No one expects a lot of firearms accuracy in movies, and very few filmmakers try. We have Michael Mann as the king of realistic gun scenes. Movies like Warfare are extremely realistic due to the fact that a Navy SEAL was the co-director. These are exceptions to the rule, but movies are full of tropes, and today we are looking at some of the gun tropes that can disappear.
What Are Some Movie Tropes Worth Disappearing?
Not just because they annoy gun dorks like me who will gleefully point out the tropes, but to make a better movie. The public is likely more informed about firearms than ever before. A larger chunk of people have an interest in firearms, and these tropes take people out of your film. I doubt any filmmakers will read this, but here are a few gun tropes you can ditch.
Infinite Ammo
The oldest of the gun tropes, dating back to the era of gangster films and Westerns, is infinite ammo. Movies like American History X had a scene where the protagonist fires 23 rounds from a Ruger P94. It’s such a trope that movies like Last Action Hero make fun of it. We don’t need John Wick-style reloads every few rounds fired, but a reload every now and then isn’t a bad thing.
It gets even worse when it comes to machine guns or full-auto fire. An MP5 firing full-auto will deplete its magazine in about 2.25 seconds. Machine guns chew through belts rapidly, and that’s why soldiers and Marines are taught to fire short, controlled bursts—to preserve ammo, allow them to provide suppressive fire longer, and reload less.
Guns Go Click Multiple Times When Empty
This one is always hilarious: the bad guy or good guy pulls the trigger, and it goes click, and click, and click. Admittedly, with revolvers, this happens; you can pull the trigger over and over and get that click. However, with a semi-auto, the slide is likely to lock back, preventing the click. There are some cases where it could happen, but it’s highly unlikely.
My all-time favorite is when the gun that goes click is full-auto. You don’t just get one click, but several, as if the gun was trying to fire in full-auto even though it’s empty. These weapons require the action cycle to recock the striker or hammer, and if the gun is empty, the action isn’t cycling.
Random Gun Noises
One of the most common gun tropes, and one that’s even prominent in movies with accurate gun play, is the random noises. Anytime a shooter draws their firearm or presents their rifle, it makes noises. These noises are random clacks and clicks that are nonsensical. I’ve had some rattly mil-surp guns, but they never made audible rattles when presented.
Guns just don’t randomly rattle. You can aggressively shake an older, worn-out gun, and it might make some noise, but you have to shake that thing harder than a baby to get it to do so. Random gun noises work to alert the viewer to the act of drawing a gun, but it’s not necessary; you’re using a visual medium, just show it happen.
The Cock the Gun To Show You’re Serious
One of the silliest things that happens in movies is the good guy or bad guy cocking their firearm to show they are serious. Never mind, they are waving a gun around in a serious situation already. This works with some guns, like cocking a revolver into single action. The gun was already ready to fire, and you can get away with this with a hammer-fired DA/SA gun as well.
The most egregious example is probably pump shotguns. The idea that you’re going into a violent situation with a firearm with an empty chamber is absurd. One of the best examples of this was the remake of The Amityville Horror. Ryan Reynolds cocks a shotgun repeatedly and never fires a shot.
Everything is Bulletproof
Every gun enthusiast has seen the film Lord of War. It’s part of the gun nerd curriculum. One of the early scenes shows Nic Cage witnessing a mob shootout where two guys with AKs fire at a mobster who flips a table over and uses it for cover. It’s a wood table, not an AR-500 plate. It won’t stop rifle rounds; hell, it won’t stop most handgun rounds.
Gun tropes are about convenience, and having concealment work as cover is very convenient. Bullets are powerful; they penetrate deeply, and it takes a very strong material to stop bullets, especially rifle rounds. You need steel, thick concrete, or similar items in an urban environment to stop rifle bullets.
Gun Tropes – Will They Ever Go Away?
The John Wick films have elevated gunplay in movies, even though they aren’t necessarily realistic. John Wick is essentially a superhero, but the action has still elevated the action movie genre. I think a lot of these gun tropes will fade over time as action movies continue to improve.
