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Artistic License

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by DrFrylock, Sep 24, 2010.

  1. DrFrylock

    DrFrylock
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    Ancient Egypt week concludes here at TiB.

    I like the movie Stargate. It posits that aliens did really build the pyramids, which is ridiculous but it's just a movie.

    In it, the characters go to another planet that has pyramids also. The pyramids there look just like ours. Unfortunately, ours only look the way they do because people jacked the white limestone coatings and gold leaf tops from them in antiquity. Are we to assume that the people on Stargate-world did the same?

    FOCUS: what are your (least) favorite movie inaccuracies?
     
  2. lostalldoubt86

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    Do the inaccuracies of romantic comedies count, or are they too obvious?

    For instance, just because a woman falls, slips, trips over a leaf doesn't mean a man is going to be there to catch her. Most of the time you just fall on your face and look up to see a crowd of men (and woman) standing over you, some embarrassed for you and some laughing at your clumsiness.
     
  3. ghettoastronaut

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    My least favourite realism is texting. There's just something about texting that takes away from a good story being told. I sincerely doubt there will be any great novels written in which the characters send text messages to each other. I suppose movies are able to get away with it a little bit, but even extensive cell phone calls between characters are extremely annoying.

    As an anti-focus, my favourite accuracy is a line from Generation Kill. "Aw, man, I don't have any boot bands."
     
  4. eric

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    For some bizarre reason, inaccurately depicted military hardware in movies bugs me. In high school I was fascinated with everything military and I still have enough residual knowledge to know when something is wrong.

    One that comes to mind are the Apache helicopters in the movie Godzilla, the one with Ferris Bueller. In the movie they are shown with machine guns mounted on either side of the cockpit, like a WW1 fighter. In reality, Apaches have a 30 mm chain gun hanging from the bottom. I remember some funny stuff with missiles too. I believe they were loaded out with Sidewinders which they used to attack Godzilla.

    Not a movie, but one of the seasons of 24 had a F-117 Stealth Fighter shoot down Airforce One. First, how would the pilot even find Airforce One without guidance from the ground, given that F-117's don't have radar of any kind. Second, can F-117's even carry/fire sidewinders?
     
  5. Dr. Gonzo Esquire

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    I hate bar/club scenes in movies. Even though the music is blasting everyone can clearly hear each other speak, no one has to yell over the music to be heard, and even the phone calls all have perfect clarity.
     
  6. Solaris

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    It always annoys me that Guns never jam in films. I've never fired one in real life but a soldier once told me it happens a lot. Is this true, do any war films portray combat really accurately?
     
  7. pterodactyl

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    #7 pterodactyl, Sep 24, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 27, 2015
  8. Dr. Gonzo Esquire

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    Sometimes the director may have a gun jam to add drama to a scene (i.e., Oh no, my gun jammed, what do I do now?!). But that's about it.
     
  9. ghettoastronaut

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    I once read a book (so I'm an expert, I know) in which various soldiers claimed that they would only consider a war film accurate if people shit and piss themselves in combat. I'm not sure we want to go there.
     
  10. McSmallstuff

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    On the same note as weapon jam, I have yet to encounter any sidearm that carries 500 plus rounds. Reload a damn weapon.

    And on the rare occasion they show someone reloading, why in the fuck are you dropping that perfectly good clip on the ground. Doubly true if the person in question is a member of the military. My T.I. would hunt me down, and do some truly unthinkable things to me if he found out I was dropping perfectly good Air Force material on the ground. You have pockets put your empty clips in there.

    Also why do criminal suspects just cave when confronted with the overwhelming evidence against them? Ask for a lawyer. If you are part of the seedy criminal underbelly, I'm quite certain you know your rights.

    Finally, this has been a long time bitch of mine, but seriously can we stop with the magic computers? Yes EVERY home P.C. in the world can crack pentagon level security in the matter of minutes as long as the person using it is some reformed super hacker, who through an unfortunate set of circumstances has been force back into the game.
     
  11. pterodactyl

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    Also, anyone can hack a computer as long as you type really fast.
     
  12. ghettoastronaut

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    On the topic of inaccuracies...

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Fernanthonies

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    One of my biggest issues with movies that is related to this is that everyone uses easy to guess passwords for computers. One of the biggest examples of this that always drives me crazy is from the end of Watchmen: (spoilers in case you haven't seen it)
    When they break into Ozymandias' office and Nite Owl tries to break into his computer. After trying 3-4 times he notices a book on the desk, the title of which just happens to be the password to the computer. Fucking Really? Isn't Ozymandias supposed to be the smartest man in the world?

    Bad Password: Ramesses II (The title of a book on the same fucking desk!)
    Good Password: 2acj:p?H~f7D

    This happens all the fucking time in movies. Of course, handling IT support at my office from time to time, it blows my mind how many people use "password" as a password. Retards.
     
  14. Nettdata

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    Aircraft soundtracks.

    Specifically, the use of old radial engine soundtracks for turbine engined aircraft, and vice versa.

    Nothing funnier than watching a Hughes 520 fire up and yet hearing an old radial engine sputz-and-fart coming to life.

    And by funnier, I mean sadder.

    And I refuse to even start in on the whole computer security "hack that database" or "break into that firewall" crap that "hacking" is portrayed as on TV or in movies.

    Some of those "cross-reference those lists between 2 databases" 20 second clips, in reality, would either be impossible or take teams of devs many days to accomplish.
     
  15. Solaris

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    Wait so I'm confused, in combat soldiers keep hold of their empty magazines all the time? And then they manually refill them?

    What is a clip? Is it like a mini-magazine thats disposable?

    Why don't films teach you stuff like this, would be so much more interesting.
     
  16. Maltob14

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    I hope to God this is a joke dude but just incase:

    Yes. You never know what the fuck will go on and at times, when being resupplied with ammo, will need to refill your mags in the field when the opportunity presents itself. Some do not like the idea of mag retention though.

    A clip is what the old rifles like the Garand used to use. It was a metal clip that held onto bullets and is pretty much disposable after use. Once the clip is empty you just replace it with another clip and move on.

    Because nobody would watch them.

    Personally, I don't like the stupid whistle sound all suppressors make but it's definitely no deal breaker. I prefer the great action movies where the hero doesn't care about suppressors. You know, like any Segal movie or xXx 2. Ice Cube is the man.
     
  17. bean

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    Without going into too much detail here (Guns and Ammo thread) a clip that directly loads a firearm is only used for a small number of arms, like the M1 Garand. Magazines are used for most other semi-automatic firearms.

    In military combat situations soldiers carry full mags that are reloaded when depleted from ammo storage boxes. Losing your empties will happen on the battlefield, however it is not something you want to happen. Especially if you like your PMAGs

    Focus: Most everything else I can usually ignore (except blatant gun and computer stuff). However, I cannot stand the space shots that contain massive fireball explosions and sound effects. IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT.
     
  18. Dr. Gonzo Esquire

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    Guy shoots at the gas tank of a car... it explodes. Guy shoots at a propane tank... it explodes. Not how it works!

    Also, whenever a "computer genius hacker" is asked, "how did you do that?" his response is always something to the effect of "I just do" or "I just see the code in my head."
     
  19. Nettdata

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    First rifle I was issued in the military was the FN C1A1.

    The clips were the way that field ammo was distributed, and it was used for rapid field-loading of the magazines. Basically, the empty magazine would be attached to the rifle as per normal, the action would be held in the open position, the clip would fit within a "charger guide" that was incorporated into the dust cover, and then you'd push down on the 5-round clip. This would feed the rounds off of the clip and down into the magazine, and was a fairly quick means of loading the mag 5 rounds at a time.

    There was no way to use the clip as any kind of a magazine on the rifle at all, as it had no attachment points to the rifle, no feeder springs, etc. It was nothing more than a cheap and easy way to attach rounds to each other for distribution.
     
  20. JPrue

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    My personal favorite is no matter the speed or the current gear of the car, shifting up will always rapidly increase your speed. Cars will be neck and neck and one guy will shift and pass the other like he is parked on the side of the road. Makes you wonder, if there needs no timing or purpose to shift, and it gives you a major power boost, why not shift more? 8, 10, 12 times, why not?

    You'd think critical details in genre specific movies would be of the utmost concern to the people creating these movies. Racing movies attract car enthusiasts who know their shit, so why would you overlook the most important part of the film: the actual driving of the cars? The physics in these movies know no laws. Do they think no one will notice? In a military movie, why not focus on the specifics of weaponry and tactics when you know that by ignoring these things you're exposing the movie to obvious criticisms, therefore reducing your credibility. I'm not calling for a production out of a textbook, but some occasional reloading is required in long firefights.