Hollywood gun goofs

[P&R Fan]

Like most of you, when I watch TV or a movie I always notice gun goofs. I am totally addicted to the TV show 24. In my opinion it is the second best show ever made, after Andy Griffith, of course. But the gunplay in it is terrible. Jack is a real BA, but he always has his finger on the trigger (A violation of Rule #3). He also NEVER has a round in the chamber. He will unholster his gun and always has to chamber a round. I was watching Season 3 tonight (for the 8th time) and Michelle Dessler pulls out her Glock and clearly chambers a round. A second later it shows a side view of her searching a room (with her finger off the trigger I might add, she could teach Jack a few things) and it clearly shows the trigger is back, meaning it is not cocked, so no round in the chamber.

You would think these shows would hire producers that know something about guns.
Almost never happens.
Jim

 

[italiansport]

I believe the reason they do this is to create a sense of "action". Ever notice that when a Thompson SMG is used in a movie the bolt always has to be racked back before it can be fired. Anyway that's my opinion.
Jim

 

[the ringo kid]

Mine is, is the producers no longer care whats accurate just so they can churn the shows out on time and make their money and keep bosses happy..

 

[Robotech]

You would think these shows would hire producers that know something about guns.
Almost never happens.
Jim

I suspect the producers and most of the directors are clueless, but what are the "armorers" and fight coordinators working on these productions doing? You would think that they would know better, and try to keep the directors and actors on-track. At least the couple I've met would, but the action scenes on that show were key, and the fans would have been "all over them" if they made mistakes.

The really aggravating mistake that STILL keeps showing up is cap-and-ball revolvers being used inappropriately, frequently where they're wearing cartridge belts and pretending to reload using them with the cartridges, or the gun magically changes to a different model, etc. And of course, they never have caps on the nipples anyway. Well, it probably makes a safer "prop", so an idiot actor can't stick in a "blank" cartridge, and use it to punch a hole in his head...

 

[Mike Grasso]

OK, don't gang up on me right a way, LOL.

I've been a Tech Advisor to Hollywood for some 25 years.

My credits include, The Untouchables, The Rock, Heat and a bunch more I hope you've seen. (I was even one of the guys teaching on The Last of The Mohicans)

I don't do 24 but I have another show on FOX called "Bones".

The way it works is pretty simple, I show them how it would be realistically without giving up any real world tactics.

If it works for the scene, they do it. If it isn't dramatic enough, they don't do it. Quite simple.

As for racking the slide, well it's dramatic, it raises my blood pressure but normally it isn't done on a show I'm doing.
It's like putting the pistol close to their face when they stand still, LOL, it's a two shot! The Actor and the weapon!

My personal pet peeve is that we always know exactly how many rounds are being fired, we only load the weapon with that amount PLUS ONE DUMMY ROUND so the slide doesn't go to lock, but I see it happen.

So I feel for you, it makes me even crazier.

Mike Grasso

Cinematic & Practical Experience

 

[badge]

Kudo's Mike. All of those mentioned shows show period or appropriate firearms that are being used as they were supposed to be used. You didn't teach for Street Survival by any chance? If so, I attended several and they certainly helped keep me safe and sound both on the street as well as post critical incident. Thanks again if I have the right party.

 

[chud333]

The biggest goof i see time and time again is the handgun
with the "endless" magazine/cylinder.
A big shootout with no changing of the magazine or reloads
and the dude fires off 30-40 rounds.
Another is the scenes with Machineguns. Same thing.
If you are shooting an automatic weapon with a 30 rd.
magazine at 800 rounds per minute you can't stay on the
trigger for 2 minutes without running empty.
I much prefer movies and TV shows that are true to life
firearm wise.


Chuck

 

[Mike Grasso]

Kudo's Mike. All of those mentioned shows show period or appropriate firearms that are being used as they were supposed to be used. You didn't teach for Street Survival by any chance? If so, I attended several and they certainly helped keep me safe and sound both on the street as well as post critical incident. Thanks again if I have the right party.

I did a few times in the 80s and even did a couple of Adjuncts at Gunsite in my early days.

The biggest goof i see time and time again is the handgun
with the "endless" magazine/cylinder.
A big shootout with no changing of the magazine or reloads
and the dude fires off 30-40 rounds.
Another is the scenes with Machineguns. Same thing.
If you are shooting an automatic weapon with a 30 rd.
magazine at 800 rounds per minute you can't stay on the
trigger for 2 minutes without running empty.
I much prefer movies and TV shows that are true to life
firearm wise.
Chuck

OMG Chuck, spot on. It drives my wife crazy when we are watching a movie and I mumble, reload, reload your out of ammo.

But I want one of those infinitely belt fed 1911s like we had on Terminator II!

 

[Beemerguy53]

Great thread topic! Where to start with this one? Let's see...

First, there is the endless ammo supply in most movie guns. Then we have the huge muzzle flashes in a perfectly symmetric pattern, usually from rifles or machine guns. Bullets always spark whenever they hit something, which is totally ridiculous. No recoil in movie guns, ever. Overuse of machine guns or automatic weapons. Impossible shots are routine, especially for heroes and good guys.

This would be frustrating enough if it only affected the entertainment industry, but I am convinced some of this stuff has influenced lawmakers as well...

 

[Rastoff]

Kudos to you Mike for "Bones". Booth plays one of the most believable ex-snipers I've seen.

 

[GKC]

It always amuses me when in a movie or TV show, the police are getting ready to enter a building or whatever, and they all pull their Glocks and you hear the sounds of them being cocked. Not the slide being racked, but a distinct cocking sound, like you'd hear with a revolver or a DA semi with a hammer.

As mentioned, there are the guns who never have to be reloaded. Like in "Open Range", where Kevin Costner shot 14 times from a single 6-shot revolver. In an interview, he later said he knew it wasn't correct, but felt that stopping to reload would have ruined the continuity of the scene.

Something that gives me the dry gripes is when the shooter runs out of ammo in his gun, he throws his gun at his opponent. This used to be standard fare in old westerns and detective movies, but not so much anymore. It was funny in Casino Royale (the Daniel Craig version) when the bomb maker threw his gun at Bond, and Bond caught it and threw it back.

I also find it irritating when a writer can't get the basics right in a book. I like to read certain kinds of crime fiction, like John Sandford's "Prey" series, and Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series. Both authors have had their characters taking off the safeties on Glocks. I made mention of it on Sandford's Facebook page, and Sandford himself posted an article about my comment...explaining how it comes to happen. Basically, he said that sometimes he would start out with the character having one type of gun, and then later change his mind and have the character carry a different type of gun. He would go back and edit the name of the gun, but missed the "safety" reference. In other words, he knew the difference, and it was simply a mistake in the writing process, not a lack of knowledge about guns. (I got hundreds of angry messages from his fans, basically calling for me to be drawn and quartered...I was sure glad I didn't have my specific address listed, for I felt sure a caravan of crazed Sandford fans would have been heading my way if they knew where to find me! )

The other thing that always seems to happen is that the bad guys are incredibly bad shots, missing repeatedly, but the good guy always hits several bad guys with one shot.

 

[george minze]

It's the movies, one shot knock downs, never run out of ammo, racking the slide twice. Because we are gun people we notice things like that. As Mr. Grasso say's...I tell them the right way, they the directors make the decision based on what they think the GENERAL public will like and some what understand. Lets face it I'll bet most on this site loved John Wayne (me included) but that scene in True Grit with rains in his teeth and two single action revolvers firing and the bad guys go down...come on....try that sometime...NO don't try that horses can be expensive. A couple of friends of mine from the PRCA that played small parts in a few westerns told me that some scenes the horses have cotton in their ears.. Mr. Grasso can advise if that is the truth or my buddies could have been pulling my leg.....It's the movies!

 

[dickttx]

We have been watching the Lt Joe Kenda series lately. EVERY time a gun is involved he describes it while showing a completely different one. And every time it is shown it is a different gun.

 

[jonny13sb]

I watched a Dragnet episode the other day and Joe Friday identified the bad guys gun as a 'Colt 38' while showing an old S&W M&P.

 

[Donn]

I am totally addicted to the TV show 24. In my opinion it is the second best show ever made, after Andy Griffith, of course. But the gunplay in it is terrible. Jack is a real BA, but he always has his finger on the trigger (A violation of Rule #3). He also NEVER has a round in the chamber. He will unholster his gun and always has to chamber a round. Jim

C'mon Jim, Bauer's an operator. Rules don't apply to those guys. Like George said, "It's the movies."

 

[Bell2]

Yeah it makes you wonder How the defenders of the Alamo ever lost when George Montgomery and the others were using Winchester lever action rifles and Colt cartridge revolvers against Santa Anna's troops I literally laughed out loud when I saw that!

 

[Grayfox]

The one that always gets me is when the good guy pulls out his little .38 snubby, fires an unaimed quick shot and hits the bad guy 50 yards away.

 

[Faulkner]

Ya'll do realize it's make believe, right?

Really, now, if they can't get the historical content correct what would make us think they can get the technical content correct? Besides, these folks make money off of condemning drug use by the general public and showing fantastic gun play all the while they're using drugs and condemning gun ownership.

 

[Jessie]

The thing is, a business tailors its business to capture the most customers. Probably 90% of viewers don't have a clue what were talking about.
Selling movies/ tv is a business.

 

[Jaysq]

I was watching a show the other night when the police brought out the long guns. Two officers had to rack theirs twice to get them chambered.