Movies offer us a temporary escape from the doldrums of daily life, and that’s usually why they appeal to us so much.A chance to relax and relinquish rationalityto their worlds; one where the ordinary gives way to fantastical wonders, and realms where reality can be shaped as far as a filmmaker’s imagination can stretch it.
While many movies go to great lengths to ensure everything they depict is as accurate as possible, it’s also very common for filmmakers to take liberties with the truth. Movies with far-flung plots and worlds like those from fantasy and sci-fi films make it obvious where they depart from reality. Others are brilliant at putting forth supposed facts that simply don’t hold up when tested.
The problem with these films is that they’re sometimes so expertly done, and blur the lines between fiction and reality so well, that their inaccuracies are taken to be true. We’ve all probably been part of an unwitting audience that’s fallen for this whether we know it or not. So, if you’re sufficiently intrigued to know some of the most surprising lies movies have told us, here’s a list of the most surprising ones.
Jurassic Park — T-Rex Could Only See Movement
Jurassic Park
Back in 1993,Jurassic Parkbecame one of the most iconic films in cinematic history. It was a game changer, one that opened the floodgates forthe potential that CGI now offerswhile further elevating Steven Spielberg’s reputation among the pantheon of legendary filmmakers. It also fueled massive worldwide interest in dinosaurs among everyone from children to adults alike. Making a star out of one of those dinosaurs that still shines bright today, the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex from the film simultaneously became its main antagonist and most thrilling attraction.
The Big Lie
We all vividly remember the scene where Sam Neill’s character desperately tried to get the children to stay still. According to him, the T-Rex’s visual acuity was based on movement — meaning if you don’t move, it can’t see you. It was an intriguing fact to learn, and one that imbued the scene with some nail-biting tension.
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It was also a supposed dinosaur fact audiences had no problem believing, since Dr. Alan Grant was a world-renowned dinosaur expert in the film. The problem is, that fact has gone on to be debunked by real-life dinosaur experts. In fact, according to a study from 2006, not only could T-Rex see you whether you moved or not, its visual acuity was actually more than 10 times better than our own.
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Limitless — We Only Use a Small Part of Our Brains
Limitlesswas a science-fiction thriller starring Bradley Cooper that played to some of our innermost fantasies. It centered around a wonder pill that could unleash the full potential of our brains, essentially giving the user superhuman-like intelligence. One of the key tenets of the film was predicated on perpetuating the lie that human beings are only capable of using 10 percent of our brains. The theory therefore goes that if we could use between 90 and 100 percent of our brains, we would be capable of unbelievable intellectual feats.
Incredible geniuses do exist, but the reason why we hold them in such high esteem is because the vast majority of us, as intelligent and talented as we may be in many ways, are simply incapable of the kind of intellectual feats they are. However, neuroscience has grown exponentially over many decades, and we now have a far greater understanding of the immense capabilities of the human brain.
A true biological wonder, neurological studies like those that taught us about neuroplasticity show us that the human brain really does have almost limitless potential to keep expanding, growing, and learning new things. However, it is a myth that we only use 10 percent of our brains. In reality, we use most of our brain, and a lot of this usage happens automaticallythrough those little grey cellsregulating things like our breathing and heart rate. The 10 percent lie likely comes from early research into the brain, which suggested that there was a large amount of untapped potential in our cognitive abilities. But modern studies show thatour brain is very active almost all the time.
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The Usual Suspects — A Lit Cigarette Can Ignite Gasoline
The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspectsis a film with a huge cult following, and one that came as a huge boost to the careers of stars like Kevin Spacey and Benicio Del Toro. A brilliant film, it featureda memorable twist endingand a scene that saw the infamous Keyser Söze pour petrol around a boat and flick a lit cigarette onto it, instantly igniting the liquid gasoline and engulfing the boat in flames.
It is true that gasoline is extremely flammable and dangerous for that reason. However, while a lit cigarette does reach temperatures capable of igniting gasoline, it would be difficult — if not virtually impossible — for the cigarette to sufficiently transfer enough of that heat onto it by simply brushing against it. That would have been true even at the time of this film being released, but modern cigarettes now also have a reduced ignition propensity manufactured into them to further curb the possibility of unintentionally igniting anything flammable.
Anaconda — Everything about the Snake
Anacondawas a film that saw Jennifer Lopez play a documentary filmmaker who travels to the Amazon with her crew to interview a tribe there. Along the way, they encounter a man who seems to need help but has a malicious agenda. He’s a snake hunter, and anacondas are what he’s after. A monstrous snake soon starts showing up and terrorizes everyone in the film with its shocking size, speed, taste for humans, and unnatural aggression. One of the most shocking scenes depicted in the film was also based on a lie that anacondas will sometimes regurgitate their prey to hunt again.
The Big Lies
Virtually everything about the snake in the film was an exaggeration or just simply untrue. First, although there have beenreports of anacondas reaching over 30 feetin length, most of them are only about 20 feet — still very big. Second, they’re nowhere close to being as fast or aggressive as the snake from the film.
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They certainly won’t go out of the way to hunt and eat humans, and after an anaconda eats a large meal, it will usually seek a secluded area to digest it, which can take a long time. During this time, they’re understandably lethargic and vulnerable, so will usually only regurgitate their prey if faced with a threat or a need to make a quick getaway.
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine — We Can Calmly Walk Away From Explosions
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
We’ve all watched scenes like the one fromX-Men Origins: Wolverinewhere the hero calmly walks away whilea massive explosiondetonates behind them. Of course, these kinds of scenes make for amazing visuals, imbuing those heroes with a sense of bravado and innate coolness normal people are simply not cut out for. But this common lie from action movies not only isn’t true, it is a dangerous myth at that.
The rapid expansion of gases and how they affect changes in air pressure from explosions releases a wave of wind called a blast wave. While the power of this wave varies according to the power of the actual blast, simply walking away from an explosion would require superhuman strength and the ability to resist the laws of physics. Depending on the size and power of the detonation, the waves produced can even be fatal to anyone close enough to them.
The tragic and devastating visuals seen during the infamous Beirut explosion in 2020 gave us a stark example of just how deadly an explosion can be to people and places miles away from the site of the actual blast, leave alone someone standing close by.
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Now that we know this, here’s a clip of some ridiculous examples from action films that simply don’t hold up to science.
Changeling — You Have to Wait 24 Hours Before Filing a Missing Persons Report
Changeling
Angelina Jolie’s 2008 version of the storyChangelingtold the heart-wrenching tale ofa mother’s desperation to find her missing son. In the film, she is informed that it’s the LAPD’s ‘policy’ not to file a missing person report until someone has been missing at least 24 hours. It’s a common misrepresentation made in many films and TV shows, with some even stretching this time limit to 48 hours — and it is tragic to think real people might hesitate to file such a report if they believe this.
In reality, there is no minimum amount of time a person has to be missing for before their disappearance can be reported. This myth is sadly so often believed that many major police departments have official statements on their websites and in their stations to make people aware of this fact. Surrounding circumstances and available evidence will decide how urgently the matter is treated, but missing persons may be reported immediately for obvious reasons. In fact, studies and statistics show that the earlier a missing person is reported, the greater the chance of finding them.
Breaking Bad
So, this one wasn’t a movie, but the iconic showBreaking Baddid provide the funniest example of this myth, which has also shown up in movies too. The show was about a disgruntled chemistry teacher who becomesa formidable drug lordafter he learns that he has cancer. Rising to the point of having his own ‘runners’, one of them known as Badger encounters an undercover cop. The cop plays on the common misconception that if a cop is asked if they’re a cop, they have to tell you. By duping Badger in this way, the cop thereafter goes on to bust the myth himself as he arrests Badger.
This common misconception is likely because of the legal principle of entrapment. Under this law, a police officer may not convince a person to commit a crime when they ordinarily would not have in that situation.
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However, that doesn’t mean an undercover cop has to reveal they’re a cop if asked, and may happily maintain their cover so long as they follow the legal rules and police procedures that govern undercover operations; one of which is to not entrap a suspect.
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Split — Chloroform Can Knock a Person Out in Seconds
Splitwas part of an M. Knight Shyamalan trilogy of films that featured a highly disturbed individual played by James McAvoy. His portrayal of an unhinged man who struggles withan extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorderwas truly something to behold. When under the control of one of his more deviant identities, he had a propensity for kidnapping teenage girls, and did so by using chloroform to knock them unconscious.
This is a commonly used trick in films, especially for antagonists. It’s been used so often that most people believe that chloroform is capable of doing this. In reality, while chloroform will render you unconscious if you inhale enough of it, it would take a pretty high dose to have that effect. Furthermore, even if such a dose is administered, it may still take between two and five minutes to render a person fully unconscious.
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The Day After Tomorrow — The Swiftness With Which Climate Change Will Destroy The Earth
The Day After Tomorrow
In The Day After Tomorrow, a climatologist must navigate the catastrophic effects of sudden, severe climate change as global weather patterns shift, posing unprecedented challenges to humanity. As he embarks on a perilous journey to save his son, society grapples with the immediate ramifications of environmental upheaval.
The Day After Tomorrowmay have had good intentions by trying to paint a scary picture of whatthe consequences of climate changewill lead to if such catastrophes aren’t averted. However, the film was widely panned as one big exaggeration, and was most vociferously disavowed by climate scientists themselves, who felt the film did more harm to their cause than good. In the movie, the abrupt collapse of a global oceanic circulation system known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) brings about unimaginable weather catastrophes that pretty much bring the entire planet to its knees, as the title says, within only two days.
Despite it being true that this crucial system is weakening over time, the events of the film occurring as swiftly as portrayed is not possible. This is because the harmful effects brought on by climate change will likely occur over a period of time, and not during one massive global weather event after another, all virtually occurring at the same time. Nevertheless, despite the film’s shortcomings in scientific accuracy, studies do show thatthe threats depicted are still very real.
The Boondock Saints — Silencers Virtually Eliminate the Sound of a Gun Being Fired
The Boondock Saints
Movies like the cult-classic action filmThe Boondock Saintsoften perpetuate the lie that using a gun silencer effectively eliminates most of the sound when it’s fired. The film featured many memorable scenes where two brothers, played by Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus, go on a religiously chargedmission to kill evil men. One memorable scene involves them killing an entire hotel suite full of Russian mobsters. Since they used silencers, no one outside the room was alerted to the fact that a barrage of gunfire had been released inside it.
Firearm experts more readily prefer the term ‘suppressor’ to ‘silencer,’ since that’s actually what these devices do in real life. Rather than eliminating or “silencing” the sound of gunfire altogether, or making it sound like a kid’s toy, they actually only suppress a portion of the ear-splitting sound. In reality, a gunshot fired with a suppressor will still be loud enough to be heard in the immediate vicinity of it, with experts stating that the sound is only suppressed by between 20 to 35 decibels. This effectively means that you will still hear the shot as a loud ‘pop’, though one that will sound more like you’re listening to a normal gunshot with earplugs on.
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