Greatest Movie Weapons

Many weapons have been used by our favourite characters throughout the history of cinema, but only rarely do those weapons become so ingrained in the mythology of the film that they become extensions of the characters, and even become symbolic of a franchise. In the following list, I've selected (in no particular order) what I think to be the most interesting, inventive and iconic weaponry to grace the screen over the past few decades.

M41-A Pulse Rifle (Aliens)
The primary firearm of the Colonial Marines from James Cameron's Aliens, the M41-A is an assault rifle capable of firing 10mm caseless armour piercing rounds, and is also fitted with a pump-action underslung grenade launcher and a digital ammunition counter for monitoring the capacity of its 95 round magazines. The prop itself was constructed from a live firing WW2 era Thompson sub-machine gun, the action of a Remington 870 shotgun and the casing from a SPAS-12 assault shotgun all fused together under a manufactured carry shroud. The principal weapon design was sketched out by Cameron himself, and its distinctive firing sound is instantly recognisable.





Proton Pack (Ghostbusters)
The proton pack fires out a charged particle beam of positive energy which weakens and draws from the negative energy of ghosts and supernatural entities, allowing the Ghostbusters to contain the phantoms in specifically designed 'ghost traps.' The props were custom built fibreglass shells fitted with programmed motherboards to enable the complex lighting displays, set atop military issue A.L.I.C.E frames so they could be worn by the actors. The proton pack has become one of the most sought after movie props, and entire online communities are dedicated to delivering accurate guidelines on how to construct your own screen accurate replica. Just remember to never cross the streams.



Auto 9 (Robocop)
Robocop's standard issue machine pistol with a 50 round magazine, typically fired in a 3 round burst. It is holstered in a concealed compartment within Robocop's upper leg and aimed via heads up targeting display. The prop was built around a heavily modified Beretta 93R - an adjustable rate of fire version of the standard police and military sidearm - and could truthfully only hold 20 rounds.

Lightsaber (Star Wars)
A sword of pure plasma energy, shaped within a containment field and emitted from a unique and personally crafted hilt belonging to either a Jedi Knight or Sith Lord. The prop saber grips for Star Wars Episode IV were built from camera flash attachments, and fitted with spinning reflective blades that would later be colour rotoscoped by hand, frame by frame. As technology developed, the blades were simplified and became carbon fiber. By the time the prequels were made, they were digitally rotoscoped and enhanced with CGI.

Rosebox Shotgun (Terminator 2)

The iconic shotgun used by Arnold Schwarzenegger's T800 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a sawn off Winchester model 1887. In the film, the T800 flip cocks the weapon single handed, which in reality is almost impossible without heavy modification to the trigger guard and lever loop (the modified version from the film is pictured right).




Smith and Wesson Schofield (3:10 To Yuma)
While there are many Western sidearms in many iconic Western movies, the Schofield stands out distinctly and was definitely 'ahead of its time,' being one of the first revolvers to feature a top-break reloading action. In 3:10 To Yuma, sadistic gang member Charlie Prince wields a pair of Schofields with deadly efficiency.



Blastech DL44 Blaster (Star Wars)

Han Solo's sidearm of choice throughout the original Star Wars trilogy, the Blastech DL44 heavy blaster pistol is fitted with a motion detecting scope, and packs enough punch to penetrate the armour of an Imperial Stormtrooper. The prop was built upon the German 'broomhandle' Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol, first manufactured in 1896 and used throughout World War One. As with all firearms in the original Star Wars trilogy, it's a disguised and modified version of an existing weapon. George Lucas insists this was for creative reasons, to give the world an authentic and lived-in look, but it was more likely due to budgetary and time restrictions.

 M79 Grenade launcher (Terminator 2)
A break-action grenade launcher of the Vietnam War era, the M79 features prominently in Terminator 2 as the weapon carried by the T800 in the latter half of the film, and is ultimately used to defeat the T1000.




Lawgiver (Judge Dredd)
While it looks nothing like the Lawgiver as represented in the Judge Dredd comics, the version from the Stallone movie is principally the same, responding to voice commands to change ammunition types. These include standard bullets, rapid fire, explosive grenade rounds, the "double-whammy," armour piercing rounds and signal flares. Fans of the comics will notice that the ammunition capabilities of the weapon differ in the film, purely due to creative interpretation.



M56 Smartgun (Aliens)
The smartgun in Aliens is a heavy support weapon mounted on a harness and guided by infrared tracking on a user headset. It is carried in the film by Private Drake and Vasquez. The prop was built onto a WW2 German MG42 machine gun, fitted to a camera operator's Steadicam harness and decorated with various motorcycle parts.



Staff Weapon (Stargate)
First appearing in Roland Emmerich's Stargate and continuing throughout the various spin off TV series, the staff weapon is an alien plasma launcher capable of firing plasma bursts at a moderate rate. It can alternatively be used as a melee weapon due to its heavy back end. In the original movie, it was depicted as much more powerful than its TV series counterpart, capable of launching enemies several metres from the impact of the blast alone. The firing end is segmented, and separates into four sections to reveal the weapon's barrel.


Malcolm Reynolds' Pistol (Firefly/Serenity)
Mal's pistol from Firefly/Serenity is described as a 'Moses Brothers Self-Defence Engine Frontier Model B.' It's a magazine fed, semi-automatic handgun, modelled around the volcanic repeaters of the American Civil War. The prop is built upon a Taurus Model 85 revolver, entirely covered in brass casing and modified with a longer grip to give it the appearance of a gun of much higher calibre.

Ash's Chainsaw (Evil Dead)

In Evil Dead 2, Ash gets his hand infected by the undead, so he lops it off at the wrist with his Homelite XL chainsaw. Then, he uses the chainsaw as an artificial appendage to sever numerous Deadite limbs. You can't get much more inventive than that.

Shoulder Cannon (Predator)

The Predator (or Yautja as it's known in the extended universe) carries a shoulder mounted plasma cannon which is targeted through a triangular reticule in the creature's various vision modes. From the exterior, this reticule is visible as a tri-pointed targeting laser. The design of each Predator's cannon varies slightly, and the physical effect of these weapons varies from film to film. This is the most iconic of the Predator's weaponry, but throughout the series we also see them use wrist blades, spears, disc weapons, spearguns, net guns, wrist cannons, shurikens, daggers, nooses, razor whips, laser traps and ofcourse the self destruct mechanism. That's quite an arsenal.

.44 Magnum (Dirty Harry)

Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty' Harry Callahan used a long barrelled .44 Magnum, which was at the time the most powerful handgun in the world. The sales of the weapon were boosted immensely by its popular portrayal, but little did buyers know that the firing version of the gun used on set was actually a Smith and Wesson Model 25 firing .45 calibre ammunition, as .44 blank rounds were not available to the film-makers.

Sword of the Daywalker (Blade)

The sword of the daywalker is a unique weapon fashioned with silver in its blade in order to improve its effectiveness against vampires. There is also a security feature hidden in the handle - if picked up by an unrecognised user, the sword springs out four hidden blades from the hilt in order to incapacitate the would-be thief. There is supposedly a hidden throwing knife retrievable from within the hilt, but this is never shown in the films. Blade keeps the sword sheathed in a specially designed harness on his back, allowing him to fight hand to hand without the sword obstructing his movement.

Flamethrower (Alien/The Thing)

In Ridley Scott's Alien, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) uses a standard issue incinerator unit to navigate her way off the Nostromo and survive the alien menace. The flamethrower became a staple of the franchise, returning in two of the sequels. The flamethrower is also well used in John Carpenter's version of The Thing, in which R. J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) carries one throughout the film.

Minigun (Terminator 2/Predator)

Used by the T800 in Terminator 2 during the police shootout, the minigun is designed to be mounted on helicopter gunner positions, and its motorised spinning barrel can spit out between 4,000 and 6,000 rounds per minute. In Predator, Jesse Ventura levels a section of jungle with the minigun in an attempt to destroy the invisible extra-terrestrial antagonist.

Hoyt Bow (Rambo)

From Rambo 2 onwards, Rambo used a modified Hoyt compound bow. The design of this bow multiplies the tension of the string through a system of pulleys, allowing the user to fire extremely high velocity projectiles without having to draw the bowstring back to its limits. In reality, the Rambo 2 bow was less powerful than other Hoyt products and only enjoyed a short commercial production run due to its limitations.

Zorg Industries ZF-1 (The Fifth Element)

Encased in a folding pod that doubles as a mechanical shield for the user, the ZF-1 consists of a machine gun, rocket launcher, poison arrow launcher, net launcher, flamethrower, freeze ray and self destruct function. The prop was built in various operating versions (one for flamethrower, one for machine gun etc.) but the primary gun was built around a Russian AKS-74U.

Arc Generator (District 9)

District 9's Arc Gun - also known as a Mulcher or Arc Generator - is an extra-terrestrial weapon that can only be fired by the alien life forms known as Prawns. The weapon fires a highly charged protonic current which causes the target to superheat and explode instantly upon contact. The weapons in the film were devised by Peter Jackson's WETA workshop.