Airsoft in Movies!

Airsoft guns are part of our lives more often than we think. In the movie industry, airsoft guns are used in a lot of movies and we might not even know about it. There are a lot of reasons, besides the cost and time, movie studios use airsoft guns instead of real firearms firing blanks, but the main reason is safety. Do you guys remember the movie “The Crow”? The famous actor/martial artist, son of Bruce Lee, was killed on the set for that movie. The movie studio was using a real .44 magnum revolver, and a long chain of unfortunate events followed, Brandon Lee was fatally shot on the set.

It is very expensive and time consuming when using real firearms on the set, movie studios must have a person who is in charge of the firearms, called a gun wrangler. No one on the set is allowed to handle the firearms except for the gun wrangler and the actor/actress. Before the scene is filmed, the gun wrangler will instruct the actor/actress on gun safety, and hand them the gun. When the scene is done, the actor/actress will hand the firearm back over to the gun wrangler. As you can see, the process is very time consuming, and the gun wrangler is not cheap to hire, on top of the cost of the firearm or firearm rental. Also, insurance is also very expensive, not to mention the cost of emergency medical personnel on the set.

Airsoft guns are a great alternative for the motion picture industry. It is a lot safer since it is non lethal, cost effective, and they look exactly like the real counterparts. There are several major motion pictures which used airsoft guns. Airsoft guns are mostly used in non-firing scenes, such as guns on the wall, or people holding it in a guard manner. Higher budget films rarely use airsoft guns in firing scenes; however, lower budget films use airsoft guns all the time.

28 Weeks Later

Remember that awesome zombie apocalypse movie 28 Weeks Later? Most of the M4A1 variant rifles in that movie, especially in the non firing scenes, are airsoft guns. If you watch the movie more carefully, you can actually see the Classic Army trademark, the white Armalite logo, on the M4s. Interestingly, in some scenes, you can actually see the winding wheel on the bottom of the high capacity magazine.

The Kingdom

The Kingdom was an awesome movie. It was about a team of elite Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents that went to Saudi Arabia to investigate a suicide bombing on American territory. There were a few scenes where Saudi police officers were holding the Sig SG552 rifles. Those rifles were Tokyo Marui Sig 552 airsoft guns.

Green Zone

A lot of weapons in the movie Green Zone, starring Matt Damon, are airsoft guns. The M16A4 with M203 in the opening scene clearly showed the EGA (Eagle, Globe, Anchor) on the receiver. The only airsoft company that makes that rifle in that configuration is G&P. Not only the M16A4 with M203 in that movie is an airsoft gun, the CAR-15s used by the United States Special Forces are also airsoft. You can clearly see the white Armalite marking, which indicates the gun is manufactured by Classic Army. Also the Army M24 sniper rifle in that movie is made by Classic Army. In some scenes, you can clearly see the magazine is much more forward compared to the real M24.

Salt

In the movie Salt, Salt’s (Angelina Jolie) boss, Agent Winters (Liv Schreiber), is holding a KJW near the end. It is in the scene when Agent Winters shot the president, and Salt tried to break into the room. Agent Winters drew his P229 by KJW and aimed to the door, where Salt was supposed to enter.

Punisher – War Zone

Not only airsoft guns make it on the silver screen, but airsoft accessories have also made their way to the motion picture industry. In Punisher – War Zone, Frank Castle’s M4 has an H&K AG36 style grenade launcher on it. You can see it when you look closely, the launcher is actually the Madbull AGX grenade launcher attached to his M4, since the M4 is extremely short.

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

Not only action movies use airsoft guns as props, some comedy films use airsoft guns as well because of the safety and the cost effectiveness of it. In Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Agent Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), uses an airsoft Sig P226 in one scene. In that particular scene, the way it was filmed, you can clearly see the inner barrel of the airsoft gun.

As you can see, airsoft guns are part of our lives more often than we think. Airsoft is not only a hobby; it is also a great alternative for the motion pictures industry. Airsoft is becoming more popular, and it is becoming more mainstream. So next time you are watching an action film, pay attention, you may be able to see airsoft guns in the movie. I hope you guys enjoy this little fun fact article. I am Andrew, stay sharp, and get out and play airsoft!