Things you're tired of seeing in movies

[Treadwell]

Another similar note: You can always tell when a writer has recently had a child, because whatever show he's writing will suddenly have an episode about the main character having trouble keeping a child from crying. Often, there isn't even a baby as a main character in the show, it's a one-off.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Some movies, but a LOT of TV episodes:

A character is not interested in having babies or being involved with someone else's.

By the end of the movie/episode, they "come around". Every single time. NEVER is the person's choice/preference respected. They are simply wrong and need to be shown the light. And worse, THEY ARE CONVERTED. Never is the result the person sticking to their guns and the others accepting that with a "well, I guess this just isn't for you, and that's okay."

That pretty much sums up how Hollywood sees Americans. We're all wrong and they have to force us to believe what they believe.


As to the pilots knowing how to fly everything. Well if you have a certain pilot they can if they familiarize themselves with that plane. Granted they can't just hop in while the bad guys are chasing them and take off. Most of the old and probably modern US test pilots could fly pretty much anything. I think the biggest problem would be if the character was a fixed wing pilot and he or she jumps in a helicopter and tries to fly it. They're totally different. Not to mention a single engine pilot trying to fly a multi-engine plane. I'm assuming, depending on the plane, that there's some learning to do first.

Similar to that I would add the movie where the character is in the military or a veteran and they can operate every vehicle. For example that second Alien vs. Predator movie where Reiko Aylesworth's character can drive the Striker and fly a helicopter. Now the Striker is probably completely plausible because from what I've heard they make most modern US military vehicles automatic transmissions so they are like driving a car.

 

[squirrelstailor]

As to the pilots knowing how to fly everything. Well if you have a certain pilot they can if they familiarize themselves with that plane. Granted they can't just hop in while the bad guys are chasing them and take off. Most of the old and probably modern US test pilots could fly pretty much anything. I think the biggest problem would be if the character was a fixed wing pilot and he or she jumps in a helicopter and tries to fly it. They're totally different. Not to mention a single engine pilot trying to fly a multi-engine plane. I'm assuming, depending on the plane, that there's some learning to do first.

I think the big problem in WW84 for me was Steve Trevor getting into a modern jet and being able to fly it when he comes from an age before the plane checklist which exists so that planes do not crash or blow up.
A lot of Special Forces pilots are dual qualified. There is a big problem with training pilots running out for older planes.
I think the worse version of this is Arnie in True Lies getting into a Harrier which is known to be a bitch to fly and completely different to other planes.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

I think it's funny that when you call out things you're tired of seeing in movies like characters knowing how to fly every aircraft under the sun (love that one), a 20 veteran chef not knowing how to properly chop vegetables, soldiers not knowing how to properly salute or henchmen waiting their turn to fight the hero, there's still people who use the "suspension of disbelief" counter and act like you're a downer because "it's a movie, what do you expect?" I expect for them to make it somewhat plausible so that the story can be the focus of the experience not the completely unnecessary cliches, flubs & errors.

 

[squirrelstailor]

I think it's funny that when you call out things you're tired of seeing in movies like characters knowing how to fly every aircraft under the sun (love that one), a 20 veteran chef not knowing how to properly chop vegetables, soldiers not knowing how to properly salute or henchmen waiting their turn to fight the hero, there's still people who use the "suspension of disbelief" counter and act like you're a downer because "it's a movie, what do you expect?" I expect for them to make it somewhat plausible so that the story can be the focus of the experience not the completely unnecessary cliches, flubs & errors.

Lol it is weird how these things sometimes bug the hell out of me and other times they get away with it.
WW1 got away for the most part with a lead actress who did not look like an Amazon Warrior even compared to the other Amazon warriors in it.
I have just finished A Discovery Of Witches season 2 and literally had just seen a thing about dagger wearing and it bugged me that the lead character wears his dagger wrong. This is a serous nit pick because it so open for interruption however it bugged me every time I saw it. Loved the show however every time I noticed that it bugged me.
I also saw a thing about black die basically not existing until a certain point in history. Cannot remember exactly however it like the Elizabethan era, it a lot later than you would think, especially based on all of the history shows were everyone runs round in a black outfit. This is now bugs me in shows like Vikings. Oh also all of the natural colours when in fact they would have worn a lot of bright colours also bugs me now.
The main thing for me is things like WW84 were apparently Gal Gadot spent 5 hours 6 days a week in the gym for the role and she just did not because you only have to look at someone like Hugh Jackman or Linda Hamilton to know what that sort of working out would do to you.
Yeah so it that basic thing of the second they start saying how much research or work they have put in and then it just does not appear on screen really bugs me.
It has become a bit of a warning in that the second they start saying how much work they have put in and there is a little thing that just bugs me. I now know I am not looking at a quality product.

 

[p51]

Is this the same thing? I'm talking about where characters are experts at everything remotely related to their field. Like I said, all pilots can operate anything that flies, all doctors are experts or at least very knowledgeable in all medical fields, engineers know all the various engineering disciplines, scientists are jacks of all sciences, and so on.

I did like the scene in "Flight of the Intruder" where they tell Cole he's going to fly a specific model of the A-6. He says he's not rated on that model and has "never even sat in the thing," something I'd never seen in a movie before.

 

[HMSwolfe]

I think a lot of this comes back to how much technology has changed and how quickly it has changed. I’m fairly confident that a WW1 pilot could, eventually, figure out how a similarly sized plane from WW2 worked. But say, a modern stealth bomber, or a drone? Too much of a leap. At one point in time it was possible to have a general working knowledge of a lot of different fields, but the more specialized and tech-reliant they become, the harder it can be to suspend disbelief.

 

[Laspector]

Movie/TV blood never dries. You can go to a murder scene a month later and that damn blood will still be red, wet and shiny.

 

[HMSwolfe]

Movie/TV blood never dries. You can go to a murder scene a month later and that damn blood will still be red, wet and shiny.

And when it does dry, it dries slightly pinkish rather than a dark brown/red, almost black, ‘cause they used their fresh blood effect stuff rather than making up something that looks like dried blood

 

[ShadowX81]

One thing that always gets to me: When a character's physical metamorphosis is a huge part of their arc, and then in the sequel they find a lazily explained reason for that character to suddenly look normal again for the majority of their screentime. You always know its because the star couldn't stand to spend more than a few minutes onscreen in which they didn't look pretty.

 

[Cephus]

One thing that always gets to me: When a character's physical metamorphosis is a huge part of their arc, and then in the sequel they find a lazily explained reason for that character to suddenly look normal again for the majority of their screentime. You always know its because the star couldn't stand to spend more than a few minutes onscreen in which they didn't look pretty.

Mostly because they don't want to spend hours in the makeup chair anymore.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Lol it is weird how these things sometimes bug the hell out of me and other times they get away with it.

You're talking to someone who stopped watching Where Eagles Dare (I think that's it) in the first few minutes because the opening shot has a helicopter in it that wasn't from WW2! Everyone said it's good so I'll have to try to watch it again.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I'm tired of watching movies where a scientist or engineer is working for the US Govt., or in this movie (Spectral) DARPA and they are asked to make a weapon for the military. All of the sudden they have a big moral crisis about it when they know that's exactly who they're working for! And following on that, I think I mentioned this before, wives/girlfriends of intel agents or special forces who throw a hissy fit because they aren't being told where the husband/boyfriend is going. WTH? It's so dumb! They KNOW that's exactly the situation they are getting into with that person!!!

 

[Lightning]

because the opening shot has a helicopter in it that wasn't from WW2!

Yeah I cut war movies, especially from that era, a lot of slack in that regard. I'm really not going to hold it against the makers of, say, Patton, that they couldn't get their hands on a bunch of real Tiger tanks. (Though you'd think they could have gotten some Shermans).

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

And following on that, I think I mentioned this before, wives/girlfriends of intel agents or special forces who throw a hissy fit because they aren't being told where the husband/boyfriend is going. WTH? It's so dumb! They KNOW that's exactly the situation they are getting into with that person!!!

And then the spouse/significant other etc will try to guilt them into not doing their job, quitting or retiring and make it so the character has to decide between their job and being in a relationship/marraige. Which inevitably leads to the trite "one last score" or "one last mission."

 

[p51]

Yeah I cut war movies, especially from that era, a lot of slack in that regard. I'm really not going to hold it against the makers of, say, Patton, that they couldn't get their hands on a bunch of real Tiger tanks. (Though you'd think they could have gotten some Shermans).

There is one Sherman in 'Patton', a recovery vehicle (M32, I think) in the Bastogne scene where Patton walks out into a convoy in the snow. They couldn't round up many WW2 Jeeps either, and they were very common in Spain at the time, which to me was unforgiveable.
I give most WW2 movies a pass on German armor as only a couple of movies even made an effort (Kelly's Heroes T-34 Tiger mockups were actually found in Yugoslavia already like that, for a previous movie). I'm blown away by recent movies where they really try, including a few T-55-based Panthers in a Russian movie I saw recently.
Keep in mind, the Bovington museum's real Tiger 1 was used in the very oddly-written "Fury", and was used very little in the film. Most of the scenes were a Tiger upper hull mounted on a British APC and the tracks added in CGI later. That movie was a waste of the resources they had on hand, I think. I also wanted to rip what little hair out I have left for all the odd uniform stuff being worn in the movie but that's another issue...

And then the spouse/significant other etc will try to guilt them into not doing their job, quitting or retiring and make it so the character has to decide between their job and being in a relationship/marraige. Which inevitably leads to the trite "one last score" or "one last mission."

I worked with SOCOM types in the Army and I can tell you, that happens more than you'd think. There's a reason so many of those guys are on wife # 3 or 4 a few years into their stint in SF/SEALs/PJs/RECON/whatever.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I worked with SOCOM types in the Army and I can tell you, that happens more than you'd think. There's a reason so many of those guys are on wife # 3 or 4 a few years into their stint in SF/SEALs/PJs/RECON/whatever.

Oh I totally get that, but so I guess my main complaint is with movie AND real women! My aunt's half brother was a SEAL in the 80s and went through all that. Then on the other hand we had a neighbor that was an officer at Wright Patterson AFB and he worked on a lot of top secret stuff and she thought it was awesome because they got all kinds of phone calls where they would just give him code phrases and he'd hop in the car and leave. She thought she was married to James Bond!


As for WW2 movies with the wrong equipment, I don't know why, but a lot of the older shows with US tanks playing Tigers never bothered me that much. I don't know why that helicopter did. That's one area where I don't mind CGI as long as the proper physics are applied because we get the right planes or tanks in movies now.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

I worked with SOCOM types in the Army and I can tell you, that happens more than you'd think. There's a reason so many of those guys are on wife # 3 or 4 a few years into their stint in SF/SEALs/PJs/RECON/whatever.

I agree. There's no question about how difficult it is, how many sacrifices the real heroes who protect/serve/defend at home and abroad make. My father was repeatedly dumped during his tours for those reasons and had similar significant drama during his service in peacetime as well.

Repeating the same kind of drama within the same archetypes in fictional movies is what was in question regardless of whether or not it happens frequently in real life. It also happens in films with non military characters where it's the job vs. the spouse/siginifcant other (which also happens often in real life). I just don't think that that drama should always be there every time there's an opportunity.

 

[p51]

That's one area where I don't mind CGI as long as the proper physics are applied because we get the right planes or tanks in movies now.

I have no clue how Hollywood still can't get the physics of aircraft right. Be it "Pearl Harbor's" CGI P-40s moving and turning in a way an X-wing couldn't have bene rendered, to some F-18s I saw in a movie recently that had to be going over MACH 4 or so (they're fast but not that fast). When you see CGI mixed with real stuff, it then becomes obvious how badly the FX folks botched the realism for the movement...

 

[Riceball]

I have no clue how Hollywood still can't get the physics of aircraft right. Be it "Pearl Harbor's" CGI P-40s moving and turning in a way an X-wing couldn't have bene rendered, to some F-18s I saw in a movie recently that had to be going over MACH 4 or so (they're fast but not that fast). When you see CGI mixed with real stuff, it then becomes obvious how badly the FX folks botched the realism for the movement...

It's probably not so much the FX people botching but what the director wans them to do. Chances are the early renders or animatics had them moving realistically but the director didn't like the way they looked and told the FX people to spice it up, make them move faster, realism/physics be damned.