I like when the good guy's first shot in a shoot out appears to be the last, as the slide locks back after the shot. Then miraculously, after a few split second cuts to the bad guy tossing a few back at him, his gun is fully loaded and blazing away. Sometimes, they hold bad guys at bay with the slide locked back.

Whenever anyone shot a gun in the old Superman show, they always poked at their targets with the guns as they shot. Also, if your bullets won't hurt Superman, throwing your gun at him might.

Unclemeat wrote:I like when the good guy's first shot in a shoot out appears to be the last, as the slide locks back after the shot. Then miraculously, after a few split second cuts to the bad guy tossing a few back at him, his gun is fully loaded and blazing away. Sometimes, they hold bad guys at bay with the slide locked back.

Whenever anyone shot a gun in the old Superman show, they always poked at their targets with the guns as they shot. Also, if your bullets won't hurt Superman, throwing your gun at him might.

Did you notice in that video where the old guy is chasing the robbers at the internet cafe (vid from this week in FL), that he did the same thing? Looked like he was poking the bullets at the bad guys.

Queen wrote:

Unclemeat wrote: Whenever anyone shot a gun in the old Superman show, they always poked at their targets with the guns as they shot. Also, if your bullets won't hurt Superman, throwing your gun at him might.

Did you notice in that video where the old guy is chasing the robbers at the internet cafe (vid from this week in FL), that he did the same thing? Looked like he was poking the bullets at the bad guys.

71 years old. He did watch the 1950's gun instructions on TV.

When cops on TV enter an area where the bad guy is supposed to be hiding, why do they always clutch they guns with both hands with the gun pointed up in the air? Who are they afraid of hurting - the bad guy? Seems silly to me. And I love the scene where, again, they enter an area where the bad guys is hiding and the first thing they do is check to see if the gun is loaded. I remember several episodes of the old Dragnet series where Joe Friday would pop open the cylinder of his .38 snubby to see if there were bullets in it before going in. Been carrying that gun all day long and now he checks to see if it's loaded. That seems silly to me too.

Somehow, all the dozens of bullets fired by the bad guys always miss their mark, and the ones fired by the good guys hit. I watched NCIS LA a couple times, and was turned off by the ridiculous firefights that seem to be part of the plot.

Yossarian wrote:Somehow, all the dozens of bullets fired by the bad guys always miss their mark, and the ones fired by the good guys hit.

That reminds me of Star Wars. Storm Troopers fire thousands of shots at the heroes through three movies and miss every time. Yet when Obi-wan and Luke are inspecting the blasted out Jawa tank-thing Obi-wan says "Only Imperial Storm Troopers are so precise." Roger Ebert calls it the principle of evil marksmanship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_ ... rksmanship

--T

What I truly love is when lead bullets ricochet off aluminum airplanes and result in massive display of sparks. How two non ferrous metals can cause sparks is beyond me but it happens all the time. cement also seams to be ferrous. I have never witnessed sparks in my life of shooting. I cannot fathom where this myth developed. My gues its up there with large booms in the vacuum of space.

Yet another fallacy- the insane lethality of arrows.
You watch any Western, old or new, which involves Indians, and an arrow will dispatch the sidekick of the hero merely by going an inch or so into his chest or back.
History does not back it up. At the Hayfield Fight ( 1 August, 1867 ) the officer in charge of the troopers guarding the workers was hit in the forehead with an arrow- he continued to fight after breaking the shaft off and did not have the iron arrowhead removed until a day later. He suffered no long term effects.
Modern historical epics are just as dumb, e.g. Troy, where the Trojans mow down the Greeks with clouds of arrows, despite the latter wearing armor and carrying shields.
For a minute I thought Apollo had provided Hector with a couple of Maxim guns.

the comedian wrote:Yet another fallacy- the insane lethality of arrows.
You watch any Western, old or new, which involves Indians, and an arrow will dispatch the sidekick of the hero merely by going an inch or so into his chest or back.
History does not back it up. At the Hayfield Fight ( 1 August, 1867 ) the officer in charge of the troopers guarding the workers was hit in the forehead with an arrow- he continued to fight after breaking the shaft off and did not have the iron arrowhead removed until a day later. He suffered no long term effects.
Modern historical epics are just as dumb, e.g. Troy, where the Trojans mow down the Greeks with clouds of arrows, despite the latter wearing armor and carrying shields.
For a minute I thought Apollo had provided Hector with a couple of Maxim guns.

And knives, especially if thrown. Just one and down-he-goes, dead right there. Nothing like those real life knife fights where the person the medics are trying to patch up - who's been stabbed five times or so - won't stay still or shut up.

Unfortunately, Zapp was able to test that knife theory last year. Thankfully it's not like the movies.

SwampGrouch wrote: And knives, especially if thrown. Just one and down-he-goes, dead right there. Nothing like those real life knife fights where the person the medics are trying to patch up - who's been stabbed five times or so - won't stay still or shut up.

Have you ever noticed that in the movies a thrown knife always sticks. I had a "throwing knife" once when I was young. I could only get it to stick about half the time. My neighbor was something of a weapons nut and knew alot about throwing knives. Even he said it depends on distance and the balance of the knife. It's never a sure thing.

the comedian wrote:Yet another fallacy- the insane lethality of arrows.
You watch any Western, old or new, which involves Indians, and an arrow will dispatch the sidekick of the hero merely by going an inch or so into his chest or back.
History does not back it up. At the Hayfield Fight ( 1 August, 1867 ) the officer in charge of the troopers guarding the workers was hit in the forehead with an arrow- he continued to fight after breaking the shaft off and did not have the iron arrowhead removed until a day later. He suffered no long term effects.
Modern historical epics are just as dumb, e.g. Troy, where the Trojans mow down the Greeks with clouds of arrows, despite the latter wearing armor and carrying shields.
For a minute I thought Apollo had provided Hector with a couple of Maxim guns.

I used to be an adventurer, until I took an arrow to the knee.

There's also the inane fidgeting with the moving parts guys do in war movies. Steve McQueen was constantly opening and then slapping closed the dust cover of his Grease Gun and then looking around intently for the enemy in Hell is For Heroes (A great flick, BTW). Nervous habit, or trying to look like he's operating it to make it ready, over and over and over again, I don't know. I think actually, for that character and considering the actor, it might have been an earnest attempt at the former, but it just reminded me of other movies where the actors clearly knew nothing about guns and were trying to look like they were making them ready, when all they were doing was moving the safety on and off, or repeatedly opening and closing the cleaning rod lid on the butt plate or something.

McQueen was in the Marines for three years in the late '40s. He was in an armored division, and I don't think the Marines used the M3 anyway, but it seems unlikely that he would be unfamiliar enough with firearms in general to be doing something (unintentionally) stupid.

Oh no, I'm sure he, above many other actors of his time, knew more than enough to know what was natural and correct. Certainly considering the kinds of movies he made. That character was extremely alert at all times, and had a huge chip on his shoulder about his combat prowess. I think the action was probably meant more as a nervous tick, but like I said, it reminds me of other movies where the actors clearly have no idea what one does when standing around with a loaded gun in hand, but not shooting it.

My favorite is the enduring service of the Colt 1873 Army starting in 1865, immediately after the Civil War and continuing until cowboy movies stopped being made. Some early examples were actually used during the Civil War by Frank and Jesse James and the like. Never needs reloading either, unless it makes for dramatic effect.

1892 Winchesters were practically available for the last battles of the War of 1812.

You wanna see some egregious Old West gun anachronisms, you gotta see this movie:


(The guns come out just after 1:00.)

I wish I could find the clips where people were using late-20th-century guns.

What?!! No mention of the most egregious and common movie error of all, i.e., recoil-less, muzzle flip-less handguns? It's almost required these days for an action hero (increasingly a heroine) to be catapaulted through the air in slow-motion, blazing away limpwristedly with a gun in each hand with guns displaying absolute immunity from the laws of physics.

I love the ability of the shotgun to send people flying backwards through the air, nearly always into some form of glass structure.

The only weapon on Walking Dead that has recoil is the deputy's .357.

None of the 12 gauge shotguns do.

Bad Director

GuitarsandGuns wrote:The only weapon on Walking Dead that has recoil is the deputy's .357.

None of the 12 gauge shotguns do.

Bad Director

They all have recoil, but it is totally under control. Remember the season finale? They could take unerring headshots, in the dark, from fast moving and turning cars (not only moving but cross country bouncing). You think they can't control something minor like recoil when they can shoot like that???

Awake wrote:

GuitarsandGuns wrote:The only weapon on Walking Dead that has recoil is the deputy's .357.

None of the 12 gauge shotguns do.

Bad Director

They all have recoil, but it is totally under control. Remember the season finale? They could take unerring headshots, in the dark, from fast moving and turning cars (not only moving but cross country bouncing). You think they can't control something minor like recoil when they can shoot like that???

You are absolutely right!

I'd never realized what great actors they were. Screw all this research. I'm goin' to Hollywood so I can learn to shoot.

You be the director. We'll teach these people how to fake recoil!

Let's all go. A bunch of liberals in Hollywood where they sell the
idea of guns as the solution to most problems.

Wait!

They already have that.

Awake wrote:

GuitarsandGuns wrote:The only weapon on Walking Dead that has recoil is the deputy's .357.

None of the 12 gauge shotguns do.

Bad Director

They all have recoil, but it is totally under control. Remember the season finale? They could take unerring headshots, in the dark, from fast moving and turning cars (not only moving but cross country bouncing). You think they can't control something minor like recoil when they can shoot like that???

What, you can't do that?