evil movie was that they didn't have a whole boatload of ammo. In fact, they conserve ammo, and still run out.
Okay, so not really great cinema, and I never played the video game, but dangit, I'll still admit I liked that series. Even the sequels. (Now I will go hide and cry, kind of like when people catch me watching the original Fast and Furious)
Okay, so not really great cinema, and I never played the video game, but dangit, I'll still admit I liked that series. Even the sequels. (Now I will go hide and cry, kind of like when people catch me watching the original Fast and Furious)
LeontheProfessional
Member
Johnny Depp going blind in Once Upon A Time In Mexico able to hit his exact target using only sound because his eyes had just been gouged out.
Bruce Willis using duel 1911s with a 15 round capacity in Last Man Standing.
The Sniper in Saving Private Ryan is rarely on target when hits the Germans from the Bell tower.
Bruce Willis using duel 1911s with a 15 round capacity in Last Man Standing.
The Sniper in Saving Private Ryan is rarely on target when hits the Germans from the Bell tower.
The_Pretender
Member
Well, if it were depicted like real life, it wouldn't be near as exciting.
Gotta have embellishments to make it entertaining. There are all sorts of things that aren't realistic in movies, guns aside.
Don't get me wrong, these things irk me too. But you can't argue with every last idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about.
And Lord knows there are plenty of idiots.
Gotta have embellishments to make it entertaining. There are all sorts of things that aren't realistic in movies, guns aside.
Don't get me wrong, these things irk me too. But you can't argue with every last idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about.
And Lord knows there are plenty of idiots.
jakemccoy
Member
In Book of Eli, the main character (Denzel Washington) pumps his shotgun 2 or 3 times before firing it. As you know, doing so would cause live ammo to fly out of the receiver. That was odd because ammo was worth about the same as gold, pound for pound. You'd only notice this director mistake if you are a shotgun user who's paying attention. There were a lot of other strange things happening with guns in that movie.
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hammerklavier
Member
That happens with the detective in Castle, she always uses a reverse grip to rack the slide prior to entering a hostile situation. In one show she draws and drops a guy without racking the slide. I said, good thing she left one chambered from the last time she racked the slide!
Another one from literature, in Michener's Texas he has someone flipping off the safety on an 1870's Colt revolver. He's a good writer, but doesn't seem to like battles or weapons that much.
natural marksman
Member
I remeber watching starship troopers for the first time a few years ago. In the entire movie, each individual soldier must have put a few thousand rounds through their guns easy, but you only see one of them reload once... that bugs me
And in another movie with Wesley Snipes, him and this lady blow up a car by shooting the fuel tank cap... with pistols, which is impossible
Why bugs me the most is seeing "professional" people like police, soldiers an SWAT guys pointing their pistols in the most UNSAFE direction imaginable: upwards. Any well trained shooter knows to point the gun on a safe direction, and it's very obvious that pointing it upwards close to face and with the finger resting on the trigger, it's a wonder they don't accidentally shoot themselves in the face. And when the shooter cocks the pistol with their shooting hand thumb, that's dangerous :O
But then I have to remember these are actors, not true professional police and soldiers, and from the looks of things, it seems like nobody has given them any trainig on gun safety. But hey, it's just a movie
And in another movie with Wesley Snipes, him and this lady blow up a car by shooting the fuel tank cap... with pistols, which is impossible
Why bugs me the most is seeing "professional" people like police, soldiers an SWAT guys pointing their pistols in the most UNSAFE direction imaginable: upwards. Any well trained shooter knows to point the gun on a safe direction, and it's very obvious that pointing it upwards close to face and with the finger resting on the trigger, it's a wonder they don't accidentally shoot themselves in the face. And when the shooter cocks the pistol with their shooting hand thumb, that's dangerous :O
But then I have to remember these are actors, not true professional police and soldiers, and from the looks of things, it seems like nobody has given them any trainig on gun safety. But hey, it's just a movie
jakemccoy
Member
lgbloader said:
Maybe average amateur musicians are like that. However, pro-level musicians with unlimited talent are some of the humblest people I know.
"Hollywood Six Shooter" is a term that's been around as long as I can remember and was probably in effect back when qajaq59 was 6. Hollywood isn't about realism and they hate dead spots in the action and they hate not having sounds to telegraph action to the audience. So we get the ∞ shooter and semiautos with revolver cocking sounds and flying gunshot victims and huge shoot through blood bursts and ... .
The whole business with racking the slide of a shotgun to scare off a BG probably originated with some foley artist trying to make things seem more impressive in the movies.
The whole business with racking the slide of a shotgun to scare off a BG probably originated with some foley artist trying to make things seem more impressive in the movies.
qajaq59
Member
I still like the movies where ten bad guys have full autos and the good guy has a 9mm. And he gets them all.
Joe Demko
Member
There have been a few movies with somewhat realistic gunhandling. They never come up in lists of "great action movies" whereas Predator, the Terminator Series, Die Hard, etc. can always be counted on to dominate such lists.
jakemccoy
Member
The movie Taken is great if you can suspend your disbelief. If you are unable to do so, then you will get pissed and I recommend you don't watch this movie. The main character gets himself into multiple gun fights against multiple thugs who are armed with multiple rifles that have lots of rounds. The main character is armed with a handgun of course and wins every time.
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Just One Shot
Member
On the flip side, I can't stand movies where people are firing hundreds of rounds out of an automatic firearm from 20-30' and can't hit jack squat!
In the movie "The Book of Eli" just mentioned, at one point the hero Eli is in a street and the bad guys try to shoot him. They miss of course and he shoots them all single handed with a pistol including a bad guy on a roof that is ties to shoot him with a rifle.
In the end we learn that he is BLIND.
In the end we learn that he is BLIND.
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