# "Sorry, my suspension of disbelief doesn't stretch that far." (Open Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603 "2006-06-21T18:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/21 "2006-06-21T20:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=ianzin] Worst example I can remember offhand was the original ‘Die Hard’. Great movie and all, but too many scenes where Willis is being chased from every direction (the bad guys even had a helicopter to shoot from), yet despite the hail of bullets flying every which way from some serious hi-power weaponry, he doesn’t get even a flesh wound. [/QUOTE] He did get a flesh wound…from walking across glass with bare feet! ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/22 "2006-06-21T20:38:00Z")
[QUOTE=ianzin] Worst example I can remember offhand was the original ‘Die Hard’. Great movie and all, but too many scenes where Willis is being chased from every direction (the bad guys even had a helicopter to shoot from), yet despite the hail of bullets flying every which way from some serious hi-power weaponry, he doesn’t get even a flesh wound. [/QUOTE] No, I won’t allow that! Well maybe a little bit, but there were extenuating circumstances. On the first rooftop chase, Carl tells the other bad guys, quite clearly, “nobody kills him but me”, Carl wanting revenge for his brother’s death. They weren’t shooting to kill, they were herding McClane into position for Carl to take his shot. The helicopter belonged to the FBI, not the bad guys, and they had a rooftop full of hostages to worry about. And McClane did indeed receive a bullet wound, Carl shot him in the arm during their extended fight scene. There are plenty of other things wrong with the movie (the fall and catch in the lift shaft for example) but it is far from the worst offender in its disrespect of machine guns. Practically every Bond movie is worse. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/23 "2006-06-21T20:38:59Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Mapp] One more: the huge submarine in LXG navigating the canals of Venice. Had the filmmakers ever seen Venice? [/QUOTE] My favorite laugh-out-loud absurd moment with the submarine is when they are hit (I forget by what) and all the furniture in the war room gets knocked over. There are like six redcoats who go and pick up the tables to set them back up. Yep, whenever we’re attacked and go to emergency positions, I want you guys to rearrange the furniture. ---
**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 21, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/24 "2006-06-21T20:40:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Not likely, sure. Not probable, sure. Possible, yes. Ludicrous, not at all. Sorry – if you concatenate one Extremely Unlikely with another Extremely Unlikely you get vanishingly small odds of survival (or even occurrence, for that matter), which equal One Ludicrous in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/25 "2006-06-21T20:47:55Z")
Hey, if you want be a half empty, that’s your business. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/26 "2006-06-21T20:49:48Z")
**Terminator 2** : The evil Terminator has commandeered an 18 wheeler and is chasing that irritating little shit John Conner who’s on a bike. Even with the pedal to the metal, the 18-wheeler can’t catch up to the kid peddling a dirtbike! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/27 "2006-06-21T20:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] No, the worst example of this is from the second _Toimb Raider_ movie (don’t look at me like that: I was on a plane, and had already seen everything else they were showing). Lara and random hunky love intertest avoid a hail of machinegun bullets by ducking behind the railing of a fire escape. [The railing](http://www.wrdsnpix.com/evaporation/archives/images/fire_escape_cherub.jpg) of a [fire escape.](http://goldmm.com/nscale/gmnsfesc.jpg) It blocks, IIRC, the better part of a full clip from a Kalashnikov. [/QUOTE] Hey, if its good enough for the _A-Team_… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/28 "2006-06-21T20:51:46Z")
“Why don’t you just kill him now?” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/29 "2006-06-21T20:51:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] How about sitcoms where some overweight schlub always has a hot wife. [/QUOTE] Well, seeing as I _am_ an overweight schlub with a hot wife, I tend to let this one slide 🙂 not Kevin James overweight. like, Jim Belushi overweight. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/30 "2006-06-21T20:54:04Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Even with the pedal to the metal, the 18-wheeler can’t catch up to the kid peddling a dirtbike! [/QUOTE] Well, it was a motorbike, not a pedal-powered dirtbike. But point taken anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/31 "2006-06-21T20:55:19Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Where do you drop off the suspension of disbelief bridge? [/QUOTE] You can pry my suspension of disbelief bridge out of my cold, dead, hands! 😉 My disbelief gets completely suspended the moment I start to watch a movie/read a book/watch a show. If I buy into part of it, I buy into all of it. It’s entertainment, therefore I don’t give a flying fig how “realistic” it is – even if it’s _trying_ to be realistic. I usually don’t even notice inconsistencies until someone else points them out. And it’s not because I’m stupid, honest! ---
**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 21, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/32 "2006-06-21T20:57:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey, if you want be a half empty, that’s your business. Is the glass epsilon squared full, or 1- epsilon squared empty? \* And epsilon is small enough as it is. You have to be an absurd optimist or a helluva salesman to push for the epsilonsquared thing as anything more than an anomaly. - or 1/(epsilon squared) as big as it needs to be? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/33 "2006-06-21T21:00:42Z")
…oh lord…We’re impressed with how smart you are Cal. You can stop now. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/34 "2006-06-21T21:12:33Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Mapp] _Independence Day_ - Outrunning fireballs, accessing an alien computer system and giving it a virus? No problem for me! Driving from downtown New York to Washington DC in about 5 1/2 hours in Armageddon traffic? I’ve found my limit in what I’ll believe. [/QUOTE] See I have to take exception to that. Hundreds of people are dying in fireballs over the planet, but we cheer when the puppygod makes it into the tunnel in L.A. (L.A.'s got tunnels? that’s an honest question.) But using a Mac to infect an Alien OS, bringing down the GLOBAL attack force? skuze me? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/35 "2006-06-21T21:13:43Z")
puppy DOG puppy DOG. I SWEAR I corrected that typo with the exact same typo. ---
**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 21, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/36 "2006-06-21T21:17:03Z")
> [@](#): > > …oh lord…We’re impressed with how smart you are Cal. You can stop now. I can’t – it’s too much fun pointing out deficiencies in probabilistic arguments. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/37 "2006-06-21T21:29:51Z")
Well, _I’m_ pointing out thread title deficiencies, and then editing the title to include “Open Spoilers”. ‘Cause there are some. Ya’ know. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/38 "2006-06-21T21:35:22Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I can’t – it’s too much fun pointing out deficiencies in probabilistic arguments. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sofaspud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sofaspud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofaspud)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/39 "2006-06-21T21:38:59Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] Well, seeing as I _am_ an overweight schlub with a hot wife, I tend to let this one slide 🙂 not Kevin James overweight. like, Jim Belushi overweight. [/QUOTE] Hear hear! I’m with **Skammer** on this one. I’m an overweight schlub, and my wife is hot! Hear me roar! I offer as evidence the number of people who have hit on her in my presence, since it’s apparently unfathomable that she might, y’know, be with _the fat guy!_ ## –sofaspud ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603/40 "2006-06-21T21:48:45Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] (L.A.'s got tunnels? that’s an honest question.) [/quote] A few, yeah. There’s a long one near the old [Angel’s Flight](http://www.westworld.com/~elson/larail/angelsflight.html) trolly that gets used a lot for commercial shoots, and my kid loves driving north on the 110 just past Chinatown because we pass through three smallish tunnels. [QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] But using a Mac to infect an Alien OS, bringing down the GLOBAL attack force? skuze me? [/QUOTE] Use the best tool for the job! 😃 (Though actually, I hear that one of the deleted scenes from the movie has Jeff Goldblum’s geek character recording alien transmissions with his Mac early in the movie, and subsequently decoding their protocol or somesuch.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-my-suspension-of-disbelief-doesnt-stretch-that-far-open-spoilers/361603.md?page=3)