12 Plot Details From Famous Movies That Are Total Nonsense in Terms of Science

We all know that events in movies have only a vague resemblance to reality and are often embellished by screenwriters and directors. First of all, movies are meant to entertain viewers, and only after that do they show us how the world works. But if such ideas go from one movie to another, we start to perceive them as proven facts.

We at Bright Side carefully studied the reviews of scientists and experts who check famous flicks in detail, and we’ve collected a list of movie twists that are complete nonsense in terms of science.

Objects move in orbit at completely different speeds.

Sandra Bullock’s character in Gravity didn’t have to pass the entire way alone — at least from the perspective of physics. The demise of George Clooney’s character caused many questions among scientists. During the tragic scene, the movement of both characters in outer space slowed down, which means that Clooney was unable to drag Bullock with him into space. All the actress had to do was lightly tighten the cable and not let the astronaut unhook himself.

Earthquakes create cracks that “eat up” buildings and cars.

This is a scary but familiar trope in many movies about catastrophes. A city is affected by a huge earthquake, which creates big cracks that literally “eat up” everything — buildings, cars, and pedestrians.

This seismic phenomenon can indeed cause cracks to appear, but they rarely reach more than 3-6 feet in width. And still, they are quite rare. To date, there is only one known victim of such an event, a poor cow that fell into a crack in 1906.

A phone call can’t be tracked.

We’ve all seen scenes when a villain calls the police and giggles during the call, counting precious seconds and hanging up at the very last moment. In the film, it’s impossible to track this person’s phone number and location.

The issue did actually exist in the ’70s of the previous century, but today, as connections have become digital, all data can be attained instantly. The idea that it takes time to trace a call is a myth.

There are secret pathways in planes.

In Flightplan, Jodie Foster’s character moved along the plane’s various sections, using different corridors and pathways intended for the staff. In reality, aircraft are designed differently — every square inch in the plane is accounted for.

Some large aircraft do have access to the baggage section, but in order to get there, one will have to move seats and remove the carpet cover. There are no labyrinths on passenger planes.

All clones look alike.

Since any human cloning experiments have been banned for ethical reasons, films that deal with this issue inevitably show the same mistakes. Clones don’t always look alike. Yes, they have the same set of genes, but their surroundings, upbringing, and natural factors are different, which means they will look different.

One such mistake was made in Gemini Man, where the character of Will Smith runs across a young version of himself. In order to understand whether the young man is really his clone, he checks him with a bee sting. However, this type of allergy is considered to be non-hereditary.

Cars can fly.

Another popular myth is flying cars. In many scenes of action movies, cars miraculously lift up and fly over significant distances and abysses. Unfortunately, it’s impossible in real life.

One of the most memorable scenes of this type is in the movie, Speed, where a heavy bus jumped over a hole in an unfinished overpass, though it was supposed to fall down by all laws of physics.

Earth can fully get flooded by water.

Movies like Waterworld and 2012 show us scary scenes when the world gets fully flooded with water after a disaster. It looks very impressive, but, in fact, it’s unlikely to happen. This is because there is not enough water on our planet to cover its entire surface. This means that water won’t ever flood Earth — at least not its entire surface.

It’s possible to improve the quality of any photo or video to see more of its details.

This myth appeared thanks to the movie, Blade Runner, in which the main character is asked to zoom in on an image to see unnoticeable details. Alas, even modern technology can’t add missing pixels and turn a blurred photo into a clear one. That’s why most secrets unveiled by this method would remain a mystery to people in the real world.

It’s easy to start a car with the help of ignition wires.

In movies, the protagonist often gets into a car, masterfully rubs its ignition wires, and starts the vehicle within several seconds. It would be extremely difficult to repeat this trick in real life. It’s almost impossible to do it with modern types of cars, while a trial to start an old car with this method can lead to serious engine damage. Based on all this, the idea that a car can be started without a key is a myth.

Will Smith could rescue everyone.

A dangerous virus from I Am Legend that was turning all people into monsters would unlikely exist in the real world. The virus in the flick mutated and started to get distributed by air. Scientists say that such behavior is impossible for a virus.

The second inaccuracy was the fact that Will Smith’s character gave samples of his blood so that scientists could create a vaccine with it. But his character never got the virus, which means he had never been a carrier of the virus. This means it would be impossible to create a vaccine based on his blood.

Malicious neutrinos could lead to disaster.

Neutrinos are neutral particles that have an extremely small mass and weakly interact with matter. They are real loners in the world of physics. However, it’s these insidious elements that played a key role in movies such as 2012 and Alien: Covenant. In the first case, their emission led to the melting of the Earth’s core and subsequent catastrophes. In the second case, it broke the solar sail of the ship of colonists and forced the astronauts to land on another planet.

Both the first and the second scenarios are unlikely. Hypothetically, high-energy neutrinos can cause damage to objects, but they are formed when stars explode. If this happened, then it would be the last thing the inhabitants of the earth and the crew of the neutrino ship would worry about.

Light moves the same in inverted space.

Usually, Christopher Nolan treats the laws of physics with respect, but in his last work, the movie Tenet, scientists didn’t see the depth and validity that his other flicks boasted. The very possibility of time invertibility seems very controversial at the moment.

But even if such technology existed, apart from supplies of oxygen, the characters would require many other things, like light, for example, in an inverted reality. If everything here moves in reverse order, then instead of the regular objects, a person would probably see just a light in front of them.

What scientific bloopers in modern movies made you laugh?