# Things in movies that just ain't right! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864 "2003-07-07T22:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/101 "2003-07-12T22:00:05Z")
Cops that only carry one gun. _Every_ cop I’ve ever spoken to has carried at least one back up gun (cleverly concealed where you couldn’t see it) and a knife as well. It just kills me, because cops _know_ that there’s a chance they could drop their gun or run out of ammo at a critical moment. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/102 "2003-07-12T22:09:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RikWriter \* > \*\*What a horrible, horrible movie. \*\* Hey! That’s my favorite Christmas movie you’re diss’n 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/103 "2003-07-12T23:26:54Z")
Aren’t you thinking of Die Hard? That was a fine movie. It had its implausible moments, but it was light years better than Die Hard 2. “Looks like we’ve got to get some more FBI guys!” ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/104 "2003-07-13T00:20:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*I’ve seen better film in soap dishes. \*\* Oh, I am **SO** going to steal that line! ---
**Author:** ![RotorHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RotorHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RotorHead)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/105 "2003-07-13T00:34:10Z")
Thank you, Sam Stone and RikWriter for taking care of Die Hard 2. There was so much crap in that movie, I was having trouble even starting to get into that one. Additionally, nobody on the ground at Dulles had a hand-held radio? Hmmm. I’ve been in the tower there, and I seem to recall a couple of them right there. Strange that they wouldnt bother using them. And none of the pilots were able to make the command decision to divert? Were they all dumb enough to circle until running out of fuel? Another one that grates my nerves a bit is Con Air. They had to remove the transponder to keep anybody from tracking them? Every transponder I’ve seen has an “off” switch. Not that it matters. Since they were not scud-running, they could be tracked otherwise. I’m sure the local Air Route Traffic Control Center could figure out where they are. Then the brilliant government bozos decide to pursue this 200+ knot airplane using a helicopter. Not going to catch up with them very quickly like that, especially having given the airplane a head start. The list goes on, but it give me a headache to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/106 "2003-07-13T00:40:58Z")
Among other things, I’m a professional magician, and one of my pet peeves is that no TV show, no movie, ever depicts a magician or the world of magicians anywhere close to accurate. Any time that the Hollywood writers feel the need to portray a magician, it seems they just reach for the ‘Screenwriter’s Book of Cliches’ and rest content with that, rather than wondering what the world of pro magic is really like. Magicians on screen tend to fall into two categories. One is the guy in full evening dress and a red-lined cape who does dove tricks and stuff with pretty girls jumping in and out of cabinets. This image is only about 100 years out of date, and even then only about 1 in 10 million magicians are actually like that or want to be. The other kind is the ‘sleight of hand’ king who can win any game of poker he wants with his ultra-slick card moves. Well, it doesn’t work like that. Trust me, I know a fair bit of sleight of hand myself, and I personally know most of the top exponents in the world. None of them would do any better in a Vegas casino than anyone else, because they just wouldn’t be able to put their skills to good use. Casino bosses aren’t stupid. In any case, 99% of working pro magicians are nothing to do with either of these two stereotyped images. I was a fan of the CSI series until they had an episode which featured a magician/illusionist, and it was so bowel-churningly inaccurate and awful that I haven’t been able to enjoy the show since. It’s all a shame, because REAL magicians truly are, for the most part, fascinating people and some of them are great artists as well. But the movie people aren’t interested in depicting the reality and go for dumb cliche every time. End of rant. Second vote for the sheer joy of the “I’ve seen better film in soap dishes” line. Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/107 "2003-07-13T02:09:15Z")
Well, I used to use, “I’ve seen better film on lake Superior”, but now that it’s been cleaned up, people just look at you and go, “huh?” ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/108 "2003-07-14T02:50:47Z")
Oh, and another thing…instant sex. What? No one ever needs to go pee first? Even if they’re drunk? No diaphrams? No condoms? Nope, apparently not. They just step in the door, grab each other and dive! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/109 "2003-07-14T04:05:21Z")
The Rock - Why did Sean Connery’s character need to remember the timing of the flaming crushy things in the vent to get OUT when he was able to open the door to The Rock from the INSIDE? ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/110 "2003-07-14T07:06:26Z")
Cats are really talkative. Whenever a cat walks by you’ll hear it yowl, and it’s usually one of the same old cat sound effects from every other movie. Also, the French character of a movie always seems to be named Jacques. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/111 "2003-07-14T14:19:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*The Rock - Why did Sean Connery’s character need to remember the timing of the flaming crushy things in the vent to get OUT when he was able to open the door to The Rock from the INSIDE? \*\* Don’t get me started on The Rock. There were too many bad bits to list (how did they get actors to sign up for this turkey?) but my favorite was: Mining tunnels under Alcatraz! Didn’t anyone notice the waterline? ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/112 "2003-07-14T14:24:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*The Rock - Why did Sean Connery’s character need to remember the timing of the flaming crushy things in the vent to get OUT when he was able to open the door to The Rock from the INSIDE? \*\* Don’t get me started on The Rock. There were too many bad bits to list (how did they get actors to sign up for this turkey?) but my favorite was: Mining tunnels under Alcatraz! Didn’t anyone notice the waterline? ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/113 "2003-07-14T14:27:13Z")
Hey, I only clicked the button once! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/114 "2003-07-14T14:34:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*The Rock - Why did Sean Connery’s character need to remember the timing of the flaming crushy things in the vent to get OUT when he was able to open the door to The Rock from the INSIDE? \*\* …must…say…it… Flaming Crushy Things – great band name! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Mook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Mr.Mook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mook)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/115 "2003-07-15T05:39:09Z")
Machine guns that spew thousands of bullets without reloading. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/116 "2003-07-15T06:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*And an honorable mention for injection new, unreal cliches into movies has to go to **John Woo**. It seems every movie now has to show the hero diving through the air while shooting two guns cross-armed at people 100 ft away and shooting them right through the heart. Man, that’s annoying. \*\* But that’s the best part of a John Woo movie! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/117 "2003-07-15T15:15:28Z")
I just saw _The Ninth Gate_, that was a classic example of what we’re talking about here, besides being barely worth the Blockbuster rental fee. The movie follows a rare-book expert (Johnny Depp) who’s after a book that was illustrated by The Great Deceiver himself…his engravings are signed ‘LCF’ as in ‘LuCiFer’. I didn’t know the Master Of Lies had a monogram; I suppose we might one day ID his pocket handkerchief that way. Then you have people smoking all the time, and around priceless collections of rare books yet. And in the NYC scenes, any time he takes a taxi, it’s a big old Checker. NYC Dopers, help me out here. Didn’t the last of those disappear from taxi service years ago, well before 1999 when this movie was made? ---
**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:** [July 15, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/118 "2003-07-15T15:42:37Z")
Eh, there were still a few in '92. And maybe one or two in '95. I _do_ seem to recall the final farewell of the old beast, though. Fond memories of being stuffed onto the jump seat. Here’s a good one. Automated doors that you don’t have to pause for. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/119 "2003-07-15T15:46:53Z")
I am annoyed when interior of the airplane our characters are in have enought headroom for a reglation basketball game and are wide enough to drive a tank through. Maybe okay in a 747 but in some movies I’ve seen wide body DC-3s ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/120 "2003-07-15T16:33:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus \* > And in the NYC scenes, any time he takes a taxi, it’s a big old Checker. NYC Dopers, help me out here. Didn’t the last of those disappear from taxi service years ago, well before 1999 when this movie was made? \*\* Yeah. It bugs me whenever you see those old style cabs being used after 1970. They’re starting to get better about that. They were filming a scene for some Jennifer Garner movie in my neighborhood last week and they were using regular cabs. (I’m guessing it wasn’t an action movie unless Elektra or the Alias girl waves her arms like a loon when she chases a cab). This bugs me: Pretentious ass insults the waiter in a restaurant. I saw some movie where Brooke Shields did this to a waitress. Good idea if you like the taste of toilet plunger in your food. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864.md?page=7)