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 Kanluwen wrote:


If people mistook these actors for "armed gunmen", I'm more worried about what that says for their observational skills than anything else.

That's the best this dude could come up with for folks to represent Tier 1 tacticool snake eater types?

There's not a dude in that group that doesn't scream "UNHINGED WHITE MALE SLAYS SIX IN THEATER SHOOTING".

 Kanluwen wrote:
Nowhere did I say it wasn't a stupid idea. I said that I'm worried about the observational skills of the individuals within the theater if they thought the actors were gunmen.

(And this photograph was likely taken with a flash so would be brighter than the human eye would be observing)

Now imagine members from that group coming in near the exits, or in front of the screen where they are backlit and thus silhouetted, making details much more difficult to observe. Now factor in how big the theatre may be, and how difficult it may be for people further back from the screen to see details like the orange tips. Add in to that mix the Colorado theatre shooting, which also took place during the screening of a much anticipated comic book movie, by an individual in tactical gear and it should be apparent that this stunt had a lot of potential to backfire.

Now, this stunt could have gone so much better if they actually made an announcement before the screening saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents would be joining them.

I find the police response a little dumb to be honest. Any officer who starts shooting at 5 armed guys who have not fired a shot, in a packed theatre, in the dark... Well it's just going to be a death sentence and start a firefight if it was for real. I agree it is a dumb stunt but any officer displaying that lack of tactical awareness and lack of thought for others (I a packed theatre there is going to be a lot of people to hit if a shot misses its target, in the dark...) probably shouldn't have a gun.

Also, I agree with Kan. A MOP might be freaked out but a police officer should have the good sense to asses the situation before shooting.

Steve steveson wrote:
I find the police response a little dumb to be honest. Any officer who starts shooting at 5 armed guys who have not fired a shot, in a packed theatre, in the dark... Well it's just going to be a death sentence and start a firefight if it was for real. I agree it is a dumb stunt but any officer displaying that lack of tactical awareness and lack of thought for others (I a packed theatre there is going to be a lot of people to hit if a shot misses its target, in the dark...) probably shouldn't have a gun.

Also, I agree with Kan. A MOP might be freaked out but a police officer should have the good sense to asses the situation before shooting.

How is the police response dumb? No shots were fired, making the whole situation hypothetical. A worst case scenario was being discussed, not something that would have for sure happened.

If I were going to do this, i would have informed the police first. And had SHIELD guys stationed around the lobby. Maybe have Iron Man be the one to enter the theater to reduce the chance of panic.

 Grey Templar wrote:
If I were going to do this, i would have informed the police first. And had SHIELD guys stationed around the lobby. Maybe have Iron Man be the one to enter the theater to reduce the chance of panic.

Pretty much this.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
If I were going to do this, i would have informed the police first. And had SHIELD guys stationed around the lobby. Maybe have Iron Man be the one to enter the theater to reduce the chance of panic.

Pretty much this.

Doing it at all, using any precautions shows remarkable poor taste given how recent the shootings on Colorado were.

"How can we please our patrons and link it in to a popular movie?"
"Offer themed deals, maybe just dress up some of the counter staff with clear labels and stuff? Give out stickers and posters?"
"Nah. Let's storm a dark, enclosed theater full of unaware civilians with staff dressed in full military kit shouting and pointing fake guns at them! WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!"

Grey Templar wrote:If I were going to do this, i would have informed the police first. And had SHIELD guys stationed around the lobby. Maybe have Iron Man be the one to enter the theater to reduce the chance of panic.

So, I'm one of a group who has done this in the past, for GI Joe. Hence, the avatar. And ^this is basically the right way to do it.

1. liaise with local police so they are informed.
2. advertise inside and outside the theatre (posters, etc)
3. stick to the lobby; not a darkened theatre.
4. try to focus on very "theatrical" costumes rather than realistic-looking tactical gear. (those "shield" agents do not look like shield agents)
5. ensure the group is cohesive so that it can be identified as such, even when separated.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Relapse wrote:Doing it at all, using any precautions shows remarkable poor taste given how recent the shootings on Colorado were.

Disagree. If the theatre made an announcement to the effect of "shield operatives are on the scene" and said Shield agents looked like actual Shield agents then it would be a fantastic promotion.

The problem is entirely in the execution.

Redacted by Mannahnin

 azazel the cat wrote:

Relapse wrote:Doing it at all, using any precautions shows remarkable poor taste given how recent the shootings on Colorado were.

Disagree. If the theatre made an announcement to the effect of "shield operatives are on the scene" and said Shield agents looked like actual Shield agents then it would be a fantastic promotion.

The problem is entirely in the execution.

Not to be disagreeable Azazel, but the "uniforms" that the individuals were wearing more or less are what the majority of SHIELD agents in "The Avengers" wore.
It was basic tactical vests in black over a dark blue/blue grey uniform. They wore "hockey" helmets over balaclavas with some having tactical goggles and some not having them.

The bridge crew wore something similar to a jumpsuit/flightsuit with hip holsters.

Both types of uniforms had the SHIELD insignia on the shoulders and on the tactical vests.

With that said: If they had instituted a "No Fatties" and "No Beards" policy, I think we would see a different reaction here...

Yeah, the least they could have done is give a convincing performance. If you're going to screw up, do it in style.

Kanluwen wrote:

 azazel the cat wrote:

Relapse wrote:Doing it at all, using any precautions shows remarkable poor taste given how recent the shootings on Colorado were.

Disagree. If the theatre made an announcement to the effect of "shield operatives are on the scene" and said Shield agents looked like actual Shield agents then it would be a fantastic promotion.

The problem is entirely in the execution.

Not to be disagreeable Azazel, but the "uniforms" that the individuals were wearing more or less are what the majority of SHIELD agents in "The Avengers" wore.
It was basic tactical vests in black over a dark blue/blue grey uniform. They wore "hockey" helmets over balaclavas with some having tactical goggles and some not having them.

The bridge crew wore something similar to a jumpsuit/flightsuit with hip holsters.

Both types of uniforms had the SHIELD insignia on the shoulders and on the tactical vests.

With that said: If they had instituted a "No Fatties" and "No Beards" policy, I think we would see a different reaction here...

Wait, so the actors were dressed like the guys in the background behind KalashnikovMarine in the photo? Because that is just poor judgement that I am unfortunately far too accustomed to seeing.

I'm often inundated with requests to wear costumes akin to Firefly or my most-hated of all: Snake Eyes, to which I often have to explain that it might be okay, buried in a group of distinctive-looking costumes at a comic-con, but in a theatre -particularly after the Dark Knight Rises shooting- it is just a terrible idea. (I F'n hate that versin of Snake Eyes, even at Joecon, fwiw because it is not cartoonish at all)

So I still stand by my statement; if only because I consider the decision of which costumes to include in a promotion like this to be part of its execution. This stunt was poorly-planned and not well-thought-out, and I am honestly glad that nobody was physically injured.

No-one took out their piece and drilled any of the gunmen?

Relapse wrote:

Steve steveson wrote:
I find the police response a little dumb to be honest. Any officer who starts shooting at 5 armed guys who have not fired a shot, in a packed theatre, in the dark... Well it's just going to be a death sentence and start a firefight if it was for real. I agree it is a dumb stunt but any officer displaying that lack of tactical awareness and lack of thought for others (I a packed theatre there is going to be a lot of people to hit if a shot misses its target, in the dark...) probably shouldn't have a gun.

Also, I agree with Kan. A MOP might be freaked out but a police officer should have the good sense to asses the situation before shooting.

How is the police response dumb? No shots were fired, making the whole situation hypothetical. A worst case scenario was being discussed, not something that would have for sure happened.

Because, basically, they are saying there officers might have reacted by firing in the dark against someone who may or may not be a threat. Yes, it is a possibility, but you don't go about expecting that kind of responce from your officers. I would hope that they would hold them to a higher standard than being that trigger happy. I think it's a stupid statement to make.

The guy with the eyepatch.....boots are to clean.....

Steve steveson wrote:

Relapse wrote:

Steve steveson wrote:
I find the police response a little dumb to be honest. Any officer who starts shooting at 5 armed guys who have not fired a shot, in a packed theatre, in the dark... Well it's just going to be a death sentence and start a firefight if it was for real. I agree it is a dumb stunt but any officer displaying that lack of tactical awareness and lack of thought for others (I a packed theatre there is going to be a lot of people to hit if a shot misses its target, in the dark...) probably shouldn't have a gun.

Also, I agree with Kan. A MOP might be freaked out but a police officer should have the good sense to asses the situation before shooting.

How is the police response dumb? No shots were fired, making the whole situation hypothetical. A worst case scenario was being discussed, not something that would have for sure happened.

Because, basically, they are saying there officers might have reacted by firing in the dark against someone who may or may not be a threat. Yes, it is a possibility, but you don't go about expecting that kind of responce from your officers. I would hope that they would hold them to a higher standard than being that trigger happy. I think it's a stupid statement to make.

Part of not doing stupid stuff is envisioning anything that can happen and what the consequences will be. The statement could well be considered directed at anyone else thinking about this kind of stunt.

Shame, this would have easily qualified for this year's Darwin award...

Seriously though; Tasteless, idiotic, could easily have ended in bloodshed.

I wouldn't say it was tasteless.

Tastes vary, of course, but I'd say extremely tasteless (and stupid), given what happened in Colorado.

I'd say that just makes it stupid, not tasteless. Tasteless would be reenacting a shooting in the theater IMO.

HiveFleetPlastic wrote:
It's pretty depressing that the first thought would be, "hey, armed gunmen are here to kill me" instead of "oh, this is obviously an act." :(

Welcome to my thoughts exactly.

 Mannahnin wrote:
Tastes vary, of course, but I'd say extremely tasteless (and stupid), given what happened in Colorado.

100% Agreement.

 Kanluwen wrote:
The big thing is that all their "guns" have the bright orange safety tip. You can even see it on the pistols.

But can you see it in a dark theatre?

Because, particularly with the Batman shooting guy still in the news as his trial goes on, I can very much understand how people seeing these guys walk in might not think to check if their weapons have orange flash suppressors before getting a little panicky... even if they're close enough to see such details in the dark anyway.

 Albatross wrote:

HiveFleetPlastic wrote:
It's pretty depressing that the first thought would be, "hey, armed gunmen are here to kill me" instead of "oh, this is obviously an act." :(

Welcome to my thoughts exactly.

Exactly, because context. In the recent years where terrorist actives run rampant, its totally idiotic to pull such a stunt.

 insaniak wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
The big thing is that all their "guns" have the bright orange safety tip. You can even see it on the pistols.

But can you see it in a dark theatre?

Because, particularly with the Batman shooting guy still in the news as his trial goes on, I can very much understand how people seeing these guys walk in might not think to check if their weapons have orange flash suppressors before getting a little panicky... even if they're close enough to see such details in the dark anyway.

I very much doubt it, in a location where guns shouldn't belong, no one is going to 2nd guess whether the "gunmen" are actors or not.
Its like "oh hold on, allow me to borrow a flash light so I can see if your gun have a safety cap or not".
Utterly ridiculous.

@Kan, why dont you wear a shield uniform with 1 fake semi automtaic riffle, and 1 fake pistol ( both with orange caps )
or wait, better yet lets make it painfully obvious , why not spray paint them orange, and run up to president Obama during his speech yelling "I AM THE MANDARIN".
We'll see how many seconds you last before the security fill you up with bullet holes. Go and test that theory and know how idiotic that argument is...

Here let me refresh your memory of an incident not too long ago...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting

Think Kan, like come on seriously think further than just "that dont look like a real gun to me" . If there is a real terrorist that intent on slaughtering the movie viewers much like Aurora shooting,
we all know with a real gun exposed he wouldn't reach beyond the front door.
Now, if such a simple concept of masking a real gun into a toy look-alike can get people into the VIEWING AREA without issue where all the mass of people are,
you know how easy it is to be able to do mass murders?
The fact that no one has done this yet ( thank god ) is because even the terrorists assume how utterly ridiculous that idea is and didn't pull that stunt yet.
Like wow, a terrorist pretending to be a actor pretending to be a terrorist

GENIUS!

 LunaHound wrote:
Now, if such a simple concept of masking a real gun into a toy look-alike can get people into the VIEWING AREA without issue where all the mass of people are,
you know how easy it is to be able to do mass murders?
The fact that no one has done this yet ( thank god ) is because even the terrorists assume how utterly ridiculous that idea is and didn't pull that stunt yet.
Like wow, a terrorist pretending to be a actor pretending to be a terrorist

GENIUS!

I'm a bit surprised this didn't happen. I mean if someone is unhinged and they get the idea to do something like that, what better opportunity could they have than to sneak in with actors. It'd be practically handing them the chance for it. That's the other stupid part to this stunt of theirs, they made something like that possible. Thankfully nothing did happen.

Perhaps terrorists and mass killers will take the time to spray the tip of their gun barrel orange.

Grey Templar wrote:I'd say that just makes it stupid, not tasteless. Tasteless would be reenacting a shooting in the theater IMO.

Up until the killing started, that's basically what happened, is it not? The guys in tactical gear burst into the theatre?

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Perhaps terrorists and mass killers will take the time to spray the tip of their gun barrel orange.

That was something I was thinking also.