The Principle of Evil Marksmanship (also known as the Stormtrooper Effect) states that enemy marksmen in action films are often very bad shots and almost never harm the main characters. The term first appeared in film critic Roger Ebert's 1980 book "Little Movie Glossary",[1] and had been submitted by Jim Murphy of New York. It was defined as:
| “ | The bad guys are always lousy shots in the movies. Three villains with Uzis will go after the hero, spraying thousands of rounds which miss him, after which he picks them off with a handgun. | ” |
The theme is commonly seen in cowboy films, action films, martial arts films, and comics, and is often a source of mockery by critics, satirists, and fans. Ebert often uses the term in his reviews.[2]
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Stormtrooper Effect
Imperial Stormtroopers in the original Star Wars trilogy, despite overwhelming numbers, professional military education and training, full armour, military-grade firepower, and noticeable combat effectiveness against non-speaking characters, were incapable of seriously harming or indeed even hitting the film's protagonists. At one point Obi-Wan Kenobi even comments on Stormtrooper effectiveness to Luke Skywalker when the pair find the destroyed Jawa sandcrawler, saying "These blast-points... Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise." In fact, at the beginning of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Stormtroopers are portrayed as lethal when invading a rebel ship, overwhelming it and killing most resistance in what seems like mere moments, whereas later the main protagonists would dispatch many of them without ever receiving a scratch in return.
The GURPS roleplaying game makes reference to an "Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship", whose graduates are inexplicably poor shots; for example, "The Nazis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade must all have studied at the Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship."[3] The game system includes optional rules titled Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy designed to make large numbers of nameless characters ineffective.
One-at-a-time Attack Rule
Ebert also refers to the One-at-a-time Attack Rule:
| “ | In any situation where the hero is alone, surrounded by dozens of bad guys, they will always obligingly attack one at a time.[1] | ” |
This can traditionally be observed in many martial arts movies. During a typical fight, the hero will engage against one opponent. Upon knocking that man out, another will attack. The surplus enemies will circle the fighting pair striking fearsome poses, indicating willingness to fight at a second's notice, yet be unwilling to help the current aggressor attack the hero.
In Austin Powers: Goldmember, Austin's father Nigel Powers is being held captive by Doctor Evil. Nigel quickly knocks out the guards, and when more begin to surround him he orders them to stop and says, "Oh, come now, is this your first day on the job? All right, look ... you all attack me, one at a time, and I knock you out with a single punch." They immediately do so and he knocks them all out.
This principle was also parodied in a 1993 Saturday Night Live skit, "Ninja Pep Talk]".[4] Among other tips, the leader of a group of ninjas (that had just had their butts kicked) reminds the ninjas to attack "all at once", not "one at a time," using chalkboard diagrams to drive the point home.
See also
References
- ^ a b Ebert, Roger. Ebert's Bigger Little Movie Glossary. ISBN 0836282892.
- ^ Roger Ebert's review of Rapid Fire [1]
- ^ GURPS Special Ops by Greg Rose, p. 123. Published 1989 by Steve Jackson Games
- ^ http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93sninjas.phtml
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