# Inaccurate portrayals of violence & death in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308 "2009-02-03T21:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![purple\_cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/61 "2009-02-04T21:27:00Z")
Christopher Lee, in the Lord of the Rings commentaries, talks about how most movies get the sound of someone being stabbed in the back and into the lungs wrong. It’s actually a loud sucking in of air/gasp. He did it correctly when stabbed in the movie. How did he know this? His experiences in the British special forces in WWII, so he knows what he’s talking about from personal, likely very personal, experience. Probably not too many Hollywood stars who would have any clue about that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/62 "2009-02-04T21:34:49Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > What did it look like? Was it above ground? Because an above ground septic tank would be pretty useless, since gravity would not carry the sewage upward from the toilet to it. Yeah, it was. I don’t know much about septic tanks, apparently. ::stabs self in abdomen, drops dead:: ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/63 "2009-02-04T21:43:07Z")
> [@Arglefraster](#): > > Strangling deaths are rarely shown accurately. It’s really _really_ hard to kill someone by strangling them. Even if you have a garrotte, it’s going to take longer than what usually happens in the movies. Actually, if you use the right technique, you can get someone to fall unconscious pretty rapidly with a choke hold. I’m talking under 5 seconds. It will take quite a bit longer to kill someone, I’m sure, but they’ll be out and in no condition to prevent you from doing whatever you want, such as continuing to choke them until their heart stops. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/64 "2009-02-04T22:00:47Z")
Yeah, if you cut off the arterial flow to the brain you can get unconsciousness very quickly. But if you just close the airway it’s going to take a long time for the victim to suffocate. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/65 "2009-02-04T22:58:57Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > The most realistic portrayal of this I’ve seen was in the movie _Grand Canyon_. Steve Martin’s character is mugged, and the mugger (just because he’s an asshole) shoots Martin in the leg with a small-caliber pistol (looked like a .32). Martin’s character looks confused for a second, then collapses, vomits and passes out. The Steve Martin character was a thinly disguised version of Joel Silver, a producer of numerous violent action movies, the kind that have helped perpetuate the idea that death by gunshot is quick, bloodless and painless. “Grand Canyon” writer/director Lawrence Kasdan says that when Silver finally saw the movie, he was puzzled and a bit hurt. “You shot me?? What did you do THAT for??” ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/66 "2009-02-04T23:24:56Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > What I really hate is the screen depiction of a gunshot where the victim is knocked off his feet and backwards, as if hit by a charging linebacker. Yep. If a bullet had the momentum to knock the person it hit off their feet, it would knock the person shooting it off their feet as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/67 "2009-02-04T23:31:10Z")
Padme died of a _broken heart._ [trumpets]wah-wah-waaahhhh[/trumpets] ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/68 "2009-02-05T00:12:26Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Not meaning to derail the thread but do you mind me askingwhat happened to the assailant? Honestly, I don’t know. It happened while the guy was on vacation during college. The guy I knew was being a punk and messing with people. Apparently, he messed with one girl who told her boyfriend. That guy came chasing after him. The guy I knew stopped to ask someone for help and got nailed in the back of the head. Beyond that, I don’t really know much, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/69 "2009-02-05T00:12:37Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Yep. If a bullet had the momentum to knock the person it hit off their feet, it would knock the person shooting it off their feet as well. Well, no, not necessarily. If that were true, every time someone was knocked down by a punch, the puncher would also fall down. It is certainly reasonble that a force the shooter had anticipated would not knock him down, but would knock down a target not prepared to receive it. What makes the bullet-knocks-you-over thing unlikely is that the bullet 1. Doesn’t transmit all its kinetic energy into the person right away, _which is why it goes through you_, and 2. Even if it did, bullets fired from personal weapons just don’t carry enough energy to knock a person flying. Bullets kill by penetrating the body and damaging tissue, bones and organs, not through sheer kinetic energy. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/70 "2009-02-05T00:51:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, no, not necessarily. If that were true, every time someone was knocked down by a punch, the puncher would also fall down. No, not exactly. What happens when you’re knocked down by a punch is that you’re punched and then you fall down because you’re stunned and/or lost your balance. The momentum of the punch doesn’t knock you off your feet. Same with a bullet. The shock and pain of being shot can cause you to fall down, sometimes from an involuntary nervous reaction, but you aren’t KNOCKED down. ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/71 "2009-02-05T01:22:56Z")
The glass thing has always bothered me, for the reverse reason. EVERYBODY who goes through a window survives. No one is ever cut to ribbons. No blood, no cuts (except one carefully placed on the cheekbone, no way. [Check out this site](http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/). Really interesting take on the subject of physics in movies. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/72 "2009-02-05T01:38:58Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > So, I realize it’s action-movies and all, but which is more realistic: the kung-fu movie cliche of of hitting a guy only to have him bounce right back up, or the American movie cliche of hitting a guy and having him drop like a rag doll? Rag doll is close, but still wrong. Watch a UFC knockout on youtube. There’s a distinctive stiffness to someone who has been truly knocked out by a punch that you rarely see in film, probably precisely because it looks so strange. Another thing that movies get wrong is how fast someone drops when hit with lethal gunfire. I remember seeing the video of Budd Dwyer, who killed himself with a pistol during a press conference. The phrase “like a marionette with its strings cut” is spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/73 "2009-02-05T01:48:21Z")
Rocky. If two boxers hit each other like that they’d both die. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/74 "2009-02-05T03:03:48Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > The most realistic portrayal of this I’ve seen was in the movie _Grand Canyon_. Steve Martin’s character is mugged, and the mugger (just because he’s an asshole) shoots Martin in the leg with a small-caliber pistol (looked like a .32). Martin’s character looks confused for a second, then collapses, vomits and passes out. He also pisses himself. His recovery is also painful and long. Like, weeks. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/75 "2009-02-05T04:48:38Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > He also pisses himself. His recovery is also painful and long. Like, weeks. Painful long and incomplete. He’s walking with a cane, and mentions that he’ll probably need the cane the rest of his life. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/76 "2009-02-05T07:54:09Z")
Just watched _Eastern Promises_. Two of the worst throat-cutting scenes in cinematic history. Can we all agree that when someone feels like a knife is going to slice through their throat, their hands will automtically go there? Ya know, as if to, maybe, stop the blade or the arm that guides it? Same thing in _the Godfather_. Carlo gets in the front seat, then a guy in the back wraps a cord around is neck and pulls. Carlos feet flail enough to kick out the windshield, but his arms stay by his side??? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/77 "2009-02-05T13:07:46Z")
I saw _Othello_ once where Desdemona, after being smothered, has the pillow taken off her face, weeps and wails a bit, and _then_ dies. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/78 "2009-02-05T13:35:28Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Actually, if you use the right technique, you can get someone to fall unconscious pretty rapidly with a choke hold. I’m talking under 5 seconds. It will take quite a bit longer to kill someone, I’m sure, but they’ll be out and in no condition to prevent you from doing whatever you want, such as continuing to choke them until their heart stops. Huh, I hadn’t thought about that. Still, a lot of movies show the killer with his hands around the killee’s throat for just a minute or so, then the killer stops, implying the killee died that fast. A few other people have mentioned gut wounds. The funny thing is, I remember the first time I ever watched The Princess Bride, I though it was completely unrealistic for Inigo to be able to walk around and, well, not be dead after taking a sword thrust to the gut. All of my gut wound knowledge came from other movies, which had shown people dieing very quickly. It wasn’t until much later that I realized The Princess Bride actually got it right (well, at least more right than a lot of other movies). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/79 "2009-02-05T14:08:19Z")
Yeah, the only problem is that a gut wound like that is pretty much guaranteed to turn septic. Inigo is gonna be dead in a week, unless there’s some sort of miracle. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308/80 "2009-02-05T14:38:21Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > It’s also a fetish of S.M. Sterlings. He constantly references “befouled breechcloths” and whatnot in his books. Anytime somone dies, he’s probably going to make a reference to the “usual squalor” or somesuch. Kind of annoying. S.M. Stirling displaying a **fetish?!** Poppycock, sir, tommyrot! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inaccurate-portrayals-of-violence-death-in-movies/484308.md?page=5)