From the Beretta to the Blunderbuss, these iconic firearms helped Denzel win an Oscar, battled the Pirates of the Caribbean, took on the Terminator and (almost) killed the great white in Jaws. Click the images to see the guns in action.

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Remington 870 Short Barrel

Used In: The Dark Knight

This 12 gauge sawed off shotgun is first seen in the second installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy when a bank manager uses it to defend himself against Heath Ledger’s Joker and his goons. Once the manager is dispatched, the gun becomes Ledger’s weapon of choice for the rest of the film, often firing it one hand style (which looks super cool but would be extremely challenging in real life due to the weight of the bullets).



Remington 1858

Used In: Django Unchained

The “Sheriff’s” model of the Remington 1858 is carried by Jamie Foxx throughout much of Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist Western from 2012. The pistol is similar to the Remington “New Army” model, which is one of two pistols Foxx uses in the bloody “two handed” gun fight in Candyland Mansion (the other being a Colt 1851).



Colt Government Model (Modified)

Used In: Public Enemies

Michael Mann’s 2009 period crime saga starring Johnny Depp as notorious 30s era gangster John Dillinger features a wide array of vintage pistols and machine guns, but none more exotic than this specially modified Colt pistol. Modeled after a gun Dillinger used in real life, the pistol is fully automatic, making it something of a machine gun in miniature. Oddly enough, Depp never fires the weapon in the movie.



Smith & Wesson 4506

Used In: Training Day

Denzel Washington relies heavily on two Smith & Wesson 45s in his Oscar-winning performance as corrupt LAPD detective Alonzo Harris, even firing one in the ‘sideways’ style that may look dramatic onscreen but is ludicrous according to armorers. In real life the powerful .45 caliber pistol was approved for use by the LAPD after the infamous North Hollywood Shootout in 1997 (which was itself reportedly inspired in part by the epic gun battle in Michael Mann’s 1995 crime epic Heat).



Taurus M85

Used In: Serenity

Referred to as the “Moses Brothers Self-Defense Engine Frontier Model B” by Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillian) in Joss Whedon’s cult hit, this ornate handgun is really a perfectly normal-looking pistol that has been drastically dressed up. The gun’s design, according to Whedon, was intended to invoke the Civil War-era weapons created by the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, a precursor to Smith & Wesson.



Beretta 92G

Used In: The Green Hornet

The double barreled pistol Christoph Waltz brandishes in Michel Gondry’s irreverent take on the masked crime fighter is actually a heavily modified Beretta 92F handgun. The normally compact pistol looks far more threatening with two barrels (which swivel, no less), a fact that the film employs to humorous effect when Waltz’s character earnestly asks “Is my gun not scary?”



Blunderbuss Flintrock

Used In: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

This (intentionally weathered) shotgun, employed by Davy Jones’ crew in the second installment of the Johnny Depp franchise, dates back to the 17th century, when it and its pistol version – called a “dragoon” — were popular weapons on Naval warships.



Greener Harpoon Gun

Used In: Jaws

It may have taken an actual rifle to kill the great white shark at the climax of this Spielberg classic (it was actually an M1 Garand, a semi-automatic used extensively by the U.S. military in WWII), but it was the Greener that first slowed the beast down. This is the weapon Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) uses to harpoon the shark multiple times, mostly to no avail.



Krinkov Base Gun

Used In: Terminator Genisys

The AKS-74U, also known as a Krinkov, emerged from the 70s-era Soviet Union and can be seen in everything from 2013’s Fast and Furious 6 to 1994’s Police Academy 7. For Terminator Genisys, the gun was used as a base for an elaborate, futuristic cannon-like weapon that appears to be part grenade launcher, part flame thrower.