Dramatic Gun Cock: Difference between revisions

The sound effect is often added in by sound editors after filming. This can be especially noticeable when the character onscreen is using a gun that cannot be manually cocked. Examples include the Luger and the Glock.

 

 

If it seems odd that this happens so often in the movies, it helps to tell yourself the characters are actually members of a religion who believe repeatedly cocking your gun at someone will give them cancer.

{{quote| '''Green Hornet''': I mean, I like drama as much as the next guy, obviously, but who the hell points an ''un''-cocked gun at somebody?}}

* In ''Secret Warriors'', Nick Fury has just told his men that they are going after their former comrades-in-arms. Dum Dum objects: 'But Nick, what will you feel when you shoot a friend!?' Fury answers with a [[Dramatic Gun Cock]] and a single word: 'Recoil'.

{{quote| "Click clack... clack click."}}

 

** Sarah Connor does this several times in succession in ''[[Terminator]] 2'', blasting the T-1000 with a SWAT-issue shotgun and interjecting each shot with a forceful, one-armed pump, but this is because the shotgun used is a Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun and it has to be pumped for each shot. (The one-armed pump is also [[Justified Trope|justified]] because Sarah got stabbed in her other arm by the T-1000 moments before.)

** The T-800 itself in the same film dramatically cocking his shotgun, a Remington Model 1887, which is a lever action weapon, one-handed by swirling the gun 360 degrees around on his finger, by the firing guard. Doing so with a factory production gun would result in broken fingers, as the handguard is too narrow--the shotgun in question was custom-altered for the movie. He does this because it's [[Rule of Cool|cool]], and to fire one-handed on the bike.

** There was another one in Tech Noir. Right before he attempts to shoot Sarah Connor, the Terminator cocks the pistol.

* ''[[Cliffhanger (Film)|Cliffhanger]]'': The ''clack-clack'' seems to happen every time the villains brandish their assault weapons at Stallone and company.

'''Stan''' *cock* "Really." }}

* In Tony Scott's ''Domino'', a dramatic conversation between Ed and Choco results in Choco cocking his revolver not once, but TWICE, despite the tension level never dropping to a point where the gun is ever, well, un-cocked.

* Also parodied in ''[[Evil Dead]] 2: Dead by Dawn'', where Ash cocks a type of gun that can't be cocked.

* In ''[[Sneakers]]'', during Martin's escape near the end, one thug carries a shotgun which he grabs and pumps as soon as he gets it. But he never fires a round, and yet when he finally finds Martin, he pumps the shotgun at him again. Normally this wouldn't be very obvious if you weren't paying attention, but in this case, you can hear the loud CLUNK of the unfired shell hitting the floor.

** And of course, the 'FWOOOAAAEEE' sound of Ronon's gun powering up in ''[[Stargate Atlantis (TV)|Stargate Atlantis]]''. And, to a lesser extent, Teyla cocking her P90 upon realizing she can't buy more time when she was being forced to execute Sheppard by a not-quite-herself Weir.

* On ''[[Top Gear]]'''s Polar Special, James May cocks his shotgun for the camera as he keeps watch while Jeremy Clarkson is enthroned on a portable toilet affixed to their truck's back bumper. Clarkson immediately calls out: "James, are you showing off, or are you actually looking for bears over there? Because I can't run"

** It gets worse. If you look close, you can see the way he's holding the gun he has the trigger pulled ''all the way''.

** New-Who is ''severely'' overloaded with this trope. Pretty much every time anybody points a gun at anything, there is a [[Dramatic Gun Cock]]. If they turn and point at something else, there's another one. It would seem that firearms in the Whoniverse not only have to be manually cocked, but the slightest motion will cause them to uncock without firing and force them to be cocked again. Exceptions are ''sometimes'' made for [[Ray Gun|ray guns]] and other non-standard firearms... although the number of energy weapons that have to be pumped like shotguns is really quite remarkable.

* One officer at least claimed to do this in a real manhunt. He was wielding a shotgun that was already primed to fire, but the suspect was hiding somewhere. The officer worked the slide (and ejected a round) to persuade the suspect to give up.

** [http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?172056-Asking-an-Officer-quot-What-Happened-quot&p=2908418&viewfull=1#post2908418 Another officer did this] when a driver refused to turn his car around while approaching a bridge with a suicidal individual.

* Any spring powered "toy" gun almost always has to rely on cocking the "gun" between shots. Nerf guns, pellet guns, even some BB guns.

 

[[Category:Kinetic Clicking]]

[[Category:Dramatic Gun Cock]]