# Action movies that doesn't snap your sense of disbelief \*open spoilers\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041 "2009-08-11T08:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/21 "2009-08-11T19:00:16Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > Excalibur. It was an eye-opener for me as an adolescent. I had grown up with idealized imagery of noble knights in shiny armour galloping around with the sunlight glinting from their perfectly mirrored blades, all in bright primary colours. The dirty-brown palette and the ugly, brutal, blood-drenched combat with people screaming in the mud as their guts spill into the writhing piles of dying knights completely changed my personal aesthetic virtually overnight. AAAAH! I saw this at just the right age to be overwhelmed by all that. Just as I am sitting there wrecked by what I’ve seen, they have a crow come down and pluck out some corpse’s eyeball. Almost put me over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/22 "2009-08-11T19:52:46Z")
The Battle of Algiers,a French film about the insurrection in Algeria, made I believe in the sixties, that is so realistic that many people believe it to be a documentary. The Longest Day which to all intents and purposes IS a documentary Saving Private Ryan,which totally displayed how things that are shown in movies close up as really exciting and dramatic but when filmed from some distance away appear banal and a little sad (The attack on the M/G ) but the consequences for those involved are traumatic both physically and mentally. The Charge of the Light Brigade,the sixties version which shows the boredom of war,and little things like harness jingelling, and then they go in at the walk,not the gallop. And then you see what ordinary men do when its their duty. A Russian film “Come and see” rambling and very long,but very realistic. Point Blank ,totally awesome film. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/23 "2009-08-11T21:53:23Z")
_Das Boot._ I’m not sure that it qualifies as an _action movie_, but there’s a lot of action in it. And you’ll never see another movie that brings alive the white-knuckled, sphincter-dilating world of submarine warfare with such incredible realism. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/24 "2009-08-11T23:53:21Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > _Das Boot._ I’m not sure that it qualifies as an _action movie_, but there’s a lot of action in it. And you’ll never see another movie that brings alive the white-knuckled, sphincter-dilating world of submarine warfare with such incredible realism. I’d say that qualifies. Very good movie. I’m also very partial to _Heat_. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/25 "2009-08-12T00:01:34Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The first Bourne movie? The one where he jumps over the railing in a stairwell on top of another guy, rides the body down five flights of stairs, shoots bad guys on his way down, and gets up with a slight limp after hitting the ground? Yea, that scene is the first thing that pops into my head when I think of an _unbelievable_ action sequence. It’s especially jarring because the rest of the movie tries to keep things more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/26 "2009-08-12T00:52:27Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, that scene is the first thing that pops into my head when I think of an _unbelievable_ action sequence. It’s especially jarring because the rest of the movie tries to keep things more realistic. I still put “Bourne” in the realistic category through a handy little device I like to call _ **Ignoring That One Scene** _. Sometimes I pretend it’s a fantasy of Jason’s: “Man, wouldn’t it be cool if…” (and they forgot to include the scene where he shakes himself awake, says “Naaaah”, and makes his way down the stairs, shooting the bad guys conventionally. Oh, and he stubs his toe on the last step and limps a little). And sometimes I just roll my eyes and when it’s over, I say “Okay, back to the movie.” There are a few other films that works with, too. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/27 "2009-08-12T01:32:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s wholly believable\*, and satisfying nonetheless. One of my very first days on the net I stumbled on a chat with Frederick Forsyth. I gushed my praise for _The Day of the Jackal_ and how absolutely believable it was to a point where part of me had to say, “This didn’t really happen,” while another part said, “Are you sure?” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/28 "2009-08-12T01:33:49Z")
> [@CrazyChop](#): > > My first pick is Iron Man. The storyline isn’t that contrived (as in 'right, we need a scene for fanciful explosions, work this into the script somehow) and the action is controlled. An enjoyable action movie which isn’t ‘dumb’. What’s your pick? You know why the Army **doesn’t** use powered suits of armor IRL? Because of the power-supply problem. Iron Man can’t go into battle trailing a mile-long exension cord, and nobody has invented a storage battery that would keep such a rig going for more than an hour. The movie is based on the premise that Tony Stark has invented such a power source, small enough to fit inside a pacemaker. “Out of a box of scraps! In a cave!” Well, that’s not dumb, that’s just your basic SF blackboxing. The dumb part is, this hi-tech R&D genius businessman **can think of nothing better to do with it than power a suit of battle armor.** See [Reed Richards Is Useless.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/29 "2009-08-12T02:47:21Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The first Bourne movie? The one where he jumps over the railing in a stairwell on top of another guy, rides the body down five flights of stairs, shoots bad guys on his way down, and gets up with a slight limp after hitting the ground? In a genre where adults go watch movies based on toys? Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041/30 "2009-08-12T02:47:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The dumb part is, this hi-tech R&D genius businessman **can think of nothing better to do with it than power a suit of battle armor.** No, the dumb part is that you’d make this claim. [spoiler]Just because he - an egomaniac who also had good reason to suspect someone betrayed him and was selling his products to terrorists - decided to use the technology where he could keep an eye on it _first_ does not mean this is the limit of his ideas. And due to Stane’s betrayal he literally didn’t have the opportunity to have the company revisit the arc reactor technology as he wanted them to, or have them mass-produce the miniaturised arc reactor for general use.[/spoiler] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/action-movies-that-doesnt-snap-your-sense-of-disbelief-open-spoilers/506041.md?page=1)