Most common errors found in mainstream movies?

[guyver01]

The most common error movie directors make, is assuming a bunch of internet nerds can suspend disbelief.

Every movie made has to be a REALITY show.

We hate Reality TV..

But movies MUST be Reality!!

 

[IronWing]

The most common error movie directors make, is assuming a bunch of internet nerds can suspend disbelief.

Every movie made has to be a REALITY show.

We hate Reality TV..

But movies MUST be Reality!!

"Nerd" is a term of offense. We moderns have more correct term - Aspies. Thank you.

 

[Ichinisan]

I always thought it was strange that Capt Kirk could knock out several men by flopping his limp arms across their backs.

He would then behave as if there was absolutely no risk of the enemy regaining consciousness.

 

[guyver01]

"Nerd" is a term of offense. We moderns have more correct term - Aspies. Thank you.

Asperger's Syndrome is NOT the same thing as a nerd.

 

[Meghan54]

Oh, forgot about the defibrillator starting a flatline. I still see that in movies about doctors and cop & fire dramas. That might actually be the 1st or 2nd most common.

Well, while very infrequently, that does work.....have done it a few times over my 2.5 decade stint as an ER/ICU RN.


As for errors, how about the clocks that always show the same time when seen, no matter the time of day (which is why clocks are not seen much in movies.)

 

[SZLiao214]

How about destroying a computer by shooting the monitor?

 

[sjwaste]

I always thought the issue with steel core was over-penetration and damage to the backstop. Never seen steel jacketed ammo (though a list of things I haven't seen would probably be larger than the OED); have seen steel cased ammo though. The objection to steel (or aluminum) cased ammo is usually that it has to be manually separated from the brass that a range collects before a recycler will accept it and that's really a PITA job for the range workers. I would think that steel-jacketed ammo would beat the shit out of a barrel.
ZV

That is the issue with steel core - overpenetration. Steel core isn't necessarily "armor piercing" like some people will claim, since the grade of steel used isn't usually all that good, but it still penetrates better than lead into the rubber backstop. I wasn't suggesting the fire hazard, but it does spark when it hits the backstop and the NRA folks here definitely don't want you using it.

As far as steel jacket, it's common in surplus. Usually called "bimetal" but that's really nothing but copper plated steel.

Steel cased isn't an issue at the NRA range, or at least, they don't make an issue of it. They do ask that you only put brass cases in the recycle bin if you don't want to take them home, but they'll otherwise let you throw away steel shells.

EDIT: That said, Shooter's Paradise in Woodbridge, VA burned down. Not sure how. But they used to let you fire anything in there. I've never felt less safe in a shooting range - no range test for first timers, lanes were about 3 feet wide, ventilation was awful. Anyone here remember that place?

 

[fatpat268]

Another thing that is annoying is in when you're in a firefight, you can simply crouch behind a piece of wood, a table, a car, etc and avoid being hit by rifle rounds.

 

[Tsavo]

Bullet time scenes where the just fired bullets are zoomed in on...

...and none of them have rifling grooves.

I don't think I've seen ONE movie that depicts a just fired bullet as having rifling grooves.

 

[qliveur]

Bullet time scenes where the just fired bullets are zoomed in on...

...and none of them have rifling grooves.

I don't think I've seen ONE movie that depicts a just fired bullet as having rifling grooves.

Yeah, bullet time's been ridiculous since The Matrix, and it only got worse in the sequels.

Hate it.

 

[shortylickens]

The most obvious errors are the actors/actresses that are chosen for the roles within the movie. Most are chosen with no regard with their ability to act or how they actually fit the part.

I keep hearing this a lot but I honestly dont understand it. Whether the movie is good or bad I always think of the people in it as being the choices for that role and thats all there is.

What movies do you think are miscast?

 

[feralkid]

Fire hydrants that always snap off and gush water when hit during a car chase.

 

[pontifex]

Haha, it might. I mean, the backstop at the range I mentioned is mostly crushed rubber. I guess it could be from the bits of metal in the ground up tires they use, though.

I'm not unsafe enough to go shooting at the ground to test my point though

you do know what dirt is, right? dirt is not ground up tires...

maybe i should have said soil instead of dirt?

 

[Jeff7]

How about destroying a computer by shooting the monitor?

Or else completely erasing the hard drive in about 2 seconds. No formatting, no zero-write. Just *blink* and everything's "gone."

Or when the computer is properly destroyed, the monitor shows analog B&W static.


Stargate: SG1 did at least try to get it right one occasion - the people waved a handheld degausser over the computer case before abandoning the site. The only possible problem - I don't know how much of that magnetic field would make it through the metal cases of the computer chassis and hard drive. Seems it'd make more sense to have the hard drive on a hot-swap drive that could easily be removed and brought along in a hasty evac.

 

[sjwaste]

you do know what dirt is, right? dirt is not ground up tires...

maybe i should have said soil instead of dirt?

Easy, chief. No need to be an asshole (ATOT Law says otherwise?)

Of course I know dirt isn't ground rubber. You responded to my post, where I was talking about a rubber shooting backstop. I was suggesting that if a bunch of non-conductive rubber could nonetheless cause sparks, dirt might do the same. On a steel case, it's just a matter of generating enough friction, right?

 

[nageov3t]

don't forget, when you take a baseball bat to the computer tower, all data contained on it is irrevocably destroyed. there's certainly no change that the well-secured hard drive is untouched and can be dropped into a different computer 5 minutes later.

 

[her209]

The most egregious is hospital birth scenes. No fucking way that baby just came out of her vagina dry with no umbilical chord attached and eyes open. And they don't even have to clear the mucus out of the baby's mouth/throat.

 

[CZroe]

I like that a hero can non-lethaly take out a host of baddies and then turn his/her back and, without even having checked them out, behave obliviously nearby as if there is no way they are getting back up.

Also, I hate the "RealTV" style car chases where they take actual car chase videos and add a tire squeal sound effect to almost every second of it even though there's no way the helicopter cam recorded that and there's no way their tires were squealing at every little maneuver. Some movies do this too... there's nothing special going on and yet the tires are squealing at every turn like the driver just wants to get attention.

Oh, and you gotta love movie makers that think a firewall is just some thing that hackers hack into.

 

[shortylickens]

The most egregious is hospital birth scenes. No fucking way that baby just came out of her vagina dry with no umbilical chord attached and eyes open. And they don't even have to clear the mucus out of the baby's mouth/throat.

Actually thats the one thing I see more and more realistically in movies these days. Kids are purple and slimy when we see them now.

 

[Anomaly1964]

It's a movie. Unless its a documentary its not supposed to be real. Suspension of disbelief in all that. Besides, bad CGI is the #1 crime on film today.

BINGO!

See my comment in the TRON thread...

 

[ultimatebob]

Actually thats the one thing I see more and more realistically in movies these days. Kids are purple and slimy when we see them now.

I noticed that they're doing better with hacking scenes as well... Take a look at The Social Network or Tron Legacy for example... most of the UNIX commands that they're typing are real.

 

[Anomaly1964]

I noticed that they're doing better with hacking scenes as well... Take a look at The Social Network or Tron Legacy for example... most of the UNIX commands that they're typing are real.

I heard the HACKS in The Matrix movies were "good code" as well...

 

[CZroe]

I noticed that they're doing better with hacking scenes as well... Take a look at The Social Network or Tron Legacy for example... most of the UNIX commands that they're typing are real.

"I know this. This is a Unix system."

So... that automatically means that the girl knows how to use the park's proprietary software to fly around a 3D view of Jurassic Park to access things that shouldn't be accessible to just anyone in front of the keyboard (door locks)? OK. It's a movie. I'll try to believe that.

 

[zerocool84]

Who cares, they're movies. I watch them to be entertained not educated.

 

[Perknose]

I keep hearing this a lot but I honestly dont understand it. Whether the movie is good or bad I always think of the people in it as being the choices for that role and thats all there is.

What movies do you think are miscast?

The one that comes to mind was a fortunate near miss. When Mr. Rogers was busted on that child abuse charge he had to drop out of the original Die Hard and make room for Bruce Willis.