This is an archive page of the <a href="http://www.legendgames.net/blognews.asp">Blogger News Network</a>.  All stories posted on BNN are copyrighted by their author.  All site elements on BNN are copyright 2005, Robert Hayes.<br><br>
Gun Standoffs Are Stupid<br>
by Scott Salyer<br>
Originally posted to BNN  3/13/2005<br><br>
The gun standoff is a plague on modern cinema. I saw a classic example a few days ago from the movie 'Speed'. Keanu Reeves' character has just leaped onto the transit bus and is telling everyone to remain calm (so as not to blow up da bus). A jittery hispanic guy pulls a gun. Keanu, in response, pulls his gun as well. With muzzles practically touching, Reeves' character attempts to calm the man (who ends up shooting the bus driver).<br><br>
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In real life, we all know that when Keanu reached for his pistol, he would have taken one in the chest. The gun standoff simply has no basis in reality. By the way, Keanu does not act well. That is a myth. At times, in a good movie, he is tolerable but he is never good.<br><br>
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In the old movie days, when you pointed a gun at somebody, you shot them. Have you ever seen a Clint Eastwood western in which he stood frozen with six-shooter in hand just hoping the other guy, with his finger on the trigger and his gun pointed at Clint, wouldn't put lead into his chest? No. He ripped the gun from the holster so fast the leather smoked, then put five slugs in the guy before he blinked.<br><br>
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These days, the good guy and the bad guy finally come face to face and gun to gun only to find their weapons mysteriously inoperable. They just glare at eachother and threaten to shoot while they work out plot details. Did I miss some critical piece of legislation, barring firearms from firing when pointed directly at one another? It's possible, but I believe there's a better explanation.<br><br>
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Having never seen a real gun fight, I am forced to deduce from what I know. It seems that the gun standoff phenomenon is a product of convenience. How else do you maintain the excitement of gunplay while staging a climactic verbal confrontation? It falls in the same category as clips with unlimited rounds, placing headshots from a launched motorcycle, and blowing up suv's with a 9mm.<br><br>
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It's like Rocky movies. If the Italian Stallion were real, he wouldn't last eight seconds in the ring with Clubber Lang because his arms dangle at his sides like lead weights while his head gets beat off. There's just no reality to it.<br><br>
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I fear the continuing use of the gun standoff in film could lead to unfortunate notions among young gun enthusiasts. How many movie goers have to die re-enacting scenes from Will Smith flicks before the injustice stops?<br>
<br>Scott Salyer blogs at <a href="http://www.commoninsight.com" target="_blank">Common Insight</a>.<br>
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