JMB
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This is Ed Reynolds:
You don't know Ed, but you Terminator fans should recognize what he's holding. The .45 longslide with laser sighting. Well, Ed here was the guy who created the laser sighting part.
I interviewed him for a book I was writing about the first Terminator (which never panned out, unfortunately). Ed is a very nice man and was quite generous with his time. He had a fledgling laser products company in the early 80s and was approached by the filmmakers to create the then unavailable laser sight required by the script, which he did in record time. Ed was very kind and let me take some photos of the piece:
This is not the actual .45 used in the film, but the exact same model. It was quite a thrill holding it.
This is the entire assembly. They had to use an external power supply to power it. All that cabling ran up Arnie's sleeve, through his jacket and down his other sleeve, where he held the activating switch in his hand. He would manually turn it on and off as required. Again, quite a thrill (and honor) to be able to handle this prop. Above left of the laser sight piece you can see an example of the type of actual laser they used.
So what was Ed's payment for creating this piece of movie history? Check it out:
That's right, a couple t-shirts and a hat! Funny, huh? Of course, he also has bragging rights to creating one of the greatest movie props ever. I got the sense from Ed though, that his sense of accomplishment was a good enough reward. Really great guy, hats off to him.
Anyway, I thought it was a shame that no one would see these pics and know about Ed, the man behind the laser. I hope you enjoy them!
BTW, Ed's company has grown substantially over the years and is now known as Sure-Fire. The make a lot of cool gear, and if you want to own a really, really bad-ass flashlight, you should definitely check them out:
http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_ ... /sesent/00
It's all top notch quality. The guy knows his stuff.
You don't know Ed, but you Terminator fans should recognize what he's holding. The .45 longslide with laser sighting. Well, Ed here was the guy who created the laser sighting part.
I interviewed him for a book I was writing about the first Terminator (which never panned out, unfortunately). Ed is a very nice man and was quite generous with his time. He had a fledgling laser products company in the early 80s and was approached by the filmmakers to create the then unavailable laser sight required by the script, which he did in record time. Ed was very kind and let me take some photos of the piece:
This is not the actual .45 used in the film, but the exact same model. It was quite a thrill holding it.
This is the entire assembly. They had to use an external power supply to power it. All that cabling ran up Arnie's sleeve, through his jacket and down his other sleeve, where he held the activating switch in his hand. He would manually turn it on and off as required. Again, quite a thrill (and honor) to be able to handle this prop. Above left of the laser sight piece you can see an example of the type of actual laser they used.
So what was Ed's payment for creating this piece of movie history? Check it out:
That's right, a couple t-shirts and a hat! Funny, huh? Of course, he also has bragging rights to creating one of the greatest movie props ever. I got the sense from Ed though, that his sense of accomplishment was a good enough reward. Really great guy, hats off to him.
Anyway, I thought it was a shame that no one would see these pics and know about Ed, the man behind the laser. I hope you enjoy them!
BTW, Ed's company has grown substantially over the years and is now known as Sure-Fire. The make a lot of cool gear, and if you want to own a really, really bad-ass flashlight, you should definitely check them out:
http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_ ... /sesent/00
It's all top notch quality. The guy knows his stuff.
