Classic film moments ruined by logic

[ShogunGino]

Three words: nuking the fridge.

Not a classic movie to be sure, but that moment pretty much ruined any chance of taking it seriously. The worst part for me was thinking "Well, it's lead-lined, so that might actually..." and then having to pinch myself for giving it more credit than it deserved.

I don't know why so many people have gotten all upset from this scene. Sure, its unrealistic as a nuke that close would have tore straight through that fridge, even if it was lead lined. But it looked f'n awesome, if you ask me.

But consider another classic moment from Indy that is destroyed by logic: outrunning the boulder. Something that weighty and massive would gain far too much momentum to outrun it like Indy did. Unless you had a nice head start.

Also, from Goldfinger, think about this: Goldfinger tells the crooks who had done jobs for him that they could have 1 mil now, or 10 mil the next day because his gold stocks would increase, and he explains why with the whole radiation thing. The one crook who took the 1 mil Goldfinger had shot by Oddjob out in nowhere, leading us to think he would reward the others. Nope, he killed them with that invisible gas. Why would he bother offering more money to everyone and bother explaining his whole damn plan to them if he planned on killing every one of them immediately afterwards? Of course, it was for the sake of explaining the plot to the audience, and they masked it well, but I saw through it.

I also remember in Empire Strikes Back when Luke falls after the I Am Your Father bit, he fell quite a long way. Then at the bottom of that huge chamber, a giant door opens at the bottom and he just slides down to where the Falcon is waiting for him. Okay, falling that far, a metal tube that doesn't have a steep enough angle would NOT easily break your fall. Even if you did survive from that fall, you'd at least break your pelvis.

 

[axia777]

Lightsabers...

Dammit, why do those beams of light not just pass THROUGH each other?

I watched a show on the History Channel about the science of Star Wars. They theorize that "Light" Sabers are actually Plasma swords. The magnetic field used to hold the plasma in the form of the blade would actually make the used able to parry as the Jedi do. In other words, "Light/Plasma" Sabers are very much possible as they are in Star Wars. They just need to figure out the power source and how to keep the plasma at a constant temperature.

 

[matrix3509]

Lightsabers...

Dammit, why do those beams of light not just pass THROUGH each other?

Sorry I can't resist. Nerd-mode activated:

Lightsabre beams are of essentially the same composition as blasterbolt. That is, plasma. The difference is how the sabre beam is actually tied to a power source continually, and as such will immedialy die when the power is cut.

[Disengaging Nerd-mode]

But unless the plasma is contained, as it is a higher form of matter than gas, it would either dissipate into the surrounding area, or continue on forever. Also, the intense heat needed to create plasma would fry anything within a huge radius.

Blasterbolts are more logical, however.

The plasma in a sabre beam wouldn't dissapate because as I said, it is forever linked to the power source in the hilt. Thats why, when a sabre is destroyed (by , say, another sabre) it doesn't explode and kill everything. Even if you don't believe that, I can always say that its constrained by some magic apparatus the keeps the heat at bay while still being able to have the energy to cut into things, which would violate every law of thermodynamics.

Even blasterbolts are pretty amazing though. From the gas, its energized into plasma, then turned into a coherent beam that actually has momentum, all in the space of a few milliseconds after the trigger is pulled.

EDIT: I would mostly guess, though its never covered in anything, that throughout the 25,000 some odd years of the Jedi's existance, they have found a super effecient way for converting and storing plasma, such that none of the energy is lost through heat dissapation.

The original Lightsabres in star wars canon had HUGE backpack power generators involved for this function

Damn, ninja'd on that one. Its true, at the very onset of lightsabers, they weren't even used for combat because of the huge power consumption of just trying to cut through things. Even then, the thing could only run for a few minutes before having to be recharged. Regular swords were still used until the technology could be perfected.

 

[curlycrouton]

In Pearl Harbor (Not a classic movie, but still)
While the USS Oklahoma was capsizing, one of the sailors on deck yelled "I can't swim!".
Why on earth would you join the Navy if you can't swim, you ninny?

Another point in that movie highlights the heavy bias towards good ol' Apple Pie and Baseball style Americana. When Pearl Harbour gets bombed, Ben Affleck says:

"I think World War Two just began".

No, you shovel faced berk, it didn't, it's 1941, and it's been going on for two years.

 

[matrix3509]

Why people in movies like star wars use blasters. From what I've seen, blaster bolts move slower than bullets, have a lower rate of fire than normal guns of comparable size/type, and instantly cauterize any wound given, creating a much lower chance of a kill through blood loss. They also seem to be less accurate. The only advantage I can think of for blasters is the apparent lack of any need to reload. The only Star Wars blasters that I've seen behave differently were the ones in Republic Commando, which actually had a decent rate of fire, but they needed reloading. In fact, Star Wars-style blasters do away with the main advantage of energy weapons: Instant, straight-line, hits.

The reason blasters became prevalent was because of the punch they packed. Your pretty much guaranteed a kill if it hits (yeah I know Leia survived being shot, but SHUT UP I'm trying to make a point here). The E-11 blaster rifle was actually a pretty good weapon (excluding the fact that the stormtroopers using them probably couldn't even shoot themselves if they tried).

Blasters, because of their plasma based ammo are completely unaffected by body armor. Even if you were wearing durasteel, around 2 shots would take you down. If anything the advent of blasters was a good thing for people using slugthrowers because it meant that since armor was not effective anymore, less people would wear it.

EDIT: Besides if you were caught using a slugthrower, you were seen as a barbarian. Its about at uncivilized as you could get.

 

[iain62a]

Lasers are light bro.

Laser stands for Light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation.

 

[Damien the Pigeon]

when superman makes time go backwards... it cant happen!

Yeah it can, if he's exceeding the speed of light.

Nope. Even with the whole "space-time continuum" and "speed of light" stuff, it's all just relative. Time would go relatively slower for people traveling at the speed of light compared to the Earth. Time (as we know it, anyway) flows in one direction (forwards) regardless of how fast you're moving. You just got physics'd!

 

[axia777]

I learned to personally suspend my disbelief long ago with movies of all most every sort. Grenades that explode close to people with out maiming them or grenades that explode and blow up a house. Gasoline that ignites instantly and burns at amazing speeds. Myth Busters tried this one and found that by poking a hole in a gas tank one can light the gas pouring out but avoid disaster by driving away at a paltry 8 miles a hour.

Another thing is how many hero's get punched in the nose and never bleed. Very hilarious to say the least. Sound in space along with massive fiery explosions in space where on atmosphere exists to support them. Hollywood loves tobreak all most every scientific law know to science.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Why exactly do starships need to keep their thrusters powered at all times when there is no force pushing back against them?

 

[axia777]

Lasers are light bro.

Laser stands for Light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation.

Again, Light Sabers could not be lasers. It is just not possible. They are plasma blades.

 

[iain62a]

Lasers are light bro.

Laser stands for Light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation.

Again, Light Sabers could not be lasers. It is just not possible. They are plasma blades.

I know, I was just spewing out a little factoid there.

In Pearl Harbor (Not a classic movie, but still)
While the USS Oklahoma was capsizing, one of the sailors on deck yelled "I can't swim!".
Why on earth would you join the Navy if you can't swim, you ninny?

Funnily enough, where I come from (island off northwest of Scotland) it was(still is, sort of) considered unlucky to be able to swim if you were a fisherman. My mum's cousin drowned because of that. On a side note, some other superstitions held by fishermen where I live include not allowing ministers or women aboard the boats.

Very stupid superstitions.

 

[ChaosTheory3133]

I can think of a classic moment of a not so classic film, where logic has been forgone completely...
Indiana Jones in a refrigerator anyone?

 

[Lunar Shadow]

Lasers are light bro.

Laser stands for Light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation.

You Sir get a goddamned cookie for you Avy. "Noone expects the Imperial Inquisition!"

Sorry for that off topic bit.

I would have to say the points where logic poke holes in a movi would have to be just abou every sci-fi movie wiht sound, fire, and fiery expplosions in space. That and ships that always seem to have their thrusters on. In space you would just need a little boost and you wll keep going.

 

[Simriel]

The original Lightsabres in star wars canon had HUGE backpack power generators involved for this function

I thought they were more like hip mounted phany-packs? I mean, you're right about the external power supply, and can you believe that they used to be connected by a wire?

It seems... weird!

 

[Paper-Moon]

Like how Eagle Eye had such a godawfully complicated plot to deliver a bomb into the Capitol Building when the computer could have just hijacked a jet and blew the place up.

That movie had alot of 'But that doesn't make any sense...' moments. Like that one guy who died because he got shoved through a pane of glass. The only way a person could die from that would be if the pane of glass had been dropped on them....from 20+ stories up.

 

[Simriel]

Lightsabers...

Dammit, why do those beams of light not just pass THROUGH each other?

Sorry I can't resist. Nerd-mode activated:

Lightsabre beams are of essentially the same composition as blasterbolt. That is, plasma. The difference is how the sabre beam is actually tied to a power source continually, and as such will immedialy die when the power is cut.

[Disengaging Nerd-mode]

But unless the plasma is contained, as it is a higher form of matter than gas, it would either dissipate into the surrounding area, or continue on forever. Also, the intense heat needed to create plasma would fry anything within a huge radius.

Blasterbolts are more logical, however.

The plasma in a sabre beam wouldn't dissapate because as I said, it is forever linked to the power source in the hilt. Thats why, when a sabre is destroyed (by , say, another sabre) it doesn't explode and kill everything. Even if you don't believe that, I can always say that its constrained by some magic apparatus the keeps the heat at bay while still being able to have the energy to cut into things, which would violate every law of thermodynamics.

Even blasterbolts are pretty amazing though. From the gas, its energized into plasma, then turned into a coherent beam that actually has momentum, all in the space of a few milliseconds after the trigger is pulled.

EDIT: I would mostly guess, though its never covered in anything, that throughout the 25,000 some odd years of the Jedi's existance, they have found a super effecient way for converting and storing plasma, such that none of the energy is lost through heat dissapation.

The original Lightsabres in star wars canon had HUGE backpack power generators involved for this function

Damn, ninja'd on that one. Its true, at the very onset of lightsabers, they weren't even used for combat because of the huge power consumption of just trying to cut through things. Even then, the thing could only run for a few minutes before having to be recharged. Regular swords were still used until the technology could be perfected.

Actually the vibroblade was the first step towards a superior combat weapon for the jedi.

 

[roblikestoskate]

TV Tropes ruined films/TV for me.
"THERE. IS. NO. SOUND. IN. SPACE."
"Bullets do not spark!"
"Cars do not work like you think they work! They do not explode when shot!"
"JESUS CHRIST PEOPLE THERE IS NO FUCKING SOUND IN SPACE."
"You cannot do that with a sword."
"Oh for the love of - NO MORE SOUND, IN MY GODDAMN SPACE."

Well, everything except Firefly. Even with the sparking bullets, I quickly shut up.
Because it's like finding a flaw in a unicorn: You could go on about, "Oh, what use could that horn be, and why did it grow all twirly like that, oh nature does not work like that," but it's still a fucking unicorn. It's as close to perfection as you're ever going to get, so shut up.

Me too, dude. Thee is truly no sound in space.

I love TV Tropes, though.

 

[Simriel]

Why people in movies like star wars use blasters. From what I've seen, blaster bolts move slower than bullets, have a lower rate of fire than normal guns of comparable size/type, and instantly cauterize any wound given, creating a much lower chance of a kill through blood loss. They also seem to be less accurate. The only advantage I can think of for blasters is the apparent lack of any need to reload. The only Star Wars blasters that I've seen behave differently were the ones in Republic Commando, which actually had a decent rate of fire, but they needed reloading. In fact, Star Wars-style blasters do away with the main advantage of energy weapons: Instant, straight-line, hits.

The reason blasters became prevalent was because of the punch they packed. Your pretty much guaranteed a kill if it hits (yeah I know Leia survived being shot, but SHUT UP I'm trying to make a point here). The E-11 blaster rifle was actually a pretty good weapon (excluding the fact that the stormtroopers using them probably couldn't even shoot themselves if they tried).

Blasters, because of their plasma based ammo are completely unaffected by body armor. Even if you were wearing durasteel, around 2 shots would take you down. If anything the advent of blasters was a good thing for people using slugthrowers because it meant that since armor was not effective anymore, less people would wear it.

EDIT: Besides if you were caught using a slugthrower, you were seen as a barbarian. Its about at uncivilized as you could get.

Actually the reason han solo/ clone troopers weapons are so good, and storm trooper and rebel blasters could be survived was because both the former where using HEAVY blaster weapons, packing twice the punch. Also armor in star wars has blast absorbing capabilities, and in some extreme cases (see mandalorian iron) can even resist a lightsabre

 

[Falseprophet]

Basically, if the movie stands up on other points, like the overall plot, the acting, the characters, the action sequences--I can overlook small blunders. Spiderman II is a good example; there are so many stupid things in that movie, like performing an experiment to create a minature star for the first time in a Manhattan apartment building in front of dozens of reporters with little protective gear instead of in a controlled lab environment far away from population centres. But the acting, character development and action scenes were all so well done I was willing to overlook that sort of thing.

Alternatively, a movie that is dumb but knows it is just a fun, dumb movie like Doomsday, Zoolander, or the Transporter movies--I can forgive all the inconsistencies and irrational things as long as the action is good (not too much shaky cam or bad CGI) or the jokes are funny.

On the other hand, a movie that thinks it's smart or important but isn't--like a lot of Oscar contenders, Jumper, Vanilla Sky--I find they insult my intelligence, so I'm more likely to nitpick every flaw in that case.

 

[Raven28256]

Grenades that explode close to people with out maiming them or grenades that explode and blow up a house.

Actually, if you are laying flat against the ground, you CAN survive a grenade and come out unharmed. They explain this in the book Black Hawk Down and several documentaries about the battle, because a soldier that had a grenade explode right next to him like this lived without a scratch. I've also heard them talk about it in other documentaries about modern battles.

Grenades tend to explode up and out...So if you are flat on the ground low enough, there is a good chance that the shrapnel will all pass over you. It isn't all that rare for a soldier to survive a grenade because he did this.

Unless you are talking about scenes where the guy is standing up right by the grenade, which I suspect you might be. Then we have a legitimate gripe.

But anyway, you are right about one of them. In so many movies, grenades cause these huge explosions with big, lasting flames.

Ugh...Grenades don't kill by fire, they kill by the shrapnel. They don't cause huge, fiery explosions. Grenades look much like they do in games like Battlefield: A small flash, with shrapnel being what actually kills you. It is like everyone in Hollywood movies use incendiary grenades.