In this special holiday episode of The Guns Podcast, host Brent Wheat flies solo while Roy is on the road to break down the firearms, myths, and movie magic found in our favorite Christmas films. Whether you fall on the side that "Die Hard" is the ultimate Christmas movie or prefer the nostalgia of "A Christmas Story," Brent dives deep into the specific models, props, and glaring errors that appear on screen.
From the chopped HK94s standing in for MP5s at Nakatomi Plaza to the impossible physics of a hockey-puck flashbang, this episode covers the technical details gun nerds love to spot. Brent also discusses the modified prop guns in "Home Alone," the unspoken anti-gun messaging in "A Christmas Story," and how a minigun from "Predator" made its way into a Bill Murray holiday classic.
Join us for a fun, festive look at Hollywood's portrayal of firearms. While these movies provide endless entertainment, Brent reminds us why the silver screen makes for a terrible firearms instructor and how we can use these moments to teach real-world safety to the next generation of shooters.
Key Takeaways
- The MP5s used by terrorists in Die Hard were actually chopped HK94s because real MP5s were scarce in Hollywood at the time.
- Many background guns in movies like Die Hard are actually Japanese MGC model gun replicas, identifiable by allen screw in the forward assist.
- The "hockey puck" flashbang used in Die Hard does not exist in reality; it was a Hollywood invention for dramatic effect.
- The Daisy Red Ryder in A Christmas Story featured a compass in the stock, a feature that did not exist on the production air rifle of that era.
- In Home Alone, the sound of a handheld tape recorder playing a movie clip would be far too tinny to realistically simulate a Thompson submachine gun.
- The minigun used by Lee Majors in "Scrooged" is the exact same prop gun used in the movie "Predator."
- Hollywood movies often reinforce bad habits; never use entertainment as a substitute for actual firearms training.
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