Factual errors/dumb stuff in movies that really ruin it for you

I was watching The Black Book, an otherwise great movie about WWII in the Netherlands, the other night and it had one really bad, factually incorrect scene in it. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed it.

This is a real spoiler so stop reading if you don't want to know.


Towards the end, Hans, the doctor, shoots Elise with insulin in order to kill her.

1. He injects it IV, which you can't do with insulin. It's injected subcutaneously (sp?).

2. It takes effect immediately. Even current fast-acting insulins take 5 minutes to take affect and they've only been around for something like less than 20 years (when I was first diagnosed in 1982 the fasted acting was 30 minute on-set).

3. To counteract the insulin she eats a chocolate bar and it revivers her nearly instantly. Chocolate is very slow to absorb and is not recommended for counteracting low blood sugar.

This bugged me almost as much as that dumb scene in Steel Magnolias with Julia Roberts where she goes all bad-**** crazy when her blood sugar drops.

Any personal annoyances for you?

b

Like most Americans, I'm pretty stupid so I rarely notice that kind of stuff.

Some people get bothered by historical inaccuracies, but I don't. Hollywood doesn't make documentaries, they make entertainment. Bridge on the River Kwai and Gangs of New York are two examples of movies I love, despite knowing the real accounts are NOTHING like the movies.

Now, crap like you mentioned does bother me. It takes little research -- nowadays especially -- to get it right, and there is usually no real reason for such things in the first place.

Originally Posted by rdawson808

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3. To counteract the insulin she eats a chocolate bar and it revivers her nearly instantly. Chocolate is very slow to absorb and is not recommended for counteracting low blood sugar.

b

Try telling this to my fat, lazy, self-indulgent, diabetic mother-in-law.

Originally Posted by Jekyll

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Like most Americans, I'm pretty stupid so I rarely notice that kind of stuff.

Me too. We are true patriots.

I watched Cop Land the other day. It's supposed to be about a bunch of NYPD cops that, through some loophole, settle in a fictional NJ town, and are brought down by the town "sheriff" (played by Sly Stallone), who discovers that the higher-ups have been murdering cops who might snitch about their connection to the mob.

What really ruined it for me is the fact that New Jersey does not have "sheriffs" on the town level. There are only sheriffs at the county level.

Originally Posted by odoreater

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What really ruined it for me is the fact that New Jersey does not have "sheriffs" on the town level. There are only sheriffs at the county level.

That's true everywhere, at least in America. I own the movie, but it's been a while since I watched it. I'm wondering, though: how big was the NJ town? Some very small towns don't have a police force, so they automatically lie within a sheriff's jurisdiction. That might be the case, but I don't remember.

To the OP; you can administer insulin IV, and it'll act quicker than it does when give SC.

Now, the chocolate bar is another story . . . .

Have any of you ever seen Star Wars?

When Blaine handwields a minigun in Predator. WTF?

The whole scene where Bond jumps out of the plane with Olga in Quantum of Solace. WTFx2

Kyle reese and that girl surviving in LA even though its been nuked with a high yield ballistic missle in T4, radiation Mr. screenwriter duh. WTFx3

The scene where they steal gas tanks off the back of a tanker truck while moving in the latest Fast and the Furious. WTFx4

Damned near everything in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (remake).

The 6 DOESN'T GO TO CONEY ISLAND. And I don't think that line can ever be run over the N/R/F/Q lines, either - the trains are different sizes, and the tracks don't cross anywhere that would allow the switchover.

I admit to yelling at the screen during the movie.

Actually that whole film was filled with **** that didn't have to be wrong - Tony Scott was just too lazy to do it right. Don't call it the midtown transit ops center if you show someone leaving South Ferry. Just call it the downtown ops center.

TV shows set in NY usually say their police officers are from the 27th precinct. There no longer is a 27th precinct. But that's on purpose, I think.

Originally Posted by Teacher

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TV shows set in NY usually say their police officers are from the 27th precinct. There no longer is a 27th precinct. But that's on purpose, I think.

along similar lines... 555 phone numbers. So annoying.

Transporter 2 where the plane crashes into the ocean and the dudes are fighting underwater (or whatever happens). It made me lol in the theater.

People hiding behind car doors to escape gunfire.

I've seen the Black Book and never noticed those factual errors since I was more focused on Elise being naked.