I’m a huge fan of movies. I love good action movies and bad action movies, and like any guy, even if it is just a little into guns, I like movies with guns. I’ve watched lots and lots of gun movies and have come to a few conclusions on what makes a good gun movie. There are three distinct ways gun movies can be good. Sometimes, these three features can crisscross between movies, but just one of these factors can make a great gun movie.
It’s Just Fun
One of my favorite gun movies is Shoot ’em Up. It has this weird anti-gun theme, but it’s also glorifying guns to an extreme degree. Is this a clever satire? No, it’s just dumb and fun. It’s an adult version of Bugs Bunny with the main character killing enough bad guys to fill a Communist’s mass grave.
These movies are over the top, they’re crazy, and they use real guns. They can be silly, like Shoot’ Em Up, or serious, like The Matrix, but they are fun. Movies like John Wick cross into this territory as well. We see gratuitous action, tons of guns, and lots and lots of bad guys getting what they deserve.
The fun gun movie genre makes up most of our favorite gun movies. The guns are often a hero or star, like the 336 in Streets of Fire or the various Taran Tactical Guns in John Wick. These movies send you searching for the gun used by characters and patiently waiting for the nerds at IMFDB to update the site.
It’s Kinda Realistic
Gun guys and gals like realistic gun handling. The movie doesn’t have to be realistic, but we want the way the actors handle the guns to be somewhat realistic. John Wick comes into this territory. Wick might be incredibly over-the-top in terms of action, but it delivers excellent gun handling. Keanu Reeves was famously trained extensively in firearms to look good in the movie.
Michael Mann champions realistic gun handling in the gun movie genre. Flicks like Collateral, Heat, Miami Vice, and more take the gunplay seriously. It’s loud, the actors are skilled with their weapons, and the weapon handling is rock solid.
Gun nerds like me lose it when we see a proper reload, a Mozambique drill, or something that is part of gun culture that doesn’t always escape the gun culture. To me, the best part of Wonder Woman was when Chris Pine port-loaded an M1897. Seeing it on the big screen is huge, and it always makes us happy.
The Gun Matters
The rarest of these three factors in making a good gun movie is making the gun matter. Oftentimes, the hero needs a gun, but it rarely matters which one. It doesn’t make a difference if Wick uses a P30L or a Pit Viper, he’s going to win and his skills give him an advantage more than anything else.
Movies where the gun makes a difference are the best, to me, anyway. For example, in The Expendables, Terry Crews wields an AA-12. It’s used to shred the bad guys that have our heroes cornered and used to blow up a tower with a FRAG-12, and the noise even scares the bad guys. Rambo and his M2 .50 Cal in Burma is another example.
The best example comes from a little-known movie called The Dark Valley. It’s a German western where a young man seeking vengeance returns to his small village with a Winchester rifle. The bad guys are used to single-shot rifles and double-barrel shotguns, and the Winchester rifle makes a huge difference in the film.
Good Gun Movies
These are the three factors I think make a good gun movie. They can swerve and work together or be alone in one film. Just one can make a fun and exciting movie that tickles the interests of gun guys and gals.
