Another movie conmplaint/rant

Readyrod · Jul 11, 2010

So I'm working my way through the new Battlestar Galactica series (yea I know the gun handling sucks) and I got to a standard movie scene that just drives me nuts. It's the "put your gun down or I shoot the girl" line. So the hero puts the gun down and they are both captured. I can't imagine this is what LEO's really do in that kind of situation. Personally I would reply "No, put the girl/child/whatever down or you die". But I'm not even close to an expert on this. So, what is the right reaction to this kind of situation?

WC145 · Jul 11, 2010

You shoot him.
And you never give up your gun. Ever.

highorder · Jul 11, 2010

If someone is holding a hostage at "witty banter" distance for more than a few seconds,

I'm going to shoot him in the face, where nose meets mustache.

Carl Levitian · Jul 11, 2010

ian Campbell an d Carl Hettenger gave up thier guns and look what happened.

No, you never put down your gun. Go ahead and take the shot.

KodiakBeer · Jul 11, 2010

Shoot the girl because she's always a Russian spy anyway.

9mmepiphany · Jul 11, 2010

i wouldn't give up my gun either, but you have to be prepared to give up the hostage when you make that decision...you are the only one who can decide if you can live with the consequences of that decision

cleardiddion · Jul 11, 2010

Take the Russian hostage releasing method...shoot THROUGH the hostage. For those of you who don't read internet humor very well I'm joking. Honestly BSG was good for the first few seasons but the last two were just a downhill run.

JohnKSa · Jul 11, 2010

Apparently Joss Whedon thinks the same thing. There's a scene in one of the first Firefly episodes where the captain of the ship (Mal) returns to find a classic "gun to the girl's head" hostage scene playing out in the cargo hold of the ship. He never stops walking, just pulls his gun, shoots the hostage taker in the head, tells one of the crew to throw the body off the ship and continues up to the control room.

grace2u · Jul 11, 2010

"If someone is holding a hostage at "witty banter" distance for more than a few seconds,

I'm going to shoot him in the face, where nose meets mustache."

But make sure that its an evil mustache...

Oyeboten · Jul 11, 2010

Another option, is to put your Gun up to your own Head, and, tell the BG Hostage-holder, "Let her go! Or else!"

( Sorry, couldn't resist...)

MedWheeler · Jul 11, 2010

From the movie "Speed", you "shoot the hostage, eliminating him from the equation". And, the main character actually shoots his partner when he becomes a hostage early in the film.
In law enforcement, we trained as such: If a gun is held to the side of the head, and your defender is in front of you with his gun trained on the assailant, remain as calm as possible and wait for the assailant to take his gun off your head and aim for your defender. As soon as he does, pull your arm over his gun arm and drop, with all your weight, downward, pulling the gun down toward the floor. At this point, the defender takes the shot.

xanderzuk · Jul 11, 2010

Oyeboten Another option, is to put your Gun up to your own Head, and, tell the BG Hostage-holder, "Let her go! Or else!"

( Sorry, couldn't resist...)

a la Blazing Saddles?

Gouranga · Jul 11, 2010

Yeah I hear ya. Well there is always the chance it could go the "League of extraordinary Gentleman" way. About the best resolution for that scenario I have seen.

bobmcd · Jul 11, 2010

"3:10 to Yuma" also did the shoot-the-hostage solution.

9mmepiphany · Jul 11, 2010

He never stops walking, just pulls his gun, shoots the hostage taker in the head,

just like the scene from The Fifth Element where Bruce Willis than says, "anyone else want to negotiate?"

As soon as he does, pull your arm over his gun arm and drop, with all your weight, downward, pulling the gun down toward the floor. At this point, the defender takes the shot.

i had this same arrangement with my co-workers, except i didn't ask them to grab the arm or wait for the gun to come off them. i would just say "ready" and they would drop as a dead weight, my job is just to place the shot...a really bad time to jerk the trigger

a hostage can drop faster than they can be caught and sudden dead weight can't be caught without a weight shift

Oyeboten · Jul 11, 2010

"The Usual Suspects" also had a scene where the guy's family is being held as hostages with knives to their throats and guns to their heads...and, he just shoots the hostages ( ie: his wife and kids ) AND shoots the hostage holders, leaving one hostage holder to leave and tell the tale.

Pretty heavy...

zoom6zoom · Jul 11, 2010

Don't forget the one in Robocop where he shoots through the woman's skirt and hits the BG in the nads.

Readyrod · Jul 12, 2010

Come on, joking aside, what are you supposed to do. Certainly dropping my gun would seem to be the worst thing. I can't see shooting the hostage. Even if it's my mother in law. (joke)

hso · Jul 12, 2010

C'mon folks, this isn't a fantasy discussion forum.

We have a couple of good serious answers, "don't give up the gun" and "shoot the BG". We actually have a contribution where the hostage and defender have a prearranged plan.

Let's leave the silly movie crap to a less important question.

rscalzo · Jul 12, 2010

this isn't a fantasy discussion forum

Yet if you shoot a Cylon, they only come right back. A waste of ammo... Plus they are all hot!!!!!

armoredman · Jul 12, 2010

Never give up your firearm, both you and the hostage will die.

WCSO · Jul 12, 2010

There you go armoredman! Correct answer. NEVER give up your weapon.

armoredman · Jul 12, 2010

As for BattleStar Galactica, I watched the original when it was on TV, and a good friend built the model of the Galatica. I refuse to watch the new one, Cylons are walking chromed toasters, not humans.

FLAvalanche · Jul 12, 2010

I'm sorry but I'm going to need more detail on the situation before I render judgement on what I would do. Most important, is the hostage my ex-wife?

ClickClickD'oh · Jul 12, 2010

..Cylons are walking chromed toasters, not humans.

"Those models are still around. They have their uses."

Another movie conmplaint/rant

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