# Wheezy overused plot device: Oops, I dropped my gun. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433 "2004-11-01T22:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/41 "2004-11-03T04:06:33Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > In the novel and movie _The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight_, a character looking for .32 revolver ammo ends up choosing .32 automatic ammo. The gun eventually explodes in the main character’s hand. I don’t know anything about guns. What’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/42 "2004-11-03T06:12:09Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I don’t know anything about guns. What’s the difference? I’ve really tried to find a simple explanation for this, including side-by-side comparisons of .32 ammo for revolvers and automatics, but all I can report is that handgun ammunition is manufactured with a particular type of handgun in mind, and mixing-and-matching based solely on calibre is risky business. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/43 "2004-11-03T07:00:54Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I don’t know anything about guns. What’s the difference? Revovler Ammo has a rim at the base to keep it in place(otherwise the ammunition is free to slide about). Automatic ammo usually doesn’t, but rather, the casing is more or less the same diameter with not projections(Rims don’t really help magazine feeding). Though moon clips exist to allow people to fire automatic ammo out of revovlers by acting as an artifical rim. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/44 "2004-11-03T19:38:53Z")
Why does every thread I start eventually turn into a discussion of Jennifer Connelly’s boobs? :sad: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/45 "2004-11-03T21:33:06Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out what _The Jeffersons_ have to do with any of this. 😃 It took me a minute, but now I get it. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/46 "2004-11-04T07:23:29Z")
Cars always seem to conveniently have keys in them. This really bugged me- I saw a lot of films where a character would jump in a car, turn the key…hey wait, where did he get the key? Was it just sitting in there? Once I left my car keys in my (unlocked) car, and when I realized it, I about had a heart attack and was terrified someone took off with my car! :eek: Villans getting a ‘second wind’. That is, hero defeats villan, but through some means that you can’t see the villan (fell off some ledge, in water, etc). They start to go into the resolution of the story, but then the villan comes back, usually very psychotic, and has enough time to say some little tidbit of villan philosophy before he tries to kill the hero, but of course if he just jumped out of nowhere and KILLED the hero rather than wasting all that time flailing his rhetoric around…:rolleyes: That is why I liked the Terminator movies so much- the terminator was the kind of villan tha didn’t kill you with small talk, it just killed you period. There were no ‘any last words’. Arnie vs the T-1000 was great because you get to see _two_ of these kinds of characters lock horns, with hardly any cheesy dialogue and most of the action forced on each robot actually trying to destroy the other (oooh! Imagine that! 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/47 "2004-11-04T07:37:03Z")
People in horror movies always forget how to put the key in the lock. I insert and turn the key on my car at least twice a day, if there was a billion zombies approaching I could get the engine running in seconds no matter how panicked. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/48 "2004-11-04T08:14:23Z")
I don’t know about you guys, but Hollywood doesn’t seem to know how to treat grenades. Most times I see them in a typical action movie, they make that ONE appearance and it’s usually just for some contrived reason. Like in _Die Hard 2_, when Brucie’s hiding in that large plane. Suddenly, the bad guys summon up a crate of hand grenades and start chucking. Bruce, of course, magically equips the plane with an ejector seat, and somehow manages to escape being shot as he floats down. I guess that’s a whole 'nother issue: Contrived escape scenes. A contrived escape scene requires a contrived threat to escape from, giving double trouble. The “showdown” in _Batman Forever_ is an example of this… an impossible situation with no way out that’s solved in an impossible way. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/49 "2004-11-04T08:38:07Z")
Well, there’s always having the gun misfire—I can think of two movies with this happening. _Unforgiven_ and _Half Past Dead_. The latter “stars” Steven Segal, however, so—well, that speaks for itself. Having the gun malfunction would be a quick way to remove it from the story—though it looks a little forced, story-wise, unless you’ve already given indications that the gun wasn’t in good condition, or was of a flawed design. (You could probably do this by having the audience overhear a conversation or a lecture on firearms early in the film, or having the hero trying out a new weapon at the firing range, or something.) You might even be able to just show the gun getting dropped in mud, or something, and the hero does retreive it, but finds it hopelessly fouled. Having the gun become damaged by an outside force—that’s another route one might go. Though it would probably neccesitate the hero dropping the gun anyway. (Unless the villain has superhuman strength or powers, and could bend it in half or melt it without destroying the hero’s forearm in the process.) Or you could have the hero find out, too late, that the weapon he’s picked up is loaded with blanks, or is a non-firing replica. Or you might make the hero so inept with firearms that he can’t figure out how to take the safety off, or is such a lousy shot that the gun is basically useless. Or you could have the hero’s fingers/hands get broken. Or, y’know, you could stage the final battle near a big-ass electromagnet. (The gun-losing bit pretty much writes itself with that one.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/50 "2004-11-04T08:52:33Z")
This was used frequently in past movies, I am not certain if it is still around. The hero finds a body. Goes to report it to the authorities, on his/ her return the body is no longer there. It used to drive me crazy every time I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/51 "2004-11-04T10:30:50Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > I don’t know about you guys, but Hollywood doesn’t seem to know how to treat grenades. Most times I see them in a typical action movie, they make that ONE appearance and it’s usually just for some contrived reason. Like in _Die Hard 2_, when Brucie’s hiding in that large plane. Suddenly, the bad guys summon up a crate of hand grenades and start chucking. Bad guy #1: [To himself] So THAT’S where I left all of the hand grenades! [To comrades] Hey guys, they’re over here! I found them! Bad guy #2: I don’t think we should let you carry the box of hand grenades anymore. You keep misplacing it. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/52 "2004-11-04T12:03:06Z")
It’s not so common now, but back in the 70s, people used to be shown shutting off cars and getting out of them, but leaving the lights on. They’d then run off and when they came back to the car, the lights would be off and the car would start right up. It was always in makes and models of cars where automatic headlights weren’t available as an option, so it’s not like they had that as an excuse. Then there’s the always popular non-existant rear view mirror in cars. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/53 "2004-11-04T15:59:15Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Well, to be fair, it’s not easy to find people willing to listen to your plans for world domination. Friends and relatives tend to zone out on you very quickly when you start that up. Having someone at gunpoint, you have to figure they’ll listen. [Quote:] ([http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/teamamericaworldpolice/imsoronery.htm](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/teamamericaworldpolice/imsoronery.htm)) There’s no one Just me onry Sitting on my rittle throne I work very hard and make up great prans But nobody ristens, no one understands Seems that no one takes me serirousry And so I’m ronery A little ronery Poor rittre me ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/54 "2004-11-04T16:18:08Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > This was used frequently in past movies, I am not certain if it is still around. > > The hero finds a body. Goes to report it to the authorities, on his/ her return the body is no longer there. It used to drive me crazy every time I saw it. Almost as annoying is when the Hero finds a body and the murder weapon right next to it…and immediatly goes to pick up the murder weapon, getting his grubby fingerprints all over it. 50% of the time, the police will arrive at that exact moment to find him holding the weapon over the body. Does no one in movies know anything about preserving a crime scene? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/55 "2004-11-04T16:19:41Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > I don’t know about you guys, but Hollywood doesn’t seem to know how to treat grenades. Most times I see them in a typical action movie, they make that ONE appearance and it’s usually just for some contrived reason. That and they’re usually really, really powerful in the movies. unlike in the real life when grenades aren’t nearly as flashy or destructive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/56 "2004-11-04T17:22:26Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Well, there’s always having the gun misfire—I can think of two movies with this happening. _Unforgiven_ and _Half Past Dead_. The latter “stars” Steven Segal, however, so—well, that speaks for itself. There’s a misfire moment in _The Untouchables_. Charles Martin Smith, playing the rather nebbishy Treasury Agent/Accoutant, goes all Rambo during a bust of rumrunners at the Canadian border. As he charges merrily along, shotgunning thugs left and right, he runs out of ammo at the same moment a thug’s tommy-gun jams. While the thug tries to clear the jam, Smith charges forward and slams the guy with the shotgun butt. It’s an amusing but somewhat cartoonish sequence. > [@](#): > > Having the gun become damaged by an outside force—that’s another route one might go. Though it would probably neccesitate the hero dropping the gun anyway. (Unless the villain has superhuman strength or powers, and could bend it in half or melt it without destroying the hero’s forearm in the process.) A recent example was Jet Li in _The One_ where he pushes on the middle of a shotgun which surprisingly bends before the man holding it can lose his grip. > [@](#): > > Or, y’know, you could stage the final battle near a big-ass electromagnet. (The gun-losing bit pretty much writes itself with that one.) 😉 _Terminator 3_, sort-of. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/57 "2004-11-04T17:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _Terminator 3_, sort-of. Plus, it occured to me too late, a scene in _The One_ where bad-guy Jet Li loses a gun to the electromagnet of an MRI scanner before he can shoot good-guy Jet Li. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/58 "2004-11-04T21:24:12Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Villans getting a ‘second wind’. That is, hero defeats villan, but through some means that you can’t see the villan (fell off some ledge, in water, etc). They start to go into the resolution of the story, but then the villan comes back, usually very psychotic, and has enough time to say some little tidbit of villan philosophy before he tries to kill the hero, but of course if he just jumped out of nowhere and KILLED the hero rather than wasting all that time flailing his rhetoric around…:rolleyes: In the immortal words of Tuco (Eli Wallach) in _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_, “When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.” DD ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/59 "2004-11-04T21:51:01Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Whatever happened to those, anyway? For a while it looked like she had loaned them to Uma Thurman, but now they’re just…gone. Would whoever has Jennifer Connolly’s boobies please return them to their rightful owner, please? Thank you. > > What was this about? Oh, yeah. Gun dropping. What about lightsaber dropping? That seems to happen an awful lot in the Star Wars movies. It’s been widely reported that Connelly had her breasts reduced so she could get cred as a serious actress. Serious actresses, Oscar contenders and such, don’t have big tits. Sad but true. Christina Ricci went the same route for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433/60 "2004-11-04T22:54:06Z")
I don’t know if it is actually a ‘plot device’, but I am sick of horror movies in which ‘Character A’ goes into the bathroom, peers into the mirror on the door of the medicine cabinet and sees their reflection, opens the cabinet, then shuts it - and the mirror shows a creepy evil face right behind Character A. God. Do the directors of these movies don’t realize we know these bits are coming, as soon as Character A walks through the bathroom door? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheezy-overused-plot-device-oops-i-dropped-my-gun/272433.md?page=4)