Movies & TV / Columns

The Top 25 Coolest Movie Guns: (#10 – 6)

March 15, 2021 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz
Dirty Harry Clint Eastwood

The Top 25 Coolest Movie Guns: #10-#6

RichardLynchInvasionUSA

Well, this is week four of a five week list, with one more to go after this one. Lots of truly cool movie guns on that list. But we have to get through week four first, and week four has some pretty damn cool guns on it, too.

Before we get to week four, here are the links to the first three weeks, just in case you missed them/want to check them out again:

#25 through #21

#20 through #16

#15 through #11

Some serious firepower on those lists, right?

And now, finally, the choices for week four. What are The Top 25 Coolest Movie Guns, numbers 10 through 6?

The Top 25 Coolest Movie Guns- #10-#6

CommandoPoster

10- 4 shot rocket launcher- Commando: The first time we see this 4 shot rocket launcher is when Ahnold Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix gives it to Rae Dawn Chong’s Cindy after they break into the gun shop. The first time we actually see it used is when Cindy accidentally fires it backwards while trying to stop the armored prison van that Matrix is in after he’s arrested for breaking into the gun shop. At that moment the rocket launcher is kind of a goofy weapon because it causes massive destruction in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use it. When we finally see Matrix use it (he’s in the midst of killing damn near all of Arius’ men while rescuing his daughter Jenny) he destroys a truck and then a wall/gate and those things blow up nice. Now, when I first saw this rocket launcher I really thought Matrix would end up using it on either Arius or Bennett as it really seemed like the kind of weapon that the hero would “save” for a big moment (and what bigger moment is there in an action movie than when the hero kills the villain?). I mean, it holds and can shoot four rockets. Four rockets! Who knew that kind of thing really existed? I haven’t seen it used in many movies since (the Internet Movie Firearms Database only lists two movies and one TV show) but it has apparently appeared in a number of video games (I remember using it in the Resident Evil games). I think that’s odd because, well, who wouldn’t want to have a rocket launcher that can have four rockets in it at any one time? I bet it’s heavy as fuck, though. Not heavy for Ahnold because he’s Ahnold but anyone else? Probably a giant pain in the ass.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Commando

RamboFirstBloodPart2Poster

9- M60 Machine Gun- Rambo: First Blood Part II: Now, Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo used an M60 in the first Rambo movie, First Blood, which was cool and all, but the M60 he uses in the sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part II, is really the pinnacle of a guy using an M60 in an action movie. As far as I can tell, the difference between the two machine guns is the handle grip thing under the barrel, but for whatever reason that “extra grip” makes the gun look right. When Rambo uses it, both when he’s rescuing the American POWs and getting them on the helicopter and then, when he blows up Charles Napier’s Murdock’s secret communications room, it’s just so goddamn awesome. Rambo is doing his now iconic “Yahhhhhh!” yell while shooting a big mass machine gun with only one hand (he uses the second hand to hold the gun’s ammo belt out straight so the belt doesn’t jam). Is that possible to do in real life? I have no idea (it would seem impossible but, again, how the hell do I know? Maybe super jacked guys like Rambo and Ahnold in Commando can do it) but it’s awesome to see in a movie.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rambo:_First_Blood_Part_II

Rambo4Poster

Honorable Mention: The Pick Up Truck .50 Caliber Machine Gun- Rambo: Towards the end of the fourth Rambo movie, Rambo, features one of the most insane “guy kills about a million bad guys with just one gun” scene in movie history, and that’s all due to the presence of the Browning M2 Aircraft machine gun that’s in the back of the truck/jeep that Rambo commandeers. And as soon as he gains control of it and wastes the guys in the truck and then starts shooting seemingly everywhere and killing just so many bad guys, it’s glorious. I mean, Jesus, did Stallone actually write that scene or did he sort of figure it out while making the movie? Holy shit. I say that every time I see it. Holy shit.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rambo_(2008)#Browning_M2_Aircraft

LicensetoKillPoster

8- The Signature Camera Gun- License to Kill: The James Bond movies are well known for their weapons and gadgets, and I’d have to say that, out of the all of the Bond movies I’ve seen (I haven’t watched any of the Daniel Craig movies mostly out of spite because I think Die Another Day is great), the Signature Camera Gun from License to Kill (or Licence to Kill, depending on where you live) is the coolest. Why? Because it’s a camera that can be transformed into a gun. It also has the “hand print identification” feature where only Timothy Dalton’s Bond can use it. That’s handy as hell because a bad guy can steal the gun but he can’t use it on Bond (well, he can’t shoot Bond with the gun. He can beat Bond to death with it, but who is going to figure that out in the moment?). You’d think that Bond’s Q would fashion more guns with that feature. I’m also a big fan of people using guns that are pieced together from other things/objects. That kind of thing always seems more deadly than just any other kind of gun.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/License_To_Kill#.22Signature_Camera_Gun.22

TheManwiththeGoldenGunPoster

Honorable Mention: The Golden Gun: The Man with the Golden Gun: It’s a single shot special handgun used by super assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) . It’s made of solid gold, it uses gold bullets, and it can be broken down into multiple seemingly innocuous objects to hide that it exists. Truthfully, the gun probably wouldn’t be as cool if it had been the weapon of some other actor, but since it’s used by Christopher fucking Lee it’s super fucking cool. I mean, come on, Christopher Lee is scary enough as himself, but as an assassin known for having a third nipple and a one shot Golden Gun, he’s got to be terrifying. All he needs is one bullet from a special gun that can be created using seemingly random objects. How are you going to defeat that?

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun#Golden_Gun

TheTerminatorPoster

7- .45 Longslide with Laser Sighting- The Terminator: When I first saw The Terminator I was both terrified and enraptured by the handgun used by Ahnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 at the beginning of the movie. I was terrified because the gun didn’t seem real or possible. I had never seen a .45 magnum in a movie that was that big (the .45 Jack Cates used in 46 Hrs. wasn’t like that, nor was the handgun used by Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop). And what was the deal with the laser sight tube thing on the top? What did that do? And then I saw it in use. Holy shit. The laser sight allows the user to “never miss,” just like the guy from Gremlins said it would. And the gun had a weird sound that was somehow both loud and quiet at the same time. The sound didn’t seem to bother the Terminator at all. As for my enrapturing, it was the perfect gun for a cyborg. It was too big, kind of ridiculous looking, but at the same time deadly as fuck. And the laser sight seemed like the kind of thing a robot would have for its weapon because it’s a laser. I wanted one (well, a toy one. I was just a kid at the time). It was a damn shame when the Terminator lost the gun while inside the Tech Noir club after getting blasted by Kyle Reese and his shotgun. The Uzi the Terminator pulls out next just isn’t as cool or satisfying.

Has the sound of the .45 been changed over the years? I saw The Terminator on TV not that long ago and the scene where the Terminator uses the .45 for the first time sounded different. The gun wasn’t as loud as I remembered it. I can’t find any evidence on the internets about this, but I’m fairly certain it happened. So, am I right? Am I insane?

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Terminator#AMT_Hardballer_.45_Longslide

DirtyHarryPoster

6-.44 Magnum Revolver- Dirty Harry: I’d imagine that when people think of Clint Eastwood’s Inspector Harry “Dirty Harry” Callahan, they think of his various catchphrases (“A man’s got to know his limitations,” “Swell,” Go ahead, make my day”) and the gun he uses in every Dirty Harry movie, the .44 magnum revolver. Harry refers to it as “the most powerful handgun in the world” in the very first Dirty Harry movie, Dirty Harry, and there’s reason to believe it’s true because the gun is huge (it looks like a super powerful gun), it sounds big (go ahead and watch any of the Dirty Harry movies and listen to Harry’s .44 magnum. No other gun in the Dirty Harry movies sounds like that), and everyone around Harry knows how big and bad the gun is. The gun seems ridiculous for everyday use by anyone, but Harry makes it work. And who can ever forget what Harry says, both at the start of the movie and at the end, about his .44 magnum:

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, being that this is the .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself a question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

Still funny, still chilling, still awesome fifty years later. Just like the gun.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Dirty_Harry#Smith_.26_Wesson_Model_29

**

Next week: #’s 5-1!

I ain’t got time to bleed! Go ahead, make my day! I like chicken! Your move, creep! Kick Some Ass!

**

Thanks for reading. Agree? Disagree? Sign up with disqus and comment. You know you want to, so just go do it.

Please “like” The Gratuitous B-Movie Column on Facebook!

Oh, and B-movies rule. Always remember that.