Question: I see this in nearly all post apocalyptic movies, and in spades in the Book of Eli. The dystopian world they live in is so devoid of necessities that things like chapstick and even water are extremely valuable. OK, fair enough. 30 years ago a nuclear war destroyed society. So how is it that in this world of extreme scarcity, that they are able to keep multiple vehicles running? Beyond gasoline, a car requires a working battery and multiple other fluids, not to mention parts.
applejackson
29th Mar 2023
The Book of Eli (2010)
Answer: Scavenge and cannibalize from all the derelict cars, and loot abandoned stores?
5th Dec 2022
Gone Girl (2014)
Question: Why does Amy whack herself in the face with a hammer? Her plan is working at this point. She's achieved anonymity and escaped her life. What possible good could cover from hitting herself in the face with a hammer? (01:13:04)
Answer: To my knowledge, the purpose of hitting herself was two-fold. First of all, a facial injury would support the idea that she was abused or in some sort of bad situation. And secondly, to help mildly alter her appearance, so she could blend in more. (Especially considering people were looking for her).
21st Nov 2022
Hell or High Water (2016)
Question: Who was the 4th person killed? In the when he confronts Toby, he says "Help me understand why 4 ppl died..." To my count, there were 3 ppl killed: 1. The customer in the bank in Post 2. Ranger Parker 3. Tanner (Ben Foster). (01:33:20)
Answer: The fourth person killed was the security guard in the bank at Post. He was killed just before the bank customer.
15th Nov 2022
Captain Phillips (2013)
Question: What happened to the 4th Somali pirate? When the Somalis take the ship, there are FOUR of them: Muse (captain), the young kid, the muscular psycho, and a 4th guy with a beard. He just disappears and doesn't make it into the lifeboat.
Answer: Actually there are four in the lifeboat, the guy with the beard is at the front in the driver's seat.
I realised after rewatching that he was there the whole time, he was driving the boat and just had a slightly smaller role than the other 3 did. Thanks for the reply.
9th Oct 2022
Training Day (2001)
Question: How was Alonzo going to square his $1M debt to the Russians when his take from Roger's robbery/arrest was only $250,000? I believe that they split the $1M from Roger 4 ways.
Answer: They seized $4M and Alonzo's cut was $1M.
I believe you are mistaken. The box held $4M originally. Alonzo hands out a bundle of cash that he says is $250,000. And the dialog is Alonzo: there's over $4M dollars in here! You lucky prick! First day on the job you hit a three million dollar seizure" Jake: " Wait, you said Four..." Alonzo: "Aha, taxation without representation, brotha. Nothing's free in this world. Buy your wife a mini van, put the kids through college"
21st Apr 2021
Training Day (2001)
Question: After the incident at Roger's, where an officer was shot, both Jake and Alonzo are back out on the street in a very short time. One would think they'd be tied up giving started m statements, etc, for the rest of the day, and put onto leave after such a dramatic situation. How is it that they are back in action such a short time after an incident of that magnitude?
Answer: Maybe your point (which is an interesting one) should be transformed into a "common movie mistake"? Police officers, undercover officers, etc. spend little, if any, on-screen time writing reports (arrests, evidence seized, etc.), but report writing and other paperwork consumes a lot of the officers' time in real life. Also, they should be given desk-jobs after killing a suspect but are right back on the street.
30th Mar 2021
The Equalizer (2014)
Stupidity: When he's using carbon monoxide to poison the corrupt detective Frank Masters, the windows in the car were operated by the key fob. Unusual, but OK. Maybe. But the detective could've simply opened the doors after McCaul left him in there. The door worked when he was forced into the car. (01:24:30)
20th Mar 2021
The Guest (2014)
Stupidity: Do the military routinely show up at a civilian's house and then pump thousands of rounds into the house without even verifying if anyone is inside? I've heard of suspension of disbelief, but this scene requires driving it to a vacant lot and abandoning it. (01:11:30)
11th Mar 2021
Let Him Go (2020)
Audio problem: When George pulls the pistol and pointed it the first Weeboy, he cocks it, and we hear the cocking sound. Then he immediately turns to point it at another Weeboy and the already-cocked revolver makes another cocking sound. (01:17:00)
17th Dec 2020
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Question: Why is it that the machines they used to fight back didn't try to attack the humans? The military vehicle had a .50 cal machine gun that shot AT them, but their guns seemed to work just fine.
Answer: It should be noted, the ending title cards seems to set it up so there are no plot holes and answers any "why" questions (which, intentional or not by King, can be debated). While the opening premise is the comet's close pass by Earth caused all machines to turn on people, at the end, the Russians blew up a UFO 2 days later, suggesting that it was the aliens controlling the machines. Bill suggests aliens are trying to wipe out humanity (although at that point he's just guessing and had no evidence of an alien or UFO present), but it can be debated the actual premise was that aliens were just testing or experimenting on people.
Answer: The movie is infamous for its plot holes, among them this one, and "How come cars didn't start attacking people"? From the story point of view we can surmise that the M60 is part of the vehicle's structure, while hand-held weaponry stay inert.
10th Dec 2020
Fargo (1996)
Question: After kidnapping Mrs Lundegaard, the kidnappers return to Brainerd where they get pulled over and it all falls apart. My question is... Why do they return to Brainerd? They end up keeping her in a cabin near the twin cities metro area. So they drive down to the cities from Brainerd, kidnap her, return to Brainerd where they're pulled over, and then return again to the cities to lie low in a cabin. So why make that initial return to Brainerd? They likely had the cabin arranged in advance.
Answer: I was confused and questioned why things occurred in certain places - Fargo vs. Brainerd vs. Minneapolis vs. The cabin's location, identified as Moose Lake near the end of the movie. Other than the beginning barroom meeting in Fargo between Jerry and Carl/Gaear, I didn't see the significance of Fargo. Jerry and his wife (kidnapping victim) lived in Minneapolis. The murders took place in Brainerd, and Chief of Police Margie eventually investigated some leads in Minneapolis. We don't know where the kidnappers planned on holding Mrs. Lundegaard. IF the kidnappers were from Fargo or even Brainerd, they may have been planning on taking her to one of their homes and were in the process of driving there when pulled over by Brainerd Police. No one was supposed to get hurt, but the murders occurred and their plan was no longer going as expected. Instead of continuing to a home, it may now have made more sense to "hide" somewhere to avoid getting caught. Moose Lake could have been chosen.
This change in plans would mean they did NOT already have the cabin rented. Maybe Carl or Gaear owned it, but didn't initially intend to use it because they were not really committing a kidnapping and preferred to go home.
1st Dec 2020
Fargo (1996)
Other mistake: When Jerry returns home to find that Jean has been kidnapped, he sees the shower curtain rod that's loaded with rings, and there are more rings on the floor. There's way too many rings for a single shower curtain that would use 12 or so at the very most.
11th Dec 2019
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: Where does Kimble's money come from? We only see him get whatever pocket money Nichols had on him at the time, but the next thing we see, he's renting an apartment and living his life and starting his investigation. Is the assumption that the wealthy doctor had a stash of cash at home or something?
Answer: The assumption is actually that Nichols gave him quite a bit of money. When asked about how much money he gave Kimble, Nichols downplays the amount as just "pocket change, whatever I had on me" but in reality it was probably a few hundred dollars. Renting the room was probably only a few dollars a day, it was in an un-finished basement in a bad neighborhood. He also didn't live there for very long.
24th Feb 2019
Patriots Day (2016)
Question: How were the brothers able to steal the second car, after their hostage escaped? Or was that their car? They just jumped in and drove away with no apparent time or effort spent.
Answer: The smaller car belonged to them. They go and pick it up again after Dun Meng escapes the Mercedes at the gas station.
Thank you! With hindsight, maybe that's obvious, but I didn't catch it when I watched the movie.
19th Dec 2016
Lone Survivor (2013)
Revealing mistake: When Mark Wahlberg removes the shrapnel from his leg, it is pretty obvious that it is a fake leg. If you look at and compare its dimensions to the rest of his body, you can see that that would be the leg of a giant man. The thigh is way too long, and the whole leg is way too big for his body. You can also tell by his body posture that his real leg goes into the couch he is sitting on.
10th Apr 2015
Red Dawn (1984)
Revealing mistake: Early in the film, when the boys shoot the deer - there is no actual shot that comes out of the shotgun. He pulls the gun back, simulating a shot, and the Sound FX is perfectly placed, but there is no shot coming out of that gun.
15th Jan 2015
Four Brothers (2005)
Revealing mistake: After the car chase, the authorities are seen carrying away two body bags that are clearly empty. The men show no strain at all in carrying the bodies, and the bags even look empty. But if they were, they'd just be folded up and taken by one person.
23rd Dec 2014
Elysium (2013)
Question: The method of identifying citizens by a "tattoo" burned into their arm seems awfully prehistoric for such an advanced environment. The government would "know" the number of legit citizens and would know that the black market citizens were fake, right?
Chosen answer: There is virtually no system in the world that is completely foolproof when it comes to regulating a large scale system related to identification. We only know the tattoo are for certain services. There might be more high tech security features for more restricted areas. As for whether they have an accurate count of all their citizens, they might, but again, how you go about regulating these systems is generally the tougher part. At the end of the day people required special transports to even reach Elysium, so it might have not been as big a concern.
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Answer: Like you said, society collapsed so the survivors scrounge for food, water, basic needs. Vehicles, their parts, and oil are not basic needs however and are only required when new, primitive, societies start up again. Sure individuals might use a vehicle, but plenty of cars lying around to use until they rust and then you go on to the next. But, these societies can, though crudely, create parts and collect fluids, based on their needs, from whatever they can scavenge. The technology and knowledge is still there, as is the skill to keep cars running. They'd go great lengths to keep them operational, sometimes moreso than food production.
lionhead
I can appreciate your answer, but 30-year-old gasoline? It just doesn't work. But then it dawned on me that an engine can run on other substances, like grain alcohol. Probably still hard to come by, but nowhere as difficult to create as gasoline would be. So, yep, you're right. Thanks.
applejackson