It’s an essential part of the franchise identity to me. And it enhances the rugged and low tech aesthetic, and it helps keep the designs looking functional instead of too fanciful.
I think the AK might be an exception, though. It’s arguably the most iconic gun of all time, as opposed to most other guns they use in Star Wars, and they didn’t dress it up or change its appearance pretty much at all.
I agree. I usually enjoy or at least don't mind recognizing real-world objects in star wars but those AKs were glaringly obvious. It didn't ruin anything for me but it did take me out of the moment for a bit. Like 'really? Those are the guns you went with?'
Yeah. It’s not like it ruined the show or episode or anything, but it seemed like a prominent moment of laziness in a series that’s really well done. I guess the props department couldn’t make absolutely everything the best thing ever, but even then, it’s like they hardly even tried with the AKs.
Honestly I think it was probably intentional. AKs have a very long history of being used by partisan and rebel groups. They were very likely intentionally making a point and using it to create the intended vibes of a grounded in reality rebellion.
Not saying they were right, I still think it is was still a mistake, just not an accident.
Of course it was intentional. Not only has Star Wars always done this but the point was to give them a weapon very much meant to evoke revolutionaries. They didn't just blunder into that one.
I think that's a little unfair criticism when the DL-44 is literally the Nazi bad guy pistol. You see that gun in basically every European theatre WW2 movie, and many veterans who saw Star Wars would've recognized it.
Agreed. DLT19 and T21 both weren't modified enough. But they're such rarely seen guns when compared to the AK or even AR-15 that most people didn't really notice. Their only real saving grace is that they already look Star Warsy.
I know you're not the person I originally responded to, but that's a moved goalpost. Technically, the AK was modified, even if not incredibly. That gets subjective and I doubt much of anything would've made it not look like an AK. Although technically Cassian uses an AR-15, and it's pretty explicit, in Rogue One, but no complained.
The fact that audiences recognized the AK’s as AK’s when this didn’t happen on a wide scale for other Star Wars media shows this isn’t moving the goalposts. They used a more well known gun and people saw it.
Idk about you but when I think of Nazi bad guy pistol, I think of the Luger, not the Mauser.
There's also the issue that the OT is very old, to the point that most ppl who saw it probably saw the DL44 before even seeing the unmodified Mauser.
They did change it quite a bit actually. the problem is really that the silhouette is far too recognizable. No matter how much you change it, even if it vaguely looks like one, people will see it as an AK-47
Do something about the magazine (like not have one) and put some greeblies on that hides the front sight (or cut it off), and it's not instantly recognizable as an AK.
They clearly didn’t change it enough. Perhaps it’s just a mistake that they used the AK at all. Which again means it’s an exception. Using real guns is fine, but you definitely can’t choose too iconic of a gun.
Andor's rifle on Rogue one is just an AR-15.
In my opinion, if they had cut down the magazine almost completely to just leave a nub covering the magwell and eliminating the iconic magazine curve, and also put on a different handguard to completely obscure the gas tube and gas block (something you can already see on more tacticool AKs today anyway), it would have been much better.
If I had to choose only one though, I'd cover the entire barrel and gas system up to the front sight post.
Yeah, making it more of a rectangle and maybe even more stereotypically a sci-fi blaster would have helped it out a bit. As is, it’s still just way to iconic, even with the changes they made.
Andor's rifle in R1 is built off an AR but the magazine is extended and integrated with the handguard, and the stock is very different
The Andor show AK was literally just an AK with a dust cover swap with an MP40
I just don’t think they changed it enough. The Mauser pistol is also relatively well known, but the DL-44 modifies it so much that you don’t associate it with the real life gun.
Andor just literally had an Ak-47. It just needed more greeblies on it. Especially getting rid of the sickle magazine.
But they did. I'll agree they should have left the magazine off.
But hand that picture to a group of gun guys and ask them to identify the specific model AK, and you will see exactly how much they did modify it.
They didn’t change the most iconic parts of it though. I might be a little more familiar with guns than most, but I don’t think it would take much familiarity at all to say without a doubt that it’s an AK47. Or perhaps it’s an AKM. But since they’re pretty much identical, it doesn’t matter exactly which one it is.
I’d argue that Cassian’s A280 pistol in R1 ran into the same issue as it was an AR receiver with a short pipe at the end.
You throw the other greeblies on it to create the rifle form and the base gun gets lost in the sauce. However, them trying to make it a modular weapon it just had one form that was glaringly obvious what it was.
~~Edited to correct the blaster~~
Edited again because I was correct the first time.
I was fine with the A280. I personally think they dressed it up enough to make it not obvious what it’s real life counterpart was.
They could when given the AK the same form of treatment, at least changing some parts of its basic form.
I think there are 2 guns they should stay away from. The AK-47 family and the M-16 family. Both are way to familiar without heavy modification.
I'm not going to bitch and complain if they do use them, I just think they shouldn't.
That's an example of what I'm talking about though. It is heavily modified. It doesn't have the same profile as an M-16, unlike the AK-47s used in Andor.
The AKs are both too iconic and too little dressed to be disguised as sw gun.
The examples from OP are either well dressed up, or "obscure" enough for anyone not a gun nut.
Ehhh...the AKs were a bit immersion breaking because they were so clearly and obviously AKs. The other guns are clearly based on real firearms, but still look different and unique enough that you buy them as space guns.
Andors AKs are different to the rest. They literally are just AKs, one of the most recognisable guns in the world.
Not random obscure guns that have been given a sci-fi facelift.
Ah dunno theres a good way to "sci-fi-ify" an AK and then there's just throwing an AK47 into a sci fi. I thought they looked pretty out of place to me.
Take Titanfall's Flatliner for example. Now THATS a future AK.
Edit: for clarity lol
I agree with you but I will not agree with your opinion on the Flatline. I love the Flatline.
I think the AK is just too synonymous with modern warfare to not be jarring to see in a space opera. It feels a bit like an unfinished prop because it's way too immediately recognizable. A dolled up M16 or a 1911 would feel just as strange.
Oh no no I'm sorry I meant I was using the flatline as a GOOD example! Like that is how you sci fi an AK.
Flatline is my main for sure, mate don't get me twisted lol.
This. There's a good way to sci-fi-ify an AK. Then there's what Andor did and copy paste the AK into Star Wars. Not enough was really done to sci-fi-ify the infamous? Andor AK.
Another user said they should've lopped that iconic front sight off and ditched the banana mag for something that looks more like a battery pack and I totally agree.
If they took away some of the more glaring details of what an AK47/AKM looks like it does and slapped some doohickies on there like they do with the other blasters it totally would've fit right in. Hell, they xoulda used one of those clunky looking experimental AK's from the cold War era, like the Groza or something
Granted! I will agree that the DL heavy is basically just a Mauser broomhandle. But that one gets a pass cause the broomhandle is funky looking already.
Screw the Groza, go with some crazy stuff Korobov designed!
Or just get some Kel-Tec guns.
Even if a gun is fairly recognizable, at least put some effort into modifying it. The AKs in Andor were just undercover AKs that were sacrificed with the laziest changes possible.
Lol thats fair. But back to my point I was trying in vain to make cause I'm all over the place, lol, the funkier or less recognizable the gun, the easier it is to star wars it.
AK is the most famous firearm in history (bit of a hyperbole, but sue me lol) and easily recognizable to even those with relatively no knowledge of firearms. It's just too famous to have just it and no way to hide what it is.
Yes the Lewis gun is very recognizable as well and yes the heavy blaster is just a Lewis without mag but I'd say it fits the rule of wonky looking.
Sure you could argue an AK looks pretty wonky. But its simply too iconic to be seen as anything other than a mass produced machine gun that saw most of the world's modern conflicts.
Nah the AK was the counter example of this thing going a bit too far. Immersion/suspension of disbelief are kind of a tightrope walk at times, especially when you are doing something like what Star Wars does in trying to make the familiar look unfamiliar. The AK is just a bit too iconic and was a bit too unchanged, and the symbolism of it being “see, they’re guerilla terrorists” was just too on the nose for a show with as much subtlety as Andor, and it stood out a bit more because Andor in general did such a notably stellar job in walking that line in general (even better than the OT, IMHO).
It didn’t ruin the show or anything, but that is probably my only quibble with the show and the only example where I didn’t like the whole barely disguised real gun thing. I think really all they needed to do was to pop the magazine out and it would have brought it back over the line of recognizable as an AK, but not just flat out being an AK, and it would have worked a lot better.
But again, it’s an extremely minor gripe about what is easily the best thing we have gotten from Star Wars since Empire, and it might even top that.
If they had gone to the trouble of touching it up to look like it came from a galaxy far far away like they had in the movies with the STG, the Sten, the Lewis Gun, etc, then I think it would have been ok, but they didn't put scopes or did any kitbashing to Star Wars-ify it up as far as I can tell.
Cobb Vanth has what a Star Wars AK should look like. The andor one keeps every feature that makes the AK design distinct, especially the curved mag. It just looks like a normal AK unless you really look at it up close.
It’s literally the perfect weapon to model for the rebellion too. The rebels were influenced by the Vietcong, which were armed with AKs. It’s ubiquity is why it’s been used by resistance groups since it’s creation.
This continues into other types weapons in the series like the ELG-3A, used by Padme in Phantom. largely a ceremonial weapon - small, oddly shaped and not particularly practical, but it is beautiful
That sort of attention to detail is so underrated. The people who made Star Wars were such nerds, I love it
In a lot of sci-fi, the tech sometimes feels out of touch. It's gestures and touch screen, but all of the tech in the Star Wars world feels real. Like I kind of feel like if I landed in this world, I could probably fly a speeder, and I would know how to use a blaster.
Yea it always feels a bit odd in other shows wjen they show tech that's supposed to be the equivalent of a rusty old 1989 toyota pickup, but it has holographic displays and voice activated systems. My favorite star wars trope is the huge bulky control panels with flickering indicator lights and blurry screens. Han giving the Falcon the old 'percussive maintenance' treatment is iconic.
Yeah, that one was a huge miss.
Needed to lop off the front sight and change the banana magazine into something that looks like a battery power pack. Maybe add a strange flash hider as well.
That gun was really weird because they did so well with most everything else. The Corp blasters were great, and they had all the correct imperial gear. Then suddenly it’s just AK!
I think they wanted to keep the AK-47 silhouette to emphasize the "freedom fighter/guerilla/terrorist" aspect of that particular group of rebels. At that point in time, the galaxy isn't at war yet but they are.
I don't think it's a good choice, but I respect it.
When do you think the AK-47 was created? It's been around since 1947. It's from the same era the rest of the guns are, it's just more widely recognized
That threw me at first, but then they folded the stock forward and retracted the muzzle into the base and showed it was still functional as a more SMG-sized blaster and I really liked that transformational aspect. It made me think of the gun in-universe as its own thing and frankly reminded me of the toy M-16 I had when I was a kid that broke half way down the barrel and I just called a laser shotgun after
It adds a cool retro feel to Star Wars that’s iconic at this point. That being said, when they used the AK 47, probably one of, if not the, most iconic guns of all time, and didn’t dress it up at all, it did seem like they went maybe a little too far.
Exactly. The reason why World War guns work is because they're less known and less iconic other than to history nerds, and have more of a novelty look. More modern weapons which are as iconic as the AK lineup simply do not feel right when in a sci-fi movie because it feels like a constant nagging feeling that it's not Star Wars and more like a realistic war action movie. Same could be said if they used something like an M1911 or M4A1/M16/AR15 raw.
I mean I think the main reason that the ‘totally not an AK’ did not work as well was due to the fact that it had what was very clearly still a mag. Like if it was smaller, then maybe it would be more convincing as a power cell… It lacks enough extra stuff to be a convincing blaster. To me it isn’t a matter of being too iconic, since most, if not all of the OT ones are fairly iconic guns… It just looks like an AK variant.
I think when they first did it it was for budget reasons. Continuining the tradition is cool though.
fun fact, the company that makes blasters in-universe is called BlasTech.
I like it so long as they’re heavily modded and ideally not using modern guns. In fact, I’d like to see more British and French guns from WWI incorporated.
I'm all for it on the caveat that they use replica or new production parts. There are only so many WW2 vintage AN/M2s to steal boosters off of for sabers and don't get me started on StG-44s.
So use all the real world weapons you want and sci Fi them up but please don't take anymore parts for rare guns out of service. It's hard enough to keep these dinosaurs running.
For the old style weapons? Yes. For new age looking weapons? No. That alien in the first pic looks like he's from some random sci-fi thing because the gun doesn't fit the gun look from Star wars. Mando's rifle, Han's pistol, the old trooper machine guns. All of them look like modified weapons that aren't from today's age. The new looking ones pull me out of what I'm watching every single time.
As silly as this might sound, I love it because they don't look like "ray guns". Most sci-fi type movies and shows typically design their own guns and they all just feel fake. Where as the guns in the OT and PT look "real".
It's a classic movie props trick used for many movies beyond Star Wars to create fictional weapons while preserving their verisimilitude.
Here's an article about the making of Aliens' [M-4A1 Pulse Rifle](https://royalarmouries.org/objects-and-stories/stories/m-41a-aliens-pulse-rifle) for another kitbash weapon exemple.
I'm perfectly ok with it in any universe and they did it very well in Star Wars imho.
Ironically, I think it helps maintain the suspension of disbelief to have things be vaguely familiar to reality. Every time I watch Star Trek and see a phaser I'm put off by how much it seems like a toy.
I think organized armies like the clones and the empire should use more sci-fi looking weapons while I am ok with rebels, criminals, bounty hunters, etc using real guns turned into sci-fi ones for as long as they're modified enough to avoid breaking immersion. Might be worth using more obscure real life guns for that.
I hate it. My favorite irl guns are overpriced wacky-looking firearms seems off my Star Wars obsessed childhood. The steyr Aug and Ruger Mark IV are the only guns for me now
heres a quick rundown of some guns. the greeblied guns are a part of star wars as much as the ships are. the biggest issue i had was the AK47 that had zero attention paid to it for a prominent on screen part
1894 Bergmann type 1 (Mandos)
C96 Broomhandle Mauser (Blastech DL44)
Sterling L2A3 (E-11. Stormtrooper Rifle and rebel blaster pistol)
STG-44 (Blastech A280C)
Margolin Practice Pistol (Leias sporting blaster in ANH)
Ruger Mk1 (greedos pistol)
MG34 (Heavy Stormtooper blaster rifle)
Lewis Gun (Light Repeating Blaster)
MG15 (long barreled stormtooper blaster)
Cut-down Lee Enfield No1 MKIII (Jawa Distrupter)
Wembly & Scott No1 Mk Flare Gun (Boba Fetts Iconic short rifle)
WW1 P-08 Luger (Jyn Ersos Blaster)
AR-15 (Cassian Andors blaster)
Saiga Shotgun (Baze blaster)
MG42 (Death Troopers long range blaster)
Afghani Jezail Rifles (Tuskan Cycler)
PP-19 Vityaz (Cobb Vanths Blaster)
im sure there are others i missed
Cara Dune's heavy repeating blaster is a Bren LMG - the big carrying handle sticking up from the top is the giveaway.
And of course, not really a gun, but Luke's lightsaber is made from a camera "flash gun". And by "made from", I mean they bought several of [these](https://graflexshop.com/cdn/shop/products/TGS_GradeC_0_TGS.jpg?v=1665069078) and glued some black plastic bits on.
Some Mandalorians, but the Tusken Raiders too. The ones taking pot shots at the Podracers in Episode 1 are clearly firing bullets. We don't see a blaster bolt and we hear metal on metal when the shots ricochet off the Pods.
It's really really difficult to create new weapons without drawing inspiration from other similar weapons, so I'm glad they just lean into it and don't try to hide the similarities. They'd either have to go fully futuristic, like Halo with the Covenant weapons, or admit similarities to real world guns.
It's been a part of the franchise since the beginning. Another great plus with doing it that way, is the weapons still look like guns. Some scifi movies/shows create bizarre looking weapons, but Star Wars had just enough that is recognizable that you don't need any explanation. And they don't look silly in big battles.
I mean I think it's a great way to sit there and to do low budget futuristic weapons and stuff like that so I definitely love it. I think too many sci-fi franchises almost feel like they have to make it as far out there as possible and Star wars. I feel like had it where it was a little bit more like this is the natural progression of where firearms would go
I mean they've always done it, so it doesn't seem out of place in the SW universe at all since you know.. it's built in that this is just how the guns look in star wars
I prefer for everything to have a real life look, but have sci-fi extras and elements added on. If I can tell it’s just a rifle, that isn’t interesting to me. I don’t mind weapons in my sci-fi/fantasy, but I do want some effort put into it when they are there.
Great. It's been a staple of the franchise literally from the beginning and I'm all for it. Cool to see some of the ways they adapt existing guns into the space guns used in Star Wars.
Having actual guns repurposed is a part of Star Wars to me, it’s been that way since day one and i love it. Complaining about it is like complaining about how Phillips Head screws wouldn’t be used and breaks immersion.
Also, unsure if related but to me, and as far as i can tell in the story/franchise, don’t really innovate/invent. It’s the same tech for 100’s, if not 1000’s of years
Been happening since the very first movie. I love seeing real world objects reimagined into star wars stuff. As long as there are no bricks or screws. That just breaks immersion...
I like it. In SciFi the guns look so futuristic and shiny with gadgets but I doubt the average intergalactic gangbanger will have that these guns look mass produced for pretty cheap just modified a bit by whoever owns them for extra power
It's really a key component that makes up the star wars visual identity. The original trilogy took so much inspiration and art direction from the second world War in everything from the blasters to the spacefights. The fact that this aspect was missing from the sequel trilogies really highlighted how important it is to the star wars visual identity, and I'm glad to see shows like andor and the mandatorily bringing it back in.
Andor ruined it with the heist team’s AK47’s… way too close to the actual gun.
You need to switch one or two things and then it works! Your brain doesn’t immediately recognize it until pointed out usually.
It's been a big part of the franchise since the very beginning. The problem a lot of us have, is that they've gotten lazy with it. In more recent media, they've included real guns(again, not the problem) but they made hardly any changes to them at all. They look like stock modern weapons and it kills the immersion.
It's literally something the franchise has done since the beginning, so it'd be dumb for anyone to argue against it.
Add to the fact that the original lightsaber hilts were just cobbled out of random camera parts.
I love it. It’s funny seeing how they adapt post WWII guns to SW like the AR15 or the G36C in the Sequel trilogy. Shout out to the First Order pistol which is just a Glock with the front sight of an AR15. It’s Nerf toy will be the closest we get to a Nerf Glock.
I think it would be nice but i’m not sure if the gun makers will charge them for fees for modifying their designs. If they can make the gun makers redesign the guns themselves as advertisement maybe it would be more feasible it becoming reality.
Its literally what makes star wars, its one of the reasons i could never get behind the old republic when it first released, everyone running around with super soaker looking guns.
I like the idea. The wackier the irl weapon, the better. It has to be visually distinct enough too with additions or changes to help it have its own image. The AKs failed to do so. It makes sense gun design would be similar.
I like when the philosophy of things seeming practical and treated somewhat realistically, or at least with consistent mechanics, extends past the props and into the writing.
I like that they almost always exclusively used Nazi weaponry, really helped with the analogy of The Empire being the aforementioned party considering that’s what the original Star Wars was made as
I read somewhere that gun collectors are bitter at Star Wars fans because they will buy Mausers, already rare, and strap stuff onto them to make them look like Han’s gun,
It’s an essential part of the franchise identity to me. And it enhances the rugged and low tech aesthetic, and it helps keep the designs looking functional instead of too fanciful.
Say louder for the people who thought Andor’s AKs “broke their immersion.”
I think the AK might be an exception, though. It’s arguably the most iconic gun of all time, as opposed to most other guns they use in Star Wars, and they didn’t dress it up or change its appearance pretty much at all.
I agree. I usually enjoy or at least don't mind recognizing real-world objects in star wars but those AKs were glaringly obvious. It didn't ruin anything for me but it did take me out of the moment for a bit. Like 'really? Those are the guns you went with?'
Yeah. It’s not like it ruined the show or episode or anything, but it seemed like a prominent moment of laziness in a series that’s really well done. I guess the props department couldn’t make absolutely everything the best thing ever, but even then, it’s like they hardly even tried with the AKs.
Honestly I think it was probably intentional. AKs have a very long history of being used by partisan and rebel groups. They were very likely intentionally making a point and using it to create the intended vibes of a grounded in reality rebellion. Not saying they were right, I still think it is was still a mistake, just not an accident.
Exactly. To quote Sam Fisher: “When I think guerilla, I think Kalashnikov.” Personally I loved it.
Yeah I bought the figure just for the Star Wars AK variant
I wish they would have a least taken the mags out
Honestly, I think they would have gotten away with it if they replaced the curved banana mag with a short straight one.
Sam Fisher is extremely quotable. “Medals don’t help me sleep at night.”
God I even read it in Michaels ironsides voice 🤤🤤🤤
I agree but they should have went with an MP 3008. It really looks like a gun you wouldn't touch unless you were dirt poor.
Yes, that is exactly why you dont do it. It is so in your face obvious.
Of course it was intentional. Not only has Star Wars always done this but the point was to give them a weapon very much meant to evoke revolutionaries. They didn't just blunder into that one.
They could have used imi galils, and itnwould have evoked AK but been more subtle
I think that's a little unfair criticism when the DL-44 is literally the Nazi bad guy pistol. You see that gun in basically every European theatre WW2 movie, and many veterans who saw Star Wars would've recognized it.
What are you talking about, the Nazi Bad guy pistol is the Luger, not the C96
The difference is that the DL was modified to not look exactly like it's original design.
The DLT19 though
Agreed. DLT19 and T21 both weren't modified enough. But they're such rarely seen guns when compared to the AK or even AR-15 that most people didn't really notice. Their only real saving grace is that they already look Star Warsy.
I know you're not the person I originally responded to, but that's a moved goalpost. Technically, the AK was modified, even if not incredibly. That gets subjective and I doubt much of anything would've made it not look like an AK. Although technically Cassian uses an AR-15, and it's pretty explicit, in Rogue One, but no complained.
Changing the magazine would have completely fixed it. It would still be a fine homage to the AK without being a bright neon sign "THIS IS AN AK".
The fact that audiences recognized the AK’s as AK’s when this didn’t happen on a wide scale for other Star Wars media shows this isn’t moving the goalposts. They used a more well known gun and people saw it.
Idk about you but when I think of Nazi bad guy pistol, I think of the Luger, not the Mauser. There's also the issue that the OT is very old, to the point that most ppl who saw it probably saw the DL44 before even seeing the unmodified Mauser.
If they would have changed the AKs as much as they changed the Mauser for Han’s blaster, I’d have had no issues with it.
Exactly. Different barrel, accessories to the receiver, whatever. Would have made it so much better.
Cobb Vanth's rifle in the sand worm episode of the mandolorian was based of the AK. That's why the Andor AKs felt lazy to me.
They did change it quite a bit actually. the problem is really that the silhouette is far too recognizable. No matter how much you change it, even if it vaguely looks like one, people will see it as an AK-47
Do something about the magazine (like not have one) and put some greeblies on that hides the front sight (or cut it off), and it's not instantly recognizable as an AK.
They clearly didn’t change it enough. Perhaps it’s just a mistake that they used the AK at all. Which again means it’s an exception. Using real guns is fine, but you definitely can’t choose too iconic of a gun.
Andor's rifle on Rogue one is just an AR-15. In my opinion, if they had cut down the magazine almost completely to just leave a nub covering the magwell and eliminating the iconic magazine curve, and also put on a different handguard to completely obscure the gas tube and gas block (something you can already see on more tacticool AKs today anyway), it would have been much better. If I had to choose only one though, I'd cover the entire barrel and gas system up to the front sight post.
Yeah, making it more of a rectangle and maybe even more stereotypically a sci-fi blaster would have helped it out a bit. As is, it’s still just way to iconic, even with the changes they made.
Andor's rifle in R1 is built off an AR but the magazine is extended and integrated with the handguard, and the stock is very different The Andor show AK was literally just an AK with a dust cover swap with an MP40
Case in point, Starship Troopers 3's ugly ass rifles are AK's with a shell over them and they look like fat AKs
I just don’t think they changed it enough. The Mauser pistol is also relatively well known, but the DL-44 modifies it so much that you don’t associate it with the real life gun. Andor just literally had an Ak-47. It just needed more greeblies on it. Especially getting rid of the sickle magazine.
Yeah. Could have passed the sniff test if the magazine was gone and they simplified the barrel.
I think the AK's in the movie "Elysium" were more sci-fi modified than what they did in Andor lol.
But they did. I'll agree they should have left the magazine off. But hand that picture to a group of gun guys and ask them to identify the specific model AK, and you will see exactly how much they did modify it.
They didn’t change the most iconic parts of it though. I might be a little more familiar with guns than most, but I don’t think it would take much familiarity at all to say without a doubt that it’s an AK47. Or perhaps it’s an AKM. But since they’re pretty much identical, it doesn’t matter exactly which one it is.
I’d argue that Cassian’s A280 pistol in R1 ran into the same issue as it was an AR receiver with a short pipe at the end. You throw the other greeblies on it to create the rifle form and the base gun gets lost in the sauce. However, them trying to make it a modular weapon it just had one form that was glaringly obvious what it was. ~~Edited to correct the blaster~~ Edited again because I was correct the first time.
I was fine with the A280. I personally think they dressed it up enough to make it not obvious what it’s real life counterpart was. They could when given the AK the same form of treatment, at least changing some parts of its basic form.
~~Sorry, the 180 pistol, not the 280. The Luger for the 280 was fine.~~ EDIT: nope, it was the 280
I think there are 2 guns they should stay away from. The AK-47 family and the M-16 family. Both are way to familiar without heavy modification. I'm not going to bitch and complain if they do use them, I just think they shouldn't.
If you think that I suggest you don't look too closely at the A280 used by the rebels.
That's an example of what I'm talking about though. It is heavily modified. It doesn't have the same profile as an M-16, unlike the AK-47s used in Andor.
Should have removed the mag at least
The AKs are both too iconic and too little dressed to be disguised as sw gun. The examples from OP are either well dressed up, or "obscure" enough for anyone not a gun nut.
Ehhh...the AKs were a bit immersion breaking because they were so clearly and obviously AKs. The other guns are clearly based on real firearms, but still look different and unique enough that you buy them as space guns.
Andors AKs are different to the rest. They literally are just AKs, one of the most recognisable guns in the world. Not random obscure guns that have been given a sci-fi facelift.
Nah the AKs in Andor were actually badly made, it has the mag and everything it just looks like a real ak
Ah dunno theres a good way to "sci-fi-ify" an AK and then there's just throwing an AK47 into a sci fi. I thought they looked pretty out of place to me. Take Titanfall's Flatliner for example. Now THATS a future AK. Edit: for clarity lol
I agree with you but I will not agree with your opinion on the Flatline. I love the Flatline. I think the AK is just too synonymous with modern warfare to not be jarring to see in a space opera. It feels a bit like an unfinished prop because it's way too immediately recognizable. A dolled up M16 or a 1911 would feel just as strange.
Oh no no I'm sorry I meant I was using the flatline as a GOOD example! Like that is how you sci fi an AK. Flatline is my main for sure, mate don't get me twisted lol.
oh understood understood
Flatline gang for life! Unless I’m griefin folks with the Mozambique
Whoo! Flatline! Slide dodge this!
Except Cassian has an AR-15 in Rogue One and no one complained.
This. There's a good way to sci-fi-ify an AK. Then there's what Andor did and copy paste the AK into Star Wars. Not enough was really done to sci-fi-ify the infamous? Andor AK.
Another user said they should've lopped that iconic front sight off and ditched the banana mag for something that looks more like a battery pack and I totally agree. If they took away some of the more glaring details of what an AK47/AKM looks like it does and slapped some doohickies on there like they do with the other blasters it totally would've fit right in. Hell, they xoulda used one of those clunky looking experimental AK's from the cold War era, like the Groza or something Granted! I will agree that the DL heavy is basically just a Mauser broomhandle. But that one gets a pass cause the broomhandle is funky looking already.
Screw the Groza, go with some crazy stuff Korobov designed! Or just get some Kel-Tec guns. Even if a gun is fairly recognizable, at least put some effort into modifying it. The AKs in Andor were just undercover AKs that were sacrificed with the laziest changes possible.
The Empire's heavy blaster is literally a Lewis gun with the magazine removed. In the 70s, most people would know what a Lewis gun looks like
The AK-47 is far more ubiquitous than the Lewis gun though. They probably should have gone a bit further with the doodads and extra bits on that gun.
Lol thats fair. But back to my point I was trying in vain to make cause I'm all over the place, lol, the funkier or less recognizable the gun, the easier it is to star wars it. AK is the most famous firearm in history (bit of a hyperbole, but sue me lol) and easily recognizable to even those with relatively no knowledge of firearms. It's just too famous to have just it and no way to hide what it is. Yes the Lewis gun is very recognizable as well and yes the heavy blaster is just a Lewis without mag but I'd say it fits the rule of wonky looking. Sure you could argue an AK looks pretty wonky. But its simply too iconic to be seen as anything other than a mass produced machine gun that saw most of the world's modern conflicts.
Nah the AK was the counter example of this thing going a bit too far. Immersion/suspension of disbelief are kind of a tightrope walk at times, especially when you are doing something like what Star Wars does in trying to make the familiar look unfamiliar. The AK is just a bit too iconic and was a bit too unchanged, and the symbolism of it being “see, they’re guerilla terrorists” was just too on the nose for a show with as much subtlety as Andor, and it stood out a bit more because Andor in general did such a notably stellar job in walking that line in general (even better than the OT, IMHO). It didn’t ruin the show or anything, but that is probably my only quibble with the show and the only example where I didn’t like the whole barely disguised real gun thing. I think really all they needed to do was to pop the magazine out and it would have brought it back over the line of recognizable as an AK, but not just flat out being an AK, and it would have worked a lot better. But again, it’s an extremely minor gripe about what is easily the best thing we have gotten from Star Wars since Empire, and it might even top that.
The problem is that they didn't bother taking out the magazines or using shorter ones, otherwise I don't mind it.
If they had gone to the trouble of touching it up to look like it came from a galaxy far far away like they had in the movies with the STG, the Sten, the Lewis Gun, etc, then I think it would have been ok, but they didn't put scopes or did any kitbashing to Star Wars-ify it up as far as I can tell.
That one actually did annoy me tbh
brews and scricks
Cobb Vanth has what a Star Wars AK should look like. The andor one keeps every feature that makes the AK design distinct, especially the curved mag. It just looks like a normal AK unless you really look at it up close.
It’s literally the perfect weapon to model for the rebellion too. The rebels were influenced by the Vietcong, which were armed with AKs. It’s ubiquity is why it’s been used by resistance groups since it’s creation.
This continues into other types weapons in the series like the ELG-3A, used by Padme in Phantom. largely a ceremonial weapon - small, oddly shaped and not particularly practical, but it is beautiful That sort of attention to detail is so underrated. The people who made Star Wars were such nerds, I love it
And when the PT came out, the aesthetic as clean and shiny as it was retro and futurist.
I fully agree. Anytime I see one of the newer movies or TV shows using generic looking silver sci-fi Blasters it makes me sad
Star wars at it's heart is old westerns and samurai movies
Part of the reason I despise the first order. Some of their weapons are generic sci-fi garbage.
its a core principal of the franchise. its what helps give it flavor.
Core principal of Sci Fi really. The M56 Smartgun from Aliens is an MG42 combined with a Kawasaki.
Idk there is a decent chunk of sci-fi that just uses silver ray gun looking things
In a lot of sci-fi, the tech sometimes feels out of touch. It's gestures and touch screen, but all of the tech in the Star Wars world feels real. Like I kind of feel like if I landed in this world, I could probably fly a speeder, and I would know how to use a blaster.
Yea it always feels a bit odd in other shows wjen they show tech that's supposed to be the equivalent of a rusty old 1989 toyota pickup, but it has holographic displays and voice activated systems. My favorite star wars trope is the huge bulky control panels with flickering indicator lights and blurry screens. Han giving the Falcon the old 'percussive maintenance' treatment is iconic.
Like when your kids will see a Tesla Truck at an antique auto show.
Cassette futurism. I think it applies to the OT certainly.
exactly
I believe Cyberpunk 2077 did this right too.
I agree. A car is still a car in 2077
I love it. Love the A280 Blaster based off the AR-15 and the A295 off the StG44.
A180 is based off a Luger P08.
So many cool combos from WWII era guns and mixing them together.
E-11 is based on the Sterling submachine gun! Basically an evolution of the Sten.
The only time it didn’t look amazing was in Andor and that girl had the AK-47, that felt too modern or recognizable I guess
Yeah, that one was a huge miss. Needed to lop off the front sight and change the banana magazine into something that looks like a battery power pack. Maybe add a strange flash hider as well. That gun was really weird because they did so well with most everything else. The Corp blasters were great, and they had all the correct imperial gear. Then suddenly it’s just AK!
I think they wanted to keep the AK-47 silhouette to emphasize the "freedom fighter/guerilla/terrorist" aspect of that particular group of rebels. At that point in time, the galaxy isn't at war yet but they are. I don't think it's a good choice, but I respect it.
When do you think the AK-47 was created? It's been around since 1947. It's from the same era the rest of the guns are, it's just more widely recognized
It's the "widely recognized" that hurt it, I think. It needed some more modifications in order to look less... from Earth
Yeah I didn’t get the long ago in a galaxy far away vibe from it lol
It’s not because it’s more recognisable it’s because they barely modified it. It looks like an actual real life AK
[удалено]
Yeah and if they did the same thing to the AK the complaints would have been down by 90%, but they didn't.
That threw me at first, but then they folded the stock forward and retracted the muzzle into the base and showed it was still functional as a more SMG-sized blaster and I really liked that transformational aspect. It made me think of the gun in-universe as its own thing and frankly reminded me of the toy M-16 I had when I was a kid that broke half way down the barrel and I just called a laser shotgun after
A guy ran with an ice cream maker and I loved it. So, redoing a gun is fine by me.
hell yeah
It adds a cool retro feel to Star Wars that’s iconic at this point. That being said, when they used the AK 47, probably one of, if not the, most iconic guns of all time, and didn’t dress it up at all, it did seem like they went maybe a little too far.
Exactly. The reason why World War guns work is because they're less known and less iconic other than to history nerds, and have more of a novelty look. More modern weapons which are as iconic as the AK lineup simply do not feel right when in a sci-fi movie because it feels like a constant nagging feeling that it's not Star Wars and more like a realistic war action movie. Same could be said if they used something like an M1911 or M4A1/M16/AR15 raw.
I mean I think the main reason that the ‘totally not an AK’ did not work as well was due to the fact that it had what was very clearly still a mag. Like if it was smaller, then maybe it would be more convincing as a power cell… It lacks enough extra stuff to be a convincing blaster. To me it isn’t a matter of being too iconic, since most, if not all of the OT ones are fairly iconic guns… It just looks like an AK variant.
I like them throwing scraps of junk onto real weapons instead of having some cardboard nerf gun crap like in that truly *awful* rebel moon movie.
I think when they first did it it was for budget reasons. Continuining the tradition is cool though. fun fact, the company that makes blasters in-universe is called BlasTech.
there’s several blaster companies
Budget was one reason, practical effects were the other. The guns shot blanks, they didn't just "pew pew" it and add CGI later.
You can still see shell casings being ejected in A New Hope lmao
It's one of the things that really stood out to me in the sequel trilogy, the newer blaster props just looked so foreign and exactly like a prop
They looked like nerf guns to me, the designs of the blasters were a big miss
the sequels use a lot of real guns too. the first order’s pistols are based on the Glock 17 with a Roni kit, and Finn’s rifle is a G36C
I like it so long as they’re heavily modded and ideally not using modern guns. In fact, I’d like to see more British and French guns from WWI incorporated.
I'm all for it on the caveat that they use replica or new production parts. There are only so many WW2 vintage AN/M2s to steal boosters off of for sabers and don't get me started on StG-44s. So use all the real world weapons you want and sci Fi them up but please don't take anymore parts for rare guns out of service. It's hard enough to keep these dinosaurs running.
For the old style weapons? Yes. For new age looking weapons? No. That alien in the first pic looks like he's from some random sci-fi thing because the gun doesn't fit the gun look from Star wars. Mando's rifle, Han's pistol, the old trooper machine guns. All of them look like modified weapons that aren't from today's age. The new looking ones pull me out of what I'm watching every single time.
One of my favorite scenes in Solo was Woody breaking down the rifle into Han’s blaster
As silly as this might sound, I love it because they don't look like "ray guns". Most sci-fi type movies and shows typically design their own guns and they all just feel fake. Where as the guns in the OT and PT look "real".
It's a classic movie props trick used for many movies beyond Star Wars to create fictional weapons while preserving their verisimilitude. Here's an article about the making of Aliens' [M-4A1 Pulse Rifle](https://royalarmouries.org/objects-and-stories/stories/m-41a-aliens-pulse-rifle) for another kitbash weapon exemple. I'm perfectly ok with it in any universe and they did it very well in Star Wars imho.
They've always done it, and it's worked well.
Ironically, I think it helps maintain the suspension of disbelief to have things be vaguely familiar to reality. Every time I watch Star Trek and see a phaser I'm put off by how much it seems like a toy.
It's very George Lucas
What kind of alien is that?
I love it
For a fan of history and Star wars it is a delight.
I mean honestly I never would’ve known… so it’s cool but I’m not a fun of real guns
The repurposing of stuff is what makes iStar Wars (New Hope) the biggest low-budget movie ever made. It’s baked in the mythos”.
I think organized armies like the clones and the empire should use more sci-fi looking weapons while I am ok with rebels, criminals, bounty hunters, etc using real guns turned into sci-fi ones for as long as they're modified enough to avoid breaking immersion. Might be worth using more obscure real life guns for that.
I think I remember one blaster from Rogue One being an AR-15, I think it was Andor's
Perfectly valid and fine by me. I, personally, love how the T21 is literally just a Lewis with the magazine removed and a little bit of greebling.
I hate it. My favorite irl guns are overpriced wacky-looking firearms seems off my Star Wars obsessed childhood. The steyr Aug and Ruger Mark IV are the only guns for me now
heres a quick rundown of some guns. the greeblied guns are a part of star wars as much as the ships are. the biggest issue i had was the AK47 that had zero attention paid to it for a prominent on screen part 1894 Bergmann type 1 (Mandos) C96 Broomhandle Mauser (Blastech DL44) Sterling L2A3 (E-11. Stormtrooper Rifle and rebel blaster pistol) STG-44 (Blastech A280C) Margolin Practice Pistol (Leias sporting blaster in ANH) Ruger Mk1 (greedos pistol) MG34 (Heavy Stormtooper blaster rifle) Lewis Gun (Light Repeating Blaster) MG15 (long barreled stormtooper blaster) Cut-down Lee Enfield No1 MKIII (Jawa Distrupter) Wembly & Scott No1 Mk Flare Gun (Boba Fetts Iconic short rifle) WW1 P-08 Luger (Jyn Ersos Blaster) AR-15 (Cassian Andors blaster) Saiga Shotgun (Baze blaster) MG42 (Death Troopers long range blaster) Afghani Jezail Rifles (Tuskan Cycler) PP-19 Vityaz (Cobb Vanths Blaster) im sure there are others i missed
Cara Dune's heavy repeating blaster is a Bren LMG - the big carrying handle sticking up from the top is the giveaway. And of course, not really a gun, but Luke's lightsaber is made from a camera "flash gun". And by "made from", I mean they bought several of [these](https://graflexshop.com/cdn/shop/products/TGS_GradeC_0_TGS.jpg?v=1665069078) and glued some black plastic bits on.
Don’t Mandalorians use bullets?
yeah the guns are called Slugthrowers
Hy, I think it’s dope. I know that bullets melt when they connect with lightsabers. That would be cool af to see in live action or animation.
Yep that's a big reason mandos used slugs, the molten slag would be thrown in every direction when deflected by a saber. Super cool little detail
Bullets are a thing in SW but you can’t block them w lightsabers or else the shrapnel will go everywhere
That’s actually the point though
Some Mandalorians, but the Tusken Raiders too. The ones taking pot shots at the Podracers in Episode 1 are clearly firing bullets. We don't see a blaster bolt and we hear metal on metal when the shots ricochet off the Pods.
It's really really difficult to create new weapons without drawing inspiration from other similar weapons, so I'm glad they just lean into it and don't try to hide the similarities. They'd either have to go fully futuristic, like Halo with the Covenant weapons, or admit similarities to real world guns.
It's been a part of the franchise since the beginning. Another great plus with doing it that way, is the weapons still look like guns. Some scifi movies/shows create bizarre looking weapons, but Star Wars had just enough that is recognizable that you don't need any explanation. And they don't look silly in big battles.
I mean I think it's a great way to sit there and to do low budget futuristic weapons and stuff like that so I definitely love it. I think too many sci-fi franchises almost feel like they have to make it as far out there as possible and Star wars. I feel like had it where it was a little bit more like this is the natural progression of where firearms would go
They always have.
this is such a big part of why star wars stands out and stands strong all these years later. it LOOKS real
It’s a staple to the whole thing, they did it in the OT, they should continue doing it.
It worked for aliens.
Like they always have since 1977?
How do you make this post and not have the Sterling SMG as the E-11?
I mean they've always done it, so it doesn't seem out of place in the SW universe at all since you know.. it's built in that this is just how the guns look in star wars
perfectly blending familiar with not new to create that lived in feel
I prefer for everything to have a real life look, but have sci-fi extras and elements added on. If I can tell it’s just a rifle, that isn’t interesting to me. I don’t mind weapons in my sci-fi/fantasy, but I do want some effort put into it when they are there.
I bought my son a Star Wars Nerf blaster that looked just like an orange AR-15.
The newest battlefront 2 funnily enough used a Barrett M82 for one of the sniper rifles. Andor’s sniper in rogue one was an AR/M4.
I really like it personally
They’ve been doing it since 1977. It’s standard operating procedure.
Great. It's been a staple of the franchise literally from the beginning and I'm all for it. Cool to see some of the ways they adapt existing guns into the space guns used in Star Wars.
Having actual guns repurposed is a part of Star Wars to me, it’s been that way since day one and i love it. Complaining about it is like complaining about how Phillips Head screws wouldn’t be used and breaks immersion. Also, unsure if related but to me, and as far as i can tell in the story/franchise, don’t really innovate/invent. It’s the same tech for 100’s, if not 1000’s of years
Been happening since the very first movie. I love seeing real world objects reimagined into star wars stuff. As long as there are no bricks or screws. That just breaks immersion...
It’s pretty gangster
I remember watching episode 6 of BoB and seeing a liberator pistol. It was the first time I recognized a gun in star wars on my own
Liked it in the earlier episodes definitely don’t want to see a slightly modded ak 47s tho that’s just lame
Better than Alien: Covenant where they just had a guy with an M4.
I love it
It’s interesting I like it as long as they don’t look exactly like actual guns we have
I like how the DLT19 is barely changed except for windshield wipers added to the barrel
New but familiar, as it's always been.
Always cool
I like it. In SciFi the guns look so futuristic and shiny with gadgets but I doubt the average intergalactic gangbanger will have that these guns look mass produced for pretty cheap just modified a bit by whoever owns them for extra power
It's really a key component that makes up the star wars visual identity. The original trilogy took so much inspiration and art direction from the second world War in everything from the blasters to the spacefights. The fact that this aspect was missing from the sequel trilogies really highlighted how important it is to the star wars visual identity, and I'm glad to see shows like andor and the mandatorily bringing it back in.
Andor ruined it with the heist team’s AK47’s… way too close to the actual gun. You need to switch one or two things and then it works! Your brain doesn’t immediately recognize it until pointed out usually.
It’s cool but then there’s Vel from Andor running around with just an AK47 with an Under Folder stock.
gangsters gotta have them tommy guns.
As long as its done well (and the franchise historically does do it well) I love it.
I love it. There should always be some designs that are purely made up but most blasters being based on real life firearms is fine by me.
It's been a big part of the franchise since the very beginning. The problem a lot of us have, is that they've gotten lazy with it. In more recent media, they've included real guns(again, not the problem) but they made hardly any changes to them at all. They look like stock modern weapons and it kills the immersion.
Like it has always done. 🙂 Yeah it's cool imo as well.
How the fuck else do you think they got futurisic space guns that shoot lasers....?
As long they we're well made there shouldn't be any issue. Looking at you AK blaster from Andor
It’s been a thing since day one. Anyone who pretends to have an issue with it is simply not a fan of Star Wars.
It's literally something the franchise has done since the beginning, so it'd be dumb for anyone to argue against it. Add to the fact that the original lightsaber hilts were just cobbled out of random camera parts.
I love it. It’s funny seeing how they adapt post WWII guns to SW like the AR15 or the G36C in the Sequel trilogy. Shout out to the First Order pistol which is just a Glock with the front sight of an AR15. It’s Nerf toy will be the closest we get to a Nerf Glock.
I think it would be nice but i’m not sure if the gun makers will charge them for fees for modifying their designs. If they can make the gun makers redesign the guns themselves as advertisement maybe it would be more feasible it becoming reality.
Damn near everything in the original was repurposed from something else so might as well keep the trend alive in the franchise.
Its literally what makes star wars, its one of the reasons i could never get behind the old republic when it first released, everyone running around with super soaker looking guns.
They’ve always done it and it adds to the immersion because it looks familiar without being too close.
I like the idea. The wackier the irl weapon, the better. It has to be visually distinct enough too with additions or changes to help it have its own image. The AKs failed to do so. It makes sense gun design would be similar.
Always has been
I like when the philosophy of things seeming practical and treated somewhat realistically, or at least with consistent mechanics, extends past the props and into the writing.
it helps keep all the guns grounded
These examples are fine but i was not a fan of the laser AK47s in Andor
That Bergmann 1896 gun looks cool!
Like i do about any other gun in the franchise
I like that they almost always exclusively used Nazi weaponry, really helped with the analogy of The Empire being the aforementioned party considering that’s what the original Star Wars was made as
I read somewhere that gun collectors are bitter at Star Wars fans because they will buy Mausers, already rare, and strap stuff onto them to make them look like Han’s gun,
The thing that sucks is that many historical pieces were ruined by DIYers trying to cover them. History lost forever.