Worst portrayal of science/technology in a film or TV show.

lazygal · 23-10-2013 06:27PM #1

Saw The Net (well some of it) recently, its beyond awful. But it got me thinking, why is anything 'science-y' or technological in TV shows and films so unrealistic? And which ones are the worst offenders?

frozenfrozen · 23-10-2013 06:29PM

I WENT THROUGH 7 PROXIES GOOD LUCK

Drakares · 23-10-2013 06:29PM

There was an episode of 24 with Jack Bauer shouting the IP address of a PC to his trusty colleague Chloe, and he was all like "314.267.532.1"

I was very disappoint.

23-10-2013 06:30PM

Let's explode the earth to make it start spinning again

also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU

Timmyctc · 23-10-2013 06:30PM

The Neutrinos have mutated!

Vito Corleone · 23-10-2013 06:32PM

Wasn't there a CSI episode where they saw somebody's face in the reflection of an eye?

Sunnyisland · 23-10-2013 06:33PM

Dr who

Come on a phone box...

gerTheGreat · 23-10-2013 06:48PM

Anything that involves hacking, general computer wizardry or ****ing 3-D holographics. All nonsense that is so far removed from reality that it ruins the viewing experience.

Starscream25 · 23-10-2013 06:53PM

I always thought the Gould in stargate seemed very far off what they should be like, considering they had huge space ships and rejuvenating sarcofikiss and what not,there tactics on the ground seemed ridiculous, let's charge the machine guns, they just acted absolutely moronic on the battlefield considering their warrior like way and their high tech wizardry which didn't seem to utilize.

Karl Stein · 23-10-2013 06:57PM

Video doors.

SweepTheLeg · 23-10-2013 07:06PM

realies wrote: »

Dr who

Come on a phone box...

It's a form of camouflage. It's not actually a phone box.

FurQyou · 23-10-2013 07:10PM

Any and all cop shows whose names are composed of acronyms.. they always involve absurd computer jiggery pokery!

somuj · 23-10-2013 07:14PM

That stupid four eyed bottle blonde bitch in Criminal minds. Can instantly hack any computer in the world and compile lists with multiple variables in seconds.

RandomName2 · 23-10-2013 07:18PM

"Well that could be just - orbital wobble" - Highlander The Source
(upon noticing that several planets in the solar system are shifting around dramatically)

"It's a Unix system - I know this!" Jurassic Park
(upon seeing a random computer with an enormous unfamiliar database relating to the park's security systems.... presented in 3D)

"The nutrinos are mutating!" 2012
(Upon noticing the end of the world)

"The only way out is through the core" - The Core
(something about blowing up the centre of the Earth to get... what?)

"Genius. My dad. Total genius." - Independence Day
(upon working out how to code a computer virus for an unknown operating system and system architecture in order to cripple the alien fleet)

"His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life-form. It was possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians." - Star Wars the Phantom Menace
(explaining both "The Force" and how Darth Vader was a product of Immaculate Conception)

Wanderer2010 · 23-10-2013 07:26PM

CSI. <swabs sample in crime scene and puts into an all singing all dancing machine> 2 seconds later. Beep. This victim was murdered at 11:34pm, he had 500mg heroin in his system and was killed by a left handed diabetic. :rolleyes:

creep · 23-10-2013 07:28PM

Blue Meth :rolleyes:
Volcumated mercury :rolleyes:

elfy4eva · 23-10-2013 07:30PM

The amazing spiderman. Using Bing to hack into the laboratory's database. ehhh no on so many levels.

bnt · 23-10-2013 07:44PM

lazygal wrote: »

Saw The Net (well some of it) recently, its beyond awful.

The movie starring Sandra Bullock? It came out in 1995, which makes it about 91 in Internet years. Of course it's going to look badly dated. I thought it was overly paranoid at the time, but given the recent revelations about the NSA, I'm not so sure any more. :eek:

Drakares wrote: »

There was an episode of 24 with Jack Bauer shouting the IP address of a PC to his trusty colleague Chloe, and he was all like "314.267.532.1"

I was very disappoint.

I've seen that in CSI as well, and I thought it was deliberate: just like they don't use real phone numbers in movies, they wouldn't use real IP addresses, would they?

The example mentioned above, about the extraction of an image from a reflection off an eye, is only one of many such crimes against physics perpetrated by CSI. No matter how good the lab's optical facilities are, the information in the picture wouldn't have made it that far in the first place. :rolleyes:

McChubbin · 23-10-2013 07:46PM

Timmyctc wrote: »

The Neutrinos have mutated!

The Latinos have mutated!! :eek:

Gamayun · 23-10-2013 07:51PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8qgehH3kEQ

I don't even....

Ziphius · 23-10-2013 08:15PM

Prometheus

jimgoose · 23-10-2013 08:35PM

Anything featuring some illiterate suet-headed Hollywood ape circumventing several layers of NSA-grade security by typing "OVERRIDE!!" or somesuch. Grrrr!!

bonzodog2 · 23-10-2013 08:38PM

bnt wrote: »

I've seen that in CSI as well, and I thought it was deliberate: just like they don't use real phone numbers in movies, they wouldn't use real IP addresses, would they?

'They' could at least use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network#Private_IPv4_address_spaces

Just wait for more BS when IPv6 takes hold....

Twilightning · 23-10-2013 08:39PM

NCIS and CSI are the biggest offenders when it comes to this kind of ****e. I lost it at comic sans HTML in this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZboyfaVLM4

Cool Mo D · 23-10-2013 08:46PM

"Swordfish" - a bad film with Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, and a nudie Halle Berry.

Stupid on many levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6zD9KdO7es

Capt'n Midnight · 23-10-2013 09:39PM

Vito Corleone wrote: »

Wasn't there a CSI episode where they saw somebody's face in the reflection of an eye?

it was done in Blade Runner first :cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHepKd38pr0

And this :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMIHNiR3CP8

"uncrop" LOL
"enhance reflection"

TwoShedsJackson · 23-10-2013 09:42PM

creep wrote: »

Volcumated mercury :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_fulminate

23-10-2013 09:46PM

What is amazing is that a lot of technology/science, which was featured in films or TV shows and thought to be terrible have actually become true. I know people say some are absolutely absurd, but how long before they become a reality? I, for one, would love an interface like featured in Minority Report!

Capt'n Midnight · 23-10-2013 09:48PM

RandomName2 wrote: »

"It's a Unix system - I know this!" Jurassic Park
(upon seeing a random computer with an enormous unfamiliar database relating to the park's security systems.... presented in 3D)

apart from the fact it actually was
http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/9745/is-the-unix-operating-system-featured-in-jurassic-park-real

it was a Silicon Graphics workstation (using IRIX, the SGI System V based Unix) running a three dimensional file system browser.

But this

"His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have seen in a life-form. It was possible he was conceived by the midi-chlorians."

we have a winner

talk about taking the magic out of it

and it gets worse - in real life you inherit all of your mitochondria from your mother

Wabbit Ears · 23-10-2013 09:53PM

the film Pacific Rim

Godzilla like thing emits an EMP blast (no thats not the disbelief) and the only big robot thingy that isnt affected is the really old nuclear one because its 'analog'.

Gummy Panda · 23-10-2013 09:54PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYNnPx8fZBs

Capt'n Midnight · 23-10-2013 10:01PM

Armageddon & The Core are so bad I'd hate to play a drinking game to them, I'd be on my ear in no time.

anyone got the picture about NASA's new hires spotting mistakes in armageddon and the record being 186 or something ??

Saw Sneakers again and it's still completely relevant apart from the plot device of hooking the box up and all of a sudden you can read the screen.

Mint Aero · 23-10-2013 10:43PM

Enemy of the state is pretty bad. Stationary cctv cameras that magically rotate 360 around a room, super super zoom on everything, random buildings fully 3d in computers complete with thermals etc

certifiedcrepe · 23-10-2013 11:14PM

Rocky Horror Picture Show!

The_Valeyard · 23-10-2013 11:21PM

realies wrote: »

Dr who

Come on a phone box...

EXTERMINATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jimoslimos · 24-10-2013 12:20AM

I like The Matrix, but I can't get past one of the main themes of the film. That is humans are kept alive to provide energy as some sort of living battery. Eh...wtf? You can't get more energy out than you put in - Law of Conservation of Energy

Voodoomelon · 24-10-2013 12:40AM

In most movies/TV shows, the effect that small arms ammunition has on people/buildings/cars is wholly inaccurate.

Not to mention how people react to being shot; on screen they drop to the floor dead or spin to the side when hit by a 9mm 124gr bullet. In reality, people being shot with handgun ammunition will remain standing and even walking/running after being hit several times.

namloc1980 · 24-10-2013 12:45AM

Ziphius wrote: »

Prometheus

Yes. This film has so many WTF moments it's actually hilarious.

Capt'n Midnight · 24-10-2013 01:04AM

People continuously firing a single barrelled machine gun for more than a minute

Commando, the car crash with yer one and Arnie and no seat belt. Newtons laws of motion ?

Cars being able to catch up with an accelerating plane down a runway.

The Rock, electric tram is propelled vertically by an explosion, and hangs in the air long enough for Cage to take out his gun and shoot enough holes in the air bag to deflate it and open the door and get out of the car before said tram hits the ground.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArtisticLicensePhysics?from=Main.ArtMajorPhysics

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodScience

donegal_man · 24-10-2013 01:07AM

Virtually every television show or movie. Just open a laptop and it immediately powers up and connects to the internet

kowloon · 24-10-2013 01:14AM

tvtropes is a brilliant site for this stuff.

laraghrider · 24-10-2013 01:15AM

Surprised nobody mentioned Hackers. Mainframe made of glass towers with a ridiculous 3d flying through the air OS.

Crap page 3 it was mentioned

Sir Gallagher · 24-10-2013 01:21AM

laraghrider wrote: »

Surprised nobody mentioned Hackers. Mainframe made of glass towers with a ridiculous 3d flying through the air OS.

Crap page 3 it was mentioned

Yeah but it that sh1t looked crispy in the dark.

hidinginthebush · 24-10-2013 01:31AM

There's a bit in the dark knight rises where Batman finds a bullet encased in a wall, so then shoots a bullet into a wall and is able to extract fingerprints from the original bullet based on how the new bullet compacted. You can force yourself to see how it makes sense, but it requires a quantum leap of the imagination to believe it in any shape or form.

MadsL · 24-10-2013 03:59AM

Any movie since the 1920s = shooting a lock with a gun will either open it or lock it beyond human intervention depending on the plot device required.

24-10-2013 07:22AM

That batman movie with the water exploder that doesn't affect people

Teyla Emmagan · 24-10-2013 07:31AM

Reverse the polarity!!!

This works for EVERY star ship related disaster I have learnt.

Bolikov · 24-10-2013 07:35AM

hidinginthebush wrote: »

There's a bit in the dark knight rises where Batman finds a bullet encased in a wall, so then shoots a bullet into a wall and is able to extract fingerprints from the original bullet based on how the new bullet compacted. You can force yourself to see how it makes sense, but it requires a quantum leap of the imagination to believe it in any shape or form.

That was the dark knight.

WeHaveToGoBack · 24-10-2013 07:36AM

Vito Corleone wrote: »

Wasn't there a CSI episode where they saw somebody's face in the reflection of an eye?

That was a good episode though.

WeHaveToGoBack · 24-10-2013 07:41AM

Not a specific film, but this happens in almost every TV show and film.

Computers make so much noise. Whether its just clicking something or downloading something, or a loading bar progressing it always seems to make beeps and noises on TV and in films.

I dont know why they do this. Surely the audience seeing the actual action happening is enough to tell us the computer is doing something.

That, and the way every different TV show seems to have a different operating system. The Newsroom is the only TV show that has avoided all of this computery nonsense by just showing Windows 7 for what it is.

Oh, and Under The Dome too, but thats probably more down to product placement by Microsoft.

Cienciano · 24-10-2013 08:02AM

Armageddon. Nasa install machine guns on their space shuttle?

Worst portrayal of science/technology in a film or TV show.

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