Is there an unlikely quote or scene that just pulls you out of the movie. Something said or done that reminds you “no way, the characters would not really say that, the actor is reading the script”. Some examples:
“Democracy” in the Star Wars prequels. Just seemed like too specific a term to be used in the Star Wars universe. “The Republic” is one thing, but a non-proper use of “democracy”, it just seemed odd to see a Greek-rooted word/concept in that galaxy.
“My axe is in his nervous system” by Gimli in the Two Towers. Would the folks of middle earth really know what a nervous system is and how it acts? Or use the words “nervous system”?
“I Spy” with Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson. “You could attach a Weapon of Mass Destruction right here…”. Nope, not a bomb or a missile, but a WMD, lifted straight from current events.
The crew in the first Mission: Impossible movie have to infiltrate CIA headquarters, so they remotely fake a fire alarm and show up dressed as firemen, to be escorted through a building by an Uzi-armed guard. One of them casually slips away from the group into a conveniently unlocked closet and no-one in the crowded hallway, all of whom could be expected to be watching the running firemen (not something one sees every day, to be sure, unless one works in a firehouse), notices.
I reflexively said “yeah, right!” in the theatre. Everything after that moment became an exercise in analyzing just how ridiculous each scene was, with no thought left for suspension of disbelief.
While we’re on the topic of Mission: Impossible, I’d also like to mention the rat in the ventilation shaft and the helicopter that flew through the tunnel.
Far more damaging to me were a few missteps in the last two LOTR movies. Specifically
Treebeard NOT knowing about the destroyed trees at the edges of his forest(TTT), and
the “scrubbing bubbles” scene in ROTK as the ghosts swarm over various enemies
(incl. an elephant). I worried if PJ would attempt to show that onscreen (in the book
it never was described) and I was right, unfortunately. Just takes me right out of
both films…
Most historical movies are ruined for me by erroneous details.
Old WWII movies that use American Patton tanks for German Tigers. I mean, would it really have broken the budget to make some reasonable mockup, like they did for Kelly’s Heroes?
Movies where the costume designer has been allowed to introduce designs that reflect current “coolness”, like Maximus’ gladiator helmet in Gladiator.
Movies like The 13th Warrior where 10th century vikings are wearing armor from every historical period from the Roman Empire to the 16th century. Also in Gladiator where the Roman soldiers in the opening battle are wearing helmets from the English Civil War.
The obsession with explosions, such that every Roman/medieval catapult fires napalm (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven) and every American War of Independence-/American Civil War- era cannon fires explosive shells.
Ancient/medieval/sci-fi fantasy cavalry constantly engaging in hand-to-hand combat with people on foot, resulting in them all getting de-horsed; when in reality they avoided that fate by approaching only to within 20-30 yards and shooting arrows or throwing javelins, keeping themselves immune from any efforts by the infantry. That’s what made cavalry so effective; but by watching hollywood movies you get the impression they were almost useless. Note: of course, medival knights did contact infantry; but they charged with long lances that still allowed them to stay out of infantry-weapon range. But in most movies they use swords instead of lances, resulting in “more exciting” hand-to-hand combat and de-horsings.
Sometimes, in a book adaptation, a line will be verbatim from the book, and delivered so poorly that it just annoys me. The Great Gatsby adaptation with Sam Waterston and any Harry Potter movie (the first two especially) were spectacularly awful at this.
Any scene where the protagonist has to do something, has been TOLD he should do it, has ALL sorts of good reasons for doing it (whether it’s marry the princess/search for the mcguffin/visit the wise man, whatever) but for some reason just won’t do it. It’s called an idiot plot point, and it jerks me right out of the movie every time, because I KNOW I’m being fucked with at that point.
Similarly, the psycho killer horrifically murders someone but loses his gun for some reason. Bystander witness picks up gun, points it at killer but won’t fire, inevitably being soon disarmed and killed. I’ve turned off movies because of that, out of sheer disgust.
This is probably not exactly what the OP is looking for, but in any watery scene (think Jaws, as an example), whenever water droplets hit the camera lens, it just, well, bugs me. It’s the equivalent of the boom mike shadow showing up in the scene–it immediately calls attention to the fact that this is being filmed. Yes, I know it’s a movie, but I want to suspend my disbelief and will do so, so long as there’s not some plot issue or physical evidence that sabotages the effort.
There’s a scene in Die Hard where Bruce Willis is climbing a wall, soon to discover the huge pile of explosives hidden in the ceiling, when a big lens flare rainbows across the image. Unable or unwilling to fix it in post or reshoot it, I guess, they added a deep nroooooow sound effect which actually helped, matching the tone of the scene and muting the incongruity of the artifact.
–Any movie in which the protagonist sits there and waits for the killer to finish them off. I immediately lose sympathy for the character and start rooting for the bad guy. They deserve to die if all they can do is stand there and whimper. “The Grudge” had a perfect example of this. Sarah Michelle Gellar sits there on the floor, trembling, while the evil ghosty girl crawls toward her. I shouted at the screen, “Bitch,* kick *her!”
–Any movie in which the female lead watches passively while the male lead fights the bad guy. There’s a scene in “The Princess Bride” which illustrates this. Westley struggles with the ROUS while Buttercup gasps and dodges around to get a good view of the action. “Bitch, pick up a stick and clobber it!” You half expect Westley to get to his feet and say, “Gee, Buttercup, thanks for all the help! Don’t know what I would have done without you!”
I’ll have to look for that one now, but I suspect it will still bug me. It’s a slippery slope, dammit! Once you permit a lens flare to intrude, you might just as well show the director on screen giving advice to the actors.
Whilst I applaud your general idea that we should all help each other, I think the Princess Bride is pretty specific.
Buttercup is a spoilt person, who treats young Wesley like dirt (he always simply replies ‘as you wish’).
There’s no evidence she ever does any work.
She is heading for a life of mindless luxury as the evil Prince’s bride, when he decides to have her murdered simply as a political manouvre. She thinks Wesley is dead.
Rescued by ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’, she must feel a right clot (technical term).
So I think all her instincts are to rely on her beauty rather than take action.
Also she has warned Wesley about the rumours, and she knows he’s a talented man…
