Modern Firepower at the Movies
Shooting Movie Guns in GURPS Fourth Edition
by Hans-Christian Vortisch
Movies are some of the most popular sources of inspiration for many gamers. They have the advantage of a fully fleshed-out world, with complete visualization so that everybody knows how things look and work. Often one of the things players and gamemasters want to know about are the weapons used.
It also works the other way round -- ever wondered how some of the firearms featured in GURPS (or other games) actually look like in action? Films can be used to visualize much of the hardware mentioned in the rules, even after allowing for cinematic license such as exaggerated effects, increased muzzle flash, and a preference for flashy chrome finishes . . .
The movies discussed below concentrate on classic "Take 'Em Down" action flicks featuring modern firepower; not all of them are necessarily good films. However, all of them are "gun films" in which firearms play a prominent role. All weapons mentioned are described and provided with full statistics in GURPS High-Tech, Fourth Edition. (All page references are for that book, except where noted.)
Many movie-goers probably know that Commander James "007" Bond recently switched from the Walther PPK pistol (page 99) to the Walther P99 (page 103), and that the Matrix Agents prefer the .50-caliber IMI Desert Eagle pistol (page 102). But what about those other guns? Here they are. [SPOILER WARNINGS!]
Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
"Now I have a . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: April 11, 2008
Copyright © 2008 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.