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Hunger games axe?

S

sev129

Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
19
Hey all. I just saw the new catching fire movie today. Aside from the movie itself (which didn't disappoint) there was a scene stealing character by the name of Johanna Mason who ran around with a very intriguing battle axe with a modern design. If I had to place it, I would say it was a larger sized version of united cutlery's M48 tomahawk. Any of you guys know who makes something like this?
image.jpg
 
RMJ tactical makes top tier tomahawks that follow the same aesthetic lines although the shaft is quite a bit shorter for ease of carry.
 
similar size for the head though? the shaft could always be replaced with something longer.
 
I thought it looked like a longer bigger version of the united cutlery one too, but that could be a copy itself.
 
The first Hunger Games movie had a mix of commercially available stuff (Cold Steel was what I recognized) and movie props. Chances are at least 50/50 that it's a prop made for the movie, though I haven't seen it yet.

The holes in the head, from what I can see in the pic, looks M48-ish. But I haven't seen the movie and a quick Google search isn't turning up a better image.
 
I seen a hawk kinda like that on amazon it was a m48 copy with a hammer poll.searched under hammer pole tomahawk or something,have to try and find it again. it was many pages back in a search. just said made in china too. didn't say united cutlery,if I remember ,handle was a little different,but the head was just identacle to my m48 except,hammer poll instead of spike. the hammer poll might be a little different.
 
Just saw the movie. She had two axes, one with a longer handle and a shorter one that mostly stayed in a sheath at her belt. The longer one was definitely the M48 design, spike and all, but seemed overly large. They may have built a prop version that was twice as big as the real one. I remember that Winkler had to make his stuff for The Last of the Mohicans something like 30% larger for more screen presence.
 
might be a bit awkward to handle then... Still hope they make an official version with good steel. it looks awesome.
 
I am almost certain that the one in the arena is actually an identical copy of the M48 Hawk but about 4 times as large.

I WANT ONE!!
 
Okay, I've been doing some hunting and i've found these shots.

This one is CLEARLY a giant M48 Hawk with the spike cut off. If you'll look at the grinds on the head, you'll see it's identical to the M48. Two of the three holes are clearly visible. The handle also has the flare that you see in the smaller version, and even the shape of the handle where it attaches to the head is identical

johannacrew.jpg


Okay, this one isn't a real pic, but it shows the shape of the head clearly so i'm including it

johanna-mason-catching-fire-victor-banner.jpg


This blurry pic shows the spike on the axe a bit. It is during the part where they are training before the arena

1374359875979-catching-fire-8-johanna.png


So now that i'm pretty sure i know what it is, the only thing i want to know is where to buy one. This is exactly the axe i've been wanting for years. It's big, brutal, light enough to be fast, made with modern materials, and looks effin awesome

I'm calling United tomorrow... i want this thing!
 
If they have it, let us know! the version with the spike is awesome. Practical modern battle axe. What else could you ask for?
 
I just got off the phone with them. The lady i talked with says she has been asked this question dozens of times since the movie came out, and as far as she knows, they had nothing to do with the axe. She can't explain why it's absolutely identical to the M48 hawk, but she's going to contact R&D and ask them is they had anything to do with it, and get back to me.

Very frustrating really. If anyone else has a clue where to look, please let me know
 
that is frustrating. It is possible the movie's prop people just replicated the M48 because they thought it looked cool without UC's consent.
 
Reply from United Cutlery's FB admin

This is basically a copy of our design in a larger axe. We were not affiliated with it. We are looking into making a larger version though. Thanks for the message!
Click to expand...
 
Perspective and size relationships are always heavily manipulated in Hollywood. Is it possible that the axe in question is authentic and the "actress" is only about 5' tall? This would help keep the female lead much more screen dominant.
 
Skweeker said:
Perspective and size relationships are always heavily manipulated in Hollywood. Is it possible that the axe in question is authentic and the "actress" is only about 5' tall? This would help keep the female lead much more screen dominant.
Click to expand...

nope, there are differences that you can't create with perspective. The handle narrows toward the grip area to make it more comfortable. It's definitely a larger version
 
BePrepared said:
nope, there are differences that you can't create with perspective. The handle narrows toward the grip area to make it more comfortable. It's definitely a larger version
Click to expand...

Then a note for you collectors: There will likely be multiple versions of this including a show-condition piece for close ups, a couple of unsharpened users that can take abuse, and maybe even a couple of light weight aluminum versions to make it easy to handle to make the actress appear really proficient.
 
If they were going to knock the Hawk off, they should have just left the spike on it like they show it in that poster art shown above.
 
It looks like a Cold Steel trentch hawk. though the head may have been switched to a bigger copy of the same for cinematic effect.
 
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