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OK ... I tried this a while ago, but it didn't take then, but I am gonna try again. Post the things in movies that just make you wanna scream. For example, here are a generalities that I see in too many movies to shame just one:

* What is up with 'melee fights' <sigh> The guy picks up the 'poker', 'a piece of wood' or what ever, smacks down a baddie ... then tosses that wonderful weaopn away to go back fighting hand-to-hand??? <sigh>

* When they want to stop the plane from taking off ... why don't they just shoot out the tires <sigh>

* How can a 'sailing ship' that is sailing 'down wind', sails billowing while the 'flags' on the same masts are billowing 'toward the stern' <sigh>

I also have some specific examples from movies ... if this takes off ... this time <g>

Might have mentioned my pet hate before but Blair Witch is my worst example.

"Seven children have been taken, they are always captured in pairs.."

A gust of wind whisks away their map and dumps it in the river. It floats away.

"Now we will never find our way out of here"

Doh!

<heh heh heh> nice one. How about Outlawed:

OK … so you gear up for the assault … ya gah-chur weapons … ya gah-chur vest ... ya get into 'the big fire fight' and just after the first shot that hit … the first thing you do is take off yer vest so ya can attack in yer T-shirt??? <sigh>

*snerk*

The Battle of Sterling Bridge ... without the bridge.

A discussion I had with a friend the other day about the end of Game of Thrones.

They elect Bran as the new king, ushering in an age of democracy.

Of course Bran is the three eyed raven, able to be the ultimate 'big brother' and the last raven lived for a few thousand years- so democracy with an immortal omniscient overlord.

Sounds like Dune's God Emperor!

Oh - We're fearsome Spartan hoplites - let's fight in loose formation and throw our spears away at the first opportunity.

Here is another one for the pile.

Contract To Kill:

I will ignore the cheap, cheesy cost cutting stuff <sigh> And … with some effort … I can ignore the shotgun blasts 'in the compound' not being heard by =any= of the security dweebs there <shrug>

1.) Ummm … the last time I flipped a 'main breaker' nothing sparked or flashed. Oh, also … =all= the lights went out <sigh>

2.) Lets see … yeah, if I was a covert operator, I would certainly 'light up' my stealthy surveillance drone with more bright lights than my last Christmas tree :-/

laughs ...

I remember the first time I saw the Crusher Joe Movie. A classic in terms of action/adventure old school Japanese animation, a fairly decent science fiction adventure story with all your traditional character archetypes. It also helped that in the background of one scene was the first screen appearance of Kei and Yuri - also known as the Lovely Angels aka the Dirty Pair.

But what got me was that after watching so many western, modern, much more legitimate grade A and B movies, when the good guys finally took out the bad guys big computer system?

Uhm. It just went dark.

No sparks, explosions, electrocutions or fancy pyrotechnics. It just went dark.

So at least someone got it right, once.

Nice to know that some of them care, Wolf!! <g>

Now for something with no redeeming qualities: Zombie Lake!

This is the sort of movie you watch while drinking a lot with a bunch for friends. Very Campy. I didn't mind a lot of it, but...

Another 'stupid water' scene. So the zombies are drowned nazis soldies that had been dumped in the lake where the unsuspecting teens go for a swim.

Underwater scene of the zombies trudging well below the surface of the water ... cut to the teens splashing in knee deep water ... cut to the zombies, under water approaching the teens who are now treading water above them ... back to the teens spashing in knee deep water <sigh>

Godzilla, the one with Matthew Broderick.

There’s a sequence with Big G chasing a helicopter through midtown Manhattan. The helicopter makes all sorts of thrilling turns as it wends its way between skyscrapers, always conveniently at mouth level.

So why didn’t they simply go vertical?

That is one of the things that has =ALWAYS= frustrated me about 'movies'! Thanks for posting that so I didn't have to <weg>

LOL - I remember Serenity doing that - flying low and in the canyons to shake the baddies .... meanwhile the baddies just flew above it all and waited for them to pop up.

I can't remember, in that Godzilla, did he have a breath weapon? Maybe that was why they were dodging through the buildings instead of going up?

I am pretty sure all the movies gave him the breath weapon.

OK, next on my list ...

The Wandering Earth:

More like =fantasy= without much science <sigh>

So the sun is dying so 'they' decide to set up 10,000 'super rocket engines' around the planet to 'propel' earth to a new star. OK … ummm … what are these rocket engines using for fuel for this … apparently … 100 year trip?

Next, just curious why 'they' thought that earth should stop rotating for the 'voyage'. They never explain that!! :-/

Next on 'my list' ... the writers decided to … 'invent' … something called a 'gravitational spike' from Jupiter so that it can 'derail' the trip <sigh>
Oh, and … apparently … if any =one= of the 10,000 engines isn't running, the whole system fails and the earth dies? They also apparently need something called a 'lighter core' to 'jump start' the engines … but they don't have any near the engines?? Pretty poor planning!!

The, for some reason, they are traveling in a super deep, super shear walled 'ice canyon'. Why are they down there instead of 'on top' where the surface is nice and flat and big, vehicle crushing hunks of stuff aren't falling on them. When they finally figure that part out, they decide to use a partially buried building to get up top. But they still have to get the 'lighter core' up there too. So rather than taking the stairs … they decide to climb up the inside of an elevator shaft, hauling the core as well.

On a positive note, it =is= a visually entertaining show <weg>

OK that would irritate even me and I have a fairly equitable 'accept on the surface' approach to sci-fi.

I watch the end of the Shannara series last night. Yeah I know, late catching up but time now!

Will & Mareth race to stop the Warlock Lord. They ride like the wind, then decide they need to walk from that point at a time where every second is vital in saving the world. They then walk through countryside that a horse could easily navigate!!!

Any movie where people are just inches away from massive lava pits and don’t seem to care.

Actually I liked The Wandering Earth! It was an excellent example that one can make Grand Epic Space Opera with as little sense as Star Wars somewhere not Hollywood. And still, be fun

Both hover somewhere around 2 or 3 on the Mohs' scale of science fiction. It doesn't mean they can't be entertaining.

One very interesting comment:



This is pretty much what killed the Russian lunar landing program and they were only dealing with 30 engines that had to run together perfectly.

Wolf, I don't deny that TWE had great visuals and was ... over all ... entertaining! I =did= actually watch it to the end <wink>

But that doesn't mean that the writers should get a 'pass' when they 'invent' what ever the heck they want for a plot point ... no matter how ridiculous <sigh> The point you raised about one 'engine' out of 10K being so important, for example <shrug> 'S a pretty lame 'solution' if a .01% failure dooms the planet!! <g>

oh I just thought the comparison was interesting, onnl;y in that there was a rather dramatic real-world simularity

personally I think there's a value to saturday afternoon popcorn.

I had to give up popcorn <sigh> But I do still watch a lot of movies ... while drinking great craft beers <wink>

OK ... I =MIGHT= have been wrong. Just finished re-watching the Godzilla with Matthew Broderick. The Godzilla in that movie did =not= use a 'breath weapon'. But ... that doesn't mean he didn't have one <weg>

Years and years back, I saw Signs on opening day in the theaters.

Near the beginning of Signs, the aliens chased someone through a cornfield in the fog, and I remember thinking "Well at least we know the aliens don't have a problem with water-"

And yet they did.

Biggest mistake ever.

Going through a cornfield in those conditions will get you drenched.

OK ... been a while, thought I would give this a nudge <g>

The Cloverfield Paradox:

So they are 'in space' in an 'orbital space station', but what a station! It makes no sense from a 'design perspective' … way too 'complicated' … or from a 'performance perspective' in that there is no reason for the 'complications :-/

'The Earth' … apparently vanishes … but these … so called … astronauts are too stupid to check the stars they can see all around them to verify their position???

At one point a woman is 'caught' in an air lock. It happens <shrug> However, this particular airlock,
1.) is a =vertical= cylinder … (so that the two 'doors' are curved :-/) as opposed to one that was horizontal between the two 'flat' doors.
2.) it has 'vents' … a lot like the ones in my house :-/ But, OK. Moving on. So on this 'space station' … there is enough water … and … some how the station is configured to allow all that water to be 'routed' into an air lock … through those 'vents' … WHAT??? But if the vents are busy dumping all that water … where does all the air in the air lock go??? Oh … and for the record … that has to be something like 6 =thousand= gallons of water at a minimum … to fill that 'air lock'?

Sadly that is not the worst of the 'stupidity' <sigh> For some reason … that water decides to 'bash' the 'outside' door on the air lock … once … twice … and finally a third time. And then, for or some reason .. without actually opening … that 6,000+ gallons … and the woman drowning inside … did I mention her?? <g> … 'flash freeze' in a fraction of a second? … even though we do not see the 'exterior' door opening?? Sorry!! It would take 'some time' for that much water to freeze … even in absolute zero <sigh>

Next, there is a 'space walk' to get to the place where they can 'decouple' the failing ring. There are =LOTS= of 'bits' 'floating around' … yet the fearless leader 'struggles' to haul himself across the 'gap' in the hull to the side where he can release the ring <sigh>

They have a plastic 3D printer and it had the plans for a gun? Well … OK … perhaps =every= one of those printers comes with a gun program available <shrug> But how does a 3D plastic printer print plastic bullets that fire and how can the firing =not= destroy the plastic gun??

Ummm so a 'plastic gun' from a 3D printer has a dozen bullets??? :-/

Once the 'beeah-ch' with the gun starts confronting folks … those folks don't bother to use the comms to let the bridge know??? <sigh>

MikeD

Never watched it.. and after reading that probably never will!

Skewed gender balances as a whole really irritate me. Still, right now, female characters only make up 35% of characters in movies. It is so stupid that this is still a thing in 2020.

It’s really easy to do accidentally, because when we create stories we tend to have men as the default and only make characters female if there’s a reason for them to be female. I know I do it too, so when I’m working out the characters involved I deliberately sit down and count, and if it’s more skewed than I’d expect based on the setting I go through my characters and ask myself “is there a reason this character SHOULDN’T be female?”

One example that really rankles for me as a woman scientist is that 82% of movie scientists are male. Yeah, there’s a gender gap in STEM fields in the real world, but it’s not 82:18, it’s about 60:40.

Agreed! I generally try to alternate my characters genders as I like variety, not necessarily every game but like a balance on the whole. Though I will watch my NPC choices more carefully from now on.

Accept what you say about scientists. Interesting that at scientist at Oxford, Prof Gilbert, reckons that the team will produce a vaccine for Covid by September. Both Govt & Astra Zenica are already in production at risk and Astra Zenica have already received orders in the billions, despite that the vaccine is not yet fully tested. Prof Gilbert is female. She and her team have already produced successful vaccines for Ebola, Aids, SARs & an earlier Covid. A good role model yes?

I had thought about watching that one, now I think it might just make me annoyed

OK ... this thread seems to have stalled, so I guess I will have to give it a bit of a nudge <weg>

This is a 'generic complaint'. I have seen it in =WAY= too many movies:

It is a 'gun silly' where people ... especially with shotguns ... carry their weapon around ... threaten folk with it ... then ... eventually ... decide they really =are= 'serious' and ... finally ... cock it (with no 'ejection' meaning that the gun wasn't 'ready to fire' before) <sigh>

I love the movies where the protagonist is running away from the bad guy down a normal hallway and the bad guys is firing an automatic weapon at him and can't hit him with 100+ bullets.

Obviously a storm trooper

Zeim, the one that bothers me more is where someone trying to 'escape' from their nemesis ... who is in a car ... runs down the middle of the street <sigh>

Que: Creepy Music
Que: Chainsaw sound in the basement
Que: "Is anyone there?" like.

Generic Grrr. Seriously. If you think someone is in the house GET OUT. Don't go into dark or dimly lit places advertising your current location.

What?? You don't think they should go and see what is 'causing the noise'?? Would be a really short movie in that case <weg> But I was thinking ...

So why don't 'they' shoot at the tires on the vehicles that they are trying to stop?? [[ Actually, to be fair ... I did just see a movie where they =did= actually target the tire of the chasing car!! But that is the exception <g> ]]

MikeD

Oh come on. One of the basic tenets of horror. Something scary happens immediately split up. Really? Just plain stupid.

Lol Pande! I have this card game called Abduction, where players are all abducted by aliens. The players realize that *maybe* one person could sneak out, but not everyone. So they try to get out first and sabotage the others.

Maybe horror movies are working on that premise? HHmm actually that might make for a fun plot of a horror movie.

It could be an interesting plot. The game sounds like fun in an adversarial way.

Pande, the game is a BLAST in an adversarial way. Some of the event cards, sending others off to get (ahem) probed by the aliens is a lot of fun. If you have the right group of people there can be a lot of laughter involved.

I bet. It sounds like it would be a blast.

OK ... so we seem to have 'run out of steam' again <sigh> So I guess it is time for a nudge. Rather than focusing on a single movie, though, I thought I would list a few things that 'get me going'. Be sure to offer your own <g>

* Why do 'they' =NOT= shoot at the tires on the vehicles that they are trying to stop?? OK ... I just saw a movie where they =did= actually target the tire of the chasing car!! <g> But it =DOES= seem to be the exception <wink>

* Why do guys with AKs or ARs feel like they have to 'rotate' their guns as they move around??

* So why do 'they' shoot people in the chest when they =COULD= be wearing a vest?? The 'head shot' is clearly the better choice <g>

* What is the point of 'vests' for 'Police'?? How hard would it be for the 'bad guys' to get the same 'look'/'protection??

If you leap into a cab and shout, “Follow that car!” the driver will oblige.

I can answer the headshot thing. Soldiers and Police (among others) are taught to shoot "center mass", i.e. aim at the chest. It is a much larger target and if you miss you are likely to hit the legs, the stomach, or even the head. The head is harder to hit and since people have a tendency to aim too high as a rule, about 75% of the time if you miss the bullet goes high and you completely miss. Even in a vest being hit with a bullet will put you down, at least for a few moments. It will break ribs and give you deep bruises. And it hurts like hell. So that part is actually true to life......, for Police. Now for the bad guys <shrug>.

If you say so <g>

Not me. The Police and Military guys I work with tell me that.

It is exactly what I was taught. Hit the biggest target, which is the chest, that way you have the most leeway.

Unless they have a =vest=!!! <weg>

How many 'heroes' have survived to 'save the day' because of that??? <g>

Yeah, but that's the lack of realism. You don't get up and shrug off being hit in the vest. It saves your life, but you are incapacitated for a while.

Yeah ... some movies do =that= better than others <g>

OK ... 's been a while so ... here is a new one. Sorry ... it is a bit long. But there was a lot to 'not like' <chuckle>

The Core:
OK … so there is a =LOT= of stupid stuff in this movie … it might as well be billed as a 'Fantasy'. But here are some of the most egregious:

Ummm … so 'splain ta me why an EM pulse strong enough to take out 'pace makers' would not affect =any= other electronics!!

Next … how would a bit of EMR causes 'bridges to collapse' and so forth <sigh>

Also, why would 'lightning storms' … 'concentrate' on one of the 'lowest' buildings in Rome … the Coliseum??

They are taking their 'special vehicle' down through the ocean and … there are 'big rocks' … 'crashing around' … as if the fact that the ship is 'in the water' they need to try and take it out <sigh>

How do they have 'a view' out the 'front window' when they are ... supposedly … boring through 'rock' and such?? Oh and why is there even a window in the first place ??

So they are in their 'ship' that is supposed to go to the core of the planet. They drop it into the sea to get some 'depth' before they hit the 'crust' and have to start 'boring'. As they are descending someone says 'level off'. That would seem to be at odds with the plan to penetrate to the planet's core.

The ship is supposed to 'bore' through the earth's core, but the hole it bores is big enough that someone can 'open the door' and walk around outside the ship???

Just curious … where does all the 'heat' of the core that is =ALL= around the ship go???

They contact the 'wacko' who has a 'ship' that can 'bore through' rock. So where does all that 'matter' go?? I didn't see 'clouds of vaporized matter' that the process … =should= … have generated … unless it completely converts that 'matter' into … what … nothing??

Also …. why would someone 'design' a 'ship' that only had an 'exit' through the 'planet disintegrating' part? I mean … we don't board jets through the jet's engines!!

Next … how does the 'vehicle' not 'melt' when it is it the 'molten' mantle ?? <sigh>

They penetrate the crust in the ocean … but for some reason, no water seems to follow them?

They are in a 'ship' that 'cuts' through matter … but apparently cannot go 'through' 'diamonds' … which are just 'carbon' … but it has no problem going through rock and the like?? <sigh>

So why is it that only the last section of the ship is ever crushed??

Our hero has to get some of the ship's fuel rods to 'augment' the last bomb. He unlocks them then threads the =heavy= duty chain through the handles that are there for just that purpose … but that =heavy= chain … the sort that looks heavier than the chains that I have seen them use to 'haul cars' … =breaks= when the mere human pulls on it????

Also … just curious how would 'strapping' a few 'fuel rods' on the exterior of a nuke would augment the explosion?? Not the way it really works.

Actually, it's not quite ... uhm ... fair ... to pick on The Core.

It's kind of like wondering why that stuff you just stepped in smells bad, knowing that the stuff you just stepped in smells bad.

The Core already has the dubious distinction as being acknowledged as one of the worst films ever made when it comes to science. In fact, it's not rocket science! The rocket scientists at NASA judged it as the No. 2 worst science-in-a-film film, only topped by the fantasy neutrinos in 2012. It constantly ranks high (or should that be "low") in many bad films list - a random sampling I made had it in slots 1, 2 (NASA), and 3.

For some reason Rotten Tomatoes gives it a little bit of value:

I agree with Rotten Tomatoes <g> Although I did have to constantly remind myself that it was really a 'fantasy' movie <weg>