# Misleading Movie Plot Summaries!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 28, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655 "2011-07-28T19:13:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/1 "2011-07-28T19:13:50Z")
Like most great ideas, this occurred to me in the shower. I was thinking about the movie _Depsicable Me_, and how terribly mundane the protagonist’s troubles are, despite the fact that he’s a supervillain by profession…do I need spoilers for this?
Gru’s troubles come mostly from Family Services and attempting to persuade investors his business plan is sound.
Don’t misunderstand – I like the movie – it just struck me that if you listed that as the plot summary in a channel guide, it would be _technically_ accurate while _completely missing_ the feel of the movie.
In a similar vein, years ago, I saw a (printed) plot summary for the movie _[The New Kids](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089679/)_, then cycling endlessly on HBO. I remember the summary, because it was so at odds with what I subsequently watched onscreen (okay, I was bored):
> [@](#):
>
> Two kids move to a new town and have some trouble with the locals.
What actually happens in the movie:
The local teens _rape_ the sister and either _kill_ or try to kill their dog, and the brother and sister ultimately have to _kill_ the teens in imaginative ways (turning a hose onto the electrified floor of the bumper-car ride at the amusement park to kill one of them, for example). Some trouble with the locals, indeed.
So I thought this would be a fun topic for the SDMB.
**Summarize the plot of a movie in a way that’s _technically correct_ but misleading; completely missing the point, failing to convey the story or the emotional feel at all. Brevity is a virtue.**
Technical accuracy is important to the humor involved. Summarizing _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ as “Japanese students vacationing in Hawaii accidentally damage property” is misleading, because they’re not students on vacation and it’s not an accident. “Japanese servicemen visit Hawaii with disastrous results” _is_ technically accurate, if not especially funny.
Some more examples:
_Gettysburg_: Some Southern boys go on a field trip to historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
_Sherlock Holmes_: A cocaine addict gets help from his doctor.
_The Lord of the Rings_: A man and his employee endure various difficulties returning a piece of jewelry.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/2 "2011-07-28T20:17:13Z")
Superheroes are good for this.
Batman: A man deals with the deaths of his parents.
Superman: A Kansas farmboy moves to the big city and helps people.
Spider-Man: A nerdy teenager learns to stand up for what he believes in.
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### Author:  [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/3 "2011-07-28T21:14:24Z")
**HIGH NOON** Newlyweds have to deal with unxpected vistors to town on their wedding day.
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/4 "2011-07-28T21:21:26Z")
There was a TV guide summary of Wizard of Oz that ran something like:
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/5 "2011-07-28T21:31:54Z")
> [@Tengu](#):
>
> Superheroes are good for this.
>
> Batman: A man deals with the deaths of his parents.
> Superman: A Kansas farmboy moves to the big city and helps people.
> Spider-Man: A nerdy teenager learns to stand up for what he believes in.
Captain America: troubled young man takes steroids, attacks foreigners.
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### Author:  [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/6 "2011-07-28T22:02:51Z")
“A young boy works through his issues with the help of a Therapist.” _The Sixth Sense_
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### Author:  [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/7 "2011-07-28T23:49:50Z")
Star Wars Trilogy: A young farmboy meets his long-lost father, gets a new job. Also finds self unusually proficient with swords.
The Matrix: A computer programmer leaves the tedium of his profession to become a religious figure
Journey to the Center of the Earth: A man and his kids fall down a hole
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/8 "2011-07-29T01:43:49Z")
Casablanca - a club owner runs into an old girlfriend
Titanic - a woman finds adventure on a cruise
West Side Story - musical teens sing and dance their way through New York City
Jesus Christ Superstar - muiscal young men sing and dance their way through Israel
Fiddler on the Roof - an entire village of musical people sing and dance their way through Russia
Forbidden Planet - Star Trek, with the guy from The Naked Gun playing Kirk
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### Author:  [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/9 "2011-07-29T01:53:33Z")
The Diary of Anne Frank - A young girl hides in an attic, but is found.
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/10 "2011-07-29T02:05:54Z")
Pulp Fiction – Hijinks abound as an interracial couple attempts to deliver a suitcase.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/11 "2011-07-29T02:07:59Z")
Netflix is good for these; sometimes I think whoever writes their synopses has taken a glance at the DVD cover art and put together a summary of what he thought he saw in the trailer. A good example is the recent _Drive Angry_ starring the much-maligned Nic Cage. They’ve since changed it, but the original synopsis was something like this:
> [@](#):
>
> Career criminal Milton breaks free from jail to pursue the cult that killed his daughter and abducted her baby, in a race to save the infant before the group sacrifices her. Milton in turn is chased by a serial killer.
Which, while not _wildly_ inaccurate, fails completely to convey the supernatural story elements. It’s been changed to this:
> [@](#):
>
> Career criminal Milton breaks free from Hell to pursue the cult that killed his daughter and abducted her baby, in a race to save the infant before the group sacrifices her. Milton in turn is chased by Satan’s right-hand man, a determined accountant.
Which is more accurate.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/12 "2011-07-29T02:13:35Z")
**JAWS:** Three men go fishing over July Fourth weekend
**It’s a Wonderful Life:** A suicidal man hallucinates on Christmas Eve
**Arsenic and Old Lace:** A young couple visit his family before going on their honeymoon
**Labyrinth:** Sarah hates babysitting
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### Author:  [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/13 "2011-07-29T03:20:46Z")
**The Graduate** : A incestual love triangle ends with a woman leaving her fiance at the altar.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/14 "2011-07-29T03:46:13Z")
_Toy Story_: Two men from different backgrounds compete for the love of a younger man.
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/15 "2011-07-29T05:43:59Z")
This one is kind of cheating, because I _swear_ the newspaper TV guide actually ran this one. Reproduced, as exactly as possible:
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Airplane! \*\*\*\*\* ’80 (PG) Robert Hays. Food poisoning puts fate into a neurotic pilot’s hands. 105m.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/16 "2011-07-29T06:37:53Z")
**4 months 3 weeks & 2 days:** University students conspire to commit a crime.
**This Is Spinal Tap:** Several members of a band die mysteriously.
**E.T. the Extraterrestrial:** Government scientists attempt to stem invasion by hyper-intelligent alien race.
**She’s the Man:** Football player joins a new team.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/17 "2011-07-29T06:56:10Z")
Not thematically incorrect, but leaving a lot out:
**The Professional (Leon):** Plant-loving eccentric adopts orphan.
**The Postman:** Beggar using a false identity reunites families.
**The Italian (Итальянец):** Boy escapes orphanage when adopted by foreign family.
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### Author:  [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/18 "2011-07-29T07:21:56Z")
**Casino Royale** : Emotionally unavailable man new on the job unexpectedly falls in love with a coworker. After her sudden death he vows revenge.
**Ghostbusters** : Four college losers start a marshmallow cooking contest in the middle of NYC, with zany results.
**Ironman** : After being stranded in the desert, a spoiled coked-up dilettante discovers his humanity.
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### Author:  [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/19 "2011-07-29T07:55:32Z")
**The Princess Bride:** A young woman is reunited with her long-lost love just a few days before her wedding to a prince. And there is kissing.
**Children of Men:** A disillusioned former political activist helps his ex-girlfriend rescue a young girl.
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### Author:  [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-movie-plot-summaries/590655/20 "2011-07-29T07:56:55Z")
**Brazil** : A bureaucrat has second thoughts about whether to take a promotion, and fantasizes about a client’s neighbor.
**Monty Python and the Holy Grail** : King Arthur and his knights search for the Holy Grail.
**Donnie Darko** : A young man struggles to fit in at school. With Maggie Gyllenhaal.
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