Weapons in real life tend to gradually move towards a point of maximum efficiency. When lives are on the line, there’s no time for fancy flourishes. Hard sci-fi usually follows that axiom, but, more fanciful works of speculative fiction like to mix and match the accurate with the absurd to make something more interesting.
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The Glaive - Krull
This 1983 swashbuckling sci-fi fantasy mashup introduces its legendary weapon right away. While a lot of works in the same genre might bless their hero with a holy sword or a fancy ray gun, director Peter Yates decided on something more specialized. Though it’s named after a medieval polearm, the Glaive is a five-bladed throwing star that is imbued with some truly staggering capabilities. It flies wherever the thrower needs it to, it can cut through just about anything, and it even fires a laser beam in a pinch. Krull exists in a weird world of being simultaneously obscure and memorable. It’s the go-to example of weird genre films from the 80s. Part of the reason it’s better remembered than The Ice Pirates or whatever is definitely its iconic signature weapon.
The Gristle Gun - eXistenZ
David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ holds a strong silver medal in the world of movies about people trapped in computers released in 1999. The film follows Jude Law as Ted Pikul, a security guard tasked with protecting a popular game designer. Set in an unpleasant cyberpunk future, the film explores the dissolution of reality as mankind uses neural implants to enter immersive video game experiences. When Pikul finds himself unarmed in a sticky situation, he is forced to improvise a new weapon. Rather than beating the enemy with a found object like the average action hero, Ted uses what’s left over after a disgusting meal to construct a firearm. The 100% organic Gristle Gun is a semi-automatic pistol that fires human teeth as ammunition. It has the function of an ordinary gun in the most disgusting package imaginable. Between this and Videodrome, no one makes a gun more unpleasant than David Cronenberg.
Proton Packs - Ghostbusters
The first widely beloved sci-fi comedy Ghostbusters never even mentioned the name of its heroes’ bizarre tool. Science was more of a vehicle for the comedy in the original film, but the idea of a vacuum that can defeat the souls that still inhabit the Earth is very compelling. Later works in the franchise would go on to explain that the Proton Pack disrupts the psychic energy that keeps ghosts in the land of the living. It functions like a lasso, dragging its target into the ghost trap that seals them away. Proton Packs are intentionally designed to look more like industrial equipment than weaponry since its heroes are more like blue-collar workers than action heroes. Though other entries in the franchise have largely ruined the concept, the Proton Packs are interesting and entertaining sci-fi concepts.
Grind-Cutters - Alita: Battle Angel
There are a lot of unusual weapons in this anime-inspired sci-fi action blockbuster. The eponymous hero fights bare-handed with her unique martial arts skills for the majority of the film, but many of her enemies come to battle with cool cybernetic gear. Arm blades and big robotic muscles are extremely common, but the muscle-bound henchman Grewishka is armed with a weirder option. In his first appearance, Alita knocks off his arm, leaving him mad with vengeance. To retaliate, his new arm is fitted with the ability to turn all five fingers into knife-like claws attached to a dozen feet of razor wire. It’s simultaneously a deadly projectile and melee tool. The bladed steel cable dances and slices through the air, causing an explosion of debris every time they connect with anything. They don’t offer him much of an advantage against Alita, but they are probably the most visually striking cyberpunk weapon in the film.
Cable’s BFG - Deadpool 2
To quote Deadpool himself, “That gun is amazing!” When Cable appears in 2018, he’s armed only with his cybernetic arm. His weapon of choice is a Frankenstein-style abomination of no less than five different guns, taped together with all the care and know-how of a Warhammer Ork. It sprays bullets at an impossible fire rate, its under-barrel M203 grenade launcher is actually a sonic blaster, and it features the volume knob from an amplifier to control power. A lot of movies use multiple real guns, and a lot of movies make up their own unique guns, but Deadpool 2’s Cable takes an interesting direction by making something new out of something classic.
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