# Things in movies for which you just can't suspend disbelief (poss unboxed spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2007, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576 "2007-07-05T09:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/61 "2007-07-05T21:06:34Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] “555” telephone numbers. Everybody **in the whole freaking world** knows that those are fake. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen this mentioned in other threads. I guess I really don’t get it. Do you look at Meryl Streep in a movie and lose your suspension of disbelief because you know she’s not really the character she’s playing? When you get down to this level, everything in most movies (ie. non-documentary) is fake. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/62 "2007-07-05T21:07:43Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] I know. I could be disarming a bomb or 15 seconds from figuring out cancer and if a hot blonde were blowing me, I’d hafta look down and at least say “Oh? What do we have here?” [/QUOTE] Well, if you have to ask… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/63 "2007-07-05T21:15:00Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] I can suspend disbelief to an extraordinary extent (hell, I’m a Doctor Who fan) but that pulls me out of the moment every single time. [/QUOTE] I don’t understand why a studio (or executive producer nowadays) doesn’t just buy a freeking phone number and use it. It would cost, what, $30 a month? Don’t even need to install a phone. But at least the script would sound reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/64 "2007-07-05T21:21:43Z")
[QUOTE=RogueRacer] I’ve seen this mentioned in other threads. I guess I really don’t get it. Do you look at Meryl Streep in a movie and lose your suspension of disbelief because you know she’s not really the character she’s playing? [/QUOTE] “555” bothers me too, actually. It’s probably because it’s so well known, it’s like the filmmakers aren’t even trying. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/65 "2007-07-05T21:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I don’t understand why a studio (or executive producer nowadays) doesn’t just buy a freeking phone number and use it. It would cost, what, $30 a month? Don’t even need to install a phone. But at least the script would sound reasonable. [/QUOTE] Exactly. They do it for license plates - there are a few hundred “stock” license plates they use. Why not just buy a few phone numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/66 "2007-07-05T21:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > It was in fact an unreleased Unix GUI at the time, Maybe that means they were slightly in the future? Of course, I also have no trouble believing that phone numbers start with 555 in the movie universe. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/67 "2007-07-05T22:07:12Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I don’t understand why a studio (or executive producer nowadays) doesn’t just buy a freeking phone number and use it. It would cost, what, $30 a month? Don’t even need to install a phone. But at least the script would sound reasonable. [/QUOTE] A few productions have started doing this. _Scrubs_ (916 225 5887) and _24_ (310 597 3781) among them. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And then there’s that whole scene where huge rescue choppers descend on New York. Perhaps I’m being whooshed, but is there any chance in hell that Manhattan wouldn’t be the recipient of a bit of search-and-rescue action? ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/68 "2007-07-05T22:21:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Baldwin** > I saw a movie with Pierce Brosnan – I think it was called After the Sunset. There’s a scene where he uses a remote control device to take control of a vehicle after getting its VIN. That’s all. He hasn’t installed radio-controlled servomotors on the steering column, transmission, brakes and accelerator; all he has is the VIN, and can magically use that to make the car do what he wants while its driver is helpless. Something similar happens in _Terminator 3_. Took me right out of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/69 "2007-07-05T22:45:28Z")
My bitch is in about 500 movies when a skinny girl gets dropped 20 -30 feet and stops the fall with her fingertips by grabbing on to a ledge. Arnolds movies like to do that. No man or woman could stop a long fall that way. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/70 "2007-07-05T23:01:03Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I don’t understand why a studio (or executive producer nowadays) doesn’t just buy a freeking phone number and use it. It would cost, what, $30 a month? Don’t even need to install a phone. But at least the script would sound reasonable. [/QUOTE] Yes, besides the “I’ll have a beer” thing, the 555 thing is definitely my most hated movie moment. I noticed that in _The Departed_ there were mostly real numbers used, which I thought was realistic and great, and then all of a sudden a 555 pops up. _WHAT THE FUCK!?_ It pissed me off so much I wanted to go down to the studio and kick Leonardo DiCaprio’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/71 "2007-07-05T23:32:08Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] Unless your boat’s the [James Caird](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LaunchingTheJamesCaird2.jpg) [/QUOTE] For context, see [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition) article about a group of men that set sail across the worst ocean to do it on. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/72 "2007-07-06T00:06:22Z")
On the 555 phone numbers. [The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_374a.html)(1978) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/73 "2007-07-06T00:16:51Z")
In _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,_ a submarine the size of a modern aircraft carrier is able to navigate – totally submerged! – through the canals of Venice. And the Venetians celebrate Carnival (same thing as Mardi Gras) in July. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/74 "2007-07-06T00:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] The end of _Total Recall_ where Arnold & the girl _almost_ burst from the low pressure ( yes, I know that doesn’t actually happen ), but are just fine a few minutes later. As opposed to nasty, complexion marring burst blood vessels and bleeding under the skin, which is the least of what they should’ve gotten from such dramatic distortions. [/QUOTE] And the way the bad guy **does** die of explosive decompression at the end is completely unrealistic (as are the decompression deaths in _Outland)_ – as is the possibility that the ancient Martian “air plant” could pump out enough to increase the ambient pressure to anything near to one atmosphere in the time allowed. Besides, if the ancient Martians had a machine that could restore their planet’s atmosphere, why didn’t they fucking **use** it?! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/75 "2007-07-06T00:29:02Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] I adore the _Pirates_ movies, but it does always bother me whenever someone seems to be able to sail across the open ocean in a teensy longboat with no provisions whatsoever and arrive at their destination none the worse for wear. This happens often in the three films. The worst was in _Dead Man’s Chest_ with Pintell and Ragetti, and the dog with the keys. What did the dog _eat_??? [/QUOTE] Well, they’re not in the “open ocean,” they’re in the Caribbean, where no island is very far from another. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/76 "2007-07-06T00:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Well, that must have at least lessened the shock, 30 minutes of screen time later, when Mola Ram starting pulling people’s still-beating hearts out of their chests. See? Suspension of disbelief can be a dangerous thing, and breaking it can be a good thing. 😛 [/QUOTE] In the subsequent chase scene, the mining cart carrying the Good Guys jumps a gap in the tracks and lands neatly on the other side. MY AUNT: I don’t believe it! MY MOM: That’s the first thing you don’t believe?! ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/77 "2007-07-06T00:35:34Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] The real idiocy in that movie, imho, is the idea that Mexico can just open their borders and accept tens of millions of survivors and have food and shelter for them, just because we forgave their debts and we’re friends now, mmmkay? [/QUOTE] Well, how about the question of why they actually had to cross the border? The alleged cold was not being stopped by the Rio Grande – they’d have been just as well off in any of the southern states from Florida to California. Crowded, yes, but no requirement to cross the border. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/78 "2007-07-06T00:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=lorene] In \*Edward Scissorhands \* (yeah, I know, if I got past the title itself…), after he goes to live with Dianne Wiest’s family, he is shown having dinner for the first time with them. He can’t coordinate his hand movements and food goes flying out of his hands and he just can’t figure out how to eat. Clearly, eating is something he will need to learn how to do. _So, how did he survive all of the intervening years between his creator’s death and going to live with that family??_ [/QUOTE] Never mind that – why does he **have** scissors for hands?! What was his maker **thinking?!** If he could make a mechanism by which Edward could manipulate scissor blades, he could make him hands of some more practical shape, even’t if it weren’t lifelike. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/79 "2007-07-06T00:39:34Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] Cars that make impressive leaps over obstacles, or even just starting off high structures and landing far down below, without their suspension systems collapsing… [/QUOTE] Add to that: Cars that explode when they crash. I’m sure you’ve driven past a lot of accident scenes on the highway. Have you ever seen something that looked like the aftermath of an explosion?! I’ve seen cars with their engines **on fire** and they didn’t explode! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576/80 "2007-07-06T00:46:13Z")
I won’t spoil it with specifics, but Tesla’s invention in _The Prestige_ was something I couldn’t buy. Just made the movie enter the realm of fantasy or dream more than sci-fi/thriller. Any war movie or action movie where a hero is shot in a limb (leg or arm either one) and keeps running towards or away from the bad guy. Mel Gibson and John Wayne are the worst offenders- dude, if you’ve ever had a bullet in your leg, you’ll know that you don’t keep running, and that’s _especially_ true in Civil War/Westerns where the slugs could be .57 or better and amputation was pretty much a given if it shattered bone. The original _Star Trek_ TV show had aliens who were gaseous, energy, etc., but in the later series and movies (hence its eligibility for movies) they seemed incapable of anything other than quadriped humanoids, which irritated me. Also, the STAR TREK movie where phasers draw (Klingon) blood- too deviant from canon. and of course **MIDICHLORIANS!!!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-for-which-you-just-cant-suspend-disbelief-poss-unboxed-spoilers/410576.md?page=5)