Beretta 92: As Seen in Movies and Video Games
Today we are discussing the Beretta 92 or also commonly known as the US military designation, the M9. Or simply because it’s the most iconic gun from the manufacturer, it’s commonly referred to simply as “a Beretta”.
Being that it was the US Military service gun for nearly 30+ years and is still in use today even with the Sig P320 coming in, it’s without a doubt that this gun is prolific in regards to its exposure and most of you out there will recognize it. Simply right off the top, its most iconic role was in Die Hard as it was what John McClain used. And again, as the US sidearm of choice, it found itself in numerous video games going all the way back to Counter-Strike up to CoD: Modern Warfare.
[NOTE: This blog post is derived from the video script from the video below.]
HISTORY
Let’s bring it back to the guns that inspired the Beretta 92. The lineage is pretty simple...more or less you have the Beretta M1951, which was the standard handgun of the Italian Navy, Carabinieri, and Italian National Traffic Police until 1977. I used to actually own both the Helwan and the M1951, but moved on from them, just weren’t guns I shot a lot, but they were nice nonetheless. The immediate predecessor was the Beretta 84 in .380 caliber. More or less it’s a smaller Beretta 92. You’ll have recognized the Beretta 84 from James Bond as it’s the handgun Haley Berry uses in Die Another Day. The Beretta 92 takes from the M1951 the open slide, grip, and overall look combined with P38 SA/DA and then sharing the locking block design from both. With that lineage and inspiration from the Walther P38, we got the Beretta 92.
The 92 was first adopted by the COMSUBIN, which is the Italian equivalent of the US Navy Seals. It was also early adopted by the Brazilians, which makes sense considering how Taurus manufactures clones.
The US military had used 1911 for a while (well into the ’80s) and the guns were starting to get into rough shape and replacement part orders were delayed in an effort to get the adoption of a new 9mm modern handgun off the ground. The Air Force ran trials and the Beretta shined through and looked to be a winner. But issues with the testing process made the whole thing moot. The Army came in and decided they’d do it “the right way”. It came down to the P226 by Sig and of course, the Beretta. Once again, the Beretta won out. At the time, such a big contract for a service weapon in the US military being foreign was a pretty big deal and something Beretta deservedly was proud of.
In April 1985 the US Army announced the 92 SB-F (or 92FS) as the new service pistol and designated it the M9. The M9 first saw use in Operation Just Cause...(sounds familiar to the gamers out there), where the US invaded Panama to take down its dictator Manuel Noriega
The gun had a rocky start with some failures of the slide flying off, the locking blocks failing quickly, and cheap magazines that made it seem as if the gun was unreliable. There’s an air of resentment for the gun for these reasons. Despite changes made to the locking block in terms of its finish and material, it still remains one of the first things to go and a pain point to this day with hairline cracks in the locking block being one recurring issue specifically. Even so with how long it’s been in service and that it still is around today, that should still say something about the M9/92.
The handgun received updates in 2006, mainly for the addition of accessories and peripherals, and was designated the M9A1. In 2014 the US Army announced a new pistol trial called the MHS trials of the Modular Handgun System. Beretta developed the M9A3. The handgun was solid, but not enough to win the contract. The Sig P320 won the contract and was dubbed the M17 and M18. I’ll speculate the fact that it’s a very modular weapon system and that it was striker-fired gave it the edge it needed to win, which the M9A3 lacked.
HANDLING AND SHOOTING
The Beretta 92 shoots the 9mm cartridge and also has a generous magazine capacity of 15+1 in part because of the 9mm caliber and because of it being a full-sized handgun with a double-stacked mag.
I have a few predecessors and inspirations on hand for the 92 design. I don't have the M1951... I had two of those like I mentioned earlier but I got rid of them. But I do have this Walther P38 made in the Spreewerke factory. This is an actual take-home gun that a USGI took home from a German officer that he captured the gun from. You can see all handgun has the open slide and exposed barrel. You’ll have to take my word for it, I’m not taking it apart but it has the locking blocks as well.
In a quick summary of what they are like to shoot, they're very pleasant guns. With the surplus 92 being my first and with how worn it was, I remember being so surprised at what an easy and pleasant shooter it is. The M9A3 is just a super modern and refined version of a gun that’s been performing for years, so naturally, it's the same experience but way more refined. The updates and creature comforts make it even better.
It's not something I train with a lot because just the aftermarket isn't as vast as some other guns, especially as a lefty. Despite that, these are guns that I’m never going to get rid of. The Beretta was a handgun I thought was cool as a kid, and shooting them IRL I was not disappointed as I was with another certain US service firearm (cough, 1911, cough). A Langdon tactical 92 is on my wishlist for sure.
FAMOUS USES IN POP MEDIA
So the 92 has been seen extensively through popular media especially since it was adopted by the US Military. In fact, it’s almost non-existent in popular media until its adoption in 1985. I'm curious to see if we'll see that with the Sig P320.
Nonetheless, I want to list off some of the places that you’ve seen the gun in. The range of types of media here should plainly illustrate just how prolific the Beretta 92 has been in popular media in the last 30 some odd years.
Here are some of the most famous examples of when the Beretta 92s were used. Of course, we’ll start with Die Hard, the Call of Duty games, 3 Kings, Hotel Rwanda, The Hurt Locker, Rainbow Six Siege, Death Note, Quantum of Solace, DOOM, The Bourne Supremacy, Behind Enemy Lines, Commando, Zombieland Double-Tap, Max Payne, Tenant, Kingsman The Secret Service, 21 Jump Street, Takers (used by none other than Anakin Skywalker), Kickass, Shooter, Mission Impossible 3, The Boondock Saints, The Matrix, Face/Off, The Rock, Lethal Weapon, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Counter-Strike, the Battlefield games, Stranglehold, PUBG, Insurgency Sandstorm, Walker Texas Ranger, The Last of Us Part 2, Escape from Tarkov and then of course Fortnite.
That’s a lot of uses and I probably missed a lot of other iconic uses and DEFINITELY did not share anywhere close to all of its uses. As that list is Extensivveeee. I want to select a few of the use cases and explore why it was used in the game or movie.
Die Hard
So we have Die Hard, which is generally a gun porn movie for a lot of people out there so it makes sense that it’ll be the first I bring up, and trust me this will not be the last time I bring up this movie on this blog. But yeah, we have John McClane, a New York City police officer visiting California to visit a Christmas party, and lo and behold some International terrorists attack. John has nothing but his handgun and the shirt and pants he’s wearing...he's even barefoot. Fortunately for John and unfortunately for Hans Gruber, he's got the 92, and that stays with him through the film.
The two most iconic shots with the Beretta in the film are when Marco is approaching John while he's on top of the table shooting at him with an MP5. John is on the ground crawling away and eventually sets himself and unloads through the table with his Beretta close to his chest. This is a pretty iconic scene and there’s also some fun movie trivia with it: As Bruce Willis was shooting the blanks so close to his head without ear pro the shot actually resulted in him losing some hearing.
And then the second most iconic shot of the movie is when John has his faithful Beretta 92 taped to his back with Christmas wrapping tape. Hans Gruber sees John as unarmed because he is shirtless and this gives John McClane the element of surprise. At the pivotal moment, John grabs the gun, rips it off his back, and does away with Hans Gruber.
Lastly, there is the first moment Gruber and McClane run into each other. While chatting with Gruber, McClane clears the gun and hands it to Gruber. He obviously does this so he doesn’t hand this man a loaded gun. What’s noteworthy is the attention to detail in which John holds the slide release down when he’s racking the slide forward. This is important because the slide would not go forward on an empty magazine. Curiously, he then drops the hammer manually by riding the hammer forward with a trigger pull instead of using the decocker. But we’ll forgive that as this is some great awareness in gun handling and mechanics (or even just Bruce Willis himself).
Why was this gun selected for John McClane? Well, it could simply have been something New York City Police were using at the time, or maybe by virtue of its service in the military, it communicates that he's a veteran and he enjoyed the gun through his service...therefore communicating he’s a man with some extensive training and perhaps combat experience. Or it could be that it is the perfect melding of an American used gun but which is Italian by origin that fits the seeming motif of the luxurious top-end European guns throughout the film. You have the Walther PPK, you have the AUG, you have the MP5 and you have the H&K P7 squeeze Cocker.
The other guns in the film besides those mentioned is a revolver used by Sgt Al Powel and the M16s used by SWAT. Which I’ll argue in this case, represent plainly “American” Guns. But with all the guns used in Nakatomi Plaza tower, they are there to tell a story. To tell the story that these are some significant high roller terrorists/thieves doing this high-tech and elaborate Heist. And I think the Beretta 92 fits in seamlessly with being the gun of this all-American cop and fits in with the high-end European Weaponry that we see in the tower.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Now it's not so surprising that the Beretta 92 and the Beretta M9A3 are in the recent CoD games, but what is interesting is that it came later on in the form of DLC in a later season. In the game it’s known as the Renetti for whatever reason--I'm not quite sure on Call of Duty's naming conventions, I mean the scar is called the FN SCAR so I don't know.
But the curious question is: Why was this added in later and not an initial launch weapon. And it is important to note that the Sig P320 was in the game during release as the M19 (standing for the M17/M18). With that knowledge, it's pretty obvious that they opted for the new US military gun first and foremost so that it’s clear that this is the US military handgun unabashed. And then I think they brought in the old faithful Beretta that everyone has seen in everything later on.
I don't know if there is any goal in trying to get more representation to the new sidearm of the US Military, I don't know if it was some sort of signal of changing of the guard, but that's what it feels like. Or maybe this is all overthought. What do you think? Am I overthinking this or was there some reasoning along these lines of how its timing and deployment into the game?
Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass is another example of a movie that shows off the Beretta 92 in some glory shot and storytelling ways. It’s the gun of choice for Big Daddy, an ex-cop turned vigilante, modeled after a fully armored Batman. He's a big and imposing man clad in dark armor, armed to the teeth and built like a tank. So I think him having the Beretta 92 as a full-size handgun as an ex-cop makes a lot of sense and I think that was an accurate and justified choice by the prop master or the armorer to have armed him with that.
A famous scene from the movie where we find Big Daddy with the 92 is when he shoots his daughter, Hit-Girl, in a life lesson on taking a bullet while wearing body armor. It's just an absurd scene and sets the tone for the movie and these characters, but it's also a great representation of the Beretta 92 being used as a story device in a film.
Why do you think Big Daddy was given it? He's obviously a gearhead, he's obviously very proud and traditional, so with those things in mind and other traits of Big Daddy why do you think he chose the 92 instead of something like a Gucci 1911 or something big and gaudy like a Desert Eagle? Again personally I think they got it perfect but let me know if you have any other ideas on what else this character could have carried.
The Last of Us Part II
The last example of the Beretta 92 in a form of media that I'll dive into is in The Last of Us Part 2, the recent game from Naughty Dog and Sony. The game follows Ellie through the zombie apocalypse essentially. You carry many weapons through the game but one of her handguns of choice is a Beretta 92. It basically takes the mantle of a modern handgun for the character to carry. It is interesting to note that the gun actually employs some usage of cocking the hammer into a single action in the gameplay which is pretty cool to see in a game. Overall, it’s by no means a super accurate representation of everything but I think the game is super effective as a visceral representation of violence and fighting. So it's interesting to use the Beretta 92 in that setting and to use it in the gameplay.
So why in the apocalypse does Ellie carry a Beretta 92. I think a lot of the weapon decision-making in terms of selection for The Last of Us came down to what would be around in the United States in excess in the apocalypse? If we look at it that way, the real answer would probably be a 1911 or a Glock I would say above all else, but Beretta is a very fair and fine choice. Another form of sidearm in the game is a revolver so that's in the game so that is represented, but in terms of more modern magazine-fed semi-automatic, they went with the 92 for the main character Ellie.
Abby, another playable character in the game does use a Glock or some derivative Glock-ish weapon. Comparatively, Ellie comes across a little bit more rugged living out in the mountains and if we're comparing a Glock and a Beretta I would guess the Beretta would be the more rugged option? It's more so with Abby that we see her in a more familiar and city-like state of living in the apocalypse and so I think that's why the polymer striker-fired Glock is her weapon. I know this goes against me painting the Beretta as a sophisticated European gun as I did with the Die Hard example, but when thrown into the context of the game and its setting and the characters, each character was given the right gun. As prolific as the Glock is, the Beretta’s service record in US military and law enforcement make it feel more American, thus more rugged and comparatively more “backcountry” compared to the Glock ...I guess? Obviously, the 1911 would have been optimal for the “rugged-American” trait, but I feel the Beretta was more iconic to the average, nonmilitary, weapon interested consumer...again thanks to its modern service in LE and Military.
That's my theory on it and I think it's got some footing, either way, let me know what your thoughts are as well.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I hope you learned something, I hope you learned a new interest in firearms from this. But most importantly I hope this introduced you to the idea that guns used in popular media are more than just props and that they are storytelling devices or they are included for technical reasons...whatever that may be design choices for gameplay, aesthetics, or to communicate character traits/tendencies.
Could we be at the twilight of the better days of the Beretta 92? I don't think so, but I do think the Sig P320 is poised and will be getting a lot more exposure in the media from here on out. I think the Call of Duty Modern Warfare example being one of the prime and first examples of this happening.
Nonetheless, the Beretta has had a prolific legacy serving in the Italian, Brazilian, French, Slovenian, South Korean Navy, Turkey, and the US military to only name a few. And for serving so many characters in film and tv for years and you as well as Ellie, Soap McTavish, Gordon Freeman etc.
I’m sure many militaries will continue to use it, many police forces will continue to use it and many Americans... civilians, or veterans will continue to love and shoot the Beretta 92 for years to come.
Author: John Gelardi
