Internet Movie Firearms Database
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.[3] 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.
imfdb Logo | |
Type of site | Wiki |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Owner | imfdb, LLC |
Editor | MelDez.MV |
URL | imfdb |
Alexa rank | 26,533 (November 2018)[1] |
Commercial | No |
Registration | Optional (required for editing) |
Users | 10,217[2] |
Launched | 10 May 2007 |
Current status | Active |
Content license | GNU Free Documentation License |
History
Launched in May 2007 by "Bunni",[4] 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 (film) 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.[5]
As of June 2012, the data base had grown to list over 4,445 films,[6] over 1,000 television shows,[7] over 510 video games[8] and 236 Anime films and series.[9][10]
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.[11]
Prohibitions
Exclusions
One 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.[12]
Exceptions
Exceptions 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.[13][14] 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.
References
- "Imfdb.org Site Info". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
- "IMFDb Statistics". imfdb.org. 2012-12-22. Archived from the original on 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
- 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 2012-06-22. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- "Category: Television". Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- "Category: Video Game". Archived from the original on 2012-06-03. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- "Category: Anime". Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- "How guns get into films". The Economist. 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.