# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/121 "2003-07-15T16:40:28Z")
Every time you see a star-filled night sky, there is a shooting star. No laying in a chaise lounge for hours looking, just WHoosh! There is a shooting star. ---
**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, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/122 "2003-07-15T17:35:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke of Rat \* > Every time you see a star-filled night sky, there is a shooting star. > \*\* Especially if Spielberg directs. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/123 "2003-07-15T23:17:13Z")
Welcome to the boards! A lot of food for thought in your post: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Elmer Snerd \* > In Hollywood’s defense, it is illegal for a civilian to wear an actual military uniform. They have to put flaws in the uniform costumes. This I don’t believe. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Elmer Snerd \* > What I learned from movies and TV: > … > Glock makes a ceramic gun that does not show up on metal detectors or X-ray machines. > … > Coating bullets with Teflon helps them penetrate body armor. Actually, I really sort of thought both of these were true, but then I apparently learned my science from comic books. Oh, wait, ceramic does show up on X-ray machines, but what about metal detectors? Oh, crap, there’s metal parts, right? The firing pin & barrel? But Teflon? c’mon! It’s like adamantium, right? > [@](#): > > …If you are driving a full-sized car, SUV, truck, or bus and are being chased by a sports car, you must try to outrun or outmaneuver it. You are not allowed to let it get behind you and then slam on the brakes, or to otherwise exploit your vehicle’s superior mass and durability. Of course, the sports car can decelerate faster, or just go around you; and if you do it at high speed, you’ll give your passengers whiplash, if you don’t send everything flying. You can’t really expect this to work reliably, so I’m not sure that’s a mistake. > [@](#): > > …Shooting a computer’s monitor or smashing its keyboard will stop the computer itself. Well, no, but it makes input &/or output impossible, which is as good in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/124 "2003-07-15T23:22:21Z")
The movie that really bugged me was _Mission to Mars_. C’mon, no one remembers college BIO 101? The big code they have to break involves treating human DNA as if it has one chromosome, with a standard base pair at the end, all the while calling base pairs chromosomes! :looks around: What? This isn’t common knowledge? Grr… ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/125 "2003-07-15T23:47:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by foolsguinea \* > \*\* Actually, I really sort of thought both of these were true, but then I apparently learned my science from comic books. Oh, wait, ceramic does show up on X-ray machines, but what about metal detectors? Oh, crap, there’s metal parts, right? The firing pin & barrel? But Teflon? c’mon! It’s like adamantium, right? > \*\* The whole teflon thing came from the brand of armor-piercing handgun bullets called KTW. The bullets penetrated body armor not because they were teflon-coated but because they were steel-core and went very fast. The teflon coating proved to be superflous and they dropped it later because of cost. But somehow all the media ever heard was “teflon-coated.” Go ahead, spray teflon on a 38 special hollowpoint…you know what you’ll get? A slippery bullet that still won’t penetrate Level III body armor. ---
**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 16, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/126 "2003-07-16T00:01:54Z")
Yeah. Basically, teflon bullets are like discarding sabot for tank shells. [http://www.checkercabs.org/html/last\_checker\_auctioned.html](http://www.checkercabs.org/html/last_checker_auctioned.html) 1. Who’d have thunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/127 "2003-07-16T00:16:30Z")
If a couple are having a huge knock down drag out argument and one of them suddenly grabs the other and sticks his/her tongue down their throat, the other one will always reciprocate with equal passion. They’ll never say “What the hell are you doing?” and then pepper-spray them for sexual assault. Parents (especially on sitcoms) are totally content to leave their kids with total airhead babysitters. They may cross their eyes at the camera to register their displeasure, but they’ll cancel their plans for fear of coming home to find the baby in the microwave. Gay guys all look like GAP models and read poetry, but never seem to have sex. All athletes are stupid, self obsessed, and obnoxious. You can program any computer just by moving your hands rapidly over the keyboard for a few seconds. Whenever you drive into a black neighborhood in the south, there will be tin on the roofs, chicken and blank eyed children in the road, and low pitched mournful gospel music will come out of nowhere. (It’s sung by the same people who used to do the invisible back-up in Elvis movies.) The favorite hobby of black women is raising white children. Medieval movies: falling off of a horse in heavy armor really doesn’t stun you that badly. You’ll be up and swinging a blade in seconds. Bible movies: Ancient Hebrews spoke in modern English, except when they preyed- then they used “thou” and “thy” for no apparent reason. Plantation/Victorian era movies: Hoop skirts weren’t just for formal occasions- they were good for around the house wear as well. A few candles will cast a room into a virtual blaze of light that seems to come from above. Lawns were always carefully mown even before lawnmowers, and there was never horse manure (or dead horses) in the streets or driveways. Muskets were usually dead-on in accuracy (at least for the good guys) and almost anybody can shoot a fly off a horse’s ear with a quickly drawn revolver without even taking the time to aim it. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/128 "2003-07-16T02:21:10Z")
In _Dazed and Confused_ everyone smoked up and drank up with no consequences. In the span of one day, they must havesmoked up at least ten times each and drunk at least fifteen times. In _Swordfish_ and _Hackers_ real hacking is replaced with pretty 3D graphics. When Hugh Jackman is asked how he penetrated the US’s security systems, he explains that he “just sees the code.” In _Shallow Hal_ the comedy “just ain’t right.” None of the jokes succeed, and the acting isn’t remotely convincing. Same thing with _2Fast 2Furious_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/129 "2003-07-16T03:56:32Z")
Someone sorta mentioned this before, but I must elaborate: if there’s a computer in a movie, it’s either a Mac (acceptable, though not really reflective of current market share division) or a (presumably) PC running software that no one has ever seen!! This drives me completely batty. In a pre-Windows world, that was okay, I guess, but **most of the free world now uses computers.** That’s why it makes me nuts; movie makers are not just assuming that only a small portion of their audience (pilots, magicians, research scientists) will notice these issues. Also, as someone mentioned, programming in the movies is like waving a magic wand. I’d like to live in the land of “no debugging needed,” too, please. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/130 "2003-07-16T04:02:48Z")
Every town that’s old or Mexican has a group of chickens sitting in the street for no reason. We were watching _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and in one street scene, there were chickens for no apparent reason. Where did they come from? ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/131 "2003-07-16T04:04:21Z")
Someone sorta mentioned this before, but I must elaborate: if there’s a computer in a movie, it’s either a Mac (acceptable, though not really reflective of current market share division) or a (presumably) PC running software that no one has ever seen!! This drives me completely batty. In a pre-Windows world, that was okay, I guess, but **most of the free world now uses computers.** That’s why it makes me nuts; movie makers are not just assuming that only a small portion of their audience (pilots, magicians, research scientists) will notice these issues. Also, as someone mentioned, programming in the movies is like waving a magic wand. I’d like to live in the land of “no debugging needed,” too, please. ---
**Author:** ![skeptic\_ev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@skeptic\_ev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic_ev)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/132 "2003-07-16T04:07:16Z")
Doh! Sorry, I have no idea how that happened. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/133 "2003-07-16T04:09:35Z")
Oooh, in the programming/computing vein, I love when they do something tremendously complicated instantly. “Ok! I need to go through every airline flight in the U.S. and abroad for the past ten years and find out everyone who sat in seat 39B and see if that happened to be in Myrtle Beach _tap tap tap_ Done!” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/134 "2003-07-16T06:01:37Z")
On the subject of **Die Hard 2** : Okay, a ceramic gun. Sure, I can suspend my disbelief. Ceramic gun. Whatever. But there are two major obstacles to believing this. The first is that parts such as the recoil spring _must_ be made of metal, as **foolsguinea** points out above. The second, which hasn’t been mentioned yet, is: what, he used ceramic _bullets_ too? Now, I’ll add one more to the pile. The TV series and movie **The X-Files** were especially guilty of this: say you have a massive conspiracy. No doubt there’s lots of evidence about, in the form of filing cabinets, old buildings, dead bodies, sentient black oil, whatever. You need to cover this stuff up, but goshdarn it, someone keeps finding it. When they find it, do you just move it, hide it again? No! You send in the army, or whoever, and utterly destroy all the evidence. Well, if this was stuff you could live without, why didn’t you destroy it in the first place, instead of hanging on to it for decades so that it could be discovered? And if you wanted to keep it (and if you’ve kept it for 60 years, you probably do), why not just move it someplace else, instead of destroying it all? I mean, come on! Run an efficient conspiracy! ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/135 "2003-07-16T07:35:40Z")
What I learned from the movies: In the earliest days of Christianity Romans spoke in cultured British accents. Jews, Greeks, etc., sounded like Americans. ---
**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 16, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/136 "2003-07-16T12:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*Every town that’s old or Mexican has a group of chickens sitting in the street for no reason. We were watching _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and in one street scene, there were chickens for no apparent reason. Where did they come from? \*\* I’m pretty sure that was a tip of the hat to the ride. And not entirely inaccurate. They have to forage somehow, couple get loose, wild chickens. We’ve got geese and ducks like that in Westchester, NY, in the year 2003… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864/137 "2003-07-23T15:15:12Z")
_BUMP!_ I came up with a couple more: Lord of the Rings - Excuse me? Mr Gandalf? COULD YOU PLEASE NOT EAT AND SMOKE YOUR PIPE AROUND THE 3,000 YEAR OLD ANCIENT SCROLLS??!! The Recruit - Colin Farrel “I’m not exactly CIA material” - yeah…the guy is the top of his class at MIT, boxes, and is good looking enough to be a bartender at a trendy club. What the hell is CIA material? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-just-aint-right/186864.md?page=6)