I'd mentioned on the sidebar a list of bad physics in Hollywood. A few of theirs were problematic but I thought I'd add my own. Quite a few are the same, but I have a few others plus comments.
1. All vehicles blow up when hit. Many I hate this one. Cars just aren't that explosive. Diesels are even less so. Associated with this is the pouring of gasoline that then gets triggered by a cigarette. (Like in Usual Suspects) Sorry, it just can't happen. I'd love it if Hollywood would stop doing this.
2. Barrel rolls are hard. I'm not saying they don't happen. But in Hollywood the only tired worn out cliche worse than exploding cars are barrel rolls. And they happen at almost anytime! Of course Hollywood has a standard machine to do them. So I think they just get stuck in a rut. Most Hollywood car chases are cliched and boring. Although there are some good ones. (Check out Ronan or The Bourne Supremacy for good recent car chases)
3. Everything is bullet-proof. Characters hide behind tables and even cardboard boxes as if they were sand embankments. What's up with this? Yes, hiding behind even something bullets go through is somewhat helpful. There's less of a chance of being hit since the shooter can't see you. But in the movies there is often a blaze of gunfire which makes it unlikely you'd survive. In real life bullets, especially rifle bullets, tend to go through even walls.
4. Banking in Space. Why is it in science fiction movies spaceships tend to behave like they are WWII planes in atmosphere? You don't need wings in space and you don't bank in space. (I'll give some credit to Battlestar Galactica for not doing this. Star Wars is of course the worst offender)
5. Computers can't aim. Why is it that I could write a computer program now that could aim better than Hollywood computers? It's so weird. Cylons can't hit anything inexplicably. Robots in general are worse shots than Stormtroopers. But it's just a weird thing. In general computers can't fly well either in the future. Kind of odd.
6. People explode in outerspace. I hate this one. Yes you'll get pretty seriously hurt by explosive decompression. But you're not going to blow up like a balloon. I'll give BSG credit here as well. As bad of shots as their Cylons are, they did a great treatment of being in vacuum last week.
I'd add in the other ones that the afore mentioned blog brought up.
Now for the audience gaffes.
Gun shots are loud. There was this urband legend that Hollywood artificially made guns loud by playing .44 magnum shots for all guns. I don't know what recording they use, but in real life guns are far, far louder than in the movies. That's why you wear hearing protection when you shoot. Typically in a gunfight, especially one indoors, most of the people would be temporarily near deaf after the firefight. Some movies actually get this right. But recognize that of necessity Hollywood tones down gunfights.
I've closed comments in order to avoid spam since I don't check this older blog as much anymore.
and Theology
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Blogged by Clark Goble