How real on the screen?

[Jersey Doug]

I've been over on the another S&W forum area here, for years,,(I usually post in the 1961 to 1980 section where this topic wouldn't have correct content for there). The thought accrued to me (you may have already been through it) be interesting to hear others observations on this subject. so here's my first.

Realism of movies and TV. I was impressed with the movie U.S. Marshals (1998 Tommy lee Jones) when Sam Gerard took his shot, fired over the shoulder of his partner and about deafened him. Thought that was smart them knowing and showing this effect.. Very rare, never see shaking the head, finder to the ear, etc. from the unprotected blast.
Just wondering if someone else saw something and thought, "that was really smart how that was added into the scene ?"

 

[Joni_Lynn]

I appreciate when someone goes to the effort to make the firearms scenes as realistic as possible. The fake stuff looks fake. (bullets bouncing of a sofa and sparks flying) Sometimes I think they need to hire someone to help them get the stuff right and not have it look fake or too hollywood weird.

 

[Ghost Magnum]

Marry Elizabeth Winsteads character in 10th Cloverfield Lane was deafened for a short time when a gun was fired in a small room.

 

[Absalom]

You also had the deafening effect used and emphasized in "Blackhawk Down", with the soldier firing the SAW too close to the other guy's face.

In general, it depends. I notice historical inaccuracies like guns that don't fit the period, like the Winchesters and SAA Colts in "The Comancheros" which is set in the 1840s, or practical inaccuracies like Kevin Costner's 8-or-9 shot SAA in "Open Range".

On the other hand, the slow-motion gun effects in Sam Peckinpah's classic movies like "The Wild Bunch", or in John Woo's action movies, certainly are not "realistic" in any normal sense, but as entertainment and visual art they are great.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Like every gunshot in a Sergio Leone film is followed by a 3 second ricochet??

 

[Ghost Magnum]

Heat was pretty accurate with firearms. But there was some mistakes.
Sam raimi quick and the dead was correct with the Confederate Revolver.

 

[Tom K]

There was a movie from 2001 called "Heist", starring Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito. It's a heist movie (of course) involving double cross, triple cross, and I don't know how many levels of deception.

Near the end there's a shootout between Hackman and his guys, and DeVito and his guys. It is very disorganized and chaotic with the gunmen involved scrambling in terror for their lives as they are shot at, and shooting back wildly. Decidedly amateurish with hits happening mostly only by accident, instead of the usual movie type steely-eyed professionals. What you might reasonably expect to actually see in real life in a shootout between ordinary, untrained guys with guns, who likely have never been shot at before or pulled a trigger on another person. As opposed to the standard movie shootout that looks choreographed, because it is.

There's also an interesting (and darkly humorous) final scene between Hackman and DeVito at the end of the shootout. I won't spoil it but I will say that it harkens back to, and is approximately the reverse of, the final scene between Hackman and Eastwood in "Unforgiven".

 

[Muss Muggins]

You mean "The Matrix" isn't real?

 

[TomkinsSP]

Sorry, thought this was about the 'really big hoe' in Dog River Saskatchewan. (Corner Gas reference)

 

[shouldazagged]

In "Copland", the only Stallone flick I've seen that I halfway liked, his character was deliberately deafened by one of the bad guys by firing a Glock right along side his good ear (he was supposedly already deaf in the other one). At that point the sound went dead for several minutes. Nice gimmick.

 

[JayFramer]

Probably in Black Hawk Down when a similar thing happened where the one guy shot the machine gun and knocked out the hearing of that other guy... good scene!

 

[amazingflapjack]

Heat...

Heat was pretty accurate with firearms. But there was some mistakes.
Sam raimi quick and the dead was correct with the Confederate Revolver.

What I found very real was the inital contact out side the bank where Val Kilmer is yelling move as he provides cover fire, and there is a very real initial delay before his partners begin to go into action.

 

[WR Moore]

Decades ago I caught the last couple of minutes of some western, never figured out what it was (Great Scout and Cathouse _______????). The scene was a gunfight in a bordello. Going by what I've seen in various "opportunities" it was probably accurate. Guns were poked around corners and over window sills and fired without aiming. Mirrors, whiskey bottles, ceilings and walls were shot, but no people.

I recall taking part in the movement of a small bank branch. It'd been in place for ages and was then closed. I was looking at the ornate tin ceiling and noticed some holes in the ceiling. Looking more closely, they were maybe 5-6 feet inside the door. The branch manager explained that robbers would come in, close the door take maybe one step and crank one off into the ceiling to get everyone's attention.

 

[rwsmith]

Not that movie in particular...

I've been over on another S&W forum area here for years. The thought accrued to me (you may have already been through it) be interesting to hear others observations on this subject. so here's my first.

Realism of movies and TV. I was impressed with the movie U.S. Marshals (1998 Tommy lee Jones) when Sam Gerard took his shot, fired over the shoulder of his partner and about deafened him. Thought that was smart them knowing and showing this effect.. Very rare, never see shaking the head, finder to the ear etc. from the unprotected blast.
Just wondering if someone else saw something and thought, "that was really smart how that was added into the scene ?"

But I notice non reactions to nearby gunshots. No reaction. Not even a blink or a wince. I KNEW that I was going to shoot but I suddenly found out I didn't put my muffs on after a pause. I blinked, I winced, I grabbed my ears and a few other things.

 

[Ghost Magnum]

What I found very real was the inital contact out side the bank where Val Kilmer is yelling move as he provides cover fire, and there is a very real initial delay before his partners begin to go into action.

What I thought was cool was when I bought the movie from the five dollar bin at Walmart and watched it. I got on the internet later that week and read up on it. When the movie came out. Everyone slammed the gun fight seen as impossible for a small group of organizatized criminals can do that much damage. Shortly later the north Hollywood bank robbery gun fight happened.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

You mean "The Matrix" isn't real?

The Matrix is fake. John Wick is real

 

[UncleEd]

The Matrix is fake. John Wick is real

This!

The Wick films should be used to
train police officers.

 

[ContinentalOp]

In Sherlock Holmes, the one with Robert Downey, Jr., there's a scene involving an explosion at the docks. For awhile afterwards the sound is muffled, with some ringing, and it takes Sherlock a few seconds before he's able to comprehend what the constable is telling him (there are some unbelievable moments in this scene, too).

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvD3vUU-ky0[/ame]

Also, at the beginning of the movie there's gunfire during a fight scene and the same effect is used, as well as a scene in the sequel involving cannon (artillery?) fire in a forest.

Of course, there are scenes where nobody flinches from gunfire, and lots of action sequences that are beyond belief.

On a more comedic note, there's a movie called The Other Guys with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg that makes fun of that. There's a scene where they get knocked back by an explosion and Will Ferrell starts ranting about how he can't hear, how he probably has soft tissue damage, how he needs an MRI, etc., and says how unbelievable it is for people to walk away from explosions in action movies. I'd post the clip, but there's profanity in the scene.

 

[NYlakesider]

Probably in Black Hawk Down when a similar thing happened where the one guy shot the machine gun and knocked out the hearing of that other guy... good scene!

I have seen a few times in some supposedly documentaries about WW2 that some machine guns were fire with the gun resting on the shoulder of a German soldier.

I have often thought that must be good for a super Excedrin headache and serious loss of permanent hearing.

 

[Absalom]

Now here is a REALISTIC gun battle!

"There was a firefight!" (Boondock Saints)

Apologies for a couple of adult expressions.

PS: On second thought, too many adult expressions. You can youtube it.