Slide don't lock back in movies when empty

[Excalibur]

Someone brought this up in the Main Page discussion. I am wondering how did the myth of guns not locking its slide back to signify empty started? Did a lot of movies have bad magazines in the early days of filming and that's just become the standard of action movies?

[Gunmaster45]

Either that or the definitive click heard when the hammer falls on an empty chamber is prefered.

[Excalibur]

I wonder which movie started this stupid cliche. I know a lot of movies don't have this cliche of click empty, but I've been noticing a couple good production ones do like Shooter, or Casino Royale.

[Nyles]

Because a slide silently locked back isn't nearly as dramatic as the click on an empty chamber.

[Excalibur]

I don't know about that. In a lot of action scenes when shooting, we see slide go back and you, the audience, think "he's fucked now."

In a scene in Way of the Gun where Del Toro's character put his 1911 under his armpit so he has a free hand to drag his buddy away, and then turns around, grabbing his gun, pointing at the last man standing, only to see that the slide is locked back. That is a perfect example on how a slide locked back can be dramatic in a gun fight.

[PersonOfInterest]

Originally Posted by Nyles

Because a slide silently locked back isn't nearly as dramatic as the click on an empty chamber.

It was used to great effect in The Matrix.

[Spartan198]

Pretty much what Nyles said. The average movie goer doesn't even know what a "slide" is, but just about everybody knows what a hammer clicking on an empty chamber means.

Personally I prefer the slide locking back. I've always found visual representation to be much more dramatic.

[Phoenixent]

The main reason you don't see slides locked to the rear when empty is for editing. When the film is edited all everyone needs is a scene that the slide locks to the rear and the gunfire is still going. You see that on screen from time to time. I have worked on sets that called for a 1911 to be thrown away after the slide locked back empty. If the script calls for the pistol slide to be lock back on an empty chamber then you will see it that way.

[Excalibur]

That is if the person who wrote the script even knows about the slide lock

[Phoenixent]

Originally Posted by Excalibur

That is if the person who wrote the script even knows about the slide lock

I agree most script writers know nothing about firearms so you won't see a pistol lock back on empty. But the main reason for not seeing it is editing as you want everything to match. There are several cameras rolling on one scene and the scene is shot from several POV's so you need it to match at all times. So you will never see the weapon go to slide lock unless it is called for in that scene.