Hollywood Airsoft
Hollywood television shows and popular action movies use many props, but our favourite (by a long way) are the ones closest to home - airsoft guns!
Some film and TV makers use the standard airsoft guns, already available on the market, with one of the most common being the Glock 17, and some are specifically designed and made for a particular film or tv show. These guns often become quite popular within the airsoft community, especially when a player wants to replicate a certain look.
Lets take a look at some of the most popular choices...
28 DAYS LATER
Animal activists invade a laboratory with the intention of releasing chimpanzees that are undergoing experimentation, having been infected with a virus that causes rage. The naïve activists disregard a scientists pleas to keep the cages locked, which has disastrous consequences.
Zombies have devastated The British Isles having been infected with a virus that has turned everyone into murderous zombies. Twenty eight days later, the protagonist, Jim, wakes up from a coma, finding himself alone in an abandoned hospital.
Jim begins to seek out anyone else to find London is deserted, apparently without a living soul. Jim runs for his life after finding a church, which had become inhabited by zombie like humans intent on his demise. Selena and Mark rescue him from the horde and bring him up to date on the mass carnage and horror as all of London tore itself apart. This is a tale of survival and ultimately, heroics, with nice subtext about mankind's savage nature.
Airsoft guns get plenty of screen time in this movie. If you look closely enough, you'll find the M4A1 variant rifles used throughout the movie are actually airsoft guns. A close examination will even reveal logos identifying the guns as not being real, and some scenes even reveal the winding wheel at the bottom of the high cap magazines!
SALT
Salt is a 2010 action film directed by Philip Noyce that stars Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who finds herself accused of being a Russian sleeper agent. As a consequence, her unwavering loyalty to the United States is tested as she goes on the run in an attempt to clear her name. Evelyn calls on all the skills she has acquired as a CIA agent to escape her pursuers.
Agent Salt has to become even more of a badass as she does everything she can to prove her innocence. Near the end of the movie Salt's boss, Agent Winters, aims a P229 at a door where Salt is attempting to enter. As you might have guessed, the P229 is an airsoft gun made by the airsoft manufacturer KJ Works.
GREEN ZONE
Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon), teams up with a senior CIA officer to hunt for evidence that Saddam Hussein has been stockpiling weapons of mass destruction (WMD), in the Iraqi desert. As Miller fruitlessly races from one empty site to another he soon discovers that both sides have been spinning the truth all along.
Green Zone is a movie based on the American occupation of Iraq, so there are plenty of guns to be seen. Maybe not surprisingly, many of the firearms on screen are actually airsoft guns. An example of this is the M16A4 with M203 grenade launcher seen in the opening sequence. On close inspection you can see that it displayed markings on the receiver that indicated it was manufactured by G&P, a prominent airsoft manufacturer.
In other scenes, United States Special Forces are seen carrying CAR-15s, which are also airsoft guns. The Armalite markings on the guns are as clear as day, indicating they were made by another well-known airsoft manufacturer - Classic Army.
THE KINGDOM
In this action-fuelled film Jamie Foxx plays FBI special agent Ronal Fleury, leading a secret team of U.S. counterterrorism investigators into the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after a terrorist attack leaves several Americans dead. One thing Agent Fleury does not know is that the terrorists who perpetrated the attack have him and his team dead in their sights.
The Kingdom is an absolute joy ride that has plenty of gun battles for the action enthusiasts out there. In a few scenes, Saudi police officers are seen holding Sig SG552 rifles. While these guns look realistic (I mean, that is the point of airsoft guns), they were actually Tokyo Marui Sig 552 airsoft guns.
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
Yep, that's right - Airsoft guns have even made their way into comedy movies! This epic comedy begins with the lovable potheads Harold and Kumar flying overseas to Amsterdam, in an attempt to chase after Harold's dream girl.
Harold has his heart set on love, but Kumar just can't resist taking a few puffs from his smokeless bong mid-flight. Unfortunately for the duo, the "bong" is mistaken for a "bomb," which suddenly results in the flight being redirected to Guantanamo Bay, the most notorious prison in the world! Cue the comedic antics!
If you are a fan of any of the Harold and Kumar movies you might be surprised to hear that this film, like many others, use airsoft guns as props. During one scene Agent Ron Fox levels a Sig P226, and, if you look carefully, you'll see that the inner barrel definitely doesn't belong to a real gun, but is in fact an airsoft P226.
THE WALKING DEAD
Sheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.
This long running global Zombie series features many weapons, a lot of which are airsoft replicas, both pistols and rifles. If you look closely you will see many weapons from the Walther PP9 to the Colt Python to the Accuracy International PMs.
There are so many different shows and films, as well as computer games, that rely on Airsoft replicas to make the shooting scenes come to life, so next time you're watching the screen make sure to keep an eye out for those airsoft clues!
