Is Realism Ruining Films?

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

I say this cause I see it mentioned on every site that I go to. Whether it be in the comment sections like Youtube or IMDB. or every movie news site.

People's biggest gripes are that whatever their watching could never happen in real life. I mean isn't that the point of alot of movies to see something that could never happen in real life. of course you're never gonna see Giant Robots fighting, or Aliens from another planet, so why complain about it not being realistic enough. All I see no is that's not realistic enough or that could never happen in real life.

Of course it can't happen, it's a movie! Just enjoy them instead of trying to nitpick every single little thing. I honestly feel that alot of these people just need to complain about something just for the hell of it, cause they've got nothing else better to do with their lives then complain about stuff.

It just seems to be everyone takes everything so serious and just can't learn to enjoy something. I mean if you wanna go watch something that's more "realistic" go watch a drama or documentary.

Movies are there to escape reality, once they become more and more like reality what's the use of having movies anymore. Whether you think alot of them are bad or you like them. Something happening in real life should stay out of a fantasy movie or any kind of fiction whether be Action/Sci-Fi/Horror/Suspense or whatever you favorite type of film genre is.

[Foggy]

There are things you stretch your imagination to get the full enjoyment, like sci-fi and what not, that's when stretching imagination is fun. But then there are plot holes and stupid characters that cannot be ignored, that's when it's not fun and becomes insulting, films can be fun and ridiculous, but as long as the characters and story are grounded in a sense of reality that truly makes a film buy-able.

For example, you mention Alien, if in that film, they decided that they could grow wings and fly out into space escaping the ship and destroying the alien because it was the only conceivable way for the writers to come up with a way to get a happy ending, then I would be pissed, because that's a cheap ending that isn't grounded in a reality, the idea of the film is that they are stuck in space, no one can hear them or save them, and they can't just run out, that's the film's reality.

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Another example is in this clip's comment section right here.

Army of Darkness: "Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun." - YouTube

And what someone commented on.

Where can I buy a shotgun that will throw a man twenty feet backwards? More Hollywood movie bullshit physics. They must think we are all morons.

Of course this couldn't happen in real life. But it happens cause its a movie and if you can't force yourself to believe its a movie then I don't know what to say. It's also the same movie with talking killer skeltons and a book of the dead that sent someone hurling back in time. They have no problem with that, but a someone getting shot and flying back they do? Also in the same said series people are taken over by demons and such, causing them to do stuff they couldn't do in real life. Hell a woman even gets raped by a tree in the first one! So don't know what the hell kind of stuff this person was expecting; Unless they were just trying to be a annoying internet troll like there seems to be so many millions of them with their dumb questions and beings.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Michael Bay Fan

Another example is in this clip right here.
Army of Darkness: "Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the gun." - YouTube

And what someone commented on.



Of course this couldn't happen in real life. But it happens cause its a movie and if you can't force yourself to believe its a movie then I don't know what to say. It's also the same movie with talking killer skeltons and a book of the dead that sent someone hurling back in time. They have no problem with that, but a someone getting shot and flying back they do? Also in the same said series people are taken over by demons and such, causing them to do stuff they couldn't do in real life. Hell a woman even gets raped by a tree in the first one! So don't know what the hell kind of stuff this person was expecting; Unless they were just trying to be a annoying internet troll like there seems to be so many millions of them with their dumb questions and beings.

Dude, the guys a troll

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Dude, the guys a troll

I know, it just seems thats all the internet is. And claiming everything is the worst movie and they found "plot holes"


I have way too much time on my hands.

[Captain Kirk]

My parents went to see The Hunger Games the other night and they said they liked it pretty well,

[Show spoiler]up until the point that they made the mutant dogs just pop up out of the ground.

They thought everything else had a believable nature to it and that just took it to a higher science fiction level that they weren't expecting, for them anyway.

Maybe that's part of the problem? They set it in a way that it could happen and then add some element that just breaks down the core feel and realism the world had?

I'm not usually bothered by it, but I can see where in some circumstances people could be.

[Snicket]

I just saw that a user with Michael Bay in their username created this thread and started LOL-ing.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I just saw that a user with Michael Bay in their username created this thread and started LOL-ing.

[ScarredLungs]

I agree with what you are saying. Too many people expect too much out of movies. As CGI, filming techniques, and video game graphics have increased; people are always expecting a more realistic story. Too many people just like to be picky and focus on the parts they deem as "bad." Movies should be meant to entertain and give us a break from reality.

[madmojo]

I think it mainly started with the Batman reboot. I believe that's when internet forums became infested with these people demanding realism, because it made one franchise better.

[Monkey]

No, realism isn't ruining films. Plenty of films are fun that are realistic and plenty are fun where they aren't. Tons of movies in between as well.

Sometimes you have to "throw your brain out the door" to enjoy a movie more. (Inception, District 9, Transformers, Signs, etc).

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by cvm

I agree with what you are saying. Too many people expect too much out of movies. As CGI, filming techniques, and video game graphics have increased; people are always expecting a more realistic story. Too many people just like to be picky and focus on the parts they deem as "bad." Movies should be meant to entertain and give us a break from reality.

Nothing wrong with a movie having fantasy elements that differ from the real world but there a few things every movie needs to remember

The biggest is to stick with your own rules. A fantasy movie is free to invent almost any rules it wants but it has to stick with them. Contradicting its own mythology is just pathetic and should not be accepted. A good example is the movie Jumper which spends the entire movie saying that he can't jump (aka teleport) with electricity running through his body. Then at the end he does for no reason whatsoever. Or the absurd inconsistancies with the All-spark in Transformers which both kills Megatron and brings him back to life

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by Foggy

There are things you stretch your imagination to get the full enjoyment, like sci-fi and what not, that's when stretching imagination is fun. But then there are plot holes and stupid characters that cannot be ignored, that's when it's not fun and becomes insulting, films can be fun and ridiculous, but as long as the characters and story are grounded in a sense of reality that truly makes a film buy-able.

For example, you mention Alien, if in that film, they decided that they could grow wings and fly out into space escaping the ship and destroying the alien because it was the only conceivable way for the writers to come up with a way to get a happy ending, then I would be pissed, because that's a cheap ending that isn't grounded in a reality, the idea of the film is that they are stuck in space, no one can hear them or save them, and they can't just run out, that's the film's reality.

I agree with this statement. I would substitute the word "believability" for realism. A sci-fi or fantasy film can still have believable characters (Alien is a great example), and setting. If it isn't done right it will feel far-fetched.

Evey movie sets its own ground rules, then it has to stick by those rules. For example Monty Python and The Holy Grail lets you know what type of movie you're in for right from the beginning -- a sort of anarchistic "anything goes for a laugh" type of burlesque. Its perfectly reasonable when the characters break the forth wall and admit they're only in a movie (referring to Camelot as "It's only a model" for example). Yet they still exist as believable characters even when they do that. (As does Groucho Marx or Bugs Bunny when they address the audience).

Dramas are supposed to feel like real life to a certain degree. (They obviously don't have the freedoms that comedies like The Holy Grail have.) But even there audiences accept a certain amount of melodrama. I think the OP is misinterpreting these types of films as adhering to boring old reality, when in fact they are simply not escapist fare.

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Nothing wrong with a movie having fantasy elements that differ from the real world but there a few things every movie needs to remember

The biggest is to stick with your own rules. A fantasy movie is free to invent almost any rules it wants but it has to stick with them. Contradicting its own mythology is just pathetic and should not be accepted. A good example is the movie Jumper which spends the entire movie saying that he can't jump (aka teleport) with electricity running through his body. Then at the end he does for no reason whatsoever. Or the absurd inconsistancies with the All-spark in Transformers which both kills Megatron and brings him back to life

Agreed. Another reason why people do not really want a realistic movie is because more often then not, the bad guys would win. People want happy endings, where things end "as they should".

[retablo]

The opposite. Hyper-realism is killing films... too many action scenes where the heroes do things that are physically impossible yet never get injured. Thank you, MTV.

[madmojo]

Originally Posted by retablo

The opposite. Hyper-realism is killing films... too many action scenes where the heroes do things that are physically impossible yet never get injured. Thank you, MTV.

Would make for some boring action movies if the hero had to run from all his fights, or was incapacitated after the first 20 minutes.

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by retablo

The opposite. Hyper-realism is killing films... too many action scenes where the heroes do things that are physically impossible yet never get injured. Thank you, MTV.

MTV

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by madmojo

Would make for some boring action movies if the hero had to run from all his fights, or was incapacitated after the first 20 minutes.

I know, Action movies would be so boring if they applied to reality. I'm sorry but this is enjoyable to me. I know this is insane and that's how i like my action!

Shoot em up - AC/DC-If you want blood - YouTube

This is one of the most insane over the top action movies and why it works!

[singhcr]

It depends on what rules the movie is trying to set up and the tone of the movie (serious, fun action movie, etc) and whether it adheres to them or not.

With Harry Potter, for example, it's shown that wizards and magic powers exist. That being said, how do the characters react to their environment as a result of these things taking place? The reason why the movies and books are interesting is because of how the characters react and grow in the HP "universe", so to speak. The magic powers are neat to look at and they present unique situations for the characters to deal with but they don't drive the story. If they did it would be just a stupid effects movie with no plot.

The John Woo classics like "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled" aren't remotely realistic at all. People fly through the air shooting 50 times without reloading and people fly 20 feet backwards in geysers of blood. However, the movies are supposed to be heavily stylized and yes even a bit overly dramatic like many Chinese films but if you accept that, the interactions that the characters have are quite interesting.

When a movie goes for realism like Saving Private Ryan or a drama like The Mission, you better make sure the characters behavior is appropriate to that time period and the situation at hand, otherwise the suspension of disbelief is lost.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by madmojo

Would make for some boring action movies if the hero had to run from all his fights, or was incapacitated after the first 20 minutes.

Why assume the other extreme? Just because an action film isn't hyper-realistic doesn't mean the only other alternative would be a hero who doesn't fight or is quickly injured. Bruce Willis played his character like a real human being in Die Hard, not as a superman who was impervious to pain. It made the character more interesting, and the audience had more of an emotional investment in him. If he always did the impossible and succeeded it would become dull pretty quick.