Unrealistic movie tropes and plot holes

Gregory Howard said:There are at least two or three different levels being conflated here.

1. Technical impossibility due to the very nature of reality. Most of the examples in the first post are well-supported, but what about confirmed "miracles"? There was a hero from Appalachia back in the 1930s who supposedly pulled a locomotive with his teeth; during WWII, two or three American soldiers, fueled by pure panic, actually flipped a military truck 180 degrees because they ran into Germans and were being kidnapped.
Even more sophisticated works scream about this—novels by Honoré de Balzac, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Stendhal are riddled with technical impossibilities. For example, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once pointed out that in a certain Fitzgerald novel, it would be impossible for a narrator sitting in a bar to see an entire person entering the room; at most, they’d see them up to the waist.

It's poetic license, even when those instances fall flat.

2. The second issue is the low or non-existent probability of small details—like the 555 prefix. But I maintain that this argument doesn't hold water. Life is full of incredible coincidences and things that "shouldn't happen." For instance, two of my classmates from high school died on the exact same day. They had different illnesses, nothing to do with one another, and they were far too young to be dying, let's put it that way. One funeral was at 11:00 AM, the other at noon. They sat bench to bench.

So, what exactly makes something believable or not?

3. The third point is more important to me: the sheer improbability and lack of realism in how environments are portrayed. If we compare The Sopranos to godfather 1,2, The Sopranos show us somewhat realistic mobsters, whereas The Godfather is an idealization. Then there is the general lie found in clichés—in war movies, all Germans are either villains, idiots, or die in wagons. Or take the average American TV show—everyone is a supermodel, yet when you take a documentary camera out onto the street, everyone is overweight or unattractive.

If you ever actually spot one of those "miracles" on screen, let me know, and then we can have a proper discussion.

My third point—which I find more pressing—concerns the sheer improbability and lack of realism regarding the setting itself. For instance, if we compare The Sopranos to godfather 1,2 - soprano, The Sopranos depict mobsters who feel somewhat grounded in reality, whereas The Godfather is little more than an idealization.

Then there is the general falsehood found in clichés—the idea that every German in war movies is either a villain, an idiot, or someone destined to die on the tracks.

Yes, we see that trope quite frequently in cinema. There are exceptions, of course, which (given how much is left to chance 🙂 ) result in films that aren't entirely terrible, such as Schindler's List or The Pianist.

Or take the average American TV series—everyone is a supermodel, yet once they step out into the real world with a documentary camera, it's nothing but overweight people or unattractive characters.

This is a completely different subject, but it's a good one nonetheless.

So, let's say a phone call scene lasts maybe 5 or 10 seconds... at that point, you could basically call it an art film! 😁 And speaking generally, when they cut scenes this short... even if it makes sense, whatever—it's true, and it honestly bugs me sometimes, seeing how everything in movies is just perfectly timed to flow one after another without any actual scene changes! 😁

goldenhound32 said:Hmm, I had always assumed that caliber played a significant role in that equation.
If you are insisting that the outcome remains the same regardless of the caliber used, do you happen to have any actual evidence or perhaps a link to back that up?

It depends on the caliber, distance, angle, the bullet itself, and even the victim. But regardless, if you blast someone point-blank against the skull, there’s gotta be a massive hole. Honestly, in those old Westerns, they never showed holes; everyone just shot for the heart or something. You'd see these tiny little nicks, and you could take a burst from three yards away right in the solar plexus without even staining a white shirt. Nowadays, some movies show wounds pretty realistically, but not always...
That part always bugged me about war movies—only a few actually show what a gunshot wound looks like. Most of the time, people getting hit by machine gun nests would just bleed from these tiny little dots...

I’m currently diving into One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I can already see some of you guys losing your minds if they ever made a movie out of it—not even because of the blasphemy, but just because the whole book is packed with surrealism disguised as everyday reality.

It’s all nonsense. Completely unrealistic, but 99% of the audience doesn't even notice. For me, the dumbest part is how the good guys end up with 90 out of 100 wounds right in the shoulder. Of course, they just wrap it up with one bandage. Every single car crash results in an explosion, and if someone fires a shotgun, the hood just flies off into the air. But who cares... I guess that's why they're called movies and not documentaries.

lonelynx44 As requested by:
Suppose we consider a scenario where a simple phone call scene drags on for five or ten seconds... at that point, one might just call it an art film. 😁

Heh... honestly, that would be absolutely wonderful for me.
It presents an excellent opportunity to truly get to know the character’s temperament. If he's feeling agitated, he might lash out, shouting, "Come on, answer me! Pick up the damn phone!" But if he's more composed, he might simply pick up a book and spend his time reading the back cover to study the synopsis. If I'm sitting at my computer, I can just pause the movie and read the summary, or perhaps find something else to watch on the TV or PC. Honestly, the possibilities are endless.

1. everyone is having sex without any protection at all
2. everyone finishes in like, two milliseconds flat
3. hooking up on the beach
4. standing up during sex
5. sex under the water
6. parents who respond to the absolute worst possible situations with just a calm conversation
7. everyone manages to work, go to college, and stay incredibly fit all at once
8. everyone is already a CEO by the age of 25

well... that's basically what comes to mind immediately

Goodness gracious...🤣
It’s just not realistic for a car to flip over and instantly explode—I mean, there isn't enough fuel or anything in there to just spontaneously combust like that. If you watch something like Cobra 11, when a car flips, it usually just ends up crushed, nothing more.

goldenhound32 said:You clearly aren't reading closely enough. I specifically wrote 'armed.'

Wouldn't an armed fugitive turn around at some point and fire a shot just to throw the hunter off? And the hunter would obviously return fire. Besides, what they're carrying matters. If he’s got a pistol and the other guy is stuck reloading a shotgun every single time, who's really doing the chasing here? 🤷

p.s. the original post didn't mention anything about an armed villain 🤷

And yeah, if you happen to have an example of a scene like that, I'd love to see it... 🙂

goldenhound32 said:Of course a glaring script error bothers me more than an unlocked car. But that doesn't mean I should just overlook the car. Every detail in a film matters to me.

You realize you can just skip over the filler scenes, right? Like when a character is just sitting around waiting for someone else after a phone call? 🙂

Have you noticed how Fox Mulder and Dana Scully sometimes zip through several cities in just a few minutes while trying to crack a case? 😁

Those two aren't the same thing. You don't see Scully eating or using the restroom, but a scene involving a phone call is vital—even if it's brief—and therefore needs to happen in real time.

We're back to the idea that it really depends on what kind of movie we're talking about... 🙂

These two things aren't the same. You don't care to see how Scully eats or goes to the bathroom, but the phone scene is important (and short), so it has to be in real time.

So, when one person finishes up, are we supposed to just wait forever for the other person to show up? Sure, he has to wait, but unless we want to sit through ten minutes of him just "hanging out" in the apartment, directors are going to cut the fluff and get back to the actual plot. I don't see the issue, unless you've got an example that proves otherwise. Can't think of any similar scenes right now... 🤷

And let’s not forget those classic "20 against 1" showdowns. You know the ones—where the lead guy (some insanely handsome heartthrob) just tears through twenty martial arts masters one by one. Of course, while he’s busy pummeling two or three of them, everyone else just stands there dancing around him, totally frozen, waiting patiently for their turn to get beat up. 🙄

Sophia Grant39 said:It’s all nonsense. Completely unrealistic, but 99% of the audience doesn't even notice. For me, the dumbest part is how the good guys end up with 90 out of 100 wounds right in the shoulder. Of course, they just wrap it up with one bandage. Every single car crash results in an explosion, and if someone fires a shotgun, the hood just flies off into the air. But who cares... I guess that's why they're called movies and not documentaries.

And how does the main guy always manage to stay alive just to face the big bad at the end?

p.s. not true. they get shot in the leg all the time.

Emily Thomas3 said:I’m currently diving into One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I can already see some of you guys losing your minds if they ever made a movie out of it—not even because of the blasphemy, but just because the whole book is packed with surrealism disguised as everyday reality.

I’d honestly be laughing my head off, just living my best life while "goldenhound32" over here whines on the forum about how unrealistic it all is...☕div>

goldenhound32 said:From the era of the 555 prefix convention all the way to the sheer absurdity surrounding firearms...

It's all just one big collection of tropes we've come to expect.

To start things off, here is a little copy-paste I found on a site:

Silencers on revolvers

Only an idiot would ever attempt to put a silencer on a revolver. Silencers are designed for semi-automatic pistols where the gases vent through the barrel; with a revolver, the gas escapes from the cylinder gap, which is essentially wide open.

The empty gun

We have all sat through those scenes where the protagonist—or more often the villain—presses a pistol against someone's head after a long, completely unnecessary monologue, only to pull the trigger and hear a hollow 'click,' revealing the gun was empty. It's another tired cliché. When a semi-auto runs dry, the slide locks back in that position. Furthermore, the firing mechanism locks up, so you wouldn't get a rhythmic clicking sound upon pulling the trigger. Anyone with half a brain can tell if an automatic is empty just by looking at it.

Super-precise snipers

Movie snipers always aim directly for the head, with their crosshairs perfectly centered on the target. Sure, you could do that, but only if the target is within 100 yards. A real sniper has to account for windage, distance, air pressure, and humidity. Under ideal conditions, a sniper will actually aim slightly above the target rather than directly at it. And one more thing: actual snipers aim for the torso, almost never the head.

Clouds of gunpowder smoke

This is the kind of mistake that creeps into the work of writers. The phrase 'the stench of cordite' shows up constantly in cheap crime novels, but cordite has nothing to do with modern ammunition. Cordite was a component of gunpowder used in the late 19th century and hasn't been relevant for ages.

Pump-action shotgun repetition

We’ve all seen this one. After dropping a gritty line like 'Go ahead, make my day,' the hero pumps the shotgun and kills the villain, the monster, the alien, Little Red Riding Hood, or whatever else is standing in their way. This implies only one thing: there wasn't a shell in the chamber. By pumping the shotgun, they are chambering a round; if the hero had pulled the trigger before that, absolutely nothing would have happened.

Side-shooting

If you ever find yourself holding a handgun, try shooting while holding it out to the side of your body. You’ll miss the target by two miles. It looks great on screen, but it bears zero resemblance to reality. There is a reason we hold a gun at eye level and in front of us—it's the only way to actually hit anything. Shooting from the hip gives you about the same chance of hitting something as a long shot at a casino. Slim.

Pressing against the wall

Police officers creep along, guns drawn, scraping their backs against the walls. It doesn't work that way. Real cops fire a few shots and then immediately seek substantial cover. After that comes the shouting and the intimidation to get criminals to surrender. Walls, especially in the US, aren't thick enough to stop a bullet, and bullets have a nasty habit of ricocheting off walls and floors.

Are you serious?🙄

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvF4yurWSc0

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...1895bramit.jpg

The Nagant 1895 😎

boldfalcon13 said:1. everyone is having sex without any protection at all
2. everyone finishes in like, two milliseconds flat
3. hooking up on the beach
4. standing up during sex
5. sex under the water
6. parents who respond to the absolute worst possible situations with just a calm conversation
7. everyone manages to work, go to college, and stay incredibly fit all at once
8. everyone is already a CEO by the age of 25

well... that's basically what comes to mind immediately

Technically, anything is possible.

6. parents who actually handle their kids' biggest screw-ups with a calm conversation

I’m fairly certain those people exist somewhere.
Especially if they happen to be Japanese.🙂

Jerry Martin19 said:Wouldn't an armed fugitive turn around at some point and fire a shot just to throw the hunter off? And the hunter would obviously return fire. Besides, what they're carrying matters. If he’s got a pistol and the other guy is stuck reloading a shotgun every single time, who's really doing the chasing here? 🤷

p.s. the original post didn't mention anything about an armed villain 🤷

And yeah, if you happen to have an example of a scene like that, I'd love to see it... 🙂

We're back to the idea that it really depends on what kind of movie we're talking about... 🙂

These two things aren't the same. You don't care to see how Scully eats or goes to the bathroom, but the phone scene is important (and short), so it has to be in real time.

So, when one person finishes up, are we supposed to just wait forever for the other person to show up? Sure, he has to wait, but unless we want to sit through ten minutes of him just "hanging out" in the apartment, directors are going to cut the fluff and get back to the actual plot. I don't see the issue, unless you've got an example that proves otherwise. Can't think of any similar scenes right now... 🤷

It could happen, but it isn't a necessity. There are too many variables at play.

besides, what the fugitive is actually carrying matters. if he's got a handgun and the other guy is lugging a shotgun that requires "constant" reloading, then who is really doing the chasing? 🤷

"Constant"? That depends entirely on the shotgun.

p.s. the original post didn't specify anything about the villain being armed 🤷

But let’s assume he is. It's a fair assumption, given how often villains in these things are armed.

and yeah, I'd love to see an example of a scene like that if you happen to have one 🙂

Maybe one exists, but I couldn't tell you. Not that it really matters. What matters is how reality gets bent just to make the hero look cooler. Take a show like The Wire, for instance; they don't do that. There's one guy with a shotgun who just fires—no dramatic reloading sequences required.

so we're back to the point that what kind of movie it actually is is what matters most 🙂

Precisely.
I haven't seen a car explode after a collision in quite some time. That's mostly because I tend to avoid action movies altogether.

so, when one person is neutralized, are we supposed to wait as long as it takes for the other one to arrive?

Wait for him to arrive?

Jason Campbell70 said:Are you serious?🙄

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvF4yurWSc0

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...1895bramit.jpg

The Nagant 1895 😎

Fair enough.

And yet, the point remains: the Nagant stands alone as the sole exception.

goldenhound32 said:It could happen, but it isn't a necessity. There are too many variables at play.

besides, what the fugitive is actually carrying matters. if he's got a handgun and the other guy is lugging a shotgun that requires "constant" reloading, then who is really doing the chasing? 🤷

"Constant"? That depends entirely on the shotgun.

p.s. the original post didn't specify anything about the villain being armed 🤷

But let’s assume he is. It's a fair assumption, given how often villains in these things are armed.

and yeah, I'd love to see an example of a scene like that if you happen to have one 🙂

Maybe one exists, but I couldn't tell you. Not that it really matters. What matters is how reality gets bent just to make the hero look cooler. Take a show like The Wire, for instance; they don't do that. There's one guy with a shotgun who just fires—no dramatic reloading sequences required.

so we're back to the point that what kind of movie it actually is is what matters most 🙂

Precisely.
I haven't seen a car explode after a collision in quite some time. That's mostly because I tend to avoid action movies altogether.

so, when one person is neutralized, are we supposed to wait as long as it takes for the other one to arrive?

Wait for him to arrive?

With so many variables at play, there are just as many ways to look at it. That situation you mentioned in your first post doesn't necessarily have to be a logical flaw...

"Every once in a while"? Depends on how much of a hack the writer is...

So when the hero pulls a gun on the villain, I guess we just ignore the whole concept of marksmanship...

But let's say he's armed. It’s a fair assumption since the bad guys usually carry something...

Wait. Why wouldn't we just assume it isn't?...

You mentioned that scene in the intro post. Can you give an example of a scene like that being totally illogical?...

Maybe it exists, but who knows. Doesn't even matter. The point is how they wreck reality just to make the hero look cooler... If you watched *The Wire*, you'd see they don't do that. There's this one guy with a gun, he just fires, no repetitive nonsense...

Maybe that hero is actually... sweet...?

Haven't seen the series, so I've got nothing to say...

Exactly.
It’s been forever since I’ve seen a car actually explode after a crash. That's mostly because I steer clear of action movies...

Just stay away from them if you don't want those movie "mistakes" getting on your nerves...

When is he coming?...

I skimmed this too quickly and totally missed what you guys were saying (that whole thing about the instant phone connection and the door opening when someone rings). My bad. Sorry...

Come on, people, look at Superman. He’s flying, he’s literally reversing the Earth's rotation, he's lifting cars with two fingers... and you guys are stuck arguing about sex in the water?
Just so I don't have twenty of you immediately quoting me to claim I'm talking about a specific genre, let me be clear: I am being sarcastic...
Personally, I find the phones in movies to be the wildest part. A guy picks up the receiver, dials a number, and boom—he's connected and they're talking instantly. In reality, before they could even say, "Your account balance is low; please top up your prepaid minutes" or "The number you have dialed is not in service", they'd be done. But hey, classics are classics. Take a typical fight movie: at the start, the protagonist gets into a scrap with the toughest guy in the flick (even though he doesn't want to, but the bully calls him a coward). Even though our hero fights bravely, he never backs down, only to get absolutely wrecked by the other guy at the end. So, he starts training with some martial arts expert (maybe a Brazilian master), meanwhile, he hooks up with the tough guy's girlfriend (or the guy kills/beats his brother, friend, or family...), ☕everything is perfect for a bit, a solid 5/5 scenario, but then they have a huge blowout fight and, of course, reconcile right before the final showdown. The fight starts, the heavy hitter is pummeling him—it's bad enough an elephant would drop dead—but somehow, our guy pulls off the win and walks off into the sunset with the girl...
Look, I still watch those kinds of movies (even if I already know how it ends) 😕 and I have to admit, there are some good ones out there, at least in my book.

Or maybe just the sheer cliché of it all—whenever you hear "shoot the gas tank" in every single movie, it starts getting on my nerves. Honestly, I feel like just farting in the tank and watching the car go to hell would be more effective at this point.
And don't get me started on those horror tropes where some hideous monster chases a girl around. The villain moves at a snail's pace, which the whole movie emphasizes by showing how slow he is, yet the poor girl keeps tripping over her own feet. They just keep cutting back and forth between her and him, and then, in the grand finale, the famous bad guy catches her (probably because he hit the nitro when the camera wasn't looking, and then turned it off once he did).

Then there's that ridiculous physics where a villain gets hit with a 9mm Beretta—which is basically a standard movie trope where the lead actor shoots some side bandit and the guy gets knocked clean off the set by a single bullet. It’s unbelievable.

When I say "realistic," I mean realistic within the context of that specific film. To me, that means whether the movie actually provides an explanation for its logic, even if it is sci-fi or pure fiction.

For instance, there was one movie where the lead had a specific handgun, and in just a few seconds of screen time, he mentions he modified it to hold more ammo. Within the world of that movie, that feels realistic because they actually gave us an explanation. On the other hand, in other movies I've watched, you wouldn't believe for a second how much ammo could actually fit in a 16-round magazine.

To clarify what Jessica Rogers2 was getting at: I doubt anyone here is talking about real-life physics or things happening in the real world. Take a Superman movie, for example. Personally, I don't think it's great, but hey, I'm no critic. He flies around lifting buildings and destroying stuff, but the movie explains *why* he can do that, even if it's only for a few seconds. Because those answers are provided, the movie stays "realistic" on its own cinematic level.

Still, there are exceptions. When it comes to Superman, it always drove me crazy how he puts on that suit and suddenly nobody recognizes him, when in reality, he just took off his glasses... Give me a break. It's like an >.

Jerry Martin19 said:With so many variables at play, there are just as many ways to look at it. That situation you mentioned in your first post doesn't necessarily have to be a logical flaw...

"Every once in a while"? Depends on how much of a hack the writer is...

So when the hero pulls a gun on the villain, I guess we just ignore the whole concept of marksmanship...

But let's say he's armed. It’s a fair assumption since the bad guys usually carry something...

Wait. Why wouldn't we just assume it isn't?...

You mentioned that scene in the intro post. Can you give an example of a scene like that being totally illogical?...

Maybe it exists, but who knows. Doesn't even matter. The point is how they wreck reality just to make the hero look cooler... If you watched *The Wire*, you'd see they don't do that. There's this one guy with a gun, he just fires, no repetitive nonsense...

Maybe that hero is actually... sweet...?

Haven't seen the series, so I've got nothing to say...

Exactly.
It’s been forever since I’ve seen a car actually explode after a crash. That's mostly because I steer clear of action movies...

Just stay away from them if you don't want those movie "mistakes" getting on your nerves...

When is he coming?...

I skimmed this too quickly and totally missed what you guys were saying (that whole thing about the instant phone connection and the door opening when someone rings). My bad. Sorry...

Incorrect.
I am speaking from memory here. I haven't always had a massive selection of films to choose from.
As for the whole thing about leaving cars unlocked, I see that quite often. It’s actually a nice touch that modern characters usually have remote keyless entry; they just press a button and lock the car. That makes things much more efficient. 🙂

You completely misinterpreted the part about the shotgun... it's actually quite simple.
In reality, someone who has a gun in mind will likely use it immediately to repeat the shot, rather than waiting until they are staring directly into their opponent's eyes.