The Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb) is an online database of firearms used or featured in films, television shows, video games, and anime. A wiki running the MediaWiki software, it is similar in function (although unaffiliated) to the Internet Movie Database for the entertainment industry. It includes articles relating to actors, and some characters, such as James Bond, listing the particular firearms they have been associated with in their movies. Integrated into the website is an image hosting section similar to Wikimedia Commons that includes firearm photos, manufacturer logos, screenshots and related art.[2][failed verification] The site has been cited in magazines such as the NRA's American Rifleman and True West Magazine and magazine format television shows such as Shooting USA on the Outdoor Channel.
Type of site | Wiki |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | imfdb, LLC |
| Editor | MelDez.MV |
| URL | imfdb |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional (required for editing) |
| Users | 14,895[1] |
| Launched | 10 May 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | GNU Free Documentation License |
History
editLaunched in May 2007 by "Bunni",[3] The Internet Movie Firearm Database (IMFDb) was originally set up to help identify the use of firearms in Hollywood films. For the first few months of its existence, it listed only a dozen films including The Matrix, Platoon and Pulp Fiction. As the site grew, so did its content. In June 2007, the site began to list television shows as well as films. The site has since been expanded to include pages for video games and anime.[4]
As of September 2024, the data base had grown to list over 7,260 films,[5] over 2,422 television shows,[6] over 920 video games[7] and 578 Anime films and series.[8][9]
The site has been used as a reference source by the owners of several shooting ranges located in Las Vegas, Nevada. After hearing customers ask to rent certain types of firearms used in movies and video games, the owners of the range used IMFDb to research the weapons in question.[10]
Prohibitions
editExclusions
editOne particular category of arms that is not intended to be a part of the database is fictional firearms. For example, weapons that are beyond current technology such as laser (as the projectile), plasma, and/or nuclear particle (i.e. photon, etc.) devices are typically not accepted by the contributors of the site. Often this category of fictional weapons is associated with video games and anime, but some movies (science fiction in particular) contain these as well. In these instances, the devices that represent actual firearms or hypothetical future evolution of current firearms are represented.
As the database primarily relates to small arms, categories of large destructive devices are excluded as well. One such example would be an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
No homemade films are permitted.[11]
Exceptions
editExceptions to the exclusions above are small arms that are fictional but constructed from real-life firearms (modified or original), even if the projectile is completely fictional. An example would be the blaster rifles from the Star Wars movies. These devices fire "bolts of energy" in the movies, and the firearm they are based on is the British-made Sterling sub-machine gun.[12][13] Another example would be the 1999 movie Wild Wild West, in which a powered (as in, automatically revolving) Gatling gun is used, even though this was not realized until 1946—Gatling guns in the era in which the film is set were exclusively operated by hand crank.
See also
edit- Stembridge Gun Rentals, the primary arsenal to Hollywood from the 1920s through 2007
- Internet Movie Cars Database - A website of similar concept for motor vehicles.
References
edit- ^ "IMFDb Statistics". imfdb.org. 2024-09-15. Archived from the original on 2024-09-15. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ^ Bourjaily, Philip (15 April 2009). "Bourjaily: The Internet Movie Firearms Database". Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ^ Imfdb:About Archived 2018-11-21 at the Wayback Machine at the Internet Movie Firearms Database, retrieved 21 November 2018
- ^ Rules, Standards and Principles Archived 2012-06-22 at the Wayback Machine at the Internet Movie Firearms Database, retrieved 21 November 2018
- ^ "Category: Movie". Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Category: Television". Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Category: Video Game". Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "Category: Anime". Archived from the original on 2024-09-17. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ "How guns get into films". The Economist. 19 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ Hernandez, Daniel (30 November 2012). "Vegas gun ranges target thrill-seeking tourists with ever bigger weapons". Guardian. Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
They even stock their arsenals through research on the Internet Movie Firearm Database, a website that lists guns appearances in media the way IMDB does actors.
- ^ "IMFDb: Rules, Standards and Principles". Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ "imfdb:Sterling SMG". Archived from the original on 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
- ^ "imfdb: Star Wars". Archived from the original on 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
