OT: Hollywood makes me crazy.

[An-225]

Eh, I don't see what's wrong with the P99. He wasn't strictly issued it - he acquired it in Tomorrow Never Dies, and his ageing PPK probably needed replacing anyway.

[Ferry_vO]

I'm very close to throwing up everytime I see that spanish abomniation of a 109 disguised as an "Emil" in a movie about WW2.

You'll be surprised how little real Messerschmitt 109's are still around; most are either rebuilt Buchons or Avia's.

I believe the F4U used to have the capability to partially extend its landing gear to use as dive brakes.

Correct!

[Clarke123]

You can't beat Bruce Willis wrestling an F-35 to the ground

[bushpilot]

Die Hard II:
Widebody 707 (or 720) that is nearly empty of fuel, crashes when the terrists adjust the 'glideslope angle'. The aircraft explodes like a fully laden KC135 tanker--or like the NASA footage of the 720 crash at Edwards.

I also learned that a 747 uses a high-octane gasoline/rocket fuel mixture, as when our hero lights a stream of leaking fuel with his Zippo which causes the Jumbo, which has already taken flight, to explode like the Challenger.

I didn't realise that the C-123 was equipped with ejection seats.

Die Hard 2: here's a movie that shows us, that you can take down the ATC of a major airport with the chainsaw (and mount your own ATC in near by church).

and almost every aviaton related scene in this movie is wrongwronwrong:salute::salute::salute:

[Snave]

blimy whats this, the 1 year aniversary of the thread?

a new one, anyone else notice that the corsairs in "the pacific" where dropping napalm with their gear down? :mixedsmi:

Actually, that is a fine example of Hollywood exactitude, as you might expect from Messrs Hanks and Spielberg. On Peleleu the ridge that was the Japanese stronghold was less than thirty seconds flying from the airfield, so it made no sense to lift the gear when they'd be deplying it again less than two minutes later for landing and re-arming.

You can read confirmation of this: http://homepage.eircom.net/~frontacs...ivebrakes.html

Thereafter, the close drop pattern permitted by using napalm tanks dropped in this way permeated through the Marine Corps and the technique was used elsewhere...

So this is one time when getting it right mean they deserve apologies and praise rather than bitching and moaning.

Pedanticism aside, Hollywood seems to have very little aspiration toward technical accuracy in ANY flying scenes these days. Small errors and adjustments for availability are one thing (if there are no Messerschmitt 109's flying, then that's one of those `things`, but if you're going to commission a Messerschmitt CGI sequence, get the right make and models and liveries, fer crissakes!) but unforgivable errors crop up all the time - Our Hero boards a twin-engined jet, shortly thereafter find himself at the cockpit controls of something that clearly has four engines.

And totally agree with the earlier poster - these pulse-racing `through the canyons` dogfights are just total B*ll*x. The smart air-fighter would pull up, maintain contact with the target and swoop down for a `boom and zoom` when the target was forced to pull up and lose energy. Or simply shoot them down with a sidewinder from above.

It's the casual lethargy and laziness that really gets my goat. If they have to do it, do it RIGHT, the first time. It's no harder than doing it wrong and destroying any vestige of credibility. Library shots usually have the name and model of the aircraft, Simply ensure that you use the same make and model for ALL exterior shots and you don't even have to be an aviation expert to avoid the `boards high wing twin turboprop, leaves a low wing twin piston` syndrome.

[falcon409]

You can't beat Bruce Willis wrestling an F-35 to the ground

Which, by the way was also referred to as a "Harrier" as well as a "Raptor". . .who knew? lol

[Clarke123]

Which, by the way was also referred to as a "Harrier" as well as a "Raptor". . .who knew? lol

Die Hard 5 "Look, shiny metal bird go shooty shooty at us"

[Daveroo]

ok ..ive got to popoff here..

criminal minds..show a gulf stream outside shot and then some interitor thats bigger than my RV...

but my biggest peeve lately.(but a fav show) is the mentalist..its based in old town sacramento (the CBI office)but they can drive to places like reno/lake tahoe in 10 minutes..that one isnt so bad..its a 2 hr drive from sacto...BUT they once went from the CBI office to deathvalley in less than a "tv" hour...and then back to the office and back to the crime scene all in one day...cracks me up...oh and citrus hieghts..which is in the sacramento valley IE flat lands..was in the same mountains and valleys that the MASH show was filmed in...

[Bjoern]

You'll be surprised how little real Messerschmitt 109's are still around; most are either rebuilt Buchons or Avia's.

I know. But at least they got 'em back to a normal state (stock engine and front).

[Ferry_vO]

I know. But at least they got 'em back to a normal state (stock engine and front).

So you're saying a Buchon painted like a Messerschmitt is worse than a Buchon rebuilt to look like a Messerschmitt :ques:

BTW Most Ju-52's and He-111's still around came from a Spanish factory too..

[pilottj]

My wife turned me on to LOST, all in all a pretty good show but she told me I would have to bite my tongue during the aviation scenes. She was right lol. But it happens in many fields of expertise as well as aviation. My lady is a horse expert and she has to hold her tongue when she sees all the equestrian mistakes made in TV/Films.

I avoided seeing Pearl Harbor because I thought it made too many goofs (from the previews)considering the large budget it had and access to CGI. IMO Tora Tora Tora may be old but it is still the best Pearl Harbor film out there.

Cheers
TJ

[Quixoticish]

Which, by the way was also referred to as a "Harrier" as well as a "Raptor". . .who knew? lol

When was it called that in the film? I really can't recall...

[Quixoticish]

oh my pet peeve are weapons and equipment in movies... but yes Tanks do sometimes surprise you a bit, aircraft even worse can be watching a film, aircraft comes on screen i sit up and get told "Don't even think about it..." needless to say i continue "ok what year is this supposed to be set?...1940, then why are there FW190's? they didn't appear till 1941...", other things as well like round size in firearms... TV this happens, take mythbusters' James bond special, Kari has a S&W99, which resembles a Walther P99, it is called on the show "....Bonds gun.."
Bond Uses a P99, which on another note is not standard issue to British security services... but this S&W99 is chambered for .40S&W...errrr ok... call it bonds gun. (Bond carries a P99 chambered in 9mm)...

i think i need to stop noticing these things....

He uses a P99 up until the latest film (Quantum of Solace) when I noticed he was back using the staple PPK I think, which would be a bit of a continuity blooper as it's supposed to follow straight on from Casino Royale?

[Ken Stallings]

God.....the list of aviation stupidity in Hollyweird movies is endless!

Before the advent of computer graphics, there was a period of time that if you wanted to see authentic tanks and planes in a World War II movie you had to watch one made a few years after the war. Because at the time that the movie Midway was released, that was pretty much the end of the road for authentic vehicles.

Most movies then started using stuff from the Cold War or used T-6 Texans for everything from Kates to Zeros. If the movie called for a P-51 or a Corsair, you'd get that.

Unfortunately, now you get good looking c/g aircraft but they fly assinine tactics like we saw in that awful movie Pearl Harbor!

Ken

[anthony31]

My wife turned me on to LOST, all in all a pretty good show but she told me I would have to bite my tongue during the aviation scenes.

What about the final episode where the captain says he can only try to restart the engines of a commercial airliner one more time because he doesn't have enough battery power for another attempt?

Not to mention trying to takeoff said airliner on a sandy runway?

[Ken Stallings]

Here is a true factoid ...

How many of you have seen the movie "Air Force One?"

Remember the scene near the end when the 747 crashes into the ocean?

Well, originally the producer and director were going to have the 747 blow up as it crashed. However, they had a crew from my old squadron there (8 SOS) flying the MC-130E during the dramatic Fulton recovery operation that was filmed for the movie.

Anyway, the flight engineer on that crew, Frank Demchenko "Heavy D", was speaking with the director and when he heard the plan to have the 747 blow up, he mentioned that if the script said the 747 experienced a four engine flameout from fuel starvation that it wouldn't blow up. There would be no fuel in the tanks and likely not even fuel vapors in the lines. But even if there were vapors left, with the engines flammed out, for any length of time, it would be almost impossible for the vapors to ignite due to the extremely high flash point temperature of Jet-A fuel.

He rightly said the 747 would simply break up. The director listened and decided to change the entire scene! So, that's why you see the evil guy in the door whinning just before the jet crashes and tears itself up into small pieces in a rather spectacular destruction.

A 100% true story folks!

BTW: Our squadron got a lot of cool stuff from the producers, including a signed poster that included Harrison Ford's signature!

Ken

[PRB]

Remember “Pearl Harbor”? (Hehe, get it?) That was a dumb movie. Ok, it was a love story, not an aviation story, but dang. I loved the air combat tactics developed, on the tarmac as our two intrepid pilots were about to strap on their trusty Curtis mounts: “Ok, you go south, around the water tower, and draw them around the hangar. I'll go north and draw the other 200 Zeros around the buildings the other way. Then when we meet up, we both pull up, and all 400 Zeros will smash into each other!”

And my favorite is the 10 minutes scene of the bomb dropping from the plane, and hitting Arizona, to deliver the fatal hit that doomed the ship. The bomb falls forever, then bursts through the armored deck, rolls around the magazine for several seconds, long enough for a startled sailor to come around the corner, get a wide-eyes expression of horror on his face, exclaim “Oh My God … It's a BOMB!” before the things “goes off”. I lost it at that point. That was it.

[FAC257]

Just watched a fairly new movie a couple of days ago called "The Burning Plain", with Kim Bassinger and Charlize Theron. It's a great human story that I really liked and not an aviation flic.

An important element of the storyline involves a young man living in Mexico with his daughter who helps her dad run his small aerial crop dusting service. I was facinated by the fact that the aircraft was a Piper Cherokee set up with spray rigs. I've never seen one used for spraying. The flying scenes were brief but shot really well from great perspectives.

The blatant aviation blooper I didn't catch in my facination with the aircraft was that this Mexico based aircraft was flying back and forth the whole time with it's huge "N" registration number down the side. I read about the blooper afterwards reading info on the movie and some of the actors I didn't recognize.

FAC

[PRB]

I love it when our hero takes off from New York in a 727 for a non-stop flight to Los Angeles and lands in a 747. How do they do that?

[burcham8]

All I can say is this...

If I have to watch an unreal aviation clip to see the real image of Gabrielle Anwar...well, so what the heck!?

Marc

[Ken Stallings]

Remember “Pearl Harbor”? (Hehe, get it?) That was a dumb movie. Ok, it was a love story, not an aviation story, but dang. I loved the air combat tactics developed, on the tarmac as our two intrepid pilots were about to strap on their trusty Curtis mounts: “Ok, you go south, around the water tower, and draw them around the hangar. I'll go north and draw the other 200 Zeros around the buildings the other way. Then when we meet up, we both pull up, and all 400 Zeros will smash into each other!”

And my favorite is the 10 minutes scene of the bomb dropping from the plane, and hitting Arizona, to deliver the fatal hit that doomed the ship. The bomb falls forever, then bursts through the armored deck, rolls around the magazine for several seconds, long enough for a startled sailor to come around the corner, get a wide-eyes expression of horror on his face, exclaim “Oh My God … It's a BOMB!” before the things “goes off”. I lost it at that point. That was it.

You know, the worst part of that junk is the blatant disrespect it shows to the men who died in that attack and also to the airmen who went up onesy, twosy, in their P-36's and P-40's to do battle with hundreds of Japanese aircraft, including a little known fighter, the A6M, that was vastly better performing than either aircraft, especially the P-36!

It disrespects their bravery and sacrifices. It implies that these assinine tactics could be used to defeat the enemy when, in reality, it had to be done by simply diving down on huge formations with no expectation of survival, and then getting bounced by dozens of Zeros that flew faster, turned tighter, and climbed better than your badly outnumbered fighter!

But they did it anyway, despite seeing dozens of their buddies getting blown to hell on the runway and apron getting bounced on the ground by strafing runs!

What these men did isn't some prop for Hollywood. What these movie producers must know is that this has to be done accurately out of simple respect for them. This is the approach used in Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. Steven Speilberg had so much respect he sweated as many details as possible to get the little things right.

Ken

[PRB]

You know, the worst part of that junk is the blatant disrespect it shows to the men who died in that attack and also to the airmen who went up onesy, twosy, in their P-36's and P-40's to do battle with hundreds of Japanese aircraft, including a little known fighter, the A6M, that was vastly better performing than either aircraft, especially the P-36!

It disrespects their bravery and sacrifices. It implies that these assinine tactics could be used to defeat the enemy when, in reality, it had to be done by simply diving down on huge formations with no expectation of survival, and then getting bounced by dozens of Zeros that flew faster, turned tighter, and climbed better than your badly outnumbered fighter!

But they did it anyway, despite seeing dozens of their buddies getting blown to hell on the runway and apron getting bounced on the ground by strafing runs!

What these men did isn't some prop for Hollywood. What these movie producers must know is that this has to be done accurately out of simple respect for them. This is the approach used in Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. Steven Speilberg had so much respect he sweated as many details as possible to get the little things right.

Ken

Exactly!
:ernae:

[clmooring]

to me the worst offenders are my favorite channels.... the military and history channels. They constantly show footage of a plane that may have similar appearance to the plane being discussed at the particular point in their shows. You would think that if anyone would get it correct, it would be the shows on the military and history channels.

[Ken Stallings]

to me the worst offenders are my favorite channels.... the military and history channels. They constantly show footage of a plane that may have similar appearance to the plane being discussed at the particular point in their shows. You would think that if anyone would get it correct, it would be the shows on the military and history channels.

Amen!

Ken

[Prowler1111]

Well..i agree with the Pearl Harbor looney tunes style dogfights, not to mention split second maneuvers that defies the simple laws of physics (and mostly..the simple laws of common sense)..worst offender EVER imho is Iron Eagle III..
But sometimes you get some really good scenes, even as the main equipment is wrong, i suggest you check "Steal the Sky" based in the real story of of Iraqi pilot Munir Redfa flying a Mig-21 fighter jet from Iraq to Israel in 1966, in the movie, they use Mig-17´s and is the BEST jet to jet dogfight scene i´ve seen (besides top gun, which besides the mig 28 had great aerial footage..c´mon those were real planes) in a mig to mig melee using real planes.

Best regards
Prowler