# Attention, directors: Cars do not explode when they crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025 "2019-09-11T03:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/21 "2019-09-11T20:23:56Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > So you are saying [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj58o87sY) is not realistic? šŸ˜ƒ This scene was even funny in Germany where nobody knew about a Ford ā€œPintoā€, let alone the whole exploding tanks debacle, but just because of the existing general trope. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/22 "2019-09-11T23:15:25Z")
['Splosions are cool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkvD7-u7y8). It depends on the overall tone of the particular film, but I generally donā€™t mind a little gratuitous blowinā€™ up for entertainmentā€™s sake. If everything in movies were completely realistic, Iā€™d just watch reality instead. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/23 "2019-09-12T00:09:01Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > So you are saying [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj58o87sY) is not realistic? No, but the ā€œFIND HIM AND KILL HIMā€ rubber stamp was totally IRL! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/24 "2019-09-12T00:27:29Z")
> [@allyn](#): > > The other thing to note is that in the movies, late model cars donā€™t deploy airbags when they crash. Except in Last Action Hero. And Falfaā€™s 55 Chevy was NOT a jalopy! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/25 "2019-09-12T01:22:22Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Attention viewers: The Directors know that you know or should know that cars donā€™t generally explode (well except vintage Pintos). But it sells dammit. I feel cheated if the car doesnā€™t explode on the way down the steep cliff, and if it doesnā€™t turn into a giant fireball when it comes to rest I demand my money back. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/26 "2019-09-12T01:45:52Z")
Also, anyone who crashes through a plate glass window IRL will be lucky to survive the blood loss. Which would actually be a **cooler** way to portray it on-screen than the way it usually is done. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/27 "2019-09-12T02:20:34Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Except in Last Action Hero. > > And Falfaā€™s 55 Chevy was NOT a jalopy! No offense meant; itā€™s been probably 40 years since Iā€™ve seen that flick and us old people get confused. Besides, my Dad had one of those and when he sees this, he will be kicking my butt a lot harder than you ever could. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/28 "2019-09-12T18:03:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > No offense meant; itā€™s been probably 40 years since Iā€™ve seen that flick and us old people get confused. > > Besides, my Dad had one of those and when he sees this, he will be kicking my butt a lot harder than you ever could. šŸ˜‰ šŸ™‚ eta: the same car was the primary vehicle in the cult film _Two Lane Blacktop_. In real life, it had a big block, but they didnā€™t exist in 1962, so the car was ā€œACTING!ā€ as a small block. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/29 "2019-09-12T18:30:00Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > A locomotive derailed, flipped over, and the diesel fuel exploded spectacularly in _Unstoppable_, but then, the whole film was a spectacular mess. Reality and that film were like intersecting train tracks - they didnā€™t actually touch. Actually, they kinda did. That movie was based on [a real incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSX_8888_incident) with only slightly less drama. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/30 "2019-09-12T18:44:27Z")
Cars donā€™t explode when struck, however they are very much flammable. Iā€™ve passed cars on the shoulder full-on on fire _way_ more often than one would think is normal. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/31 "2019-09-12T22:46:02Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > šŸ˜ƒ > > This scene was even funny in Germany where nobody knew about a Ford ā€œPintoā€, let alone the whole exploding tanks debacle, but just because of the existing general trope. Yes, I first saw this when I was still in South Africa and had no cultural awareness of the Pinto issues (or even an awareness of Pintos at all). I remember it being funny, and would have assumed at the time it was just making fun of ridiculously explosive cars in action movies. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/32 "2019-09-13T04:47:11Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > So you are saying [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj58o87sY) is not realistic? Heh. I loved that scene. I owned a Pinto. It was great - no one tailgated me. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/33 "2019-09-13T04:56:05Z")
my pet peeve in movies and tv is when they have someone playing an xbox 360 with a sega genesis controller and the sounds are from atari 2600s Pacman ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/34 "2019-09-13T12:42:55Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > So you are saying [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Qj58o87sY) is not realistic? What about this one? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/b2w97JHBfEM/maxresdefault.jpg "Milk Truck Explosion (The Simpsons)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2w97JHBfEM) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/35 "2019-09-13T15:54:08Z")
Sometimes you can see a small explosion inside the car before it even hits the ground, followed by the crash and huge fireball. Itā€™s as if the car sees its fate and decides not to delay the inevitable. It always cracks me up. I presume itā€™s something the pyrotechnics guys have to do to ensure it will explode into an impressive fireball after it hits the ground. I saw this a week or two ago in an episode of the original _Magnum, P.I._, ā€œLimboā€ (1987). I seem to recall it happening quite a few times on the 1970s TV series _Cannon_ but I donā€™t remember which episodes. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/36 "2019-09-13T15:59:13Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I saw this a week or two ago in an episode of the original _Magnum, P.I._, ā€œLimboā€ (1987). I seem to recall it happening quite a few times on the 1970s TV series _Cannon_ but I donā€™t remember which episodes. Not that long ago I bought the complete Magnum PI series from iTunes; it was on sale for like $20. Anyways, transferred from film and viewed on an HD TV you can see all of the special effects stuff they didnā€™t bother to cover up back in the day because nobody was going to see it on their crappy CRT TVs. Those little pre-explosions, wires, ramps, etc., itā€™s all painfully obvious in HD. Still a good show. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/37 "2019-09-13T17:07:42Z")
I think this site might be of interest to readers of this thread: [Intuitor Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics](http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/38 "2019-09-13T17:51:26Z")
My brothers and I used to watch _CHiPs_ when we were kids, and weā€™d be disappointed if there wasnā€™t at least one explosion per episode. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/39 "2019-09-13T18:00:01Z")
It happens. There was a accident on the highway about a mile from me. A full-sized pickup with a scissor-lift on a trailer was hit head on by a full-sized pickup with an overloaded cattle trailer. The three guys in the first truck may well have been dead already, but it ignited within a few seconds and burned the whole mess beyond recognition. The cattle trailer broke free and went over the embankment, and bust open. They were rounding up stray cows long after the three burnt corpses were recovered and hauled off. I got to watch it all. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025/40 "2019-09-14T08:55:24Z")
Lac-Megantic Irving Oil train explosion that leveled the town and the deadly Montreal Metropolitan gas truck explosion are fairly recent memories in Quebec, so though I might not yank an accident victim out of a car if I didnā€™t smell fumes, Iā€™d move like mad away from any vehicles carrying petroleum products or even a milk tanker anywhere near a road accident if I wasnā€™t 100% sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-directors-cars-do-not-explode-when-they-crash/840025.md?page=3)