# Military folks: what are the best hilariously inaccurate military movies / scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860 "2013-04-16T19:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/121 "2013-04-23T22:10:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > McQueen’s characters does things ascribed to other people in the book – someone was “Cooler King”, someone “moled out” with Piglet, Someone distilled the Rasin Hooch 9not potato liquor, as in the movie) into spirits. But they were different guys. Several of the characters in the film were completely or mostly based onn a real-life counterpart, but McQueen’s character isn’t, really. It’s a Frankenstein made up of bits of several real-life people, and the personality of none of them. > > If people want to claim their local hero was the basis for McQueen’s part, they can do so, but I’m not required to agree. I didn’t say he was the basis. I said that there was _a little bit_ of Jerry Sage in the character. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/122 "2013-04-23T23:07:44Z")
Although it’s noy military per se, but every single gladiatorial fight is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/123 "2013-04-24T03:27:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Not really military, but when did it become accepted fact that espionage agents and intelligence operatives were either: > > A) a suave guy in a tuxedo, driving an Aston Martin, using his actual name wherever he goes whose plan is generally no more complex than show up at some fancy party and antagonize the local terrorist or drug lord into capturing him and ranting about his plans by sleeping with his girlfriend. > > B) good looking, smart, idealistic, reluctant, one man wrecking machine, sometimes suffering from that rare form of amnesia that causes you to forget your name and personal history, but leaves your Krav Maga and tactical weapons training intact. > > C) Pretty much the hottest woman you will ever see but who is able to slip in and out of any location undetected by putting on a wig. > Because I’m pretty sure working at the CIA or MI6 is absolutely nothing like any of that. A) 1962, when “Dr. No” was released. B) 2002, when “The Bourne Identity” was released. C) I’d say 1962, in “The Avengers” with Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale. Though I personally thought Dianna Rigg as Emma Peel was much hotter then Miss Blackman. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/124 "2013-04-24T05:11:28Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Not just grenades, all explosions. Yeah, my biggest problem with most war type movies. Most of the time I think they use a dab of dynamite and a gallon or two of gasoline. I suppose this gives a decent size explosion without much danger of shrapnel. I never saw any flames, except for napalm, in any of the gillions of explosions (mortars, grenades, artillery, rockets, claymores, and bombs up to 1,000 pounds) that I saw in Vietnam. In a real bomb, for instance, there’s a brief flash which is quickly gone in the dust and dirt. Smaller explosions like grenades have dust and gravel jumping straight up into the air from the shock. The Hollywood explosions just seem silly to me. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/125 "2013-04-24T06:43:50Z")
They sound wrong, too. Real explosions are more like a short, dull _ **THUD** _. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/126 "2013-04-24T17:03:50Z")
Explosions also have this sharp concussion that you feel in your teeth - but I don’t know how they would put that in a movie ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/127 "2013-04-27T21:08:42Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Explosions also have this sharp concussion that you feel in your teeth - but I don’t know how they would put that in a movie Lots of bass in the THX surround sound subwoofers. [Real grenade explosions apparently look fairly mundane on film.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYgvMTkSxzo) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/128 "2013-04-27T21:54:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Lots of bass in the THX surround sound subwoofers. > [Real grenade explosions apparently look fairly mundane on film.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYgvMTkSxzo) Less than that. That was EOD exploding an old grenade. They probably used a couple pounds of C4 to do it. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/129 "2013-04-29T16:55:36Z")
To return to early comments RE: uniforms, one of the easiest pet peeves of mine is when movies feature officers wearing their Class A uniforms (aka the jackets, and often the hats) at work, inside, particularly in places like the Pentagon. For one, you don’t wear the jacket or hat in side. For two, you don’t wear the jacket unless you’ve got a big official function. For instance, at the Pentagon, the only time you’ll see someone wear a jacket is if they’ve got to go to Capitol Hill for a briefing or hearing, or to someplace like the White House. Otherwise, you’re just wearing the uniform of the day, which can be anything from the Class B’s to BDUs (the military often has their own version, ess-you-not, of “casual Fridays” and allows/encourages servicemembers to wear their BDUs/ACUs/ABUs/flight bags/etc.). As for the hat, no one wears cover inside. And sometimes even outside (the Pentagon courtyard, for instance, is a no cover area- ditto many courtyard areas at bases and such). Oh, and yeah: no one salutes anyone inside, either. If they did, they’d be saluting all day long and never get any work done. Thus, anytime you see a Hollywood movie or TV show where you’re seeing some 4-star general walking into his office wearing his full Class A’s, his cover, and saluting everyone in sight, you know that you’re watching complete fiction. Related: if your TV show or movie features an Army officer, there’s a 98% chance they’re a veteran of the First Cavalry Division and/or a Ranger. For some reason, Hollywood determined those patches are the most photogenic so every uniform appears to have them. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/130 "2013-04-29T20:13:17Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > In his defense, they accurately portrayed the uniforms worn on the Thetan home planets. > [@Raguleader](#): > > Stargate can also be fun, mainly due to issues of rank (such as Lt. Colonel Kowalski’s ever-changing form of address. Is he a Colonel? Is he a Lieutenant? Is he a floor wax _and_ a desert topping?) I thought sci-fi was usually a good place to find inaccuracies in the treatment of rank. Was Harry Kim correct to address Captain Janeway as ma’am, sir or captain? (Can sort of remember a scene where he tried all three, or at least two). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/131 "2013-04-29T20:20:14Z")
Starfleet practice was to address \*all \*senior officers, regardless of gender (which could be problematic for some species), as “Sir”. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/132 "2013-04-29T20:26:53Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > I never saw any flames, except for napalm, in any of the gillions of explosions (mortars, grenades, artillery, rockets, claymores, and bombs up to 1,000 pounds) that I saw in Vietnam Nor did I from a childhood spent in Northern Ireland. Just a thud and some smoke from the explosive blasts, a thud that travels a very long way indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/133 "2013-04-29T20:26:56Z")
If a movie wants to get it right all they have to do is hire Dale Dye. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/134 "2013-04-29T20:54:52Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > To return to early comments RE: uniforms, one of the easiest pet peeves of mine is when movies feature officers wearing their Class A uniforms (aka the jackets, and often the hats) at work, inside, particularly in places like the Pentagon. > > For one, you don’t wear the jacket or hat in side. For two, you don’t wear the jacket unless you’ve got a big official function. For instance, at the Pentagon, the only time you’ll see someone wear a jacket is if they’ve got to go to Capitol Hill for a briefing or hearing, or to someplace like the White House. Otherwise, you’re just wearing the uniform of the day, which can be anything from the Class B’s to BDUs (the military often has their own version, ess-you-not, of “casual Fridays” and allows/encourages servicemembers to wear their BDUs/ACUs/ABUs/flight bags/etc.). > > As for the hat, no one wears cover inside. And sometimes even outside (the Pentagon courtyard, for instance, is a no cover area- ditto many courtyard areas at bases and such). > > Oh, and yeah: no one salutes anyone inside, either. If they did, they’d be saluting all day long and never get any work done. > > Thus, anytime you see a Hollywood movie or TV show where you’re seeing some 4-star general walking into his office wearing his full Class A’s, his cover, and saluting everyone in sight, you know that you’re watching complete fiction. > > Related: if your TV show or movie features an Army officer, there’s a 98% chance they’re a veteran of the First Cavalry Division and/or a Ranger. For some reason, Hollywood determined those patches are the most photogenic so every uniform appears to have them. I don’t know if it’s the same in the US (I’m assuming it is) but most brass-heavy areas are also no saluting areas or you’d be saluting, or returning salutes all day. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/135 "2013-04-29T20:55:27Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Lots of bass in the THX surround sound subwoofers. > [Real grenade explosions apparently look fairly mundane on film.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYgvMTkSxzo) Where was the kaboom?! There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom! ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/136 "2013-04-29T21:08:06Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I don’t know if it’s the same in the US (I’m assuming it is) but most brass-heavy areas are also no saluting areas or you’d be saluting, or returning salutes all day. I had a roommate in the Army who worked at the Pentagon as his prior assignment. He said the steps outside were made a no saluting zone because of the hazard of saluting on stairs. he said he got a kick out of watching officers who were just assigned there getting snippy because none of the enlisted were saluting them. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/137 "2013-04-29T21:08:51Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > I remember reading somewhere that \*\*all \*\*military uniforms on TV or in movies were wrong on purpose. But I am not sure why. Something about it making it easier for other people to copy and impersonate personnel? I read that somewhere myself (IMDB, I think) - I think having a “proper” uniform was considered “impersonating a member of the Armed Forces” - but then I came across this: > [@](#): > > **Title, 10, Section 772(f), United States Code** > While portraying a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motion-picture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/138 "2013-04-29T21:47:13Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I read that somewhere myself (IMDB, I think) - I think having a “proper” uniform was considered “impersonating a member of the Armed Forces” - but then I came across this: And there was a court case (I’ll try to find it when not on my phone) which nullified the “discredit” part. First amendment protection. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/139 "2013-04-29T21:55:31Z")
Schacht v United States. Found it. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860/140 "2013-04-29T22:21:33Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I don’t know if it’s the same in the US (I’m assuming it is) but most brass-heavy areas are also no saluting areas or you’d be saluting, or returning salutes all day. I don’t know about the other branches of the military, but in the Marine Corps, you’re not allowed to salute if you’re not “wearing cover”(meaning a hat of some sort). You’re also not allowed to wear cover inside so there’s no saluting inside. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-folks-what-are-the-best-hilariously-inaccurate-military-movies-scenes/655860.md?page=8)