Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Media Buffs Call Out Scenes That Were Unrealistically Depicted Or Just Plain Wouldn't Happen

"That's not how that works..."

We all know that one person.

You know, whenever someone suggest to watch a movie together, you groan silently and roll your eyes. Once the film begins, the torture starts. "This wouldn't happen that way in real life," or, "That's not how that works!" or "He's not that tall." A self-proclaimed "movie buff" who just has to share everything wrong with the film. No matter that movies are all about bringing the unrealistic to reality, they need to speak up.


Reddit user, u/Lettuce-b-lovely, hopefully wanted to get all the facts out of the way when they asked:

What things are misrepresented or overemphasized in movies because if they were depicted realistically they just wouldn't work on film?


Who's Your Source? Me.

Giphy

Comas. Source: when I was a teenager I was in a coma for several days...

1) the way the tubes (ventilator, feeding tube, etc) are taped to your face/body is not the same way Hollywood does it

2) a patient in a coma is not (necessarily) totally motionless. Just because they are moving doesn't mean they are awake.

3) waking up. I did NOT yawn, stretch, and remark on how well-rested I felt. From what I've been told, the first sign of me being awake had something to do with the heart monitor.

4) it took MONTHS of rehab for me to resume anything resembling a normal life, and I was only out for ~11 days. There's a loose correlation between the length of coma and length of rehab (more time in a coma=more time in rehab). And by "normal life" I mean "able to leave the house without a walker or cane", NOT "able to outthink and outmuscle a bunch of bad guys".

heyrainyday

How Many Abs Should A Freshman Have?

High school students who look like f-ing super models in their mid 20s.

poopellar

Horrifyingly Curious To Know How This Is True

Giphy

Land mines.

They don't click and then only explode after taking the pressure off the plate.

They just explode, no warning at all.

QuintusNonus

If Only There Were Real-Life Columnists That Could Clarify This...

Salaries are always way higher than reality.

Carrie Bradshaw is the best example. She writes a tiny column once a week and can afford 1500 shoes and a decent apartment in NYC.

In reality, she would be living with her parents in New Jersey.

DoubleHelix787

So. Much. Paperwork.

The amount of paperwork and investigations after a car chase or police shooting. Bad Boys/Lethal Weapon would have been the first scene and then months of admin work/investigations. You don't kill 7 people in a gunfight and go back to work as normals the next hour.

nekmatu

When Has Anyone Done This Ever?

Giphy

When somebody is watching video footage and they're at the wrong part, they press fast forward for 3 seconds (whirrirh) and press play at exactly the right part.

nolep

How'd This Happen Again?

How amnesia works. It's not like you always get bonked on the head and forget everything about your life up until that moment.

Leharen

It Never Takes 5 Minutes...

Protagonist: "How long will it take to get this lab result?"

Technician:"10 hours"

Protagonist:"You have 5 minutes"

Technician:"Fine with me"

Niguro90

Does Hollywood Know Anything About Lawyers?

Giphy

Lawyers. Most of the job is research and they're not always in court doing cross examination with controversial questions and soap box closing arguments.

Same with TV lawyer shows. No lawyer can actually be like Alan Shore

AGMarasco

Criminal court trials can be very, very dull. Even the murders. Everyone knows everything before hand. I've been doing this 20 years and never has a defendant been broken down by the prosecutor and made a dramatic confession on the stand. Only once has a cop come through with a missing piece of evidence that exonerated the defendant on the morning of trial (it was security camera footage misplaced in evidence).

There's a lot of paperwork and report reading and less going out on to the gritty streets to interview witnesses.

I've never been shot at. Never been intimidated by the mob or threatened by a Mexican drug cartel. No high speed chases.

Lab results take weeks and I've never "gone down to the lab." The lab is in a different county and I only ever talk to those guys on the phone or by email.

Maxwyfe

Oh No! We're...Landing Safely?

Helicopter crashes.

In movies/video games you spin out of control.

IRL if the tail rotor stops working or the engine fails or something then you can use autorotation to land safely. This is something that pilots are required to learn and demonstrate.

slowpokerface

H/T: Reddit

aDOORable

Shoot a car with a pistol and it fucking EXPLODES, man.

rust_and_diamonds

Or the opposite - open the car door and suddenly it becomes a bullet proof shield.

Bunktavious

Or flip a desk/wooden table or couch, become immortal.

anon_2326411

Swashbuckling

The Princess Bride GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY Giphy

Sword Fights

SearchingForKokomo

they always aim for the blades and not the other person, sure hitting the blade to knock it away and follow up with a strike to the body is effective and you do see it in fencing, but they don't do that, they always only try to disarm the opponent and luckily the opponent also does that otherwise they'd probably be screwed

RQK1996

This is call Flynning (warning: TVTropes) and is named after Errol Flynn.

Flynning exists, in live-action at least, so that non-expert actors can put on an entertaining show without causing Real Life injuries. The first problem is that most actors aren't trained to fence, and most fencers aren't trained to act. Neither skill is something you can teach someone properly in a short amount of time, and audiences are more likely to recognize (and be bothered by) wooden acting than unconvincing swordplay...

A lot of Flynning entries will be written by people who know and care a lot more about swordsmanship than the average person, and therefore can tend toward being critical and nitpicky. Tropes Are Tools, however, and Flynning is not necessarily a "bad" trope: it's just that it comes out of a real-life safety concern that makes it difficult to show the full range of historical combat techniques, and it's often used as a crutch to cover up for a lack of time, money, or expertise... At their best, Flynning and stage combat can be like real swordsmanship filtered through Rule of Cool.

isildo

Black Hats

Computer hacking, it's actually a rather boring convoluted Process and not just a 5 seconds and in kinda thing. Video games also make hacking out to be way cooler than it is

LindFang

Furious typing, eyes darting between three different screens

I'M IN.

DrProfessorElizabutt

Baby Booming

Going into labor/giving birth. Rarely as dramatic as the movies.

andsteven

And they always just pretty much skip to the birth after that first contraction because no time for an 8 hour labor process in a movie

vomirrhea

And the newborn is played by a 3 month old actor

newredheadit

Venting About This

Giphy

Air vents that always lead the main character to the point of interest. Not to mention they will not hold up a full grown adult much less fit one, unless it was a beefy industrial system.

How quickly people get knocked out or how long they stay knocked out for. Some people are more prone to getting knocked out in less hits but watch boxing or UFC, they take hits all day long and in some fights nobody gets knocked out just beaten up. Our hero vs a huge thug, huge thug gets knocked the fuck out everytime.

A server instantly shows up when the main character takes a seat in a restaurant.

Voselot18

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Screenshot of Emily Austin; Billie Eilish
@emilyraustin/X; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards

MAGA Influencer Dragged After Calling Billie Eilish's Anti-ICE Speech At Grammys 'Shameful'

MAGA sports journalist Emily Austin was mocked online after sharing her disapproval for singer Billie Eilish's speech condemning ICE, which got a standing ovation from the crowd.

Eilish, who received the Grammy Award for "Song of the Year" with her brother Finneas O'Connell for their work on the song "Wildflower," used her time onstage to call out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown as outrage grows around the country following the murders of Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents.

Keep Reading Show less
Melania Trump
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

MAGA Bots Come Out In Full Force After Melania's New Documentary Gets Abysmal Score On 'Rotten Tomatoes'

First Lady Melania Trump's new documentary was critically panned on its opening weekend, but MAGA bots have come out in full force with enough gushing reviews to give the film a near-perfect audience score on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Melania follows current First Lady Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration following the 2024 presidential election. The film was directed by Brett Ratner, who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by at least six women.

Keep Reading Show less
Donald Trump; Trevor Noah
Annabelle Gibson/Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Trump Threatens To Sue 'Total Loser' Trevor Noah Over Joke About Him And Epstein During Grammys

President Donald Trump lashed out at Grammys host Trevor Noah after Noah made a joke during the broadcast linking Trump's obsession with controlling Greenland to Trump's former friend and associate Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted pedophile and sex trafficker.

Trump has continued his push to seize control of Greenland from Denmark. He has reiterated his reasoning that owning Greenland is crucial to domestic and international security, dismissing the fact the territory is under the control of a key ally.

Keep Reading Show less
Shot of a group of signs from ice protests.
Photo by Nitish Meena on Unsplash

Family Of ICE Agents Explain How They Really Feel About Their Relative's Job

People need jobs, but some jobs might not be worth the personal loss.

How do we all deal with loved ones who sign up for something we vehemently disagree with?

Keep Reading Show less
Sabrina Carpenter
John Shearer/The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Video Of Sabrina Carpenter's Reaction To Losing All Six Grammys She Was Nominated For Has Fans Gutted For Her

Sabrina Carpenter has been in her winning era for the last few years, but it seems the Grammys did not get that memo this year.

Carpenter fans were excited and confident that the Man's Best Friend singer would take it all home when she was nominated in six categories for the evening, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Solo Pop Performance, and Best Music Video.

Keep Reading Show less