Shotguns!


I love this movie,i think it was one of connerys best.That said what is up with these movies set in the distant future,and there still using shotguns.they have achieved intergalactic space travel but they haven't developed any energy weapons both leathal and non leathal.Ghost of mars is another example.Don't you think at least the hitmen would have used something different then what the marshall used. thats my 2 cents

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Just because it's the future doesn't mean they'd have energy weapons. This movie was obviously going for a more realistic approach and considering guns have been around for 100s of years and still use bullets, I'd say their choice was pretty accurate.

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I didn't have time to read all 100 responses to this thread...but an obvious question:

Shotguns, i.e., gunpowder requires oxygen to trigger an exothermic reaction. Would a shotgun even work in space? I think Mythbuster's did show that a gun will successfully fire in a vacuum.

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They weren't in a vacuum when inside the station. I suspect the oxygen level was higher than earth, thus a gun would easily work.

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Someone smarter than me may correct my response, but I believe the three components for the exothermic reaction, heat, an oxygenator and fuel are all chemically contained in the cartridge casing.

That is why a gun can be fired underwater.

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I think the movie was pretty visionary. We'll be landing men on Mars long before portable hand held directed energy weapons become a working reality.

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I thought shotguns were a great touch. I always find scifi more realistic if the weapons are projectile based like in Aliens or Battlestar Galactica 2003 rather than "lasers" (insert Austin Powers finger quotes). I think the concept of a ray-gun was fanciful in the early days of scifi, but now almost a century after those old Flash Gordon shows we see the real evolution of firearms and it's still projectile based.

On a different note, something to bear in mind is that Outland was a loose adaptation of the old western High Noon, and I think the filmmakers deliberately tried to keep a classic, bare bones vibe despite the futuristic setting. Too many high tech gadgets and flashy effects would've distracted from the story.

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Actually they have NOT achieved intergalactic space travel. Interplanetary space travel yes, intergalactic space travel no.

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I am watching Outland now for the first time and I like that they are using shotguns in space. But they could have at least changed the wood stock to fiberglass or something. I think it’s the only wood I’ve seen in the entire movie. 😄

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This movie is pretty awesome I gotta say.

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There aren't giant monsters they're fighting. It's man vs. man; a shotgun is most useful to sway folks to do whatever the f_ck you say in times of trouble.

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