# You understand why they do it but it takes you out of the movie anyway **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928 "2015-10-17T19:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/221 "2015-10-27T14:27:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > This is why Robert Redford captured a bridge in _ **A Bridge Too Far** _ that in fact was taken by the British. Not so much… Major Cook’s (who Redford was portraying) crossing of the Waal near Nijmegen and subsequent actions got him a Distinguished Service Cross and a knighthood from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. > **[Julian Cook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Cook)** > > Colonel Julian Aaron Cook (October 7, 1916 – June 19, 1990) was an officer of the United States Army who gained fame during World War II for his crossing of the Waal river during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. > Cook was born at Mount Holly, Vermont, on October 7, 1916, to an American father Nelson Pingrey Cook and an English mother of Irish descent, Honora (nee Gallagher). His parents met when Nelson, a travelling salesman in the UK, stopped for the night in a hotel in West Auckland, ... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/222 "2015-10-27T21:21:36Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Not so much… Major Cook’s (who Redford was portraying) crossing of the Waal near Nijmegen and subsequent actions got him a Distinguished Service Cross and a knighthood from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. > > [Julian Cook - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Cook) Very impressive. I remember reading when the movie first came out that there had been some dispute over showing Americans capture the bridge, but it would seem they did. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/223 "2015-10-28T13:42:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Very impressive. I remember reading when the movie first came out that there had been some dispute over showing Americans capture the bridge, but it would seem they did. > > Ignorance fought! Thanks! And I’ll be the first to admit that when I saw U-571, I was pretty disgusted, being an American, and being aware of the Royal Navy’s role in obtaining the Enigma machines. But the ignorance and chest-beating goes both ways; I got a nice long lecture once by a kindly elderly English gentleman and his grandson about how “Memphis Belle” was an American adaptation of the adventures of a British Lancaster crew’s final mission. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/224 "2015-10-29T12:51:31Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Because that’s all he had to throw after tossing his empty canteen. Close enough. They’re out of bullets, and they have a gun. Might as well throw it at the thing. It probably won’t work, but they’re angry and scared, and so that doesn’t matter. Plus, if Superman is any indication, the gun can hurt more than the bullets (as it’s a real object.) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/225 "2015-10-29T14:18:10Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Austin Powers spoofed this by having the characters driving through ‘England’ when it was quite obviously somewhere like southern California. 🙂 Not just by driving through it but by overting commenting “You know what’s remarkable is how much England looks in no way like Southern California.” (I’ll just mention in passing my other favorite Mike Myers film driving moment in _Wayne’s World 2_: he’s driving along with “Mrs Robinson” playing on the film soundtrack. The car goes through a tunnel - and the soundtrack fades out for the length of the tunnel.) > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Actually, some modern digital cameras have this feature. I don’t know if it’s \*all \*or \*most \*or just a few, but certainly some do. Users need a sound that tells them that the camera actuall;y captured the im,age, and is ready for the next one. They sometimes give you a menu of sounds to choose from, with click-whirrr being one option you can choose. I don’t know how universal this is but I believe some jurisdictions actively require phones to make the noise to prevent covert picturetaking (particularly those of the up-skirt variety). > [@Morbo](#): > > Catching up to a speeding vehicle. Hero in pursuit almost always catches up roughly immediately, regardless of time, types of vehicles, etc. There’s always a shortcut. Pretty much any travel scene through a familiar locale will be offputting. Chases or car trips through London seem to pass by every major landmark in no particular order for no particular reason. (This was lampshaded brilliantly at the beginning of _Paddington_ where a cab journey from Paddington station to the Brown house in west London, which should have taken about five minutes, crosses Tower Bridge on the other side of town. Mr Brown complains about the detour, whereupon Matt Lucas’s cheeky cabbie quips that he thought the young bear might have wanted to see the sights.) > [@OffByOne](#): > > This. > > Bad guy: I don’t really want to kill you, but I must. > Good guy: Bet you won’t! > BG: Now I’m really going to kill you! \ > GG: Nanny, nanny, boo-boo! > BG: I mean it! \ > GG: I know you are, but what am I? > BG: Now you’ve done it! \ One of the things I learned from watching _Chuck_ is that you can prevent a professional killer from shooting you by putting out your hand and shouting “Waitwaitwait!”. Apparently they are required by the Assassin’s Code to stop and ask what you want. One more: exploding microwaves. Sometimes someone puts something in a microwave that will explode. Which it always does - when the microwave timer goes ‘ding’. Look (ha!), if you put a can of hairspray in the microwave and set it for 5 minutes it’s not going to wait until the last moment to start a fire. The worst culprit here is _Grosse Point Blank_ where the guy puts an actual timebomb in the microwave, which explodes when the **microwave** timer goes off. THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS. Grr. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/226 "2015-10-29T14:32:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Thanks! > > And I’ll be the first to admit that when I saw U-571, I was pretty disgusted, being an American, and being aware of the Royal Navy’s role in obtaining the Enigma machines. > > But the ignorance and chest-beating goes both ways; I got a nice long lecture once by a kindly elderly English gentleman and his grandson about how “Memphis Belle” was an American adaptation of the adventures of a British Lancaster crew’s final mission. :dubious: Did U-571 ever pretend that this was the story of THE capture of THE Engima machine? I don’t think they ever did. It’s just a war story, like _Guns of Navarone_ or _Where Eagles Dare_. Do people get confused and think those stories are true? If anything, it’s inspired by the U-505 capture. Besides, the Brits aren’t any better. Watch _Imitation Game_ and you’d think Britain alone cracked the code, completely ignoring Poland’s significant contributions. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/227 "2015-10-29T15:12:13Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If anything, it’s inspired by the U-505 capture. Have you ever been to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (where U-505 ended up)? They show a short documentary film on how the capture happened. It was nothing like _ **U-571** _. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/228 "2015-10-29T22:39:27Z")
For me it’s badly done bondage scenes. I’m not talking about stuff that’s not first-quality fetish ropework with wrapping and frapping. I’m talking about [collars that are so big](http://www.bondagerotica.com/articles/sword_and_sandal_movies/slavegirls_from_beyond_infinity/kaitan_chained_loosie.jpg)they can easily be pulled off and over the wearer’s head. I’m talking about[cuffs that are so big](http://www.bondagerotica.com/articles/sword_and_sandal_movies/slavegirls_from_beyond_infinity/big_cuffs1.jpg) all the wearer has to do is slip his or her hands out of them. I’m talking about gags that are just stuffed in the mouth so that they can easily be spit out by the wearer should they desire to talk or scream for help. They’re often used for comic effect, [as in Small Soldiers](http://www.bondagerotica.com/halloshame/soldiers.jpg) with Kiersten Dunst gagged with a toy duck. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928/229 "2015-10-29T23:40:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Have you ever been to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (where U-505 ended up)? They show a short documentary film on how the capture happened. It was nothing like _ **U-571** _. “Inspired” is a word with a different meaning than you think. If I’d have meant “based on” I would have said that. And yes, I even own the VHS (!) tape of the U-505 from MoS&I. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-understand-why-they-do-it-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie-anyway/734928.md?page=11)