Stupid movie cliches and impossibilities - Page 89

**squigg58** · March 15th, 2013, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HugoHackenbush

Precisely my complaint with Harry Potter. Stopped watching after the first two because of this.

Yup ... you've got to try damned hard to put yourself in danger if you've got a bleedin' magic wand!

"Oh no! He doesn't have a magic spell for this specific situation!"

Drama! Tension! Mortal danger!

"Oh ... hang on! Hermione knows a spell!"

"Phew! That was close!"

**HugoHackenbush** · March 19th, 2013, 08:35 PM

All righty then. Finished up all three of the "Dark Knight" movies.

Two movies where huge structures blow up ( the hospital in TDK, the bridges in TDKR) and not one person in Gotham notices creepy guys with explosives and wires, working for weeks around these structures wiring them with tons of explosives.

Not one but TWO "He meant to get caught"!

Catwoman breaks into Bruce Wayne's house, to steal his mother's necklace from the safe, but primarily to get Bruce Wayne's fingerprints. Seems like this would be a lot easier if she just swiped his cocktail glass. (I know this was done in Diamonds Are Forever but they lifted plenty of other stuff from Bond).

This is a problem with the Iron Man films as well, where the hero needs training to use his high tech devices, but everyone else knows how to operate them instantly.

And lastly, Gotham is going to be demolished! A nuclear weapon will explode in just 1:45 seconds! Is there time for a passionate kiss? Sure, no problem.

**rotobott** · March 19th, 2013, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HugoHackenbush

All righty then. Finished up all three of the "Dark Knight" movies.

Two movies where huge structures blow up ( the hospital in TDK, the bridges in TDKR) and not one person in Gotham notices creepy guys with explosives and wires, working for weeks around these structures wiring them with tons of explosives.

Not one but TWO "He meant to get caught

Hey it worked on 9/11 allegedly

**squigg58** · March 19th, 2013, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HugoHackenbush

Catwoman breaks into Bruce Wayne's house, to steal his mother's necklace from the safe, but primarily to get Bruce Wayne's fingerprints. Seems like this would be a lot easier if she just swiped his cocktail glass.

That's another classic in films.

"Okay, there are two ways to do this ... the quick, simple, foolproof and risk-free option; or the fiendishly complicated one which even a half-wit could see is pretty much guaranteed to go tits-up. I vote for the complicated one!"

Retrovintro · March 20th, 2013, 03:42 AM

This has probably been mentioned by now, but it came back to me watching the new show called Banshee. Banshee if you are not familiar with it is entertaining, and has a unique premis, but is loaded with cliches: prison fight scenes, amish, town bully, Russian mobsters. You name it, its in there. But what I am really getting tired of is these hand-to-hand combat scenes. In the real world, when a highly trained fist fighter hits someone in the jaw full-force and bare-handed, they are going to go down, end of story, with most likely a broken jaw. Its why the pro's wear those heavily padded gloves, thats why when you see a UFC fight- just one hit of this nature normally ends the fight. But the guys ( and girls) in this show and countless others can take endless head pummeling, even with a 2X4 piece of wood and keep on going, next day they have no swelling, no bruising- they're fine.

**GailFan** · March 20th, 2013, 04:02 AM

The problem I have with Banshee is that the guy wanders in off the street and passes himself off as a cop.

Cops can always spot other law enforcement professionals. They walk, talk, act a certain way. This guy has no idea how to wear the uniform, is unshaven the entire time (or rather, as his beard is always the same length, somehow manages to maintain the same amount of stubble), or even how to fill out the paperwork (a big part of the job).

Think about it - could just anyone show up and do your job? Probably not, and police work is far harder.

In the show, only one of his co-workers is suspicious. Why aren't all of them? The show wants to position this one guy as an "asshole", but clearly the good black dude and the nice chick are inept police officers if they can't spot an imposter.

There was a news story here recently about a guy who mounted red & white lights on his Mitsubishi and tried to pass himself off as a cop. Civilians fell for it, but the person who rumbled him was a police woman.

Retrovintro · March 20th, 2013, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GailFan

The problem I have with Banshee is that the guy wanders in off the street and passes himself off as a cop.

Cops can always spot other law enforcement professionals. They walk, talk, act a certain way. This guy has no idea how to wear the uniform, is unshaven the entire time (or rather, as his beard is always the same length, somehow manages to maintain the same amount of stubble), or even how to fill out the paperwork (a big part of the job).

Think about it - could just anyone show up and do your job? Probably not, and police work is far harder.

In the show, only one of his co-workers is suspicious. Why aren't all of them? The show wants to position this one guy as an "asshole", but clearly the good black dude and the nice chick are inept police officers if they can't spot an imposter.

There was a news story here recently about a guy who mounted red & white lights on his Mitsubishi and tried to pass himself off as a cop. Civilians fell for it, but the person who rumbled him was a police woman.

Yeah, thats been my main problem with the show from day-one. No one else from the real sheriff-to-be's family has ever called? No one asked for an ID?Our protagonists is automatically aware of all the protocols, methods, paperwork? He spends little time at the precinct, little time directing his staff. Sure, its a small town, with a bit more liberal and casual approach to the law, but that doesn't explain everything.

**richardoe** · March 20th, 2013, 06:17 PM

How many people shot with a pistol from 50 yards die immediatley in a film? Too many to mention, ever fired a pstol?

**HugoHackenbush** · March 20th, 2013, 06:26 PM

Forgot one about "The Dark Knight". Again SPOILER ALERT!

In TDKR, it is revealed that there is another person helping the villain along with his dastardly scheme. The identity of this person comes as a total surprise to everyone as there is absolutely no indication that this was happening, and in fact was seen as being one of the "good guys".

The technical term for this is cheating.

The easiest way to create surprises and shocks is to withhold information from the audience, in other words we are treated to this characters being nice, but the scenes of them being evil are never shown, resulting in BIG SHOCK!

It was Hitchcock who said "A family is having dinner. A bomb explodes killing them all. You get 15 seconds of shock. Now, tell the audience that there is a bomb under the table and you get 15 minutes of suspense."

Precisely old master. If we knew this person was going to betray Batman, the suspense would be immeasurable. Would he figure it out? Would they get the better of him? Instead we get cheap surprise. IMHO

**HugoHackenbush** · March 20th, 2013, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardoe

How many people shot with a pistol from 50 yards die immediatley in a film? Too many to mention, ever fired a pstol?

Unless they are the hero, in which case it does not matter how many time they are
Shot
Stabbed
Beat Up

See Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon II

March 19th, 2013, 08:35 PM	#882
HugoHackenbush Veteran Marxist Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Wherever it's warm Posts: 14,076 Thanks: 205,865 Thanked 335,869 Times in 14,129 Posts	All righty then. Finished up all three of the "Dark Knight" movies. Two movies where huge structures blow up ( the hospital in TDK, the bridges in TDKR) and not one person in Gotham notices creepy guys with explosives and wires, working for weeks around these structures wiring them with tons of explosives. Not one but TWO "He meant to get caught"! Catwoman breaks into Bruce Wayne's house, to steal his mother's necklace from the safe, but primarily to get Bruce Wayne's fingerprints. Seems like this would be a lot easier if she just swiped his cocktail glass. (I know this was done in Diamonds Are Forever but they lifted plenty of other stuff from Bond). This is a problem with the Iron Man films as well, where the hero needs training to use his high tech devices, but everyone else knows how to operate them instantly. And lastly, Gotham is going to be demolished! A nuclear weapon will explode in just 1:45 seconds! Is there time for a passionate kiss? Sure, no problem. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Just give me your body - I'll give you my brain - it's a fair exchange

March 20th, 2013, 04:02 AM	#886
GailFan No longer active Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Suicide Alley Posts: 2,797 Thanks: 27,507 Thanked 61,937 Times in 2,770 Posts	The problem I have with Banshee is that the guy wanders in off the street and passes himself off as a cop. Cops can always spot other law enforcement professionals. They walk, talk, act a certain way. This guy has no idea how to wear the uniform, is unshaven the entire time (or rather, as his beard is always the same length, somehow manages to maintain the same amount of stubble), or even how to fill out the paperwork (a big part of the job). Think about it - could just anyone show up and do your job? Probably not, and police work is far harder. In the show, only one of his co-workers is suspicious. Why aren't all of them? The show wants to position this one guy as an "asshole", but clearly the good black dude and the nice chick are inept police officers if they can't spot an imposter. There was a news story here recently about a guy who mounted red & white lights on his Mitsubishi and tried to pass himself off as a cop. Civilians fell for it, but the person who rumbled him was a police woman. __________________ I am no longer active on VEF.

March 20th, 2013, 06:17 PM	#888
richardoe Vintage Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 2,812 Thanks: 1,424 Thanked 24,130 Times in 2,726 Posts	How many people shot with a pistol from 50 yards die immediatley in a film? Too many to mention, ever fired a pstol? __________________ Richardoe To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

March 20th, 2013, 06:26 PM	#889
HugoHackenbush Veteran Marxist Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Wherever it's warm Posts: 14,076 Thanks: 205,865 Thanked 335,869 Times in 14,129 Posts	ARRRGH! (Spoiler Alert) Forgot one about "The Dark Knight". Again SPOILER ALERT! In TDKR, it is revealed that there is another person helping the villain along with his dastardly scheme. The identity of this person comes as a total surprise to everyone as there is absolutely no indication that this was happening, and in fact was seen as being one of the "good guys". The technical term for this is cheating. The easiest way to create surprises and shocks is to withhold information from the audience, in other words we are treated to this characters being nice, but the scenes of them being evil are never shown, resulting in BIG SHOCK! It was Hitchcock who said "A family is having dinner. A bomb explodes killing them all. You get 15 seconds of shock. Now, tell the audience that there is a bomb under the table and you get 15 minutes of suspense." Precisely old master. If we knew this person was going to betray Batman, the suspense would be immeasurable. Would he figure it out? Would they get the better of him? Instead we get cheap surprise. IMHO __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Just give me your body - I'll give you my brain - it's a fair exchange

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March 20th, 2013, 03:42 AM	#885
Retrovintro Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 286 Thanks: 844 Thanked 1,781 Times in 250 Posts	This has probably been mentioned by now, but it came back to me watching the new show called Banshee. Banshee if you are not familiar with it is entertaining, and has a unique premis, but is loaded with cliches: prison fight scenes, amish, town bully, Russian mobsters. You name it, its in there. But what I am really getting tired of is these hand-to-hand combat scenes. In the real world, when a highly trained fist fighter hits someone in the jaw full-force and bare-handed, they are going to go down, end of story, with most likely a broken jaw. Its why the pro's wear those heavily padded gloves, thats why when you see a UFC fight- just one hit of this nature normally ends the fight. But the guys ( and girls) in this show and countless others can take endless head pummeling, even with a 2X4 piece of wood and keep on going, next day they have no swelling, no bruising- they're fine.