Do movies make guns more popular?

[Fuser]

So I was watching Jackie Brown the other day and it got me thinking. For those of you who haven't seen this movie, there is a scene right in the beginning where Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), an arms dealer, is watching a video on assault rifles and starts talking about how movies make guns more popular amongst the public. He points out that noone ever wanted a .45 until the Killer movies came out, despite their jamming problem. He also talks about how although the Steyr AUG isn't sought after at all despite its advanced design, it will be once it's put in a movie. The film was made in 1997 and now (for whatever reason) the AUG is extremely popular. Obviously the AUG is an excellent weapon with a revolutionary design, but to what degree did movies make it more popular?

 

I'd thought about this before. I mean, nobody I know had ever heard of the G36 until Equilibrium, and Marui released the M733 right after Black Hawk Down came out. I was discussing this with my friend who thinks movies have nothing to do with the popularity of new weapons, despite these examples. I personally think that the media has something to do with it, but not everything to do with it. However in the past I sure as sh*t have had a hard time deciding whether or not to get a certain airsoft gun just from seeing it in one or two movies.

 

I should also mention that I want this to be a discussion about the media making guns more popular (as in people want to buy/adopt/try them) and less that it makes them more recognizable.

 

To simplify this into a single question: If a foreign, unknown, brand new gun, no matter the kind, was put in a successful film or video game, would there be a noticeable increase in sales?

 

Sorry if a thread like this already exists, I couldn't find one and I really want to know peoples' opinions.

[rizzo]

Legit sales of the firearm? No

 

Replica sales? Yes

[hardboiledcop]

well, the Steyr Aug was in the original Die Hard film.. guess they forgot about that huge box office smash.

 

----

 

to actually add to the thread, my favourite movies are Hard-Boiled and The Killer, and I have a fixation for dual Berettas and 1911s.

 

Go figure

[Bengali]

of course the media plays a huge role in gun popularity, i mean, how many people would actually know about the Dessert Eagle if it wasnt in so many movies, video games etc, its not exactly the most common pistol in the world. still, i think games tend to be a bigger influence than movies. timesplitters2 made me drool over P90's, Halo2 made me think about getting a Famas, Call of Duty made me want a Thompson and of course, Ghost recon made me love bolt action snipers like i never thought possible

[doc_newstead]

Probably. And I'm not moving on that position.

[Munitions Man]

I remember after I saw the Matrix I went out and bought a desert eagle, when you see Smith fire it it just looks so awesome.

 

I guess it's just watching it it action, makes you want to do that too. I just watched we were soldiers and now I want an M16.

[Fuser]

still, i think games tend to be a bigger influence than movies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really? I would think that'd be true for a certain audience/age group, but not necessarily true regarding the general population. Thanks for that opinion, I agree to some extent.

 

edit

I have a fixation for dual Berettas

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Boondock Saints ----> M92F becomes my second favorite pistol.

[Carrion]

there is no doubt that media influances what people consider to be "cool" and good.

 

 

rap music and rnb glorifies gang culture to young people and we get gang problems.

[Yeager]

I just saw Red Dawn and now I'm looking into buying an ARSENAL SLR..

 

 

 

GO WOLVERINES!

[Fuser]

there is no doubt that media influances what people consider to be "cool" and good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, no doubt about that, but to what extent? Will someone be inclined to go out and purchase a gun because they saw it in a movie?

[Skorn]

I think it does, but not for all guns. As it is, I haven't seen many Vietnam movies which used the M14 much, but lots of people like that. Perhaps due to similarities with the M1, but maybe because it is a great, aesthetically pleasing design.

[TheKurodaVagrant]

"Get me the gun from Rambo."

"Which movie?"

"I've only seen the first."

-Lord of War

[hardboiledcop]

I think it does, but not for all guns.  As it is, I haven't seen many Vietnam movies which used the M14 much, but lots of people like that.  Perhaps due to similarities with the M1, but maybe because it is a great, aesthetically pleasing design.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Don't have to be Vietnam movies does it?

 

full metal jacket?

black hawk down?

Jarhead.. etc etc.

 

I think that if you know of a gun before a movie, you won't be that much more inclined to want it, you'll know if you liked it, but if you see a gun in a movie for the first time then you might be spurred into buying it because of the way it was depicted in that movie...

[eligibb]

there is no doubt that media influances what people consider to be "cool" and good.

rap music and rnb glorifies gang culture to young people and we get gang problems.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I have to kinda agree with carrion, its more the music industry thats making guns popular and "cool", especaily artists who have a hard man image and go on about either being shot or shoting people, (50 cent springs to mind mainly) but the artists dont promote new guns (it seems like they all use pistols) and i would doubt they know what make/model gun they are using although a desert eagle (gold probably) is a common look.

 

the film industry does promote guns, but id say that 9/10 the same few guns are being used in films (i.e mp5's, ak47s) but if you look at the films that do promote "new" guns, they are always the groundbreaking great films, like res0290 pointed out, Equilibrium showed off the g36, james bond shows off the latest PPx at the time, terminators shown the gattling gun.

 

Its in exactly the same way as the before the matrix almost no one wore the trademark trenchcoat (and people still get it wrong by getting a leather one, keano is a veggy or vegan i cant remember so he wore a woolen/synthetic one)

 

if we dont want the media promoting guns, then then they will have to stop promoting anything really. come one we all do it, we see somthing that our heros or celebs have and we want to have the same be it an item of clothing, car, hairstyle or gun its all the same.

 

to answer your question, on the forign gun being made famous for being in a film/game/whatever, that all depends on how good the film or game it is in actualy is. i mean without looking can anyone remember any of the guns in waterworld? or can anyone remember the colour of the car used in the avengers film? yet most people remember the godfather = black suit and that accent, darth vader = heavy breathing and red lightsaber.

[TrojanViper]

i think that movies show you just how useful and bad *albatross* a gun can be in the hands of a superhero style warrior, which sparks some imaginative power trip on how bad *albatross* you could be/look if you owned an airsoft version

 

but video games give you the closest you can normally get (in this country) to experiencing the thrill of using the weapon, and in games like counterstrike people get used to a specific weapon and desire it in airsoft under the (pretty deluded) assumption that this perticular gun would improve their game.

[T.P.Evan]

I think it does, but not for all guns.  As it is, I haven't seen many Vietnam movies which used the M14 much, but lots of people like that.  Perhaps due to similarities with the M1, but maybe because it is a great, aesthetically pleasing design.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That was mainly a contribution from 'Nam video games ...

[Fuser]

that all depends on how good the film or game it is in actualy is.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If a foreign, unknown, brand new gun, no matter the kind, was put in a successful film or video game, would there be a noticeable increase in sales?

 

But yes, I see what you mean. I totally agree with everything you said. I realize that when someone buys a gun based on the fact that they saw it in a movie, it's all about imitating the character they saw, regardless of how good the gun actually is (ex. jamming problem).

 

What I'm really interested in is to what degree this occurs. I'd like to know who here has bought an airsoft gun because they saw it in a movie or used it in a game. I'd really like to know to what degree guns in movies effect sales of real guns, but lets stick to airsoft for now

 

edit HTML

[Bengali]

That was mainly a contribution from 'Nam video games ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and blackhawk down dont forget

[phoenix360mute]

for me, movies dont influence them

 

but games do, mgs being a main one, hitman ect, now i just buy a gun, and make it speical, using alot of money lol

[T.P.Evan]

and blackhawk down dont forget

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes sort of...I'm not quite sure how many people went out right after they saw BHD and said they want either an M14 or an M733.

[Jagdraben]

What I'm really interested in is to what degree this occurs.  I'd like to know who here has bought an airsoft gun because they saw it in a movie or used it in a game.  I'd really like to know to what degree guns in movies effect sales of real guns, but lets stick to airsoft for now

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I bought a CA36 because I liked using the MG36 in GR2. And I used the MG36 because I was obsessed with G36s at the time. No idea why. I think it was because we (my friend and I) were in love with the XM8 (in GR2). So I guess you could say that I bought a CA36 because I used an XM8 in GR2....

 

That's about the only example. Usually, rather than buying a gun based on what I use in a video game, I buy a gun and run around with it as much as possible afterwards in video games. I also like watching movies that have said gun in it. I suppose it could be argued that I bought an RK-103 because AK-74Ms were used by the Nakajima rebels in GitS:SAC 2nd Gig. In truth it was because I wanted to use an RPK... little did I know that you cannot convert an RK into an RPK.

 

Movies do effect my load-outs, though. As do video games and military documentaries.

[Fuser]

I bought my CA36K before I'd ever played GRAW, and playing it for the first time only reinforced my love for the gun . I went out of my way to take it off dead bodies.

[Jagdraben]

I did that in GR2 with AK-74Ms for a long while after I got my RK-103.

[Bengali]

GR directly affected my decision to buy a bolt action and play as a sniper, and GR2 is the sole cause for my XM8 and has directly affected my loadout

[Titleist]

24 directly influenced my desire to make a Sig 226, what can I say...

 

Goldeneye was a huge driving force in why I wanted an AK74SU.