'Unrealities' in Hollywood that irk me (& you)

[Z-man]

I know that Hollywood movies and TV shows are not real. But at times, movies often ignore reality, and I'm not talking about editing goofs and sci-fi fantasy plots. So - here's a couple of things that come to mind:

- Whenever someone pulls out a knife, there is always that metal on metal 'ka-shhinnng' sound, even if the knife is being pulled out of a leather holster. Example: pick any movie where the antagonist pulls out a knife.

- Whenever a car accelerates quickly or stops suddenly, there is always a screeching sound. Seems that ABS and traction control systems are not installed in those vehicles. (must be to save on the budget!) Example: The Dukes of Hazzard TV show -- where on dirt roads and autumn leaves (which were present year round), you can get a car to do a smokey screaching burnout.

- Diabetics in movies are always minutes, if not seconds, away from passing out due to a low blood sugar or high blood sugar. Example: in the Nick Cage flick "Con Air," one of the prisoner's insulin vials are broken while they are traveling on a plane. Even if that plane ride were to take 15 hours, the only thing that diabetic will experience is a slightly elevated blood sugar. He won't go into a coma - but he may need to cut back on the in-flight cookies and orange juice!

So - what are the unrealities in Hollywood that bothers you?

[recycled sixtie]

Not so much in the new movies but in the old ones some actors use phoney eyeglasses. There is no correction in them and the light reflects on them showing them to be phoney....

[Jim Richards]

Nothing. It's entertainment, escapism.

[hardflex]

How about the bad guys can't shoot worth a flip, but the good guys never miss and can take out 10 bad guys with ten shots while under heavy fire.

There are many movies where that is the only plot to it.

[Eric Hahl]

My nit pick is History TV channel and TLC, The Learning Channel! Where's the history and whats a Honey Boo Boo? What are we learning? Or more rather, what are we teaching our kids!

Rant over.

[911_Dude]

Things to do with aircraft that have nothing to do with reality:

- Hole blown in side of aircraft and creates a never ending vacuum, sucking everything out. Not true. Ive stood on the back of a open C-130 ramp at 25,000 ft and it was calm wind (but very noisy).

- Hole blown in side of aircraft causing rapid decompression, which ALSO causes the plane to go into a dive that takes herculean effort to pull out of. No logic.

- Plane goes into a dive and no matter what type of aircraft it is, it sounds like a Stuka dive bomber screaming down. In reality, besides whatever type of engine noise there is, a dive just sounds like a lot of hiss sound.

Gun fights

-Never ending ammo. Especially in full auto, most mags will be empty in about 5 sec.

[Aragorn]

As far as traction control goes, I remember an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson tries to tell a movie director that you need to turn the traction control off for the car to slide:

The one with... the Sweeney movie - BBC Top Gear

The only thing that really kind of bugs me are a few things in the Walking Dead. Who is cutting the grass? How is everything not covered in kudzu? How much ammo does Hershel's shotgun hold?

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

My nit pick is History TV channel and TLC, The Learning Channel! Where's the history and whats a Honey Boo Boo? What are we learning? Or more rather, what are we teaching our kids!

Rant over.

TLC stands for toddlers, lunatics and cakes...

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

TLC stands for toddlers, lunatics and cakes...

Oh, that explains it, thanks.

[BeyGon]

Things that crash then blow up in flames and there is no reason, sometimes even a double explosion, where did that one come from.

[stomachmonkey]

Running gun battles where the hero has a carry pistol vs a legion of bad guys with automatic weapons. Hero kills 5 x's as many bad guys as the capacity of his handgun while 20 bad guys fire thousands of rounds at the hero and miss every one.

Just watched Quantum of Solace the other night.

Bond is being chased by guys in SUV's shooting machine guns at him. The car is getting torn up but Bond does not get hit. Couple of cops on motor cycles join in. Bad guys fire a burst and hit the cops no problem. More chasing and shooting at Bond with no hits. Bond while steering with one hand and avoiding bullets reaches under passenger seat, pulls out a machine gun, loads a magazine, charges it then points it behind him and kills all the bad guys with a couple of bursts.

[SC Jim]

When milk cartons or other items that should have some weight to them are obviously empty and light because of how they are placed or how the actors are handling them.

[craigster59]

Every bag of groceries has a baguette and a bunch of celery poking out the top.

[Amail]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

Things that crash then blow up in flames and there is no reason, sometimes even a double explosion, where did that one come from.

There was some really good parody of this in the 21 Jump Street movie. During a chase scene someone shoots holes in a gasoline tanker and nothing happens but gasoline dribbling out. Big sigh of relief. Then there's an accident where they hit some other explosive thing, nothing happens. Another big sigh of relief. Finally, the car skids into and slightly bumps a farm truck carrying chickens and you get the biggest explosion of the movie. Funny stuff.

[cockerpunk]

crazy leaps of logic or technology to keep the plot moving forward.

"oh yeah, ill just hack into this system in 5 seconds ..."

where is the missing micro USB?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

Things to do with aircraft that have nothing to do with reality:

Don't get me started

My fav is when a turbine powered helicopter is "having engine" trouble (or after it is shot), they make it sound like a lawn mower in tall grass.

Other than that, I believe everything else I see in the movies...

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by Amail

There was some really good parody of this in the 21 Jump Street movie. During a chase scene someone shoots holes in a gasoline tanker and nothing happens but gasoline dribbling out. Big sigh of relief. Then there's an accident where they hit some other explosive thing, nothing happens. Another big sigh of relief. Finally, the car skids into and slightly bumps a farm truck carrying chickens and you get the biggest explosion of the movie. Funny stuff.

did it lead into a KFC commercial?

[Amail]

Originally Posted by beygon

did it lead into a kfc commercial?

lmao!

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Don't get me started

My fav is when a turbine powered helicopter is "having engine" trouble (or after it is shot), they make it sound like a lawn mower in tall grass.

Other than that, I believe everything else I see in the movies...

Or when the jack screw is stripped and in the full down elevator position, yet the aircraft goes into and stays in a 45* dive, but after flying inverted you can roll upright and make a controlled crash.

When they show an A10 firing it's canon and it sounds like a ma deuce and the barrels aren't rotating.

When the unrealistic shows are more realistic than the "realistic" ones.

A person getting shot will fly 10-20 feet when hit.

By the way, a general rule of thumb is in the movies your odd of getting hurt/killed are inversely proportional to the weapon the other guy has. A good guy with a knife will win over an assault rifle laden bad guy. Every. Time.

A Walther PPK can group 1" at 100 yards.

[Tervuren]

One shot from a handgun = instantly no more resistance from target is a biggie. Unless you splatter their brains out, they will typically still be able to move, stay standing and shoot back for at least 2-3 seconds.

Recoil is another biggie - you see a 200lb guy cartwheel and fly through the air when shot from a short barrel weapon held with one hand from a 100lb actress. Simple laws of physics mean if you had that effect with a short barrel on a 200lb guy, the 100lb actress that fired the shot is flying and/or not holding the gun anymore!

Unlimited Ammo is another one.

Post production product placement that was obviously digitally edited into the footage at a later date - massively annoying.

Another thing that irks - is in car shots that are obviously a car sitting in a studio - with either digitally edited background out the windows, or screen projection. There is a disconnect between the background, and the motions or actions of the users.

Its really bad in a film like the Matrix which combines reflective sunglasses that in scenes with "real" stuff reflect the real stuff, but are not reflecting the digitally added portions.