over the top gun handling

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insolentshrew

New member
This thread got me thinking about guns and movies in general, and so I wondered. Name a movie or scene where you can recall the most over the top gun handling or tactics to where you just had to laugh that it was so bad.

Off the top of my head I think of the originall dawn of the dead from 1978 where the swat/police type guys are running around like they are dodging poop being thrown at them, and hopping around corners like bunny rabbits, all while holding their AR's like fire hoses.

This leads kind of into a second question, if movies in general tried to be mostly realistic - what spurred the really bad Hollywood gun handling to where it became the norm? Was it just a matter of actors not knowing what they were doing and no one to correct them?
 
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Skans

Active member
The Matrix comes to mind......but, the really bad gun handling looks kind of cool in the context of that movie. For TV shows, the A-Team has to be the all time best example of how to light off thoushands of rounds shooting at people and never once hitting anyone!

Since when did Hollywood get anything like guns, sex, family dynamics, or anything else anywhere close to factually accurate? It's fiction. What looks good and makes you space out for 1-2 hours is what Hollywood is going for.
 
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insolentshrew

New member
In a way it works for the matrix because in the context of that movie, those things weren't really happening.

Well I guess I can agree somewhat to hollywood not even bothering to try and get things right. I guess it comes down to the context of the movie, and what the director is going for etc. Movies like saving private ryan, band of brothers (not really a movie but a series), blackhawk down come to mind for trying to go for as real as possible for the shock factor of war and usually hit home with most other aspects as well. When you compare those to cheesy 70s/80s action flicks it is like night and day.
 
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kraigwy

New member
One that gets me is CSI-NY. (CSI aside). Notice when they go after a bandit, they have SWAT with them. But the CSI dudes always lead SWAT, going in first, on the Raid.

I think if I was a Lab Tech, and was going on a raid, I'd want the SWAT guys to go in first, but heck, thats just me.

Better yet, if I was gonna go after a bandit, I'd take Ziva from NCIS. In following her, if nothing else, the view would be better.
 
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Dr. Strangelove

New member
It's in so many movies that I can't count:

The Dramatic Slide Rack, usually well into a gunfight - sort of like, well, ok I'll load my gun now... Really? Who goes into a situation where you expect to fire a gun without a round chambered?

On the other side of that is the super cheesy Magnum P.I. style Dramatic Slide Rack - Close up of face with determined, hard look, violent slide rack, like they're trying to rip the slide off the gun, cheesy music...
 
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aarondhgraham

New member
One of the Trinity spaghetti western movies,,,

There was one scene in a tavern,,,
Trinity is facing his opponent closer than arms length.

The bad guy goes for his gun,,,
Trinity slaps him,,,
Then draws his own gun,,,
Holsters it and slaps the bad guy again.

This went on for at least 20 seconds,,,
Absolute drivel but fun to watch

Click here please,,,

.
 
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Neal_G.

New member
'Over the top gun handling' has always been apart of Hollywood.

I think really only in the last 10-12 years has there been more of an emphasis in movies and TV shows on proper gun handling, and it's still VERY spotty.

'Way of the Gun' was a one of the first of the newer generation that really tried to be spot on compared to other movies. 'Taken' is a good more recent one. From the late 80's through the whole of the 90's you had mostly over the top John Woo inspired gun play, and atrocious handling. Their would be no twin-gun 'Matrix' gunplay without Woo's 'Hard Boiled' (which is probably THE craziest action film ever made.)

In the Western era of the 50's through the early 60's, show me someone who actually aimed a handgun when he fired it. All deadeye hipshooting which we all no is not very easy, or recommended! Plenty of good ol' finger on the trigger of your cocked Peacemaker when your just talking to someone too.

It's all entertainment. I don't watch "The Wild Bunch' looking for a documentary on how to fight my way out of old Mexico.
 
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markj

New member
There was one scene in a tavern,,,
Trinity is facing his opponent closer than arms length.

The bad guy goes for his gun,,,
Trinity slaps him,,,
Then draws his own gun,,,
Holsters it and slaps the bad guy again.

This went on for at least 20 seconds,,,
Absolute drivel but fun to watch
Click to expand...

Was my first thought too :)

I laffed my rear off at those movies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gCLa7SeRQ&NR=1

this one gets my vote, whisky and guns :) a very bad combination.
 
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psyfly

New member
Okay, kinda "anti over-the-top".

"...someone who actually aimed a handgun when he fired it.."

Every week, during the opening credits:

James Arness as Marshal Dillon steps into the street to face the Bad Guy who quickly draws his gun and fires :eek: (missing, of course). Marshal Dillon, in the meantime, draws, aims, and the BG goes down.

Loved that scene (and that series), but it's kinda cheesy to watch now, of course.

W.
 
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aarondhgraham

New member
About James Arness,,,

James Arness as Marshal Dillon steps into the street to face the Bad Guy who quickly draws his gun and fires (missing, of course). Marshal Dillon, in the meantime, draws, aims, and the BG goes down.
Click to expand...

There was this older gentleman in Riverside, California,,,
I met him in the mid 1990's when I played in SASS.

Anyways he was one of the many stuntmen who was affiliated with Gunsmoke.

The bad guy who Marshal Dillon shot in that opening duel was Arvo Ojala,,,
He's the leather-gun guy who pretty much invented the 1950's drop-loop gunslinger rig.

He was also the person who taught gun handling to a lot of the actors.
Apparently James Arness was not one of his stellar pupils.

According to the old SASS dude (can't remember his alias to save my life),,,
Arvo Ojala was the only gun handler who could draw slow enough so James Arness could win,,,
Yet still make it look like he was going for his gun as fast as a real gunslinger would have done it.

Just a bit of lore that I have no idea whether it's true or not,,,
Just relating the story as the old dude told it to me.

Now don't get me wrong,,,
As a small child I loved Marshall Dillon,,,
I would be in front of the TV set with my Fanner 50 strapped to my leg.

My Dad would get down low and watch me carefully,,,
I couldn't start my draw until the bad guy started for his gun.

Sometimes it would be a: "Oh Buster,,, He got ya!"
Sometimes it would be a: "Well son, I think you drew too soon,,,
Every now and then, it would be a hearty: "Allright Buster,,, You got him!"

How many of you good folk waited all week long,,,
Just for your weekly chance to draw against the TV bad guy. ;)

.
 
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Cheapshooter

New member
The Dramatic Slide Rack, usually well into a gunfight - sort of like, well, ok I'll load my gun now... Really? Who goes into a situation where you expect to fire a gun without a round chambered?

On the other side of that is the super cheesy Magnum P.I. style Dramatic Slide Rack - Close up of face with determined, hard look, violent slide rack, like they're trying to rip the slide off the gun, cheesy music...
Click to expand...

+1 My major theatrical pet peeve!!!!
 
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FairWarning

New member
It terms of being absurd, Stallone in drag with a large revolver (.44 Mag?) for Nighthawks was pretty over the top. His wig was terrible. :D
 
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Lost Sheep

New member
Revolver work / Auto work

Spinning the cylinder of a double action revolver with the crane open....; and you hear an unmistakable ratchet sound BEFORE closing the crane (never mind whether the gunnie slaps it closed or not).

Halfway through a gunfight, a pause. Then the fight is about to resume or during a conversation, for emphasis, someone cycles the action on a lever action, semi-auto, auto or pump action gun. And no cartridge (full or empty) comes out.

Lost Sheep
 
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zombie44

New member
There was a scene in Pulp Fiction I liked, where the Travolta character was trying to have some conversation with some kid in the back seat of the car but splattered his brains instead due to poor trigger finger placement I'm guessing?
 
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Big Bill

New member
Since when did Hollywood get anything like guns, sex, family dynamics, or anything else anywhere close to factually accurate? It's fiction. What looks good and makes you space out for 1-2 hours is what Hollywood is going for.
Click to expand...
I think they came real close in the movie "We Were Soldiers".
 
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Venom1956

New member
Wanted and Equilibrium are just totally insane. But fun to watch.

Its hard to watch a movie that doesn't atleast try to make the gun handling look realistic. I mean sure early 90's and 80's from the hip one handed stuff was the norm but now... not so much

other movies I enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma, Shooter, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith (last one is great because when Brad Pitt trips at the fence and had his finger on wasn't scripted)
 
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MLeake

New member
Shoot'em'Up

Final confrontation between Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti. Owen has no gun, just some loose pistol cartridges, and he is standing with his back to a fireplace while Giamatti holds a gun on him. Owen sticks the cartridges between his fingers, facing Giamatti, then backs his hand into the fire. He burns his hand, but lights off the cartridges, sending four rounds at and killing Giamatti.

Yeah, that would work...
 
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