# Movies with Backwards-running sections **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529 "2010-06-01T18:06:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/21 "2010-06-01T20:25:12Z")
Actually, I think the Bond films did this quite a bit. At the end of **You Only Live Twice** the sub is supposed to be surfacing under the raft Bond is in, but the water is clearly not moving correctly for that. If you really _did_ try to surface under a raft it would be extremely difficult to get properly centered, I think. And the odds are the water washing off would take the raft with it. It’s much easier to film the sub diving with the raft atop it, then show it in reverse. Oddly enough, I understand that the scenes of the candles coming up out of the water in the recent musical version of **The Phantom of the Opera** is _not_ reversed – they had special devices made to give the impression of candles coming out of the water and lighting. Waste of money, IMHO. It would’ve been better spent hiring someone who could sing better than Gerard Butler. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/22 "2010-06-01T20:30:07Z")
In _Brazil_, Robert DeNiro was filmed backwards with trash newspapers being pulled off of him. When played forwards, it appeared he was being attacked and covered by the papers. I’ve seen this technique used for when someone is suddenly entangled by a rope or whip. They just film the rope being yanked off of a person and play it backwards. The squid in Disneys \*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea \*was shot backwards so that is appeared to grasp the _Nautilus._ This had the unintended effect of making the squid appear to swim tentacle first, an error. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/23 "2010-06-01T20:39:38Z")
In **Barbarella** , Jane has such great sex her hair curls up, which is obviously just roller-curled hair being blown out by a big fan, then shown in reverse. (Don’t ask me why I remember that!) IIRC, the metamorphosis scene in **American Werewolf in London** involved people pulling hairs through synthetic skin, which is shown in reverse so it looks like hair growing. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/24 "2010-06-01T20:50:19Z")
The scene at the start of \*Monkey \*where Sandy jumps out of the water. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg) ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/25 "2010-06-01T21:03:59Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I see this quite a bit with car stunts. Cars driving “backwards” but no reverse lights on. Wow, that’s totally going to jump out at me now. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/26 "2010-06-01T21:18:54Z")
The shot in **Pulp Fiction** in which John Travolta stabs Uma Thurman right in the heart with a rather sizable syringe full of adrenaline (or something) was filmed backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/27 "2010-06-01T21:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > at one point, while Jabba the Hutt is getting some of his living-frog sushi from its bowl, the camera pans up from Salacious Crumb to Jabba and I noticed that the smoke billowing behind Jabba was going backwards in an impossible manner. The bubbles in the frog Cup were going down, as well. Clearly, that clip was printed going backwards. I’ve noticed that, but always assumed it was an intentional effect to add to the overall “alienness” of the scene. Almost like a mystical Arabian Nights kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/28 "2010-06-01T21:23:51Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > In _Brazil_, Robert DeNiro was filmed backwards with trash newspapers being pulled off of him. When played forwards, it appeared he was being attacked and covered by the papers. > > I’ve seen this technique used for when someone is suddenly entangled by a rope or whip. They just film the rope being yanked off of a person and play it backwards. When Boba Fett wraps Luke with his little projectile cable on the skiff in _Jedi_, the same technique was used. > [@](#): > > The squid in Disneys \*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea \*was shot backwards so that is appeared to grasp the _Nautilus._ Ditto the tendrils of the growing dog-beast in the cage in Carpenter’s _The Thing_. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/29 "2010-06-01T21:28:16Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > What was that famous scene where the woman was coming out of the water holding sparklers? that was backwards. I think you’re thinking of the musical number “The Inquisition” from _History of the World, Part I_, but I could be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/30 "2010-06-01T21:28:49Z")
Used several times in Jean Cocteau’s [Orphée](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/). Special effects on a mini-budget. Gotta raise the dead somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/31 "2010-06-01T21:29:25Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > What was that famous scene where the woman was coming out of the water holding sparklers? that was backwards. Esther Williams? ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/32 "2010-06-01T21:40:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Another possibility occurred to me – in a film of Akira Kurasawa’s –_Ikiru_, I think – the film starts with a train pulling into a station and when it stops you can see a woman through the train window, perfectly framed. That would be tough to arrange, unless they filmed the train _pulling out_ of the station, then ran it backwards. I’m not so sure, one of the most impressive things about Japanese trains for me was how they always pulled up _exactly_ in line with the door markers on the platforms. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/33 "2010-06-01T21:49:03Z")
There’s a part in **Anaconda** where the boat stops in a particular spot. Nice shot with a waterfall in the background, etc. When the boat has to leave…? Yeah. They just ran the footage backwards. **Yes** , even with a small waterfall in the shot. And yes, it was obviously falling upwards then. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/34 "2010-06-01T21:49:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > these are different from cases where the reversed film serves a purpose, either humorous […] or eerie (as in the final Dream sequence in **Carrie** , or the many backwards-speaking sequences in **Twin Peaks** ) Not what you asked, but in the intentionally eerie category there’s the evil girl in The Ring. (Come to think of it, didn’t they use it in The Grudge as well? ) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/35 "2010-06-01T21:51:26Z")
Not a movie, but the video for Weird Al Yankovic’s [Amish Paradise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg) has a backwards scene. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/36 "2010-06-01T22:50:50Z")
Another from Star Wars. Not quite the same thing, but anytime there are automatic doors, such as on the Death Star, it’s shot in slow mo then sped up, because the effect was done with a crew slowly pulling open heavy doors. Hence the wooden looks on the actors faces while they hold still for a couple minutes. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/37 "2010-06-01T22:51:59Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I think Mel Brooks did a few as well, but I can’t think of any offhand. Spaceballs, when sucking (and later blowing) the air from Druidia. All the shots of the trees and snow-capped mountains get reversed. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/38 "2010-06-01T22:53:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Esther Williams? Also Miss Piggy. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/39 "2010-06-01T22:59:47Z")
I’m pretty sure that in at least one scene in _The Mummy_, the effects for Imotep’s sand-form are done in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529/40 "2010-06-01T23:31:21Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > In The Pride Of The Yankees, Gary Cooper was filmed wearing a uniform with the number sewn on backwards, batted righty, and ran to third instead of first. Then they reversed the print - all because Cooper was a righty and Lou Gehrig was a lefty. Never could figure out why they didn’t do that with Ray Liotta in _Field of Dreams_-perhaps it’s because Kevin Costner would have to shown throwing lefty as well… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-backwards-running-sections/541529.md?page=3)