Hollywood and video games often depict the bad guys being "blown away" when they’re shot by a bullet (i.e. once hit, their feet

Answer:

According to Newton's third law of motion, "for every force applied, there is an equal and opposite force acting back on the original force".

In the same way, if a bullet possesses sufficient force to propel an individual through the air upon impact, an equal force would simultaneously affect the person firing the gun.

The item loaded into the firearm is referred to as a 'cartridge'. Each cartridge consists of four essential components: the casing, the bullet, the primer, and the gunpowder.

The primer ignites the powder, resulting in a pressure build-up behind the projectile. This powder is suitable for rifle cartridges due to the capacity of the bullet chamber to tolerate higher pressures.

While measuring the forces in a gun barrel is challenging practically, one quantifiable variable is the bullet's exit speed or muzzle velocity; thus, assuming a handgun cartridge created ample momentum for the bullet to achieve this result, it remains unrealistic in cinematic portrayals and video games.