Discord-logo.jpg Join our Discord!
If you have been locked out of your account you can request a password reset here.

Aliens

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Annihlator 2000.jpg

Nice, but where's the trigger?

This article or section is incomplete. You can help IMFDB by expanding it.

Aliens Poster.jpg

The following guns were used in the movie Aliens


M41A Pulse Rifle

The Marines of the USCMC (United States Colonial Marine Corps) famously use the M41A Pulse Rifle as their standard issue weapon, a futuristic assault rifle with a magazine capacity of 95 rounds of armor piercing ammunition with a pump action 30mm grenade launcher underneath the barrel. This weapon was made from a M1 Thompson submachine gun with a Remington 870 shotgun underneath with the shroud and foregrip of a SPAS 12 covering it. At the end of the film, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) tapes one of these rifles to an M240 Flamethrower when going to rescue Newt (Carrie Henn).

M41A
Private R. Frost (Rico Ross) loads up an M41A Pulse Rifle.
Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) instructs Ripley on how to use an M41A Pulse Rifle.
Ripley holds an M41A Pulse Rifle for the first time.

M56 Smart Gun

Both PFC J. Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), and Private M. Drake (Mark Rolston) use M56 Smart Guns. These were made from German MG42 machine guns. The body-mounting apparatus was made from Steadicam "arms," with other miscellaneous parts coming from various motorcycles.

PFC J. Vasquez wielding an M56 Smart Gun.
Private M. Drake with an M56 Smart Gun.
Vasquez and Drake with their smartguns.

M240 Flamethrower

Another weapon used by the Marines is the M240 Flamethrower, it most notably used by Gunnery Sergeant A. Apone (Al Matthews), Private M. Drake (Mark Rolston), and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) when she famously tapes it to an M41A Pulse Rifle before she goes to rescue Newt (Carrie Henn). These flamethrowers also appear to have been created from parts from M16 rifles with the M203 handguard. The 'faux' flamethrower used the upper receiver assembly of an M16A1 - cut into two parts, using the top handle facing forward, but the section with the ejection port turned backwards.

M240 Flamethrower
Sergeant A. Apone wielding an M240 Flamethrower.
Private M. Drake using an M240 Flamethrower.
Ripley tapes the M240 Flamethrower to an M41A Pulse Rifle.

Ithaca 37 "Stakeout"

Corporal Hicks' (Michael Biehn) shotgun is an Ithaca 37 "Stakeout" which he keeps for "Close Encounters". One memorable scene with this gun is when Hicks sticks the barrel of the weapon in an aliens' mouth, and yells "Eat This!" and proceeds to blow its head off. In the process the acidic blood gets sprayed on to Pvt. Hudson's (Bill Paxton) arm because he was trying to close the door of the APC.

Trivia Note: In the Aliens series of movies this weapon always seems to be a hazard. i.e. shooting an alien with this weapon would cause a character to get splattered with acidic blood. This event happens a lot in AVP: Requiem. However, in reality, a direct shotgun blast would NOT splatter any blood "towards the shooter" or "to the sides". The force alone would direct all brain and blood splatter AWAY from the shooter. All one has to do is look a real life crime scene photos of shotgun blasts to the head. All particles or viscera are blown away from the barrel, none are to the front and very little if any is to the sides.

Additional Trivia Note: As the previous trivia note says, little 'splashback' if any would be expected. That said, the Aliens are well known to be extremely tough beasties, so who's to say parts of the body were not damaged very much by the shotgun blasts? This could have resulted in the 'splashback' as softer tissue and blood rebounds off harder bone / chitinous tissue...

Remember reading in a book or online when I was in school that the aliens had extremely high "blood pressure" resulting in them pretty much exploding when shot and in effect turning them into a walking anti personnel mine.

Ithaca 37 "Stakeout"
"I like to keep this handy [chick-chick]... for close encounters."
Hicks picks up a dead Facehugger with the barrel of his Ithaca 37 "Stakeout".

Heckler & Koch VP70

The Heckler & Koch VP70 is the service pistol of the Marines in the movie. This gun is notably seen in the hands of Private Frost (Rico Ross) just before the aliens attack. Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) uses one to shoot at aliens during the Airshaft scene.

Trivia Note: In the special features included with the Collector's Edition DVD, it is mentioned that the VP-70 was chosen as the standard issue sidearm for the Colonial Marines because of its "futuristic look" as well as its relative obscurity.

Heckler & Koch VP70 9mm with spare magazine
Private Frost holding his Heckler & Koch VP70.

Sentry Turret

In the extended version of the film, the Marines set up sentry turrets in the hallways leading to their refuge. These were built upon WWII German MG42 machine guns, the same used for the smartguns and provided by Bapty's (movie armorer of the UK). Only the ammo drums on the side are from WW1 German Spandau Maxim LMG 08/15 machine guns

Sentry turrets firing during a test.
Sentry turrets firing at approaching aliens.

Smith & Wesson Model 39

PFC Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) uses a blued Smith & Wesson Model 39 with Ivory grips as her sidearm. She most notably uses it to kill an alien while moving through the vents, but burns her foot from the creature's acidic blood in the process.

Smith & Wesson Model 39 9mm.
PFC Vasquez moving through the vents with her Smith & Wesson Model 39 drawn.

M16A1

Seen on the gun racks in the USS Sulaco's armory.

M16A1 with 30 Round magazine - 5.56x45mm
M16A1 seen in the rack behind Private Frost.


SA80

Seen on the gun racks in the Sulaco's armory.

File:Sal8.jpg
British Royal Ord SA80
Sa-80 next to some pulse rifles.

Colt Commando

Seen on the gun racks in the USS Sulaco's armory.

Colt Commando 5.56mm

External Links

M41A Pulse Rifle @ Wikipedia

Aliens Review

Aliens II Info


Do Not Sell My Personal Information