The Difference Between Guns in Movies and Guns in Real Life
Explore the many ways Hollywood takes creative license when depicting guns in movies.
John McClane, the Terminator, even Neo, they all have one thing in common—they look really badass shooting guns. Here's the thing though, in real life, the feats they perform, from shooting two micro uzis at the same time to blasting away a bad guy with a Beretta six inches from one's ear, are all kind of, well, super fake and impossible. How super fake and impossible? Well, take a look at these videos that explore common myths and misconceptions about guns that many of us have learned from watching Hollywood movies.
This first one comes from Corridor Crew:
This video from Watch Mojo goes a little deeper into the actual science behind real-life firearms and Hollywood firearms:
I know what you're going to say, and I get it. Guns in movies aren't really intended to behave the way they would in the real world because if they did, every villain making their escape in a car would get away scot-free since you can't explode a fuel take with a bullet. And that's pretty boring. We want to perceive our action heroes as unbreakable strongmen who've never heard of the term "kickback" let alone had their wrists obliterated by one. We want to feel the anxiety and anticipation after a bad guy unloads a billion rounds on a good guy who has just performed a perfect swan dive into a body of water. Is he gonna resurface as a corpse full of holes or an impenetrable force that must now be reckoned with?
So, yes, Hollywood uses guns to ramp up the action and show how strong its heroes are (and how weak gas tanks are, apparently). Is this an issue? I suppose if you get all of your information about guns from what you've seen in movies then, yes, I guess it is. I mean, this wasn't intended to be a PSA about gun safety—really, it's just interesting to look at the vast differences between real guns and movie guns—but, I feel like I have to say...please don't pick up a gun and shoot at your buddy who's ducking behind a car like they do in the movies. You will shoot them and you will be very sorry.
Source: Corridor Crew
