Worst Book/Tv/Movie Gun Error?

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Any movie where someone has a 1911 and the slide locks back, but you still hear "click, click".

It seems like they ALL do that in Hollywood.

(First post.)
 
Problem with almost all movies & TV gun scenes

Hollywood directors must not be shooters (surprise), because nobody shows the effects of recoil. A guy shoots a BAR, or an M60, AK, etc., or a submachine gun, and there's no muzzle jump! He holds it perfectly on target. A actor fires a 9mm or a .45, and the gun doesn't move. No recoil.

While I'm at it, ever notice how many times there's an novice shooter, often a good looking woman, and the hero tosses her a full auto weapon, and says, "Use this!" as the bad guys are attacking? He/she fires from the hip in full auto, presumably for the first time, and cuts the BG's off at the knees... yeah!
 
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Has anyone seen The Bourne Ultimatum, yet? I saw it last week. Near the end of the film, Jason Bourne raises a pistol and holds it right in the face of the doctor. It is clearly a Glock. Yet the Foley Editor felt compelled to add a sound effect of the distinctive "four clicks" of a Colt Single Action Army revolver being cocked. Sheesh!

Firearms gaffes like that can be found in just about every movie. In Tombstone, there's a recreation of the infamous Shootout at the O.K. Corral. They correctly depict Doc Holliday as being armed with a double barrel shotgun. Watch the scene carefully, however, and you will note that Doc somehow manages to get off three shots from the shotgun before discarding it and switching to a revolver.

In another scene from Tombstone, Curly Bill stumbles drunk into the street and starts firing his revolvers randomly into the night. Count the shots, because he gets a total of 14 of them off, with no apparent reloads (and he is so staggerinly drunk that he passes out, so there is no way he could've reloaded).

In Starsky & Hutch, there's a scene involving the heroes and a couple of gangsters. One of the heroes (can't remember which one) has a 1911 that accidentally discharges. The problem is that you can clearly see that the hammer is down as he is pointing it around the room, just before it fires.
 
In Smokin Aces not a single gun recoils including the .50 rifle, one guy accuratly shoots a 1911 using one hand, pointing it straight to his right without even looking at the target that is about 25 yards away (it didn't recoil there either)
 
In "The Matrix"

It is hard to see, and you may need slo-mo, but in the scene where “Mr. Smith” shoots “Neo”, they do an over head shot of the Desert Eagle (which I think was a 357 version, but cannot be sure of) where you can see down into the action. If you look closely, the first round to be fired and ejected is nickel plated. Then you can see the rounds in the magazine are plian brass, crimped blanks. Check it out.
 
Watch the scene carefully, however, and you will note that Doc somehow manages to get off three shots from the shotgun before discarding it and switching to a revolver

That's just sloppy editing. It's supposed to be the same blast from a different angle, but the director left too much of a time gap between shots so it looks like he's somehow reloaded and fired again.

Bad editing is one of the major problems with "Tombstone." Some of the best bits are cut down to almost nothing and squeezed together in a video sequence at the end. It's high on my list of films I wish someone would re-cut. The film has some fantastic actors in it including quite a few who know their firearms (Kilmer, Heston, Buck Taylor, Peter Sherayko and of course Sam Elliot who usually brings his own iron). The collection of firearms on display is fantastic and generally period correct. But the director was not a gun guy by any means and I don't think he really knew what he wanted to do with the film. The end result has some fantastic and well-acted scenes strung together in an odd fashion.
 
Watched the Bourne Supremacy last night, and in the begining of the movie he and his GF are being chased by a bad guy, Bourne pulls a pistol out of the glove box...later in the chase, miles later, he does a press check before they are going to have to exit the vehicle...wouldn't you do that when you pick it up? This is a "big-time" ex-CIA killer dude, mind you.
Also, later in the movie, the squad of CIA guys pulls up to the hotel where Bourne is, and they all load their weapons as they pull up. Wouldn't they be loaded when they left the barn?
Oh Well
 
Not sure of the movie.

litteraly every gun move or technical gun deal in the entire movie was wrong. I remeber thinking that this was the worst gun movie ever. Also, in Hard to Kill, another Steven Segal movie. The "hitman" who was after Steven in EVERY shot was gripping, releasing then regripping the handgun. You kow opening his fingers and regripping, that kills me!
 
One of W.E.B. Griffin books based on the Army. Green Bennies were in the Congo.
Two guys on top of a Power Plant with Sniper Rifles. They were 1903-A4's with scopes and they were loading them with stripper clips.

Special Ops. Just read that one a couple weeks ago. Stripper clips were bad, but what really chapped me was Griffin's multiple references to the Beanies' use of M16's and M4 Carbines in events taking place in 1965 (dates on about every third page). Army didn't begin real issuing of XM16A1 / M16 until 1966, so that isn't too bad, but the M4 Carbine was not introduced until 1994 - 29 years later! Really sloppy work by an author who tries to impress as military and hardware savvy.
 
Oh where to begin?

Watching Season 3 or 4 of 24 and Jack Bauer is in a shoot out with some terrorists. He is armed with a handgun, they are armed with Ak47s. Now he is able to hide for cover behind a car while it is completely sprayed with bullets.

Then leap up and tag guys all over and even gets hit in the chest by a few rounds.

Luckily he was wearing standard Type II body armor and the 7.62x39 just made him winded instead of punching through him.

Reading the book Hannibal the bad guys have a Dragunov sniper rifle in oh like 1948 or 1950. Funny the gun wasn't even invented till the late 50s and didn't see service until the 60s.

Other bad movie stuff:

Hiding for cover behind a car from rifles (M16s,M4,AKs, and full on M60s, M240s and HK91/G3s)

Ducking down when bullets are being shot at you while driving. As if the dash, or trunk will stop rifle rounds from hitting you. Extra points for ducking when a guy in a helicopter is shooting at you.

Silencers that are so quiet you don't even hear the action of the gun clacking.

Machine guns that shoot way longer than their mag capacity. Nothing like watching some guy shoot full auto for 10 15 seconds without a mag change.

Every time the hero can some how magically duck/dodge/dip/dive/dodge a guy with a gun pointed at him and get in close enough to disarm them easily.

Guns going off when dropped.

Pump shotguns repeatedly racked for no reason.

Multiple clicking noises after a gun is empty but the bad guy isn't dead. Click click click.

Hero is using only a handgun, kills multiple baddies and never picks up more ammo or even a new weapon.

Bullet proof armor always works except against 'cop killer bullets' and people are always hit in the chest and just fall down. But are able to get up and keep going.

Gun shots to the shoulder allow the hero to be wounded but still somehow lets them climb that building to beat the bad guys.

Gun fights where no one takes cover and just stands or crouches there while everyone gets shot and dies.

Gun fights in doors and seconds later the hero or villain whispers something important and everyone in the room can hear just fine.

Hand someone a gun, that has never shot before and not only do they know how to use it, they can easily kill people with it and are an expert with it.

If a person isn't using a 1911, Beretta 92FS or an M16 varient they are a bad guy. Cause good guys would never use an AK47, HK, Steyr, etc.

Bullets can set gas on fire with one shot. Especially bullets aimed at a diesel truck tank.

Bullets always ricochet.

Bullets also always spark and explode.

A handgun can take down anything from cars, trucks and airplanes. All it needs is one good shot.

If you run from a helicopter or plane shooting at you, you will get mowed down. Stand still and the bullets will harmlessly pass on both sides of you.

Any western set before 1880 that has gun fights that don't become a cloudy haze in seconds because smokeless gunpowder wasn't widely available until that point.

Bad guys keeping people hostage and at gun point with TOY GUNS, and no one noticing they are fake, until the twist at the end!

Hero gets gut shot and it sets him on his path to kill the guy that gut shot him. When the villain is finally killed he dies immediately from a gut shot.

Not so much a gun error but explosives error. Being able to run away from a grenade or bomb blast going off and the fire not going into the room or tub you jumped in.

No one other than law enforcement or criminals owns guns. The only time a hero etc can find another weapon is from a cop or bad guy. They never own their own, or have non criminal friends that own one.

AK47s that jam after a few rounds and are impossible to fix. I have NEVER ever seen one jam other than a FTE. Pull back the bolt shake it out and go again. As opposed to the movies where the gun is basically a club now because it has some magic jam.

No one ever has a stove pipe, failure to eject, dud round, or failure to feed, unless it is a bad guy or important to the story/action.

WWII German guns always jam. ALWAYS even fresh from the factory etc. The only exception is when an American is using them against Germans.

Gun fights where a gun has been fired a bunch and the hero can just grab it by the barrel and fling it away and their hands are just fine.

Fires hitting an armory or truck loaded with ammunition and it always cooks off and no one is ever hit by any stray bullets or shrapnel cause they ducked.

and finally

Any time a gun shot knocks a person backwards.
 
One minor thing that always bothers me involves the 1911 style pistols. Just about every movie that features this handgun has this problem. When the gun is first drawn, the person (bad or good) has it decocked with his/her finger on the trigger. Then after it cuts to the catch the look/reaction of the guy/girl on the operating end, the scene will cut back to the person holding the 1911. The 1911 will then be cocked right before the actor shoots.

Also anytime a gun moves there is some sort of metal on metal sound.

This always annoys the crap out of me. If someone was dumb enough to threaten me with a decocked 1911, it probably wouldnt work out too well for them.
 
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Flynt said:
Hollywood directors must not be shooters (surprise), because nobody shows the effects of recoil. A guy shoots a BAR, or an M60, AK, etc., or a submachine gun, and there's no muzzle jump! He holds it perfectly on target. A actor fires a 9mm or a .45, and the gun doesn't move. No recoil.

Yeah, true. But one must remember they're using blanks. I sorta find this a forgivable error ... but that's just me I guess.
 
i love it when someone shoots at a helicopter with a hand gun, and the helicopter explodes like 50lbs of C4
 
I shouldn't admit to seeing this movie, but it was "Ishtar" with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty. In the final chase scene in the desert where a chopper is after both good guys, the BG in the door of the bird is initially taking aim at the good guys with a bolt Remmy through a scope. Cut to the actors running in the sand and then back to the guy with the gun in the chopper who now is shooting an AK. I'm sure glad Hollywood never pays attention to details...
 
Lethal Weapon 4, the one with Jet Li. All sorts of obvious safety violations. In the beginning, after combating some sort of psycho on a shooting/flamethrowing rampage, you see Danny Glover pointing his revolver right at Mel Gibson's guts for several seconds. I cringed. Later, out on a boat with his supposed friend Joe Pesci, Mel makes fun of Joe's new 1911, twirling it on his finger!, before tossing Pesci's $1,000 gun in the ocean, along with some comments about he shouldn't have it. Nice, especially considering that Joe Pesci seemed to do all the actual detective work in Lethal Weapons 2 and 3. Minutes later, Mel points his laser equipped Beretta at Joe's face as a "joke". Somewhat later a new cop, played by Chris Rock, points his gun at somebody else as another "joke". I stopped watching around then. Awful, scary gun handling.

And to cap it off the director, Richard Donner, commented in the press how proud he was of all the subliminal anti-gun messages, such as a wisecrack by Mel about the pyscho in the beginning belonging to the NRA and little "no-gun" symbols all over the police station. Maybe Mel's comments to Joe about how he should't have a gun were part of it. Ughh. Sure sent great subliminal messages about how being unsafe was cool.
 
Pretty much any M*A*S*H episode where a gun is involved. They are especially sloppy with the 1911's, though.

Frank always fires with the hammer down.

Pierce (who is vehemently anit-gun throughout the series) also unloads a "full" magazine in 4 shots while in a foxhole with Col. Potter, but is then suspiciously knowledgeable of the gun as he uses the slide stop to close the action before handing it back to Sherm. (though he's a bit clumsly in doing so)

Maj Winchester has a gun and holster in numerous episodes, but is never targeted by Pierce like Burns was.
 
Colt - look closely at that M*A*S*H scene and you'll see it's a Star pistol and not a 1911. 9mm Star pistols are often substituted for .45s whenever shooting is involved.
 
In Eldorado when James Caan shoots the fleeing bad guy from about 15 yards or so with a sawed off 10 or 12 gage coach gun and hits the store sign demolishing it about three feet above the guys head. He also hit him in the ankle with one of the pellets. That is like a nine foot spread at 15 yards or so!
My memory of the numbers may be off a little, but it was still ridiculous how much spread they claimed.

don't you know shotguns are magically able to hit anything and everything without aiming?


Okay, Ill do a switch of sides. I recall watching a movie where a teen kid was driving or hitchhiking out someplace in montana or nevada open country kinda desertish. A guy driving a truck starts chasing him, attempting to do him harm.

i cannot recall how, but eventually the kid gets ahold of a revolver. He is sitting in a booth at a diner trying to figure out how to open it to reload it. That is at least accurate as far as a total newb having trouble with the mechanics of a gun
 
Bad guys keeping people hostage and at gun point with TOY GUNS, and no one noticing they are fake, until the twist at the end!
Like Clark Griswald in National Lampoon's Vaction?:neener:
Sorry, it reminded me of that.

Oh yeah, in the Bourne Supremecy, last night, Jason shoots something at a farm house, aparently a fuel tank, with a shotgun from at least 80 yards away and it explodes into flames...later, he catches the BG trying to kill him and shoots him twice with the same shells...bird shot, by the wounds...shoots him in each arm...guy dies moments later...:rolleyes:
 
There are so many gun related mistakes in movies but one I remember in particular in that the movie was striving to be realistic. In the movie (Tears of the Sun) the Navy seal team was working it's way through a village taking out the bad guys. In one scene you could see the actor (Cole Hauser) pointing his HK Mark 23 Socom pistol with the slide locked back while he is stalking bad guys. I love the show 24 but in one scene you see the good guys pointing their Glocks at terrorists and you hear the distinctive sound of hammers being cocked. Another weird thing about 24 is how they send Jack & his team in armed with handguns in the most dire circumstances. Like finding an atomic bomb in a warehouse filled with terrorists brandishing AKs. You would think an anti-terrorist unit would know better then to send it's teams in armed with only handguns against terrorists that may be wearing body armor. Although I liked one scene where I believe it was William Devane who had overtaken his captors and up-armed himself and his daughter by switching from handguns to assault rifles.
 
My favorite is from one of the Delta Force movies where chucks character is clearing a building with an m-16 with 203 launcher.

That was Invasion U.S.A. (unless there's a similar scene in Delta Force)

And that's Chuck with a capital "C"...

Its a darn good thing Chuck isn't reading this, otherwise you would have been roundhoused so fast it would've made your head spin!:p
 
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