# Movie scenes that defy logic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203 "2003-02-15T02:37:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/61 "2003-02-16T09:29:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sciguy \* > \*\*Bah, Batman has it easy. Superman catches people as they’re falling down, and **he’s flying up** , and they’re perfectally all right. > > And another Independence Day nitpick: for the final scene, the heroic Air Force is fighting the giant alien ship (10 or 15 mile diameter, right?) which is poised to fire it’s Main Weapon into Area 51. Since the weapon is directly in the center of the dish, how did the ship manage to miss the entire facility when Clark Griswald’s cousin Eddie kamikaze-ed it? \*\* Because the alien ship conviently decided to fly away and thus spare AREA 51 from being crushed. ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/62 "2003-02-16T10:39:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Greywolf73 \* > \*\*So I was bored one afternoon and flipping channels and ran across a movie on HBO called “Panic”. I only watched a few minutes of it becase I saw this brilliant scene and my brain hurt so much I had to turn the channel: > > A father and his son are in the woods where the father is teaching the son to use a gun. They spot a squirrel sitting on a log a few yards away and the father orders the son to aim and fire. The camera then cuts away to show a cute and lively little squirrel sitting on a log. > The boy fires the gun and of course, misses. That’d be fine except for the fact that two seconds later the father tells the son to try again. To _aim and fire at the same squirrel on the log_! The boy fires again and this time hits the poor squirrel. > Umm…unless that was an incredibly stupid squirrel I seriously doubt that it was still sitting there calmly waiting to be shot at again. 😕 > Sheesh! \*\* Donald Sutherland’s character says after the first shot misses, “Ok, look, there’s another one. Aim again.” So the squirrel wasn’t stupid…just the one who came out of the trees to see what the loud bang was. On a side note, Panic is a fantastic movie, and I’d recommend it to everyone. Donald Sutherland, William H. Macey, Neve Campbell, Tracy Ullman, and JOHN RITTER. Got to love that cast line up. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/63 "2003-02-16T10:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Inky-** _: > **\… yet twice he’s shown using them to slow his momentum by stabbing into the Statue of Liberty. Technically, shouldn’t that be about as effective as trying to slow a slide down a mountain of Velveeta by stabbing into it with a knitting needle.** Well, if you’ve got a real long needle, and some seriously cold or stale Velveeta… In defense of the flick, IIRC, he does indeed keep sliding after stabbing his claws in vertically, but the friction involved slows him down a bit. Then, when he actually stops himself completely, he stabs 'em in horizontally, with the cutting edge facing 90 degrees away from down. This is the bit where the camera cuts to Scott and Jean, inside, and the claws burst through the side if the statue, between them. Unbreakable bones and fast healing ligaments make for some extreme gymnastics, kids. Now, if only we could get some Lucas-style CGI “improvements” made to that scene where he swings around the spike in the crown, cutting the tip off it in the process… What irks me about **that** scene is the fact that in the original animatic, and even in the trailers released before the movie, he just grabs the spike and swings back around it. Someone thought that the final version of that scene was an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/64 "2003-02-16T21:17:16Z")
Personally, with the film “Trading Places”, I never figured out how, near the end of the film, Winthrop and Valentine made that much money. As I recall, they bought the same futures that the Duke Brothers did. Wouldn’t they be wiped out when the price collasped too? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/65 "2003-02-16T21:36:30Z")
The scene in **A Nightmare on Elm Street** where Nancy tells her boyfriend Glenn (Johnny Depp) that she hasn’t slept in seven days. She looks pretty good, and is pretty mentally alert for someone who hasn’t had seven days of sleep. A lock of grey hair and a faint darkness under the eyes does not convince me. Wouldn’t you be on the verge of death by then? I mean, I could be wrong as I am not up to date with my sleep science. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/66 "2003-02-17T00:19:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Personally, with the film “Trading Places”, I never figured out how, near the end of the film, Winthrop and Valentine made that much money. As I recall, they bought the same futures that the Duke Brothers did. Wouldn’t they be wiped out when the price collasped too? \*\* I believe what W&V were doing was short-selling. It’s like the stock/futures equivalent of securing a loan. The way it works is a person sells shares they don’t have but promises to buy back the same shares at a later time, hopefully at a lower price. W&V start out with lots of selling then the bad forecast drives down the price down to rock bottom. W&V buy back the shares that they sold, earning a good chunk of change in the process plus the value of those shares can only go up. The Dukes don’t notice what’s gong until it’s too late and by they they’re stuck with shares that are viturtually worthless. They’re ruined because they don’t have the funds to pay for the shares that they bought while W&V were selling. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/67 "2003-02-17T02:05:24Z")
> [@](#): > > W&V start out with lots of selling then the bad forecast drives down the price down to rock bottom. Nitpick: The GOOD forecast for the orange crop sends the price down. The price has been artificially raised by the Dukes, who have been fed the false inside information. They think the crop will be bad, and they move quickly to buy up the futures now, while they’re cheap. Lots of other people follow their lead, and the price goes WAY above what the market will support about ten minutes later, when the the real report comes out. But remember, W&V have been SELLING on the way up, and then BUY on the way down. It’s the classic money-making formula, just done in reverse order. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/68 "2003-02-17T02:47:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phoenix Dragon \* > \*\*However, 2001 is definatly right in that a person would not suffer immediate effects, and could opperate for as much as a minute or so. \*\* From what I have read, you’d only have a few seconds. There have been some experiments done, as well as accidents in which people were exposed to vacuum. [I wrote about this, describing “Misison to Mars”](http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?sub=%7BF1B72E2C-3783-11D4-A3AA-009027BA22E4%7D&doc=%7BA2E7412C-1338-11D5-A3B3-009027BA22E4%7D). Nasty. You’d have a few seconds, then pass out. Then there’s paralysis, then convulsions, then paralysis again. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/69 "2003-02-17T03:22:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*Nitpick: The GOOD forecast for the orange crop sends the price down. \*\* Ah, Okay. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ersatz_Shmoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/70 "2003-02-17T06:10:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sciguy \* > \*\*Bah, Batman has it easy. Superman catches people as they’re falling down, and **he’s flying up** , and they’re perfectally all right. Of course, Spider-Man tried that once, and it didn’t work out quite so well… ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/71 "2003-02-18T03:27:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > **From what I have read, you’d only have a few seconds. There have been some experiments done, as well as accidents in which people were exposed to vacuum.** Hrm… But that NASA “Bioastronautics Data Book” cite seems to be refering to an explosive decompression (With reference to “rapid pressure loss” and the like), which I would imagine would dramatically reduce your life expectancy. However, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I mis-remembered the source I’d read and accidentally substituded “operate” for “survive.” Probably did… Does that book indicate any difference between explosive and slower decompressions, or did it find the effects roughly similar? Not that it makes much of a difference for the movies, even if removing the helmet wasn’t an explosive decompression, it’d probably be rapid enough to not make much of a difference… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203/72 "2003-02-18T07:06:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epigramcracker \* > \*\*It’s annoying in **Minority Report** how Tom Cruise can still scan his cut out eyes to get back into the SUPER RESTRICTED core of the futury Fed building. They SO would have annulled his eyescan by then or SOMETHING. \*\* How about when he decided to hide from the police at his ex-wife’s house? Not something a smart cop would do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-scenes-that-defy-logic/155203.md?page=3)