10 Times Movies Got Weapons Wrong

2. The Air-Shotgun - No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men
Miramax/Paramount Vantage

The antagonist of No Country For Old Men, Anton Chigurh, is one of the most chilling villains in recent years. He has become iconic due to his monotone speech, his mechanical-like efficiency, and his uncompromisable ruthlessness.

Another thing that stands out about the mysterious assassin is his primary weapon; a sound-suppressed Remington semiautomatic shotgun. This silencer makes each shot fired sound like a low hiss rather than a deafening blast.

However, suppressors don't work that way. A shotgun blast can be as loud as 165 decibels. In 1980, which is the time period the story is based in, suppressors did exist but they could only knock off 20 decibels. In case you didn't know, 145 decibels is still REALLY loud!

By comparison, a motorcycle engine is 100 decibels and 140 decibels is loud enough to cause a person to suffer irreversible hearing damage.

Relilable shotgun suppressors were only invented in 2014, which was seven years after the film's release. The directors, The Coen Brothers, were aware such a suppressor didn't exist at the time but gave Chigurh one anyway to give him a distinctive weapon.

Hey, it certainly worked

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows