Why do Hollywood actors exhibit such poor firearm retention skills?

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jimpeel

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In film after film, and program after program, the hero/victim/object-of-bad-guy loses their firearm -- usually as a result of a slip-and-fall or some such -- and tosses the thing twenty feet or more from their control, over a cliff, down some stairs, out of a window, into the ocean, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

When an opportunity presents itself for the hero/victim/object-of-bad-guy to arm themselves with a fallen weapon dropped by the bad guy, they invariably simply run away leaving the weapon laying there.

I guess I just live too much in the real world.
 
jim,

It is the magiacal world of make believe for the Hollywood crowd. As for the movies I am not sure why they do what they do save to say that for them it is art imitating life.
 
It's just a movie, and it would be far less entertaining if made to be more realistic. One good example is the actor holding the gun near his face with the muzzle pointed up at an angle. This is done only to get the gun in the closeup shot. Another classic is when someone goodguy/badguy is holding someone at gunpoint using a pump shotgun. They have the drop on them, even make them drop their own gun, then order them to do something. The person refuses, so then they "Rack" the slide on the shotgun. Why is this so funny? Well, it's obvious that the shotgun has had an empty chamber the entire time until now........:rolleyes:
 
Gun inconsistencies (?absurdities) are slightly better these days .... you can be lucky and find 1911's used that have an 8 round mag instead of 30! There are also cases flying out of semi's etc .... slightly more realistic but .... still usually wonder how those full auto weapons manage to cram 100 rounds into a 30 round mag!!

Not totally related but .. has always amazed and amused me how, good guys in particular ....... seem to wear leather soled shoes ... and no matter how hard they try to be quiet, the shoes ''click,click'' as they walk on concrete ... great ''silent approach'' . NOT! Must be those directors again!!
 
TheeBadOne

Well, it's obvious that the shotgun has had an empty chamber the entire time until now........
Or they have just jacked one, perhaps their last, round onto the floor.:confused:
 
Perhaps I should have added, that they rack the slide without pressing a release and no round ejects and falls out. Sometimes the set up is even better. They load the shotgun before going in (yes, even one in the chamber), yet this same sequence repeats itself. What happened to the round in the chamber?
I've even seen the "I'm mean it now" slide racking done on a pistol, but the shotgun seems to be the most popular. Can't blame them for that though, nothing sounds as impressive as racking the slide on a 12 ga pump. :eek:
 
Why do Hollywood actors exhibit such poor firearm retention skills? ....because it's ACTING & it's FAKE! :neener:
 
Slightly different take but in one of Jack Higgins' books his feisty little Irishman (somebody here knows his name) lokks at this big thug mob type who has a Walther on him and says "you haven't chambered a round" or words to that effect. As the much bigger guy attempts to chamber a round, little Irish dude kicks his buttocks.
 
You do live in the real world. It's called "ACTING." This means actors don't know anything about guns, handling them, gun safety -- anything connected with them. They're ACTING, it's called making stuff up and playing pretend. To them, it's just a prop.:rolleyes:
 
P95Carry

Most of what you hear in the movies, footsteps, cases clinking to the floor, etc are added by what are called "Foley Operators" who insert the sound effects into the film's soundtrack.

I think my favorite firearm gaff in a film was in "Stand By Me" wherein the kid fires a 1911 into the air to get the bag guys' attention; and in the next scene, cocks it as he points it at the head bad guy to enphasize his threat.
 
One of the best movies for gun funnies, and one I harp on all the time, is the first "Die Hard."

Remember the scene where the SWAT team gets to the front door of the building and they start using a cutting torch on the lock to gain entry? The bad guys open fire and shoot out the glass, hitting some of the SWAT members. Why didn't the SWAT guys just break through the glass?
 
Most of what you hear in the movies, footsteps, cases clinking to the floor, etc are added by what are called "Foley Operators" who insert the sound effects into the film's soundtrack.
yeah . I realize they do this ... just seems so incongruous sometimes when a guy is meant to be quiet (well ----- situation would demand it:rolleyes: ) ... and there he is clicking his way around .. seems so absurd!

One of the relatively better movies for gun presentation that came to mind was ''Heat'' ... DeNiro and Pacino etc ...... a tad more convincing than many.
 
Actors not doing their job in terms of research. Directors not doing their job in terms of research. On set it's the responsibility of the Weapons Master to handle this kind of stuff. Apparently most Weapons Masters are idiots. If you can get a dvd of The Matrix there is good segment of the Weapons Master giving lessons to the actors on firearms. I can't recall the guys name but he is the top in the nation. If you recall that was a great gun movie.
 
Except for the .223 brass being ejected from the 9's....

There was also the bit where the sound guys flubbed and added in the sound of a rifle shot when the weapon being fired was a shotgun.


And not to drag this too far off topic, but has anyone figured out what in the heck kind of guns Mouse was shooting in his oh-so Sam Pekinpah death scene?:confused:
 
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