Laser Tag: Deconstructing The Terminator’s .45 Longslide
March 12th, 2010 by Macho SlutIf you track this column with any frequency (and I’m sure that there are like 4 of you reading this that do), then you’ll know that I absolutely freak for the tee embedded below (which coincidentally, you can also purchase from us here):
The design directly references one of the more foreboding clips (pun intended) from the original Terminator:
If you’ve watched the extended cut (as I have), you might recall that James Cameron argues that his production was the first in movie history to incorporate laser-sighting weaponry. I have no way of proving or disproving such a statement (no interest either), but it does seem plausible, given the date of the picture’s release (1984) and how ubiquitous such paramilitary accoutrements are in film today.
In any case, Ars Technica has a fascinating piece (again, gun pun intended) on the origins of the .45 Longslide, which, alongside a menacing AH-NOLD, was positioned prominently in both a number of crucial sequences and the movie’s poster art. The author adds that,
“the red laser was able to communicate something subtle and powerful to the audience: this is a machine, deadly accurate and futuristic… other-worldly and terrifying.”
As the article humorously details, the filmmakers were short on funds (and know-how), so they turned to an expert gunsmith to help craft said prop, complete with an operable, makeshift power supply (imaged below) that Schwarzenegger would trigger (pun most certainly intended) as needed from an inside pocket.
There’s nothing like a little movie magic on the cheap…
One question begs, however: what about the the “phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range?”
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