MovieChat Forums > The Horse Soldiers Discussion > Cannon Recoil!

Cannon Recoil!

posted 12 years ago by ianprl
2 replies | jump to latest

I was amazed to see, in The Horse Soldiers, that the cannons jumped back with realistic looking recoil when fired.

Over fifty years of movie watching, I have come to accept that in movies, cannons are not shown to recoil, regardless of what era is being depicted.

I realize that if you show cannons in a realistic war setting, it will be almost imperative to use blank ammunition, which doesn't make the gun recoil.

The first couple of times in THS that cannons fired, the camera shot did not include the whole gun. I can think of various ways the gun could be made to move back, but they involve something visible to pull it.

In the last cannon firing, the whole gun could be seen in the camera frame, barrel, wheels, carriage and trail, and . . . . it moved when fired!!

[–] Conagher_1880 12 years ago

Civil War-era cannon don't jump on their carriages when fired, they roll back and have to be manhandled back into battery. Also, the smoke when black powder is touched off is white, not oily black. The firing commands involved opening the powder charge and inserting the friction primer ("Prick and prime!"), not using torches to set the weapon off.

However, all considered, it IS a cool scene!

"It's a hard country, kid."

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

...the cannons jumped back with realistic looking recoil when fired.

I was kind of thinking about how much work a guy like Kendall would get, treating busted up feet, ankles and legs if all the cannons recoiled to the extent we see in the film.