Top 10 Movie Mistakes Only a Doctor Would Notice

#10: Mouth to Mouth

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“Jurassic Park” (1993) In movies, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is the key to seemingly reviving anyone. But it's not quite so simple in the real world. In a memorable “Jurassic Park” scene Tim Murphy has an unfortunate encounter with an electric fence. Dr. Alan Grant proceeds to perform chest compressions and blow into Tim's mouth. Not even a minute passes before Tim is coughing and conscious. Unfortunately, this is as unrealistic as dinosaurs coming back to life. Dr. Grant skipped a major part of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He never tilted Tim’s head back to keep the tongue from blocking the airways. He also relies too much on mouth-to-mouth and not enough on compressions. Life might “find a way,” but there’s little hope Grant’s method would ever actually succeed.

“Old School” (2003) If you introduce a tranquilizer gun in a Will Ferrell comedy, it's probably going to hit him. That’s why we started laughing as soon as Ferrell’s Frank was introduced to a powerful tranquilizer gun. After he accidently and inevitably shoots himself with a dart, he gets groggy and loopy before finally passing out in the pool. While animal tranquilizer would definitely knock a person out, its effects would be as instantaneous as this scene makes it seem. “Old School” tried to cover this by blasting Frank with an especially strong dose. But while it made for great comedy, it’s still inaccurate. The one thing this scene definitely got right is that you shouldn’t handle a tranquilizer gun unless you know what you’re doing.

“Twilight” (2008) A vampire stopping a car from barreling down on you with one hand is already pretty absurd. But what happens after this abnormal show of strength is also implausible. After Edward Cullen miraculously saves Bella Swan from an out-of-control car, she’s brought to the hospital. Edward’s vampiric dad Carlisle examines her in the emergency room by shining a flashlight in her eyes and speculating that she might have undergone post-traumatic stress. No doctor, vampire or not, would make a PTSD diagnosis so quickly and casually. Also, his overall examination is pretty rushed. Dr. Cullen’s license might be in jeopardy if the state medical board knew about this or the whole being a vampire thing.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) Trying any of the death-defying stunts in this modern action classic would likely send you straight to the hospital or the morgue. Ironically, it was a relatively more realistic injury that made doctors turn their heads. After Furiosa is seriously hurt in action fighting Immortan Joe’s forces, she experiences a tension pneumothorax, better known as a “collapsed lung.” The actions Max takes to save her would've just made things worse. He punctures Furiosa's side when he should instead be going for her chest. With his method, he could’ve easily struck a vital organ by mistake. But hey, he’s “Mad Max,” not “MD Max.”

#6: CPR Slaps

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“The Abyss” (1989) CPR is already a pretty dramatic procedure. After all, it involves saving someone’s life with your bare hands. But filmmakers seem to think that’s not dramatic enough and often add unnecessary touches like this. When Dr. Lindsey Brigman passes out from hypothermia, her estranged husband Bud Brigman gives her CPR. And by “gives her CPR,” we mean that he performs a few chest compressions before slapping her across the face and yelling at her. Since this is a movie, Bud's efforts work. But it's a very inaccurate portrayal of what he should’ve done. While CPR is an essential skill to have, it's not something you should learn from the movies.

#5: The Plot

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“Awake” (2007) This thriller claims that one in every 700 surgery patients stays awake after undergoing anesthesia and builds the meat of its plot around this statistic. While that’s certainly frightening to think about, it’s also incredibly misleading. While anesthesia awareness does happen, the 1 in 700 estimate is disputed. The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology estimated it to be more like one in a thousand. Additionally, the prolonged awareness Clay has, like the kind he experiences in the movie, is even more rare. You're more likely to experience anesthesia awareness if you're particularly ill or are undergoing an especially dangerous procedure. But even then the odds are not as high as the movie makes it seem.

#4: The Ventilator

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“Million Dollar Baby” (2004) “Million Dollar Baby” is both a powerful sports drama and a heartbreaking examination of when to keep fighting and when to give in. What it’s not is an accurate depiction of how ventilators work. After boxer Maggie has her neck broken in the ring, she's paralyzed from the waist down and hooked up to a ventilator. This tragic twist becomes sadder when Maggie tells him she wants to die. While it’s a beautifully written and acted monologue, there’s no way it could happen. Why? Because a ventilator blocks a patient’s ability to speak due to the placement of the breathing tube. Additionally, the adrenaline Frankie uses would likely not have the fatal consequences the film depicts.

#3: Face Transplant

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“Face/Off” (1997) This thriller from action legend John Woo is both ridiculously entertaining and just plain ridiculous. Madman Castor Troy knows about a bomb that could threaten many innocent lives. When he’s injured, FBI agent Sean Archer borrows the villain's face, assumes his identity and tries to get more info about the explosive. There are real facial procedures where donated tissue can be given to a compatible recipient. However, this type of face transplant wasn't successfully completed until 2005, eight years after "Face/Off'' was released. And while the movie makes it seem like a suction cup device is all you need for this procedure, it’s a lot more complicated than that. But we admit it made for a bonkers and exciting movie.

“Casino Royale” (2006) Daniel Craig's first turn as James Bond in "Casino Royale," was praised for feeling more realistic than past 007 adventures. But one scene was more ludicrous than most Bond villain schemes. After Bond ingests a poisoned martini at a Texas hold 'em tournament in Montenegro, he rushes to his car. He manages to get in touch with MI6 in London and follows the doctor’s instructions to inject an antidote and jump start his heart. The chances that Bond would have access to the perfect antidote is already ridiculous. And he also completely messes up the placement of the defibrillator. However, we’ll give the scene partial credit for nailing James Bond’s love of martinis.

“Pulp Fiction” (1994) Only in the movies can anyone successfully perform a complex medical procedure like this without incident. After Mia Wallace goes unconscious, Vincent Vega gives her a shot of adrenaline right to her heart. Pretty soon, Mia is frazzled but alive. That would come as a surprise to any doctor. Adrenaline is definitely not something to be injected directly into the heart because you could risk injuring several vital organs. Instead, it should be delivered through the arm veins while performing chest compressions. And while we know Vincent had little choice, adrenaline should be administered by a trained medical professional. We guess we should’ve expected some inaccuracy with a movie with “fiction” in the title.