"Real" stuff you learned from movies (seriously)

[BTM]

So, yeah, we've all had the crazy lists of things we "learned" from movies, but has anyone learned anything that's real, no matter how wildly impractical it was?

Here's some stuff I learned, but granted, I'm not sure how much of it is 100 percent accurate in real life...

For starters, I've learns all sorts of slang terms for drugs, weapons, and stuff that I (hopefully) will have no real exposure to in real life.

I've learned if you're ever being chased by a maniac who's wearing night vision goggles, you should light a flare, which will cause him to scream in pain, rip off the goggles, and hopefully be blinded for a second or two.

If you're ever being attacked by killer bees, spray a fire extinguisher at them, and hope you've got enough foam to kill them all.

Hollow point bullets are better than armor piercing if you're trying to kill someone who's not wearing body armor.  (Actually, I think learned that from Jagged Alliance.)

Put an empty plastic soda bottle on the end of a gun and you've got a silencer good for one or two shots (thanks, CSI, that's a handy tip to know!)

[schmendrik]

Hard to think of anything. Except, as a sometime student of Aikido, I had no idea those throws could be done so damned fast until I watched Steven Seagal movies.

[Skull]

Put an empty plastic soda bottle on the end of a gun and you've got a silencer good for one or two shots (thanks, CSI, that's a handy tip to know!)

Hehe... I seen that on Timebomb (1991)... :)

[Jim H]

Put an empty plastic soda bottle on the end of a gun and you've got a silencer good for one or two shots (thanks, CSI, that's a handy tip to know!)

Hehe... I seen that on Timebomb (1991)... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFCVn9hCy9M
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I learned from some movie that the best way to cut someone's throat is to push their head forward and down, stab in from the side, and rip out!  Who knew?

[Paquita]

I learned that wasps are natural enemies to deadly banana (hammock) spiders and playing a soundtrack of the wasp buzzing will totally F up the spiders.  True story (probably not).

[Rev. Powell]

I recently learned from PI that every letter in the Hebrew langauge has a numerical value, and that words have a nmerological significance: for example, if you add up the values of the letters in "father" and "mother", they equal the value of the letters in the word for "child."

[schmendrik]

So what I want to know is, if I went back and studied old Macgyver episodes, would all that stuff really work?

[sideorderofninjas]

The MacGyver stuff about explosives always had some things left out so viewing kids wouldn't blow themselves up...

[BTM]

The MacGyver stuff about explosives always had some things left out so viewing kids wouldn't blow themselves up...

But some of the more "minor" stuff they've tested on Mythbusters and found that yes, it does work.  For instance, lightbulbs will break if you spray them with.... I think it was Window cleaner but i'm not sure...

[SPazzo]

I learned all my sex ed from Monty Python and the Meaning of Life.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTMlZSKEu-Y
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[BTM]

Put an empty plastic soda bottle on the end of a gun and you've got a silencer good for one or two shots (thanks, CSI, that's a handy tip to know!)

Opps!  As any gun expert knows, they're called "supressors" not silencers!  Forgot about that.

[Mofo Rising]

The MacGyver stuff about explosives always had some things left out so viewing kids wouldn't blow themselves up...

But some of the more "minor" stuff they've tested on Mythbusters and found that yes, it does work.  For instance, lightbulbs will break if you spray them with.... I think it was Window cleaner but i'm not sure...

If a light bulb has been on, the temperature of the glass will be quite hot. Spraying the glass with any liquid will cause the glass to shatter. I'm not sure of the physics, and I'm sure some glass is more resistant than others. If you're so inclined, you can test this by shooting any light bulb with a squirt gun. Of course, then you'll have to clean up the mess.

[schmendrik]

The MacGyver stuff about explosives always had some things left out so viewing kids wouldn't blow themselves up...

But some of the more "minor" stuff they've tested on Mythbusters and found that yes, it does work.  For instance, lightbulbs will break if you spray them with.... I think it was Window cleaner but i'm not sure...

If a light bulb has been on, the temperature of the glass will be quite hot. Spraying the glass with any liquid will cause the glass to shatter. I'm not sure of the physics, and I'm sure some glass is more resistant than others. If you're so inclined, you can test this by shooting any light bulb with a squirt gun. Of course, then you'll have to clean up the mess.

I already did that experiment when I was a kid. I discovered one day that if you let water drip onto a hot light bulb it made a very satisfying sizzle. So then I did it a few more times. And a few more until... POP! Then I ran for it.

The physics is "thermal expansion" if you care. Having one part cold while another part hot puts stresses on the glass. That's why glass made for ovens has special properties. I managed to shatter one of those the other day though.

[Psycho Circus]

I learned how to make counterfeit bank notes from "To Live & Die In L.A."   

Apparently during filming, the crew kept hearing helicopters overhead thinking it was the FBI coming to halt the shoot and bust them all. They had an actual guy who been sent down for counterfeiting show Willem Dafoe how to do it all.

[SkullBat308]

Well I learned that large corporations take out life insurance policies on their employees, that they refer too as "Dead Peasant" policies, so when you die they collect on it and don't give a cent to the spouse or family. This is then calculated into their profit margin. They have a "expected mortality index" on their employees as well in that they calculate how many employees will die in a certain time frame. Sickening. Everyone has to see Capitalism: A Love Story, the new Micheal Moore flick!