Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_bond1.png
No, Sean Connery! I'm your pal, Sean! Don't do it! I'm your pal, see?
"December 1, 1903: Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery debuts. The plot: a wisecracking former cop fights train-jackers at 15 mph. Thrilling audiences with its pioneering realism and papier-mache trains, the final scene — in which the villain turns and fires his gun directly into the camera — was said to have so terrified the audience that they would often shriek in terror, screaming out 'Yippie ky yay, motherfucker!' as one."
— More Information Than You Require

When a character points a weapon at the camera so it looks like they're about to attack the audience with it. Sean Connery is not actually required; this just happens in a number of posters for his movies, as well as in several Bond film posters, most notably for Never Say Never Again.

The more aggressive Sister Trope of Pistol Pose, this trope is frequently used on movie posters, DVD/VHS cases, and book covers. The star of the work is pointing a gun directly at the audience. It's that simple.

Note that while this usually involves guns, other weapons and even fists can also be used. The "Superman Is About To Punch You!" variant, in particular, is quite common on comic book covers. And certain movies.

This trope is often used in movies themselves as well, although the MPAA prohibits its usage in green-band (all ages) trailers. If the character actually attacks the audience, it's The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You.

See also Second-Person Attack, Pistol Pose, Stab the Sky. Often overlaps with Floating Head Syndrome. Sword Pointing is a variation. When the character at the ending side of the gun is actually shot and dies, the camera switches to a First-Person Dying Perspective. Not to be confused with Bond Gun Barrel (which, nonetheless, often features this trope, sometimes literally). Posing for a photo like this in real life, if it's a real gun, and if a person is holding the camera, is a rather serious breach of Gun Safety rules. So Don't Try This at Home.

Cover/poster/promotional examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 

    Anime & Manga 

    Art & Print Media 
  • Andy Warhol made a series of compositions from an image of Elvis Presley pointing a gun at the camera. The image is believed to have been taken from a still or promotional image for the 1960 Western film Flaming Star, in which Presley starred.
  • The print "The archer and the milkmaid" after Jacques de Gheyn II, ca. 1610, demonstrates that this trope is Older Than Steam. Not only is the subject pointing his crossbow directly at the viewer as an adoring milkmaid hangs on his arm, but the artist milks the image for all the sexual double entendre that it's worth.

    Asian Animation 

    Comic Books 

    Films — Animated 

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • Fate of the Jedi: Vortex◊: Han Solo is About to Shoot You!
  • One of the more popular covers for Musashi has him duel-wielding swords at you.
  • Men at Arms: The Ankh-Morpork City Watch are About to Stab You!

    Live-Action TV 

    Music 
  • N.W.A
  • Saving Abel's Bringing Down the Giant: Some kid is about to slingshot a rock at you.
  • The cover of several Stereolab releases feature a grinning cartoon man in a collared shirt, with a gun barrel where his finger should be, and he's pointing his handgun directly at the audience. On most of these (the EPs Super 45, Super Electric, and Stunning Debut Album; and the compilations Switched On and Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2]) he's just pointing the gun. But on the cover of the album Peng! he's actually firing at the audience.
  • The liner notes for Suffocation's Self-Titled Album include Frank Mullen pointing a shotgun at the camera.

    Pinballs 

    Pro Wrestling 

    Sports 
  • Real life example: occasionally in pro sports, an athlete or a ball will collide with a camera or cameraman. There is some pretty crazy footage from Major League Baseball of foul balls that have shattered the camera lens.

    Tabletop Games 

    Video Games 

    Visual Novels 

    Web 

    Western Animation 

In-story examples:

    Anime & Manga 

    Comic Books 
  • Mortadelo y Filemón: Parodied in "¡A las armas!". The agents have been tasked with testing a bazooka that fires automatically when placed in horizontal position. When they leave their apartment, the weapon accidentally hits the lintel of the door and leans down. Meanwhile on the outside, a bystander is looking at a movie advert that depicts the main character in the "about to shoot you" pose:
    Bystander: What agressiveness in that face! You could say he's about to start shooting and...
    [Big boom. The wall has a massive hole where the advert was, while the bystander is stunned and not only has an Ash Face, but his upper body is completely covered in ashes.]
    Bystander: Th-they should ban such realistic adverts...

    Films — Animation 
  • Nimona prominently features a giant statue of Gloreth, which depicts her sword outstretched to the city. A shot in the finale shows the statue's sword pointed to the camera, right when the titular charater is in her One-Winged Angel form and is about to commit suicide by impaling the sword to her heart.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The Day That Shook the World: The very first scene of the movie is a pistol pointing directly at the camera and firing. It's the assassins, taking target practice at a poster of Franz Ferdinand.
  • In the openings of most James Bond movies, via the famous Bond Gun Barrel sequence (where the Trope Namer was technically the second one to shoot at the audience, as the first three movies had stuntman Bob Simmons as a Fake Shemp):
    • Each of the Eon productions before Quantum of Solace included a variation on the sequence.
    • Originally, Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale (1967) were intended to open with gunbarrels - the latter featuring a pop-gun wielding David Niven. These were removed before release.
    • The 2006 version of Casino Royale (2006) was the first to actually incorporate the gunbarrel sequence into the plotline, with the audience being treated to the POV of a mook as he is shot by Bond.
    • The 1974 French knock-off From Hong Kong With Love opens with Bond attempting to shoot you... but his gun is empty. The camera shoots back, and kills him!
  • The Great Train Robbery (1903) ends with a bank robber pointing a pistol at the camera and firing. It's the Trope Maker and very likely the Ur-Example. Supposedly some people ducked or ran out of the theater, which is almost certainly nonsense, as even in 1903 moviegoers knew that real gunmen were three-dimensional and make sound.
  • GoodFellas ended with Joe Pesci shooting at the audience in an homage to The Great Train Robbery.
  • City of God makes very memorable usage◊ of this trope.
  • The trailer for Watchmen originally had an assassin pointing a gun at the camera in one scene. After being told by the MPAA that it would need to be removed in order to get a green band, director Zack Snyder digitally altered it into a walkie-talkie.
  • The Proposition: Danny Huston, Guy Pearce, and Ray Winstone are all going to shoot you. Or maybe someone just behind you and to your left.
  • The movie version of Patriot Games does this during the scene where Sean Miller (Sean Bean) executes Dennis Cooley.
  • Zardoz has Sean Connery shooting at the camera, in a red nappy.
  • The Killer (1989) does this a lot, most famously the scene where Chow Yun-Fat takes out his target at the restaurant during the first major shootout of the movie.
    • Not to mention the vision that Jenny has of Ah Jong firing directly at the camera, with a sea of blood behind him.
  • In Serenity, both Mal and River point their guns at the camera at different times, and at the end of the movie, River is glaring directly at the camera after slaughtering an entire army of Reavers, looking for all the world like she's about to take those bloodstained blades in her hands to the audience next.
  • The Big Lebowski: John Goodman is going to shoot you unless you mark it zero!◊
    • Also, one of Maude's henchmen punches you out.
  • When performing the theme song to The Three Caballeros, Panchito points one of his guns at the camera and it sings the lyric "and we'll stay so".
  • The second shootout (the one not dictated by Steve Buscemi) of Desperado features Antonio Banderas firing two full clips into the camera, and in the extras Robert Rodriguez points out that the force of the blanks and the closeness of the pistols knocked off the flash dampener.
  • In House of 1000 Corpses Bill Moseley is going to shoot you! (Pause for about thirty seconds.)
  • Once Upon a Time in the West: Frank's first Kick the Dog moment, which abruptly cuts to a train's whistle.
  • The Three Stooges even got in on the act during two shorts that were attempts at 3-d, 'Spooks!' and 'Pardon My Backfire'. Moe Howard Is About To Poke Your Eyes!◊
  • Happens in-character in Back to the Future Part II, when Marty encounters a holographic The Shark Is About To Eat You! advert for Jaws 19.
  • Near the end of The Avengers Loki finds himself confronted by the Avengers, leading to a Team Shot combined with Jeremy Renner Is About To Shoot You With A Bow And Arrow.
  • Played for Laughs in Captain Marvel (2019), in which the first human figure Carol Danvers spots after crashing to Earth in the middle of a Blockbuster is a True Lies promotional standee of Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the standee is depicted in the manner of this trope and Carol doesn't immediately realize it's cardboard, she shoots it back with a proton blast.
  • In Grosse Pointe Blank, John Cusack shoots you. At point blank, naturally.
  • The Men in Black (especially K) will occasionally neuralize you. Also happens at the end of the theme park ride.
  • The Stinger for American Gangster is Denzel Washington shooting you.
  • The TV spot for Django Unchained has Jamie Foxx shooting you at near-point blank.
  • The Thing (2011) ends with Lars firing his rifle toward the audience, in a Call-Forward to the beginning of the original movie, in which the Norwegians were trying to kill the husky-alien before it reached the American camp.
  • Several times in A Fistful of Dollars, with Ramon Rojo. Most significantly in shots like this◊, this◊,this◊, and this◊.
  • In the 1945 Dillinger, John Dillinger does this during a Time-Passes Montage of various bank robberies.
  • During a battle scene in Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, a character fires his Energy Weapon at the camera, causing blue light to almost fill the screen for a moment.

    Literature 
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four:
    A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three or four meters high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a submachine gun pointed from the hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun, magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you.
  • In Ghost Story, there's a graffiti painting on the shutter of Ragged Angel Investigations that depicts a portly, balding angel holding a doughnut in one hand and aiming a shotgun straight toward the viewer in the other.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Chris Elliott is about to shoot you in his domestic sitcom/cop drama mashup Action Family where he guns down his teenage daughter's scuzzy boyfriend - not that he's guilty of Chris's partner's death, he's just conveniently there for the wrap-up/happy ending.
  • In the Firefly episode "Heart of Gold," Mal levels his pistol dramatically at the camera, and then gets startled by Inara and lets out a very undramatic "Bwa!" of surprise.
  • Gladiators (2024): The opening credits show the Gladiators in various action poses, some of which are directly aimed at the audience. Viper's about to elbow the viewer in the face, Fire throws a small fireball at the screen and Apollo offers viewers a 'Bring It' gesture.
  • Glee: The entire cast◊ is about to slushie you!
  • The title sequence of Kitchen Nightmares ends with Gordon Ramsay throwing a chef's knife at the camera.
  • In the Midnight Caller episode "Blood Red," a murder is shown from the victim's perspective, with the villain shooting the camera.
  • This camera angle (fist coming at the camera) used to be quite common in 1970s TV, for example in an episode of The Rockford Files in which a thug knocks Jim Rockford out in this manner.
  • The opening of Sledge Hammer! ends with Sledge saying "Trust me, I know what I'm doing" and shooting the screen.
  • Star Wars: In Obi-Wan Kenobi "Part III", since we're viewing the scene through Robo Cam, when Obi-Wan decides to shoot the imperial probe droid he fires straight at the camera.
  • A Ninja throws a shuriken at the screen, which forms into part of the Deadliest Warrior title.
  • The final shot in the Bolivian Army Ending (for him) of Blake's 7 is of Avon levelling his gun at the camera. A Federation trooper also fires on the audience during the Title Sequence.
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: When thugs interrupt Xena's bathing, you get a point-of-view shot of her punching you in the face.

    Music Videos 

    Print Media 

    Puppet Shows 

    Theatre 
  • In the finale of Assassins, the assassins all draw their guns, walk to the foot of the stage, and fire on the audience.

    Video Games 

    Visual Novels 

    Webcomics 

    Web Videos 

    Western Animation 
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Mr. Freeze fires his freeze gun directly at you. In the commentary, the directors are surprised they got away with it — they wouldn't have been able to with a regular gun, in case some kid decided to try it.
  • In the Title Sequence of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983), He-Man punches you. Then Man-of-Arms shoots you, then Orko blasts you with a magic spell. These guys really don't like you.
  • Similarly, in the She-Ra: Princess of Power Title Sequence, Hordak shoots you.
  • One Rocky and Bullwinkle storyline has a Southern Gentleman from the "League of Confederate Correctors" who couldn't stand anyone even mentioning the word "Civil". During a football game that somehow mutated into a re-enactment of a battle from the War Between The States, the narrator describes Bullwinkle "swivel-hipping his way to the goal —"
    Gentleman: Dagnabbit, you said "civil!" (Bang!)
    Narrator: Excuse me, "war-between-the-states"-hipping his way to the goal!
  • The Transformers: In the season 3 Title Sequence, Galvatron points his cannon straight at the viewer.
  • In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2", when Twilight sees Tirek through a telescope, it looks like he's about to blast the audience with fiery magic.
  • Played straight in The Pink Panther cartoon short "Pinkfinger". The panther, playing the role of a detective, tries to gather information about various spies throughout the city. In one scene, the panther, strapped to a floating balloon, incidentally takes a picture of a spy who points a gun right directly at the camera in the photograph, and then proceeds to fire a bullet at the panther's balloon, sending him falling down to the streets below.
  • One of the two openings of The Dick Tracy Show has Tracy riding shotgun in a patrol car as he takes his gun out of his holster and aims it at the camera. He fires three shots and with each is a gun barrel perspective of the show's villains in groups of three.
  • After demonstrating his Malice Mist in PJ Sparkles, the Cloak aims it at the camera and covers the screen in evil smoke.
  • The opening sequence of Rugrats ends with Tommy Pickles squirting milk at the camera.
  • An Old West-themed Popeye cartoon from 1949 has Bluto firing a gun at all directions including straight at the camera (complete with bullet flying directly at the viewer).
  • The Title Sequence of Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers shows team leader Zachary Foxx firing his Arm Cannon directly at the camera.

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Gladiators 2024 Intro

The intro for the 2024 version of Gladiators is a roll call of each Gladiator showing off their poses.

Example of:
Introductory Opening Credits

Yu Ominae aims ...

Rei Furuya will...

Alternative Title(s): Target The Audience, Sean Connery Is Going To Shoot You

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top

Gladiators 2024 Intro

The intro for the 2024 version of Gladiators is a roll call of each Gladiator showing off their poses.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (6 votes)

Example of:

Main / IntroductoryOpeningCredits

Media sources:

Report

Gladiators 2024...

Yu Ominae aims ...

Rei Furuya will...