Summary
- Films like Rust and The Crow highlight the need for better gun safety measures on set, despite Tarantino’s preference for using real firearms.
- The thrill of shooting live rounds is not worth the risk of tragedy that using real guns on set can bring, as shown by past incidents.
- Tarantino’s films would still be impactful without the use of real firearms, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing safety.
Quentin Tarantino shares a controversial take on the topic of using real guns on a film set. The topic has been frequently debated since 2021, when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on the set of Rust when Alec Baldwin fired a gun, having been told that the weapon contained no live rounds. The 2024 reimagining of The Crow has further reignited the discussion with actor Brandon Lee being killed in an accidental shooting while filming the 1994 version of The Crow, and the 2024 film banning all real guns from the set.
While on the Club Random with Bill Maher podcast (via Variety), Tarantino explained why he is against using fake guns on film sets despite the tragedies that have occurred. He emphasized the positive impact that using real guns and live rounds can have during the filming of a project and how the effect is not something that can be recreated during the post-production process. Tarantino also highlighted the entertainment industry’s overall success history of using firearms on sets. Check out his comments below:
I guess I can add digital erections to porno movies, but who wants to f*cking watch that? It’s exciting to shoot the blanks and to see the orange, the real orange fire, not add orange fire.
For as many guns as we’ve shot off in movies, we only have two examples of people being shot on the set by a gun mishap. That’s a pretty f*cking good record.
Rust & The Crow Are Enough Reason To Use Fake Guns
Better Gun Safety Is Needed
Despite the points Tarantino makes about the overall successful history of gun safety on film sets, the tragic incidents that occurred on the sets with actors in The Crow and Rust provide substantial evidence that real guns and live rounds should not be used during filming. The thrill that shooting live rounds adds to a film is not a justifiable tradeoff to the inherent risk of such practices. The necessary safety measures are more important than needlessly risking the lives of cast and crew members.
Tarantino’s direction, the cinematography, the acting, the stories themselves, and even the action would have remained just as resonant without using real firearms.
An actor should be able to convincingly portray the intended emotion of a scene without having to rely on an actual firearm, and a director should be able to effectively direct a scene without this as well. Many projects require far more imagination and difficult circumstances to adapt to than not being able to fire an actual gun with live rounds. If such adaptations can be made for other factors, there is no reason why this adaptation cannot be made as well.
As prominent as gun-related action is in Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and other Tarantino films, the action is only one of many elements that made these films well-received. Tarantino’s direction, the cinematography, the acting, the stories themselves, and even the action would have remained just as resonant without using real firearms. Quentin Tarantino should see Rust and The Crow as tragedies that have shown the industry’s need to do better instead of reducing them to statistical anomalies.
Source: Club Random with Bill Maher (via Variety)
