# Science mistakes that ruin films for you (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2005, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771 "2005-11-06T07:53:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/141 "2005-11-20T02:54:32Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Dave Bowman’s escape from the pod in “2001” bugged me. After going to such lengths to make space seem like space actually is (no sound in a vacuum etc) the pod remains strangely still even after Dave blows the hatch off with explosive bolts and the atmosphere inside blows out. I’m curious, what specifically bugged you? I was bugged also when I saw this movie for the first time at the age of 10, but since then I’ve learned a little more about physics and find it very realistic. There are a few caveats, I’ll admit. The pressure in the pod needs to be very low and he needs to have expelled all the air from his lungs to keep from rupturing aveoli, but very short exposure to near vacuum starting from a pressure of about 3psi should be quite survivable. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/142 "2005-11-20T03:17:33Z")
> [@flex727](#): > > I’m curious, what specifically bugged you? . You are answering an objection that **Pushkin** did not make – **Pushkin** referred specifically to this: > [@Pushkin](#): > > After going to such lengths to make space seem like space actually is (no sound in a vacuum etc) the pod remains strangely still even after Dave blows the hatch off with explosive bolts and the atmosphere inside blows out. That is to say, that how come the pod itself is not seen as being propelled in the _opposite_ direction from Dave Bowman (away from _Discovery_). There is a rationalization for this, if you postulate that the pod pressure is low and the pod mass high, so the backward motion would be slow and thus there was no time in the on-screen shot to actually see it perceivably moving away from the Emergency Hatch POV. ---
**Author:** ![ImaginalDisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e57/32.png) [@ImaginalDisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImaginalDisc)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/143 "2005-11-20T13:53:17Z")
Noone’s mentioned how light gold is in movies? I was watching a deleted scene in Hellboy where a skinny girl passes a suitcase full of gold bullion to a russian general, and they treat it as though it were full of styrofoam (which is probably was). Are there any movies with gold where people actualy behave as if it’s dense? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/144 "2005-11-20T19:23:35Z")
1992’s _Medicine Man_ was advertised endlessly on TV - Lorraine Bracco picks up a piece of paper, reads it, and gasps “This is the cure for cancer!” They’re using a gas chromatograph. Right in the middle of the Amazon. Sure. My Hubby can barely keep that delicate piece of equipment functional in an air-conditioned, temperature-controlled laboratory. Plus, everybody knows Lorraine Bracco is a shrink, not a lab tech. In _Air Force One_, Harrison Ford’s airplane flies right under another one that’s blowing up - **with him hanging on to a rope, dangling out the back!**. Come on now, people. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/145 "2005-11-20T19:30:23Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > They’re using a gas chromatograph. > Right in the middle of the Amazon. > Sure. I was using a gas chromatogaph in the middle of the Colombian jungle in 1995. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/146 "2005-11-20T19:30:52Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > However, if we did have that 24 hours advance warning, Jack Bauer would be able to stop it. Careful, That’s the plot for season five! ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/147 "2005-11-20T19:31:47Z")
Is that what your GPS told you? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/148 "2005-11-20T19:40:01Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Not to mention, at the very start of the movie, the main character (the guy) wakes up on an operating table with no urine or feces on him, and he’s completely fine despite not having had any food or water. Wasn’t he there for 28 days? I rationalized that Jim wasn’t abandoned completely for a month, but instead someone was able to care for him until recently. That doesn’t explain why he didn’t even have a catheter (too much of an ick factor for the audience?). But if he’d been getting IV nutrition for a month would he still have bowl movements? ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/149 "2005-11-21T11:22:12Z")
Not science but geography. I’m watching an old episode of “Law & Order” tonight - the one where Jill Hennessey is killed off. Always makes me cry. Anyway, in the episode, Kincaide complains to her step-father that she was “at Attica today” (witnessing an execution) and this has freaked her out. Isn’t the NY death house at Dannemora? mm ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/150 "2005-11-21T12:43:16Z")
Oh, everybody jump through a plate glass window, Such a lot of fun to smash through those windows. Throw your buddy, toss your chum It won’t hurt, what are you dumb? Ain’t ya seen the movie where, The hero goes through without a care? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/151 "2005-12-10T16:47:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I have not seen the '98 Godzilla movie because of one thing I noticed in the previews. This giant lizard is stomping around Manhattan without setting off any car alarms! I hate to be defending this movie in any way, but the preview I saw showed the exact opposite – it specifically showed cars being shaken enough for their alarms to go off, as the large lizard approached. Believe me, if you saw the movie, car alarms would be the least of your complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/152 "2005-12-10T23:38:59Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I hate to be defending this movie in any way, but the preview I saw showed the exact opposite – it specifically showed cars being shaken enough for their alarms to go off, as the large lizard approached. > > Believe me, if you saw the movie, car alarms would be the least of your complaints. Aha, but like the changing size issue that’s something they show in the movie and then forget about. Sometimes cars bounce, sometimes they don’t, with no logical reason for it to change other than it would be too much trouble to model that effect every time Godzilla was on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/153 "2005-12-11T00:16:05Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > …with no logical reason for it to change other than it would be too much trouble to model that effect every time Godzilla was on screen. That’s a pretty compelling reason, actually. I _wanted_ to like that movie so much – the special effects were spectacular, from the motion-controlled helicopter shot of the beached ship at the beginning, all the way through. The bouncing cars were done as a practical effect – a whole block of parked cars rigged with hydraulic rams to make them shake in unison. the scene was sweetened with CGI details to make it look like objects in the background were being affected, too. Great effect. Crap movie. Anyway, it made for some great shots where the cars’ motion was the actual subject, but it would have been ridiculously expensive and complicated to attempt to do consistently throughout the film as a background detail. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/154 "2005-12-11T08:50:58Z")
> [@ImaginalDisc](#): > > Noone’s mentioned how light gold is in movies? I was watching a deleted scene in Hellboy where a skinny girl passes a suitcase full of gold bullion to a russian general, and they treat it as though it were full of styrofoam (which is probably was). Are there any movies with gold where people actualy behave as if it’s dense? Incredibly, even \*Goldfinger \* got this wrong. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/155 "2005-12-11T10:02:55Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > [T]he point is made throughout the movie that the Red October is an aggressive, first-strike weapon; but ballistic-missile submarines serve the exact opposite function. They are designed to be hidden so they can’t be destroyed in a first strike and guarantee retaliation. What bothered me more was that the US officials had a time limit they were all worried about before Red October could launch its missiles. Hello, folks? It’s an _intercontinental_ ballistic missile launching platform. It could fire from beside the dock and still hit the US. Sure they could be sneaking up so that the missiles wouldn’t have to go very far but the US already knew they were coming. So not much of a sneak attack then. > [@](#): > > Second, the Americans are particularly afraid of the new submarine because of its propulsion system that will make it undetectable by their sonar. But the operator on the Dallas figures out how to track it within a day. Once that information gets out to the rest of the U.S. fleet, the Red October is no more of a threat than any other Soviet sub. In the book, the best sonar on the newest American sub evaluates Red October’s noise emissions as “anomalous magma displacement.” So it was more of a concern that the sonar operators wouldn’t know what to look for. The book handled the issue much better, noting that while there are a lot of ships out there searching for Red October, the ocean is also very huge and there’s a lot of area to cover. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/156 "2005-12-11T10:15:28Z")
> [@ImaginalDisc](#): > > Are there any movies with gold where people actualy behave as if it’s dense? Die Hard 3. Not that that movie doesn’t have a few physics problems of its own! Plus the binary explosive bombs would have been trivially easy to [disrupt](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2413bombsquad.html) before the components mixed. Didn’t spoil the movie for me though, the Die Hard universe, like the James Bond universe, has a slight overlap with the cartoon universe! (Okay, the problems with Die Hard 2 crossed the line - firing blanks out of an SMG and not being able to tell? Igniting a trail of jet fuel on the ground? Grumble.) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/157 "2005-12-11T14:34:39Z")
> [@VegemiteMoose](#): > > Oh, everybody jump through a plate glass window, Done it, by the way. Dog’s done it, too. (Great story about that… one of those glass-slatted doors) The trick is never to pull back. Not to flinch. Keep going forward, and you won’t get hurt. ---
**Author:** ![PsychoWench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9a140/32.png) [@PsychoWench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PsychoWench)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/158 "2005-12-11T15:31:35Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > I’m just saying, movie Spider-Man got lucky is all. As far as him being lucky goes I’m still wondering what kind of freaking spider bite is capable of bypassing the [square cube law.](http://www.auburn.edu/academic/classes/zy/0301/Topic4/Topic4.html#square) See, this is why one can’t apply science to comic books. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/159 "2005-12-11T15:52:20Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I hate to be defending this movie in any way, but the preview I saw showed the exact opposite – it specifically showed cars being shaken enough for their alarms to go off, as the large lizard approached. > > Believe me, if you saw the movie, car alarms would be the least of your complaints. In hindsight, I actually think this approach would have been a threefold improvement: adding to the versimilitude of the movie, providing more authentic humor than the actual script, and effectively blotting out most of the characters’ dialogue. (SCENE: THE MONSTER’S FIRST ATTACK ON NEW YORK) MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: This thing is too powerful to [**WOOOP WOOOP WOOOP** _ **GLANGGLANGGLANGGLANG** _ **PBEEP PBEEP PBEEP**] not a dinosaur, something else; probably [**EEURNK EEURNK EEURNK _HAWOOONK HAWOOONK_**] lure it away! HANK AZARIA’s CHARACTER: Couldn’t we [**FWEEET! FWEEET! _EENHH EENH EENH EENH_ HARNK HARNK HARNK**] work out that way? EBERT GUY: What?! MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: I think he [\*\*BLATT BLATT BLATT _KER-WOOP! KER-WOOP!_ \*\*] figure out exactly why [\ ***TWEEEEP TWEEEEP \* WURP! WURP! WURP! WURP!**] name isn’t pronounced like that, it’s [**FNAARK FNAARK FNAARK _MYIP MYIP MYIP MYIP_**] only chance! EBERT GUY: If we can’t even [**_BWAAARP BWAAARP BWAAARP_ KER-WICK! KER-WICK!**] other plan is there? MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: What?! (20 MINUTES LATER) MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: It’s obvious that \*_[BEEURP BEEURP BEEURP PEEEP! PEEEP! PEEEP! \* YONK YONK YONK]_ lays eggs to [**NADER NADER NADER NADER**] FRENCH GUY: [\*_AAAWOOOOOP WORP WORP WORP AAAWOOOOOP! \* HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA_] again? GIRL: If [**NYEEURH NYEEURH NYEEURH NYEEURH _YARK! YARK! YARK!_**] only listen to [\ ***HAAAONK HAAAONK HAAAONK \* FNORD FNORD _PINGPINGPINGPING_**]! MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: [**BLEEEAT BLEEEAT BLEEEAT _MXYZPTLK_ WHONK WHONK WHONK _TWITT! TWITT! TWITT!_ BLESBOK! BLESBOK!**] EBERT GUY: Sorry, what?! How the [**BORK BORK BORK _WHEEUUUT! WHEEUUUT!_ PHYOORP PHYOORP PHYOORP**] Chrysler Building! MATTHEW BRODERICK’S CHARACTER: I said, "somehow we need [**FROOONK FROOONK**] we need [_ **PA-WHEEET! PA-WHEEET! \* MALKOVICH CHURP! CHURP! CHURP! BLAAAATTT**] said, "somehow we [**AAAAANKH AAAAANKH AAAAANKH**] \* SHUT UP SHUTUPSHUTUP!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771/160 "2005-12-11T16:10:18Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I rationalized that Jim wasn’t abandoned completely for a month, but instead someone was able to care for him until recently. That doesn’t explain why he didn’t even have a catheter (too much of an ick factor for the audience?). But if he’d been getting IV nutrition for a month would he still have bowl movements? I haven’t seen the movie since it was released in theaters, but I seem to remember Jim removing a catheter before he got up to explore the hospital. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-mistakes-that-ruin-films-for-you-open-spoilers/329771.md?page=9)