Things you're tired of seeing in movies

[p51]

I'd loved the Chris Reeves Superman movie when I was a kid but even then I never understood Lex Luthor's lair under Grand Central Station.
How could just he, Otis and Miss Tessmacher move all that stuff down there, build the trick door, wire everything and have a chorlinated pool put in without anyone finding out?
Same deal with all the large lairs in the James Bond movies. How could those get built unnoticed?

 

[batguy]

Lex Luthor's NYC lair is hard to excuse.

The James Bond ones were easier to swallow decades ago. Satellite surveillance wasn't as much of a thing yet + rural populations in 3rd world countries were more isolated.

Those evil Bond villain organizations usually had dozens of highly-trained goons willing to throw their lives away for little or nothing. Coaxing some poor locals to do construction work sounds easy in comparison.


What bugs me more is when they cheat on the time issue. The villain will whip out some big doomsday machine or setpiece on a few hours' notice.

It's on the list of frustrating hand-waves that Hollywood does in regards to time & space. Like how characters will go from Prague to San Francisco with nothing but an editing cut.

 

[pengbuzz]

I'd loved the Chris Reeves Superman movie when I was a kid but even then I never understood Lex Luthor's lair under Grand Central Station.
How could just he, Otis and Miss Tessmacher move all that stuff down there, build the trick door, wire everything and have a chorlinated pool put in without anyone finding out?
Same deal with all the large lairs in the James Bond movies. How could those get built unnoticed?

I think that supposed to sell the whole "he's an evil genius" thing. In other words: he's so smart, he did it under everyone's noses without them even suspecting.

 

[Laspector]

Same with the Batcave.
I think Better Call Saul did the first storyline of how one of these big secret underground lairs are built. At least, the first time I've ever seen it explained.

 

[Malibu139]

Lex Luthor's NYC lair is hard to excuse.

The James Bond ones were easier to swallow decades ago. Satellite surveillance wasn't as much of a thing yet + rural populations in 3rd world countries were more isolated.

Those evil Bond villain organizations usually had dozens of highly-trained goons willing to throw their lives away for little or nothing. Coaxing some poor locals to do construction work sounds easy in comparison.


What bugs me more is when they cheat on the time issue. The villain will whip out some big doomsday machine or setpiece on a few hours' notice.

It's on the list of frustrating hand-waves that Hollywood does in regards to time & space. Like how characters will go from Prague to San Francisco with nothing but an editing cut.

Avi goes to London in Snatch is my fav cheat edit.

 

[blewis17]

It's on the list of frustrating hand-waves that Hollywood does in regards to time & space. Like how characters will go from Prague to San Francisco with nothing but an editing cut.

 

[blewis17]

Lex Luthor's NYC lair is hard to excuse.

My thought was that this was very old, pre-existing construction (probably from a steel magnate or such) that was designed before the subway system above was created.. and Luthor "acquired" the abandoned real estate and slowly modified over the years.

 

[blewis17]

I hate when movies and TV shows treat the innocent shlub just trying to do his job, as a throw away piece of trash. Most recently seen in the incessant "Hello Fresh" commercials:

 

[Treadwell]

That's what editing is FOR. They aren't cheats.
You don't really want a montage of people parking, checking their bags, going through security, waiting for their flight, etc, do you?

 

[batguy]

No, I don't need to see the whole trip. But I want the characters to be operating realistically. Going across the world is tiring. It takes a day or two. It costs thousands of dollars if you haven't booked it several weeks in advance. Etc. It's not like driving to the other side of town.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I think that supposed to sell the whole "he's an evil genius" thing. In other words: he's so smart, he did it under everyone's noses without them even suspecting.

I assume all good evil geniuses have giant incinerators that they could use to burn up the excavated soil while building their lair. Still, unless you had something like a 3D printing factory, you'd have lots of supplies coming in. Heck you'd have lots of supplies coming in just to support your henchman along with yourself! So you'd obviously have to buy all the local officials to wherever your base is.

 

[Treadwell]

No, I don't need to see the whole trip. But I want the characters to be operating realistically. Going across the world is tiring. It takes a day or two. It costs thousands of dollars if you haven't booked it several weeks in advance. Etc. It's not like driving to the other side of town.

Yes, but just because the edit skipped that it doesn't mean it didn't happen. We're skipping to the next important part.

 

[batguy]

Yes, but just because the edit skipped that it doesn't mean it didn't happen. We're skipping to the next important part.

That works if the part being skipped feels plausible. Sometimes it doesn't. Depends on the movie.

 

[joberg]

I hate when movies and TV shows treat the innocent shlub just trying to do his job, as a throw away piece of trash. Most recently seen in the incessant "Hello Fresh" commercials:

I will refrain to comment on those commercials; I don't want to be banned

 

[JediMichael]

Avi goes to London in Snatch is my fav cheat edit.
View attachment 1787577

I can hear the sound of this audioless gif....

 

[Malibu139]

I can hear the sound of this audioless gif....

Exactly

 

[p51]

That works if the part being skipped feels plausible. Sometimes it doesn't. Depends on the movie.

"Stealth" was the worst about this, as they showed fighter planes crossing vast distances of the planet within a single day.
I loved in "The Muppets" they said, "I traveled by map" like the moving map in the Indiana Jones movies!

 

[pengbuzz]

"Stealth" was the worst about this, as they showed fighter planes crossing vast distances of the planet within a single day.
I loved in "The Muppets" they said, "I traveled by map" like the moving map in the Indiana Jones movies!

Did they put a finger on each point in the map and whoosh, got teleported there?

 

[jts1031]

I'd loved the Chris Reeves Superman movie when I was a kid but even then I never understood Lex Luthor's lair under Grand Central Station.
How could just he, Otis and Miss Tessmacher move all that stuff down there, build the trick door, wire everything and have a chorlinated pool put in without anyone finding out?
Same deal with all the large lairs in the James Bond movies. How could those get built unnoticed?

I'd assume they'd do it the same way HH Holmes constructed his murder castle in Chicago: Crews were very restricted in what they did, they'd be dismissed, and a whole new crew brought on to work on the next phase. No one to compare notes nor get the whole picture. Granted, different times, but just a real world example of something otherwise fictional. But someplace like New York that has perpetual construction of some kind going on, it might not be that difficult to hide.

 

[dascoyne]

How do you know a villain is powerful? He grabs someone by the throat and lifts them in the air with one hand. We also need the shot of dangling feet to drive the point home.