# Things in movies that really bug you ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2000, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466 "2000-11-16T16:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/181 "2000-12-09T21:24:14Z")
I take it, then, you totally accepted the other mistakes in _True Lies_? How about: 1. Arnie taking off his wetsuit in the beginning of the film, revealing a dry, still-perfectly-pressed tuxedo. (I realize this was inspired by a similar scene in _Thunderball_, but still…) 2. Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis kissing while a nuclear weapon goes off behind them, apparently killing no one and also apparently not giving either of them a fatal dose of radiation. ---
**Author:** ![MattTheCroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MattTheCroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattTheCroc)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/182 "2000-12-10T05:49:45Z")
Or the gun rolling down the stairs killing everyone in the room except Jamie? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/183 "2000-12-10T08:23:49Z")
I had so many, but I promptly forgot them by the time I finished reading all 4 pages. Oh well. One thing that gets me is how many times, when someone is typing on a computer, they’ll just casually tap random keys that you can instantly tell have absolutley nothing to do with what they’re actually doing on the computer. And I definitely have to agree with the red-tailed hawk calls being given to all other birds of prey. That bugs me to no end. As for the whole town etc. joining in for a big musical number, I disagree as long as it’s an actual musical they’re in. You ought to look at musicals as closer to a play/opera or something than a realistic movie. As was posted on another thread, TIE fighters are exempt from the No Noise In Space rule because they make such a cool noise. 😃 That’s it for now, as I can’t think of anything that hasn’t been mentioned before in this thread. Well, that and the fact that it’s 3:30am and I’m getting distracted by my LEGOs on my desk… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/184 "2000-12-10T10:21:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > \*\* > > 1. Arnie taking off his wetsuit in the beginning of the film, revealing a dry, still-perfectly-pressed tuxedo. (I realize this was inspired by a similar scene in _Thunderball_, but still…) > > 2\*\* The dry part is possible with a ‘dry suit’, used for skiing in cold water. It’s rubber with a tight seal at the neck, wrists and ankles. The tux would still get wrinkled, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/185 "2000-12-10T16:13:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > \*\* > > 1. Arnie taking off his wetsuit in the beginning of the film, revealing a dry, still-perfectly-pressed tuxedo. (I realize this was inspired by a similar scene in _Thunderball_, but still…) > > \*\* Didn’t James Bond do this at the beginning of _Goldfinger_? ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/186 "2000-12-10T17:22:42Z")
Someone asked about Chewie’s bowcaster. It’s basically a really powerful crossbow that just wraps the bolts in energy. A nice toy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/187 "2000-12-11T15:15:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > \*\* > > 1. Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis kissing while a nuclear weapon goes off behind them, apparently killing no one and also apparently not giving either of them a fatal dose of radiation. \*\* I am not an expert in this, but I think that the prompt radiation from a nuclear weapon doesn’t get very far; the air does a fair job of absorbing fast neutrons. It’s the fallout later that does the majority of the poisoning. How far were they from the blast? The bigger problem (again, I think but am not sure) is the fireball heating them to incandescence. Arnie flambe! But again, you have to be pretty close for that to happen directly. I haven’t seen the movie since it came out, so caveat emptor. And hey, I got to use three languages in this post! Tres gauche! ---
**Author:** ![smilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilla)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/188 "2000-12-11T19:27:07Z")
Ugh! I feel you on the explosion thing. I fail to understand how two people can somehow escape up or down a tunnel with a huge ball of flame right at their hells, _without_ being instantly incinerated. Come on! They shouldn’t even be able to breathe. As for exploding cars, I always believed what the movies said until I actually witnessed a car explode when I was 11. It explodes, it’s loud, but there’s not a lot of shrapnel or anything. It just sits there burning while everyone in the neighborhood comes to rubberneck. A good example of a true car explosion is on the episode of “Due South” where an arsonist plants a bomb in the car and it goes off while they’re still driving. Guess what? They keep driving. My biggest pet peeve is when someone’s typing on a computer and whether they’re looking up information or typing a friggin’ novel, not only do they not use proper finger positions (that’s forgiveable, since most people don’t), but not once do they use the ENTER or SPACE BAR or SHIFT key. For the love of God! ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/189 "2000-12-11T20:11:30Z")
Another military and history related beef. I wish more movies would have age-appropriate actors in these sorts of films. Now and again they try to get it right, as in “Midnight Clear” and “Memphis Belle,” but most of the time everyone is a bit long in the tooth for the role, whether a private or a general. One that always drives me crazy is “The Longest Day” (1962) where Robert Ryan plays Brig. Gen. James Gavin. In 1944 Gavin was 38; in 1962 Ryan was 53, with gray sidewalls in his hair. (At least in “A Bridge Too Far” (1977) they had a 36-year old Ryan O’Neal play Gavin.) Then they had John Wayne, at 55, playing the part of someone who would have been 30 years younger IRL. My unscientific, anecdotal impression is that this happened more often in movies made in the late 50s through the 60s, which was also the heyday of inappropriate hair: see Sophia Loren in “Operation Crossbow.” Those German scientists must have, in their spare time, built a time machine to bring a hair stylist and a case of Aquanet back from 1965 to give Sophia that helmet hair she sported. Mostly I am good at suspending my disbelief to enjoy the larger context of a movie, but sometimes the pokes in the eye are too egregious. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/190 "2000-12-11T23:04:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > > \*\* > > > > 1. Arnie taking off his wetsuit in the beginning of the film, revealing a dry, still-perfectly-pressed tuxedo. (I realize this was inspired by a similar scene in _Thunderball_, but still…) > > > > \*\* > > Didn’t James Bond do this at the beginning of _Goldfinger_? > \*\* It was one or the other. I saw the two movies again when TBS repeated them and must’ve gotten them confused. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/191 "2000-12-11T23:07:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > > \*\* > > > > 1. Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis kissing while a nuclear weapon goes off behind them, apparently killing no one and also apparently not giving either of them a fatal dose of radiation. \*\* > > I am not an expert in this, but I think that the prompt radiation from a nuclear weapon doesn’t get very far; the air does a fair job of absorbing fast neutrons. It’s the fallout later that does the majority of the poisoning. How far were they from the blast?\*\* I’d have to see the movie again (not that I really want to), but I SEEM to recall the blast was located just beyond the horizon, so it couldn’t have been more than four or five miles. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/192 "2000-12-11T23:17:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smilla \* > **I fail to understand how two people can somehow escape up or down a tunnel with a huge ball of flame right at their hells, _without_ being instantly incinerated. Come on! They shouldn’t even be able to breathe.** You’re right; such an explosion would use up all the available oxygen. Vivica Fox, her little boy and their dog would have suffocated in that tunnel in _Independence Day._ There’s another problem: A big bomb going off inside a tunnel would be similar to what goes on inside an internal-combustion engine. If exploding gasoline/air can drive a piston down in a cylinder, what do you think would happen inside a much larger cylinder (or tunnel) with a much larger explosion? James Bond or Rambo or Judge Dredd would be flattened like an armadillo under the wheels of a Mack truck. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/193 "2000-12-12T04:24:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > > > \*\* > > > > > > 1. Arnie and Jamie Lee Curtis kissing while a nuclear weapon goes off behind them, apparently killing no one and also apparently not giving either of them a fatal dose of radiation. \*\* > > > > I am not an expert in this, but I think that the prompt radiation from a nuclear weapon doesn’t get very far; the air does a fair job of absorbing fast neutrons. It’s the fallout later that does the majority of the poisoning. How far were they from the blast?\*\* > > I’d have to see the movie again (not that I really want to), but I SEEM to recall the blast was located just beyond the horizon, so it couldn’t have been more than four or five miles. \*\* Erm. Okay - according to [this site](http://www.enviroweb.org/issues/nuketesting/nukeffct/enw77b1.htm), a 200 kiloton surface burst (a reasonable estimate for this flick, I think) would generate a cloud maybe 45,000 feet high and 12,000 across (or 13.8 km x 3.7 km). I’ve been taught that distance to horizon = 112.88 x _h_^½ (_d_ and _h_ given in kilometers). So, assuming half of the cloud behind the horizon, d = 112.88 x (6.9^½) = 296 klicks, give or take. Okay, not _right away_, but still. A fur piece, as they say. The site also goes on to describe the other effects, from prompt radiation, fallout, etc. The initial thermal output (primarily X-rays) is converted into UV, visible, and IR wavelength, most of which absorb or scatter. Basically, it says that the range of the effects of the radioactive pulse is about 2 miles for a **20** kiloton burst, so ours would be longer. But, if the distance assumptions are correct, they’d probably still be okay. They’d see and hear it, no doubt, probably even feel the effects of the shock wave, but probably survive to kiss another day. ---
**Author:** ![Peculiar\_Pixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@Peculiar\_Pixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peculiar_Pixie)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/194 "2000-12-12T05:39:04Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Sakura:_ > \*\*\* All the popular girls in high school are superficial and snotty to the soft-spoken but kind un-popular girls.\*\* If that does not reflect what high school was like for you, I wish I had gone to your school. _sigh_ Either that, or you **were** one of the popular girls, and blind to the sufferings of your underlings.[/hijack] I hate it when the writers make up terminology that sounds plausible but, if you analyse it, does not actually make any sense. Improper nomenclature. That is my peeve. ---
**Author:** ![Uniball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Uniball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniball)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/195 "2000-12-12T11:01:33Z")
There’s a thing that’s even worse than Forced Exposition. **Obvious Foreshadowing.** ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/196 "2000-12-12T12:49:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Bad Astronomer \* > \*\*I wrote an article in the April 1998 issue of Astronomy magazine about the Top Ten mistakes made in Hollywood movies. One of these days I’ll put it on my website. Anyway, you can go to [Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy: Bad Movies](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/index.html) to see my reviews of current movies from an astronomical perspective. \*\* Oh, cool! You’re the Bad Astronomer! I’ve browsed your page for years. Great work! I also like the other Bad Science pages. I almost wish there were more ignorant people so you guys would report on them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/197 "2000-12-19T13:55:17Z")
Saw this cliche in ‘Revenge of the Nerds: part whatever’. The nerds have to get to the hall to stop the evil character from voting them out of existence. So the nerds, who have only seconds to arrive to make their stirring speech, drive _through the wall of the building with a tank!_ How many times have I seen this. A car or truck(or tank or train) drives through the wall, and all the people who were near the wall scatter, and none of them are ever injured!!! Just had to get that off my chest. Thank you. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2000, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/198 "2000-12-22T17:46:39Z")
Any character sucking on a toothpick, or a match, or anything other than a cigarette, that’s no longer politically correct, except for the villain. I remember there was a Sly Stallone movie–I forget the title–and the posters showed him with a matchstick in his mouth. You could tell that the producers wanted a “cool smoker” type of effect, but they obviously weren’t going to use a real cigarette. Stupid. Completely stupid. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/199 "2000-12-22T18:36:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by c\_goat \* > **They show the kid playing playstation or nintendo 64, but the sounds are from the old atari pacman. Or how they just jam on the buttons and it doesn’t even look like they’re playing.** That’s right up there with “wrong computer typing” – the actor is mashing away randomly at the keyboard, while on the screen you see well-formed sentences. At least have the guy hit the SPACE BAR a few times, willya? (And the little girl in _Jurassic Park_ who instantly groks UNIX really chesses me off for some reason) ---
**Author:** ![tiggeril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggeril/32/7234_2.png) [@tiggeril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiggeril)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466/200 "2000-12-22T20:32:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Danimal \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by bwk \* > > \*\*Oop, forgot one, sort of related… Old dudes and young, beautiful women. One example is ‘entrapment’ which is really dumb anyway, but there is cath z jones, all young and radiant, and sean connery who is at least a hundred and two. and they get together. yuck. but apparently she is into old, ugly dudes, ha ha. > > \*\* > > There’s another thing that annoys a lot of people that I don’t mind. In fact, I openly approve of it. Go Sean! Go Catherine! Go Jack! Go Helen! > > What does bother me is that we don’t see any older-but-still-beautiful women hook up with younger guys. Let Fanny Ardant and Isabella Rosellini in on some of the action! \*\* My sig says it all, I think. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-in-movies-that-really-bug-you/41466.md?page=11)