# Actions in movies that will never be done again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700 "2008-09-08T23:34:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/1 "2008-09-08T23:34:49Z")
I was watching a 1984 non-classic movie called [“Up the Creek”.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088333/) It’s a bit “Animal House”-lite and besides sentimentality, not a lot of value to do it. In an early scene, the protagonists are on the road and a passenger announces that the “bar is open” and begins handing everyone bloody marys. Another scene shows a heroine drinking wine while driving too. Almost a quarter century later, violence hasn’t waned but drinking and driving would be completely taboo. So what other casual bits of movies wouldn’t be shown anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/2 "2008-09-08T23:38:10Z")
What comes to my mind first is the slaughtering of a live cow in **Apocalypse Now**. If I remember right, the extras in the film were going to kill it anyhow and Coppola managed to catch it on film. Nowadays, I can’t see that as an excuse to include real death in a movie. That scene still gets me though. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/3 "2008-09-09T02:18:58Z")
Scenes that were iconic in particular movies will probably never be emulated in other movies. I’ll bet that no one will ever film a crucifix-fucking scene or pea soup fountain outside of a remake of The Exorcist. (Or maybe a porno version of that movie. The Erotocist? The Sexxorcist?) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/4 "2008-09-09T03:25:16Z")
A movie like Ben-Hur will never be remade. No more sea battles or chariot races. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/5 "2008-09-09T03:32:35Z")
We’ll never see anyone looking for a phone booth (unless it’s in a historical movie). ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/6 "2008-09-09T04:04:28Z")
A lot of the action in older Hong Kong movies will probably never be done again, now that computer graphics make it possible to present reckless action without endangering anyone’s life. I’m thinking of Jackie Chan jumping – with no safety support – to catch a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter, or the scene in **Police Story** where the bad guys fly through the windshield of the bus and land smack on the hard pavement. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/7 "2008-09-09T05:10:40Z")
That scene in _G.I. Joe the Movie_ where Lt. Falcon flirtingly slaps Jinx on the rear, long before they’re a couple, or even on particularly good terms at the moment.\* Of course, Falcon was kind of a jackass. Both by design, and by inept execution. But you’d be hard pressed including that in a cartoon at all these days, let alone with a character who wasn’t an outright villain—much less one you were going to “redeem” into the de-facto hero. \*Also solidifying his reputation as a complete idiot. You slap a trained _ninja_ who’s working on an engine—and thus probably has a wrench or something—on the ass, when you’re both alone in a garage, she’s already mad at you, and no one else on the base even _likes_ you—_including_ your C.O., who’s your damn _brother?_ Forget fragging…this guy’s going to end up dumped in an disused diesel oil tank some night, while everyone else uses his paychecks for beer. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/8 "2008-09-09T05:31:57Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > We’ll never see anyone looking for a phone booth (unless it’s in a historical movie). As early as 1978, “Superman” made a joke of the fact that there were no more phone booths for Clark Kent to use as a changing room. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/9 "2008-09-09T06:24:26Z")
In _War Games_, when the kid searches around a phone booth for a pop-top, then disassembles the phone to short out whatever and get a dial tone. Today, there’s no more phone booths, pop-tops or phones that can be unscrewed - they’re generally glued together so there’s one less way vandals can break a phone. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/10 "2008-09-09T06:26:04Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > A lot of the action in older Hong Kong movies will probably never be done again, now that computer graphics make it possible to present reckless action without endangering anyone’s life. I’m thinking of Jackie Chan jumping – with no safety support – to catch a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter, or the scene in **Police Story** where the bad guys fly through the windshield of the bus and land smack on the hard pavement. I dunno. Not so long ago when the movie Ong-Bak came out, it was very heavily advertised as not using any CG. It’s all real was the big selling point, and it definitely was the closest thing to an old Jackie Chan movie in a long time. The more common CG becomes the more there will be an incentive to stand out by selling yourself as “not fake”. If anything is going to kill death-defying stunts, it’s labour standards. I’ll nominate cultural changes that are too subtle to be remembered. As an example, I was watching an old Dragnet episode from 1952. The suspect, played by Lee Marvin, is taken out for dinner by Friday and Jacobs. [From the narration:](http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=bVUBe0T9PDw&feature=related) > [@](#): > > Ross got himself a salad, molasses bread, yogurt, a vegetable burger, and some grape juice. It struck me that in a modern movie, or tv show, no one would order something like that, especially for a late dinner. Even in a period film, having a big bowl of yogurt to go along your burger, would just be a bit too jarring to include. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/11 "2008-09-09T12:09:01Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > It struck me that in a modern movie, or tv show, no one would order something like that, especially for a late dinner. Even in a period film, having a big bowl of yogurt to go along your burger, would just be a bit too jarring to include. Not to mention the fact that I can’t recall ever being in a restaurant that served yogurt. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/12 "2008-09-09T12:12:48Z")
Was that considered anything other than a bizarre meal even in 1952? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/13 "2008-09-09T12:15:07Z")
At the end of one of the Timothy Dalton James Bond movies they put a notice that James Bond didn’t use tobacco products – and in that one, he didn’t. It was utterly unlike the Ian Fleming hero who indulged his grittier adult passions. It looked like a bad trend, but they got over it – Bond did start smoking again later. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/14 "2008-09-09T12:50:44Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Was that considered anything other than a bizarre meal even in 1952? Yeah, I would have taken that description as a quick way to establish that the guy was a “health food nut”. (Anybody else remember the days when “health food” wasn’t complete without “nut” at the end?) ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/15 "2008-09-09T12:54:56Z")
Brooke Shield’s nude scene in “Pretty Baby” won’t be in the remake. That scene probably lit the fire in the crusade against “kiddie porn”. There a lot of stuff in “Blazing Saddles” and “Airplane” that you can’t get away with anymore. That’s why they are so classically funny. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/16 "2008-09-09T13:16:50Z")
I think there’s a scene in Pink Flamingos that will probably never be duplicated (and not just because Divine is no longer around)… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/17 "2008-09-09T14:03:10Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Almost a quarter century later, violence hasn’t waned but drinking and driving would be completely taboo. You don’t watch a lot of dumb teenager movies do you? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/18 "2008-09-09T14:14:39Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > I dunno. Not so long ago when the movie Ong-Bak came out, it was very heavily advertised as not using any CG. It’s all real was the big selling point, and it definitely was the closest thing to an old Jackie Chan movie in a long time. The more common CG becomes the more there will be an incentive to stand out by selling yourself as “not fake”. If anything is going to kill death-defying stunts, it’s labour standards. I agree. There are some things that just are better using real people and props. I remember when I saw a double feature of **The Matrix Reloaded** and **The Italian Job**. The long fight scene on the highway in the former lacked any real sense of danger and was just plain boring. However, in **The Italian Job** They actually flew a full-sized helicopter inside a parking garage **That** was impressive. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/19 "2008-09-09T14:21:53Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > (Or maybe a porno version of that movie. The Erotocist? The Sexxorcist?) The latter has been done. I saw it on a vendor table at Dragon\*Con. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700/20 "2008-09-09T14:27:01Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > Scenes that were iconic in particular movies will probably never be emulated in other movies. I’ll bet that no one will ever film a crucifix-fucking scene or pea soup fountain outside of a remake of The Exorcist. > > (Or maybe a porno version of that movie. The Erotocist? The Sexxorcist?) [Here ya go…](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sexorcist/) Joe [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actions-in-movies-that-will-never-be-done-again/462700.md?page=2)