Top 20 Movie Logics That Don't Make Sense
Top 20 Movie Logics That Don’t Make Sense
Top 10 Movie Logics That Doesn't Make Sense
If you ever find yourself trapped in a film, just remember… none of the usual rules apply. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 20 Movie Logics That Don’t Make Sense. For this list, we’ll be looking at popular movie tropes that defy defy the rules of everyday life - from common sense and social norms to the very laws of physics.
#20: Shooting a Lock Solves Everything
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Does a pesky lock stand between you and your goal? Thankfully, you’ve got the ultimate multi-tool: a gun! Be it of the old-fashioned bullet-firing variety, or some futuristic blaster, one good shot is sure to do the trick. This works for both mechanical locks and digital panels! In fact, not only will shooting a panel make it open for you, but, depending on your needs, it will ALSO make it impossible for your enemies to open it. Convenient, right? In reality, shooting a mechanical lock a few times MAY open it, but it might also just mangle it, and there’s a good chance of shrapnel and ricochet. And a digital panel? Unlikely!
#19: Cowboys Have Secret Storage for Supplies
The life of a cowboy isn’t an easy one. It may seem romantic, but apart from the odd train robbery and epic shootout, it’s a lot of trudging around. And when you’re travelling for days on end, you have to make a lot of practical packing choices that are likely to undermine your cool cowboy outfit. You need to carry absolutely everything you could need with you on horseback: camping supplies, pots and pans, food, the bottle of whiskey that cowboys are always whipping out of nowhere! Extra ammunition, emergency medical supplies, personal keepsakes… it’s all gotta go somewhere! From the looks of the average on-screen cowboy, however, they must all have a magic sack that defies spatial restrictions.
#18: Destroy the Screen, Destroy the Computer
Need to ensure a computer system is completely and utterly wrecked? Just destroy the screen, and be on your merry way. More than a few films operate under the logic that a monitor is the same thing as a computer – perhaps because the monitor is how information on a computer is displayed, or due to some early computers housing vital components behind the monitor. The iMac continues to do so today; but this is far from the norm. Whatever the inspiration for this line of thinking, it’s pretty ridiculous.
#17: One Match to Light It All
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Dark corridors and chambers beware – somebody’s got a match. At first glance, using a match, a torch, or candles to light one’s way seems reasonable enough… until the question of how a tiny source of light can illuminate vast spaces comes up. In spite of their small size and limited ability to produce light, matches and lighters in movies are astoundingly effective. Why do we even bother with flashlights, ever? Turn on an actual lightbulb in these worlds, and it must be like looking into the Sun! Be it a tight ventilation shaft or a large underground chamber, nothing appears immune to these tiny fiery objects.
#16: Bombs Can Only Be Disarmed at the Last Second
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Thank goodness for split-second timing and villain’s negligence. Often in film, when the prospect of a bomb threat comes up, the heroes do everything in their power to stop the bomb from detonating – and at the very last moment, they typically succeed. However, this raises a key question: why do so many villains put timers on their bombs, rather than just detonating them by remote? And why bother with a display that shows the countdown? It’s a careless oversight that costs villains victory at the last second, and it’s usually completely unnecessary to their plan.
#15: Cars Can Make Ridiculous Jumps Without Sustaining Damage
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Cars in movies seem to somehow be both indestructible and highly volatile. In an apocalypse type situation, you can get any old car up and running by finding the keys and topping it up with gas. In reality, the battery would likely be dead! At the same time, action films have taught us that one well-placed bullet can make a car explode like it’s made of dynamite. Of all the unbelievable tropes associated with big screen cars however, their ability to absorb the impact of epic jumps is the most outrageous. Car suspension is designed for potholes and speed bumps, not clearing gaps. Most cars would be unusable upon landing a jump (or at least stall) unless they’d undergone serious modifications.
#14: Who Needs a Mouse Anyway?
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Are we using our computers wrong? In movies, accomplishing anything meaningful on a computer can only be done through frantic typing on the keyboard, with mice and other peripherals being of secondary importance - if they appear at all. Just watch Scotty entering the formula for transparent aluminum in “Star Trek IV”! Though we’re sure that some computer users can type that fast, surely the error rate for most people would be pretty high. And are none of these programs easier to use with a mouse? Apparently, keyboards are the future, and we should just throw this thing out!
#13: Funerals Control Weather
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Films are an inherently visual medium, so it’s unsurprising that happy endings are often paired with sunny days, and romantic encounters with moonlit nights. But there is no event more intimately linked with the weather than a funeral. Rain is so commonplace at cinematic funerals that to do so in a contemporary film risks falling under the umbrella of satire. And yet… the “The Amazing Spider-Man” was still doing this as recently as 2012. Come to think of it, comic book movies in general really love this trope. Maybe Storm from the X-Men is always invited to set the mood?
#12: Bullets Throw People
We don’t claim to be scientists, but we’re reasonably sure bullets don’t work this way. Yet action cinema continues to operate under the belief that when a person gets shot, his or her body gets thrown a substantial distance. In fact, people in movies can even be thrown off their feet and across the room! From the Terminator being knocked back with a shotgun blast, to Agent Jones getting shot in the head in “The Matrix,” there’s no shortage of bodies sent flying from gunshots. Just imagine the recoil on bullets that did this! Though it makes for impressive imagery, it defies logic.
#11: Static = Death
Walkie-talkies are wonderful things, but beware if the person on the other end stops speaking. Because, in movies, if you get static, that means the other person’s dead. We’re not precisely sure where this line of logic originated from, but it certainly crops up in a variety of places – typically to raise suspense and make people, both in the film and in the audience, feel uneasy. It’s hard to deny that it’s effective, but there could be any number of reasons why static comes up in a radio transmission. Maybe the other person is thinking about what to say. Maybe you need to adjust your squelch, which suppresses channel noise. Or maybe other radio signals are interfering.
#10: "Great, I'll Pick You Up"
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We understand skipping over minor, banal details on screen. But we’d gladly sit through a few extra seconds of dialogue to make it marginally realistic. In movies, when people ask each other out on dates, the conversation often lasts all of five seconds. Sometimes, there’s a day stipulated, and even a time, but not always, and seldom are there actual plans made - instead the conversation often just ends with some variation of “I’ll pick you up.” Normal people talk about options for the evening and even do some planning. At the very least… they exchange information. It’s hard to pick someone up without an address!
#9: Food Is Just for Show
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Put your hand up if you go out to dinner to EAT FOOD. Yeah, hopefully everyone. And presumably, that also includes breakfast and lunch. On-screen however, there’s far more pressure to appear pristine, and characters are often doing a fair amount of talking - which makes eating difficult. But all that untouched food is seriously distracting. At least take a bite! Maybe even chew. Talk about a waste of good food and money. And while we’re on the subject, why doesn’t anyone in movies finish their drinks before leaving the table or bar? Alcohol ain't cheap!
#8: Important Info Can Only Be Delivered in Person
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Oh the time, money, and lives that could’ve been saved had someone just sent an email, text or made a phone call. But no, instead, a meeting has to be arranged, often in some dark and mysterious location or public place. You know… in the name of safety. Of course, all this ever does is provide the powers that be with an opportunity to make the person with said sensitive information disappear. Worried that your phone line might be tapped or that someone has hacked into your email? Probably better to risk your information being intercepted than it dying with you!
#7: Heroes Never Look Back at Explosions
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Does this make for badass cinematic moments? Absolutely. Is it believable? Not so much. Not only do we think that you’d WANT to see an explosion (especially one you just caused), but we don’t think you could help yourself. Even if you expect a loud noise or sudden commotion, you can’t stop yourself from flinching. Perhaps the silliest thing about this trope, however, is that staring straight ahead as something explodes can only possibly be for the benefit of a camera. So regardless of how realistic that explosion is, that old “stare and walk away” move inevitably reminds us that it’s all fake.
#6: Landing in Water Is Like Landing on a Cloud
Water may seem safe, but in situations involving a long fall it’s a deadly adversary. If ever a character needs to make a quick escape, they elect to jump from a great height into a body of water; the presumption being that the water will cushion their fall. Unfortunately, this is not the case, at least in real life – hitting the water at 80 miles per hour is like hitting a concrete wall, and the average human body falls at 120 miles per hour. This fact makes scenes such as James Bond’s long drop in the opening of 2012’s “Skyfall” VERY unreal.
#5: Just a Concussion? No Worries!
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Suffer a potentially debilitating head injury? Not a problem – just walk it off. Yes, concussions seem to not have the same impact in films as in reality; rather than causing disorientation or worse symptoms, they instead come across as just another mild wound for heroes and heroines to overcome. Consider the frequency with which Marty McFly gets hit in the head over the course of the “Back to the Future” films: at least once per movie, Marty is rendered unconscious yet recovers with no apparent long-term damage. It’s odd to see, to say the least.
#4: Hitting Someone in the Head Is an Off Switch
This is perhaps one of the most dangerous inaccuracies perpetuated by film. According to movies, a bonk on the head or neck will knock someone out. A few hours later, they’ll be right as rain! For any hero who tries to minimize casualties, this is their go-to, a move that will allow them to overcome dozens of goons without spilling blood. Here’s the thing though… the human body doesn’t have an “off switch”. Hit someone over the head and they’re likely to be in a lot of pain, but still conscious. Hit them hard enough to knock them out, and there’s a decent chance of permanent damage or that they’ve been killed.
#3: Characters Break Up When One Conversation Could Clear Up a Misunderstanding
MOST interpersonal dramas in movies could be solved with a single conversation. But who wants to watch two characters talk through their problems when they could end up having to interrupt a wedding or stop someone from getting on a plane later on? As soon as movie characters overhear something unpleasant or walk in on a compromising situation, they just hightail it out of there. Oftentimes, this will result in a breakup between two characters who’ve fallen madly in love with one another. And the moment someone says “let me explain”, they’re guaranteed to get hit with some cliched retort like “I don’t want to hear it” or “it’s too late”. Sigh… haven’t they heard that “communication is key”?
#2: Bad Guys Wait Their Turn to Fight
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Chivalry is not dead, it seems. Should a hero or heroine be faced by a group of foes, Hollywood says, then it only makes sense for the enemies to attack one-by-one. Is it because rushing the hero all at once is unsportsmanlike? Is it that the villains believe one single warrior can defeat the hero? Or is it just an unwillingness to retreat and think of a new plan? We’re not sure, but it seems arbitrary and entirely unnecessary to have an attack force waiting for their turn to fight. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. All Computer Systems Have Their Manual Override Somewhere Deadly Because THAT’S a Practical Design Choice in the Event of an Emergency! During Phone Calls, People Never Say Goodbye Because Pleasantries Don’t Make Anyone Sound Badass Jumping Through Windows Does No Harm Because Movie Characters have SUPER Thick Skin.
#1: Everything Must Explode!
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From cars to spaceships, it seems like objects in films are predestined to burst into flames. Shoot it, and it WILL blow up. Explosions are firmly established in cinema as a signature form of spectacle, but increasingly it seems as though everything is primed to blow up. Whether it’s sand dunes, robots, ships in the vacuum of space, or entire planets, explosions are more or less guaranteed to occur in action movies. It’s certainly fun to watch unfold, but we’re certain the real world isn’t that prone to spontaneous explosions. Probably. We hope.
