# Movie inaccuracies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293 "2000-10-02T01:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/81 "2000-10-06T01:51:39Z")
Glee, yes I got the joke originally. Guess my debator instinct just gets the better of me from time to time. I’ll try to shove that urge back down from where it came. Lamia, nope. No minors. You can double major. Heck, you can triple major if you’ve learned how to stop sleeping. But you can’t minor in anything. Now, so I don’t singlehandedly hijack this thread, here’s another movie flaw. Hollow man. Somehow everyone in this movie developed superhuman strength at the end. The woman was in a room with below freezing temeratures for so long so would have no motor control whatsoever, yet managed to perform complex tasks to escape. The man was not only freezing to death but also unconcious from a head wound! Guess what? He was just fine five minutes later. Kevin Bacon was beaten up, bloodied, SET COMPLETELY ON FIRE and he came back for seconds. Ya-huh? Oh, if I “ruined” this movie anyone, I really didn’t. Just don’t go see it. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/82 "2000-10-06T04:30:28Z")
If anyone out there cares, then the straightdope on U-571 is at: [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq97-1.htm](http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq97-1.htm) Oh yeah, invisible people who can see. The Abyss: Underwater drilling rig? Excuse me? We’ve been drilling in 20,000 ft of water since the 60’s using the DSDP (deep sea drilling project). The deepest oil well drilled commericially was in 9,100 ft of water off the coast of Brazil. At least it was nice and light in the inky oceanic depths. Armaggeddon: Gravity works like normal for Bruce Willis, but some of the others can fly in their little buggy if the plot demands it ---
**Author:** ![Kupek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@Kupek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kupek)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/83 "2000-10-06T04:49:55Z")
**Mission to Mars**. Which part? Take your pick. Well, I have to rail on the worst. See, apparently NASA has been developing this magical tent fabric behind our backs. What you do is get one crashed rocket, put the miracle tarp up next to it, make a sorta-kinda tent looking thing, and have a lot of plants inside. Per the magical name, this tarp will be able to _keep the Martian atmosphere out_ of the tent. Yup, you heard me. That little piece of fabric will be able to seal off the entire area and withstand the atmospheric pressure that would result from the different atmospheres inside and out of the tent. I just couldn’t believe it when they took off their helmets in there. Then there was the guy’s face freezing when he was exposed to the vaccuum of space, but that’s not as bad as the magical tarp. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/84 "2000-10-06T05:00:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Do they call minors something else, or do they not have any equivelant program at all? At the UW-Madison we have cerificates. The registration folks say that they are like minors but I’m not really sure how they compare. The biggest problem with _Armaggeddon_ is that there is no asteroid in the solar system as big as Texas. Besides it is a case of serious overkill. A asteroid just 10 miles across would cause a mass extinction. You certainly don’t need one that is hundreds of miles across to hit the Earth in order for serious damage to be done. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/85 "2000-10-06T05:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pergau \* > \*\*I haven’t seen the movie in the OP, but I have seen a few big waterfalls in england, well Wales to be exact but there are clains that some of the Arthurian legends took place in parts of Wales. > > At least two of the waterfalls are big enough to walk/ride through/under although there isn’t a cave behind etc. > > \*\* Oh, I saw that at a friend’s place and we had SO much fun. 1. The Gothic cathedral. The Gothic style of architecture had not been created. 2. The ridiculously modern army uniforms. 3. The ultramodern castle. 4. Marble and silks. No such products had reached England yet. Everyone was too well-dressed in general. 5. The motto on the wall written in modern English. Spoken modern English I can handle, but we’re talking visuals here. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/86 "2000-10-06T05:25:49Z")
One thing that always gets me is how diesel big rigs become runaway vehicles when the brake air line is cut (like in _License to Kill_). As a safety feature, the brakes are designed to come _on_ when air pressure drops below a certain level. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > I realize I’m too much of a nitpicker because the part of _Always_ that sticks in my craw is John Goodman referring to the A-26s as B-26s. As a fan of Douglas aircraft (my dad flew 98 missions in an A-20 in New Guinea and the Phillipines), the Invader will always be the A-26 to me, leaving B-26 to the Maurader; however, the newly independent Air Force redesignated the A-26 as the B-26 in 1947, when they dropped the Attack category (until the 60s). Maybe John’s character’s father was a Korean vet. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/87 "2000-10-06T05:26:31Z")
The most beautiful and subtle nit (yes, I think those adjectives can be applied) I know of was in Interview with the Vampire. The little girl and her adopted mother (I forget their names) are executed by being imprisoned in a tower open to the sunlight. As the sun rises, it is depicted shining full into the (vertical) tower. This means that it is directly overhead. However, the sun can only ever be directly overhead from locations between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Paris is substantially north of the Tropic of Cancer and therefore the sun can never be directly overhead there. ---
**Author:** ![Mauve\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mauve\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauve_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/88 "2000-10-06T07:47:03Z")
And how can we forget everyone’s favorite, Jurrassic Park? The inaccuracies are too many to mention here, however two stand out as being the most heinous: 1. Those were _not_ _ **Velociraptor** _s. _Velociraptor_ stood perhaps 3’ tall and weighed all of about 35 pounds. Even aside from the size, they were completely wrong. Closer to _Deinonychus_, perhaps, but still way off in size. Granted, following the release of the film, _Utahraptor_ was discovered, which was about the right size and shape, but I ain’t giving this one to Spielberg. He goofed big-time (but then, so did Crichton…). 2. The Magical, Flying _Tyrannosaurus_. During the inital _T. rex_ attack, we see the brute lumbering through the non-electricrified fence; mayhem and a wee bit of carnage ensues. Then, Grant and Lex are knocked over the edge of the area where the _T. rex_ came from. Suddenly, it’s a huge ravine! So…how did Mr. Tyrannosaur get up there to bust through the fence in the first place…? Oh…and lest I forget, most of the species in **Jurassic** Park were from the **Cretaceous**! ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/89 "2000-10-07T07:42:43Z")
Johnny LA - thanks for judging all sci-fi fans by the example of a few who get a little (or sometimes a lot) too “into it.” The rest of us really appreciate it. As for the Kessel Run, maybe it’s a goof and maybe it isn’t. Who cares? It’s a goof in the middle of a good movie. It’s not as bad as the Roman soldiers running down the hill wearing running shoes and wristwatches in Spartacus. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/90 "2000-10-07T07:56:00Z")
**Kilt-wearin’ man** > [@](#): > > Johnny LA - thanks for judging all sci-fi fans by the example of a few who get a little (or sometimes a lot) too “into it.” The rest of us really appreciate it. Go back an read what I wrote. Or read it again here: > [@](#): > > **I’ve** met **many** science fiction fans who live their lives by what they see and read I said “ **I’ve** met **many** ”, which is a far cry from saying “ **All** science fiction fans…” As for the “parsec” line, obviously a lot of people care. As I said before, there are mistakes in movies and this is simply one of them. And as long as I’m posting, there’s a small compass in a box of Cracker Jacks in _Contact_. They no longer put toys in Cracker Jacks. Just printed stuff. They’re afraid some kid would choke on an actual toy and they’ll get sued. The commentary on the DVD admits it’s a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/91 "2000-10-07T14:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \* > **Science fiction has the greatest leeway of any genre, because they can create an entire universe where our scientific laws and principles hold no meaning. This I can accept. But once their universe is created, it must be strictly adhered to.** Remember Ray Harryhausen’s 1964 adaptation of H. G. Wells’ _The First Men in the Moon_? Realizing that nearly everyone knew by then that there is no air on the Moon’s surface, he put all the Selenites underground in air-tight caverns. He also outfitted his Earth men with deep-sea diving suits. This would not work in real life because the suits had no insulation of any kind and also had neither air-conditioning nor heating; the men would either be frozen solid in the shade or roasted like a turkey in the sunlight. (I’m not sure if they even had an air supply.) But that wasn’t even the most egregious mistake. After establishng that the Moon’s surface has no atmosphere, his men went out in deep-sea suits WITHOUT GLOVES!!! Even though I was only seven or eight years old when I first saw it, I knew it was a gross error. Other than that, it was a pretty good version of the novel. They even depicted a modern-day Moon flight fairly accurately five years or so before the actual event, though it was a United Nations expedition of Americans, Soviets and Brits. ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/92 "2000-10-07T22:06:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Suo Na \* > **In _The Cell_ the main character (can’t remember her name) talks to the cop about the boy, and she says he has schizophrenia. A few seconds later she refers to the virus reaching his brain. Schizophrenia is a chemical imbalance, not a virus.** Maybe they were trying to imply a medical discovery a few years ahead that we don’t yet know of. Kind of like the recent revelation that gastric ulcers are caused by a certain bacteria, not simple stress. Ten years ago the biotic theory was considered a crackpot idea. That’s not to say the fanciful schizophrenia-by-virus idea should’ve been added to the movie. It didn’t add enough to the movie to warrant to potential for confusion and disagreement. It was pretty much a throwaway line. Or maybe I’m giving the screenwriters WAY too much leeway. Maybe they did think schizophrenia’s a viral condition. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/93 "2000-10-08T03:11:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pipeliner \* > **I spend a lot of time driving on gravel and dirt roads, and I’m telling you, it can’t be done. You can’t squeal your tires as you jam on your brakes on a gravel road, no matter how hard you hit them.** Sorry, dude, but I’ve lived on a gravel road for about 10 years, and you CAN peel out on a gravel road, and it WILL make that noise. Here’s how. You get a gravel road. This road only gets new gravel every 6 months, ensuring that the gravel is given adequate time to erode and crumble. Said road is driven on alot, compacting the gravel. It rains. Many people drive on the wet gravel road. Ground dries out. Now, the gravel is very compact and appears to be a chip-and-seal road. It still has loose gravel on the top, but under about 1/2 inch is a very compact surface. You can peel out on this all day long, leaving long black tire marks. A road in this condition gets HUGE potholes, though. Yeah, it seems complicated to describe, but then, when you think about it, so does walking. These conditions would surface at the beginning of every summer, and only be cured by the first freezing rain, which would again crumble the road surface. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/94 "2000-10-08T06:58:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought you time-travelling types were supposed to keep your existence secret. > After all we 21st century Earthlings don’t have time-travel, so we don’t know what the effects would be. 😉 > > As for WWII, I think you American chaps did recover an Enigma machine. But, as Johnny L.A. says, the film showed a real-life British operation (which came first). It showed nothing of the kind whatsoever. **U-571** was pure fiction; there was no operation of that sort conducted by anyone during the war. It was not supposed to be taken as historical truth. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/95 "2000-10-08T13:42:06Z")
Flashdance-the girl just does a break-dancing, or whatever dance routine and gets right into ballet school…at age 18. D’uh! Most people who are dancers spend almost their entire life studying dance-from childhood on. By 18, most girls would’ve been semi-professionals, I believe. Not too mention that the Pittsburgh School of Ballet, where she supposedly got in, is a VERY good school-no way someone could just walk in and audition just like THAT. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/96 "2000-10-08T16:51:48Z")
_Living in Oblivion_ is a film about making a film. Several times, the “take” being called does not match the take number written on the slate. Since the film is about things tht happen on a set, is it a mistake? Or is it a subtle joke? They never mention the erronious number on the slate. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/97 "2000-10-08T17:12:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > **Hey, you, yeah you, the guy with no sense of humor or intelligence. Hand over your card. You are hereby banned from offering your opinions on anything ever again.** I love that! I don’t suppose anyone nitpicked about Superman’s ability to fly or reverse time by flying around the planet over there? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293/98 "2000-10-09T15:19:40Z")
It’s possible Crunch. When they say Nit-Pick, they ain’t fucking around. Get this one from **Ferris Bueller** : Quote: “When Ferris is in the bathroom at the restaurant, he’s talking aloud. When he leaves the bathroom, his father comes out of a stall. Maybe his father is deaf, because he didn’t even act like he heard Ferris’s voice. I would think a parent would recognize his own child’s voice.” Did this person even watch the movie, or just that scene? A little lesson in breaking the fourth wall is in order for this doorknob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-inaccuracies/35293.md?page=4)