The Greatest Hand Weapons of Sci-Fi Film
Compiled by SFMZ Webmaster
The firepower seen in many sci-fi movies would easily dispatch the biggest and baddest villains or creatures on film. Some are standard issue that seem to be forgotten a nanosecond after they have left the film frame. Then there are a special few that command attention by fans, not to mention the marketing sector to capitilize on their popularity by producing a wide array of collectibles, replicas, and toys.
Check out the inventory of Sci-Fi Saturday Night Specials we have gathered here. Site visitors voted to determine the top ten sci-fi hand weapons and below are their final results. The poll was closed after it reached 1,000 votes. We have also provided info for other sci-fi weapons not on the top ten list.
The Noisy Cricket from Men in Black
The Noisy Cricket, possibly the tiniest MIB gun, can cause some serious damage. Agent J is shown an awesome-looking Series-4 De-atomizer, but is actually issued a puny-looking Noisy Cricket. The Cricket can punch a clean hole through a truck.
This micro alien pistol not only renders it's target into melted void, its recoil knocks Agent J off his feet. It looks familiar to those gimmick cigarette lighters that are shaped like guns. Light your cigarette with this mini-hellfire and you're sure to kick the habit.
Predator Plasma Cannon
The Predators' plasma cannon, sometimes called the Plasma Caster, automatically locks on any target. It emits a pulse of energy that can easily burn through any target of metal, wood, or flesh. The Plasma Caster's technology is advanced far beyond the weapons of any human or alien target. In Aliens VS Predator, the plasma cannon is adapted as a hand-held weapon, ready for quick and dirty work.
Wolf integrated his two Plasma Casters into a hand held, more powerful Plasma pistol, known as a "Burner". Wolf had damaged one of his Plasma Casters and therefore he made it into the plasma pistol to be more effective. It is a superheated plasma-based weapon. It shows that hunters have to be able to improvise in the field.
Predator Shuriken
The Yautjas species was first encountered in Fox's 1987 release Predator, hunting humans for sport in Central America. The alien warriors use highly advanced weapons and technologies and live by a code of honor, marking themselves in the blood of their kill. Continuing the story of these Predators' ongoing war with the Xenomorph alien species is the 2007 film Aliens vs. Predator.
The two species will go head to head using a small, rural town as the battlefield. The Predators possess extremely powerful Shuriken weapons, with retractable blades that can easily slice through many layers of flesh. Though the Shuriken is the more primitive of the Predator weapons, the versatile blades can be used as throwing weapons or as slashing fist weapons, and Predators often use them for close range combat.
DL-44 Blaster from Star Wars
The DL-44 was a powerful, highly modifiable and accurate blaster pistol. It packed a heavy punch compared to other pistols without losing accuracy, which made it a prime choice among many groups and individuals, ranging from smugglers and bounty hunters to military and the Rebellion.
Aside from being a powerful and reliable sidearm, the weapon had other attractive features such as a vibration system built into the handgrip that pulsed gently to alert the user that the weapon had only five shots left, and the ability to charge a bolt twice as powerful into a capacitor without damaging the sidearm. Like most handguns, its gear typically included a motion-sensitive scope and galven circuitry that allowed the pistol to deal more damage with a normal energy drain and fire rate.
The Grammaton Gun from Equilibrium
This is the primary weapon used in "Gun Kata" or "Gun Fu." The Gun Kata shown in Equilibrium is a hybrid mix of Kurt Wimmer's own style of Gun Kata (which he invented in his backyard) and the martial arts style of the choreographer. Much of the Gun Kata seen in the film is based on the choreographer's style. Kurt Wimmer's Gun Kata is dispersed sparsely throughout the movie, most notably in the introductory scene with the silhouetted man, played by Wimmer himself, practicing with dual pistols.
The Z-F1 from The Fifth Element
The ZF 1 Pod Weapons System is a fictional weapon in the movie The Fifth Element. The weapon, produced by equally fictional Zorg Industries, is a hybrid of a smartgun assault rifle, mini-missile launcher, flamethrower, net-launcher, dart gun, and what appears to be a liquid nitrogen sprayer.
It also has a self-destruct device built into it as demonstrated when a curious Mangalore warrior presses an illuminated red button which triggers an explosion. The weapon features prominently in the movie in which there is a long scene in which Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (played by Gary Oldman) demonstrates the ZF 1 to a group of Mangalore warriors.
M56 Smart Gun from Aliens
The M56 Smart Gun is an improved version of the USCMC Shockrifle, capable of holding higher quantities of ammunition and an increased fire rate. Using electrical pulse action, it fires 600 10x28mm caseless high-explosive rounds at a rate of 1200 rpm. Despite the fact that the weapon weighs nearly 40 pounds, it can be easily carried and operated with the assistance of a servo-controlled harness.
It is called a "smart gun" because the weapons fire is guided by an infrared tracking system on top of the gun's barrel and on a head-mounted goggle system, guided by a targeting processor in the harness. When a target is designated by the tracking system, the harness automatically guides the operator and gun to the target. Switching targets is as simple as pointing the gun's barrel at a new target. The gun can fire in a three round burst or in fully automatic.
Deckard's gun from Blade Runner
The gun that Deckard uses is an Austrian Steyr/Mannlicher bolt-action rifle with the stock and barrel removed, leaving just the receiver. A pistol-grip was added for effect. The Steyr rifle action has a very distinctive bolt-handle and trigger-guard; in fact, the particular receiver used possessed the target-style set trigger system (two triggers).
The M41-A Pulse Rifle from Aliens
The M41 Pulse rifle was the primary infantry weapon of the Colonial Marines during the late 22nd century. The M41A in particular saw regular use in engagements with the xenomorph and Predator species. The rifle derives its name from its unique firing mechanism which uses electronic pulses rather than a firing pin to ignite its propellant. This lowers the amount of moving parts that the weapon needs to operate, as well as improving its rate of fire.
The Lightsaber from Star Wars
Designed as much for elegance in combat as for ceremony, the lightsaber, also referred to as the "laser sword" by those who were unfamiliar with it, was a distinctive weapon, the very image of which was inextricably bound with the mythos of the Jedi Order and their polar opposites, the Sith. The lightsaber also became synonymous with the Jedi Order's values to uphold peace and justice throughout the galaxy. This perception endured, despite the many conflicts with lightsaber-wielding Sith and Dark Jedi.
More great sci-fi movie weapons suggested by site visitors . . . . .
 Top/Left - Mercenary Pistol from The Chronicles of Riddick Some of the mercenaries including Toombs and Eve Logan carry futuristic pistols. These pistols were Smith & Wesson K-frame pistols with a futuristic shell built over it. Top/Right - The AMR-B5 Repeater from District 9 The AMR-B05 is a fully automatic Prawn weapon. The weapon works as an automatic or assault rifle. The tubes down the side each discharge an explosive burst of gas one after the other down the length of the barrel behind the projectile - a linear accelerator gun, like a rail gun but without the magnets. Christopher Johnson used this when he was storming the MNU building with Wikus to retrieve The Fluid. A weapon of this design is part of the onboard weaponry of the Exosuit. Bottom/Left - Lawgiver from Judge Dredd The Lawgiver is a handgun featuring semi- and fully-automatic fire, manual and automatic focusing and targeting, plus an in-built computer capable of controlling its operation. It fires a range of speciality ammunition. An in-line gunsight shows the view directly down the barrel. A Lawgiver can only be operated by its designated Judge owner, whose palm print is programmed into the gun's memory. Its appearance was altered dramatically in 1995, around the release of the Judge Dredd film. Bottom/Right - Heckler & Koch UMP-45 from Matrix Reloaded During the freeway chase, one of the Twins opens fire on the protagonists with a Heckler & Koch UMP-45 fitted with a C-More red dot sight and an almost bottomless magazine. Showing no concern for innocents caught in the crossfire, he opens fire on a luckless Chevy Tahoe SUV that winds up between him and his target, causing it to flip and trigger a spectacular chain-reaction pileup.
 Top/Left - Beretta 93R (as the "Auto 9") from Robocop The main weapon used by RoboCop is the "Auto 9". This is a Beretta 93R machine pistol which was heavily modified for the film, featuring a longer barrel with an enormous compensator/flash hider shaped like a casket, plastic grips, and a taller rear sight to match the raised front sight. Typically, RoboCop fires this weapon in 3-round burst mode. The fictional stats of the weapon claim it has an implausibly huge 50-round magazine. Top/Right - The Glaive from Blade A pair of Blade's (Wesley Snipes) glaives from Guillermo del Toro's vampire action-thriller sequel Blade II. The Daywalker notably used his glaives at the beginning of the film as he chased a group of vampires in the Czech Republic and finds the location of the imprisoned Whistler. Bottom/Left - The Glaive from Krull In he movie, the character Colwyn sets out to rescue Lyssa, but he must first find "the Glaive", an ancient, magical star-shaped weapon, which he retrieves from a high mountain cave. Bottom/Right - M95A1 Phased Plasma Rifle from T2 In the future war between man and machine, SKYNET's endoskeleton forces wield deadly weapons designed to efficiently terminate human resistance targets. One of the most effective is the 40-Watt Phased Plasma Rifle, which fires superheated hydrogen compressed to a plasma state. After targeting, a pilot laser in the weapon vaporizes a path through the atmosphere to the target a microsecond before the plasma bolt is produced.
 Top/Left - BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle (Sterling L2A3) from Star Wars The BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle was a blaster rifle used during the time of the Galactic Republic, and manufactured by BlasTech Industries during the Galactic Civil War. It was the standard blaster rifle of the Imperial stormtroopers. A powerful, light and compact weapon, the E-11 was used widely through the galaxy. Top/Right - The Klingon Bat'leth from Star Trek The bat'leth, or "sword of honor", was a traditional Klingon blade weapon. Resembling a crescent-shaped, two-ended scimitar, the bat'leth was wielded using three handholds along the outside edge of the blade. It was widely considered the most popular weapon among Klingon warriors. According to Klingon mythology, the first bat'leth was forged by Kahless the Unforgettable in the 9th century. Bottom/Left - The Sword from Outlander In the Outlander, the characters actually fight a battle with swords forged from the hull of a spaceship made from indestructable space material. Bottom/Right - ARC Gun from District 9 The ARC Gun, also referred to as a Mulcher, is an extraterrestrial weapon, and as such only works in the hands of a non-human or Wikus. The weapon utilizes highly dangerous protonic current which has a high damage radius and damage capability. Upon direct contact with a biological entity, one hit from the weapon causes the entity to superheat and explode in a violent, swift, and often messy manner.
 Top/Left - AMR-B43 from District 9 The AMR-B43 is a repulsor-type weapon, that stabilizes sound and projects it at desired enemies. Wikus used this weapon to defend himself from a group of Nigerians. It is sometimes referred to as the "Sonic Blaster". Top/Right - Vostok Margolin .22LR target pistol from Star Wars The Defender sporting blaster pistol was made by the Drearian Defense Conglomerate. The DDC Defender was a low-powered weapon, meant for civilian self-defense and small-game hunting. It was also a popular weapon for use in honor duels among the nobility. Compared to other blasters the Defender used very little tibana gas, instead relying on its small power pack to provide most of the energy for each shot. Bottom/Left - Crematoria Slug Gun from The Chronicles of Riddick The guards at the Crematoria pistol planet are armed with a futuristic "slug gun". These weapons were Calico M950 submachine guns with futuristic shells built over them. Bottom/Right - Double Barrel Shotgun - Chained from The Chronicles of Riddick Some of the mercenaries wield a shotgun-type weapon with two detachable barrels.
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