History Main / BulletSparks

* ''Film/IronMan'' has a likely unintentional exaggeration, in that one of the bullet-spark pyrotechnics on the first Iron Man suit can visibly be seen sparking for several seconds after the bullet allegedly struck. The sparks come from the area just below the Arc Reactor during one of the shots of him tanking a wall of gunfire at the cave mouth.

* Shooting a wall in ''ResidentEvil: Revelations'' will always result in sparks.

* In the movie "Film/TankGirl", while the Water & Power goons are raiding the complex, they have bullets that spark while shooting ''sand''

* Played straight to the point of exaggeration in ''FirstEncounterAssaultRecon''. Any shot fired at a metal surface will produce a fireworks-class shower of sparks, and some go flying emitting more sparks, as if the bullet just spawned in a burning magnesium strip.

* The famous Government Lobby shootout from ''Film/TheMatrix'', is a ShoutOut to both ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' (see above) and JohnWoo movies that feature scenery getting ripped apart by gunfire.

* When RLeeErmey fired two BMG rounds at a steel plate they produced sparks when viewed in slow motion, although not at regular speed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'' as a franchise likes its bullet holes or insane ricochets, but it is also more than happy to make bullet impacts against a wall or target into a spark. The only exceptions tended to be organic materials such as dirt, plants, and the odd rock, but even those would often throw more sparks than they rightly should. Concrete throws out a lot more bullet sparks than its composition should suggest--''Combat Evolved'' is quite bad about this in particular. This is all for the sake of the player, especially in multiplayer--it lets them know, within some reason, if their shots are hitting or missing, since shields glow when hit, and other players or enemies flinch and their armor sparks when shot.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'': Not an actual gun bullet, but a nail slung at an unrealistic speed ricochets with visible sparks, as the start of a RubeGoldbergDevice.

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* The fanfilm ''{{Grayson}}'' has this with the Joker shooting a sub-machine gun at Robin holding a thick metal plate to deflect the bullets. The effect was achieved by setting off firecrackers attached to the plate.

* In the movie "Film/TankGirl", while the Water & Power goons are raiding the complex, they have bullets that spark while shooting "sand"

* ''CallOfDuty: ModernWarfare 2'' uses this as part of a game mechanic - weapons equipped with the "FMJ" attachment, which allows them to penetrate thicker surfaces, make obvious spark-showers when shot at walls and whatnot as a visual indication that they have the attachment.

* [[MoreDakka Machineguns]] and low caliber autocannons in ''MechWarrior Living Legends'' only spark when hitting certain metallic surfaces, mostly just on the armor of mechs, tanks, and aerospace fighters. Shooting them on other surfaces results in material-unique effects, such as small spurts of dust when shooting concrete on an aircraft runway.

In real life, bullets almost ''never'' spark, for various reasons. This is a [[TropesExaminedByTheMythbusters Trope Examined by the Mythbusters]]. Detailed [[http://intuitor.com/moviephysics/ here]]. Compare with SwordSparks.

* So many sparks are produced during Mami and Homura's gun battle in Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion that it's a wonder they didn't light themselves on fire.

* Hong Kong movie ''The Bodyguard From Beijing'' goes to extremes with this: in the final shootout, bullets make sparks when they hit...a sofa.

* During the jail break in the opening of Film/TheGoonies, Francis Fratelli dumps gasoline in a ring around the local jail. When the cops attempt to pursue, Francis shoots the gasoline to create a big ring of flame to cover the escape.

* WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler: Not an actual gun bullet, but a nail slung at an unrealistic speed ricochets with visible sparks, as the start of a RubeGoldbergDevice.

* Shooting a wall in ''Resident Evil: Revelations'' will always result in sparks.

* Happens in ''Team Fortress 2'', when you shoot a metal surface. The same thing happens when you use [[SwordSparks melee weapons]]. However, for some reason hitting a wall with a melee weapon will cause sparks and leave a bullet hole - said melee weapons can include baseball bats, whisky bottles, or even ''boxing gloves''.

* The ''{{Mythbusters}}'' tested this myth and proved that it wouldn't work, though they did manage to replicate the visual effect by firing paintballs filled with fireworks.

* The movie version of ''GhostInTheShell'' was very good about this. The animators said in the Making Of featurette that they experimented with shooting different substances to get reactions. This shows in the scene where a long line of bullets are shot into a concrete wall, making no sparks at all - but huge spider-web pits.

** Something similar happens during the famous Government Lobby shootout from ''Film/TheMatrix'', a ShoutOut to both this scene and JohnWoo movies that feature scenery getting ripped apart by gunfire.

* ''RoadToPerdition'' avoids this trope. In fact, at one point Jude Law's character shoots a wall,[[spoiler: blowing a hole through it and killing a guy on the other side.]]
** That wall was made of plaster and wood; it shouldn't have sparked.