Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur (S), carbon (C), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter, KNO₃). The sulfur and carbon (in the form of charcoal) act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, and road building.

Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn) at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate producing a supersonic shockwave. Ignition of gunpowder packed behind a projectile generates enough pressure to force the shot from the muzzle at high speed, but usually not enough force to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder thus makes a good propellant, but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications with its low-yield explosive power. Nonetheless it was widely used to fill fused artillery shells (and used in mining and civil engineering projects) until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives were put into use.

Gunpowder is one of the Four Great Inventions of China. Originally developed by the Taoists for medicinal purposes, gunpowder was first used for warfare around 904 AD. It spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. Gunpowder’s use in weapons has declined due to smokeless powder replacing it, and it is no longer used for industrial purposes due to its relative inefficiency compared to newer alternatives such as dynamite and ammonium nitrate/fuel oil.

Today gunpowder firearms are limited primarily to hunting, target shooting, and bullet-less historical reenactments.

Gunpowder Milkshake

Gunpowder Milkshake is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Navot Papushado, with a script co-written by Ehud Lavski and Papushado. The film stars Karen Gillan as a young assassin who must team up with her estranged assassin mother (Lena Headey) and her former assassin colleagues (Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and Angela Bassett) in order to save a young girl (Chloe Coleman) from other assassins. Ralph Ineson, Adam Nagaitis, Michael Smiley, and Paul Giamatti also star.

The film’s production was announced at the American Film Market in 2018. Casting announcements were made throughout 2019, starting with Gillan in January, and principal photography took place from June to August 2019 in Berlin. It is a co-production between The Picture Company, Babelsberg Studio and StudioCanal’s German branch with the participation of French television channels Canal+ and Ciné+.

Gunpowder Milkshake was released in the United States on July 14, 2021, by Netflix with a simultaneous limited theatrical release. It was released theatrically by StudioCanal in France on July 21, and is set to be released in Germany on December 2, 2021. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics.