MovieChat Forums > The Perfect Storm (2000) Discussion > Stupid Scenes in Movies

Stupid Scenes in Movies

posted 14 years ago by Straight_White_Hope
41 replies | jump to latest

Hollywood film-makers do it because they think we like it. But we've paid our money up front and gone to see these films only to find the dumb stuff already there! Say what?

Perfect Storm, Opening scene: pretty girl tosses in bed in throes of nightmare. She wakes, looks out window and sees her beau's fishing fleet in calm waters. Blimey, for someone who's strapped for cash, she sure found a nice beachview property.

Cut to morning, play ET music. Visual: Triumphant return of two fleet boats flanking and frolicking with each other on their way back to harbour, etc, etc

Pretty girl sprints down to quayside to meet Marky Mark, flings arms round and practically humps him to death on the spot. Typical relationship there, then. A few hours later in the bar, when Clooney, the ships captain, offers him another bit of work, the heroine screams in Marky's face about his selfishness and storms off! I'm confused: does she want the mortgage arrears paid off or not? It appears the heroine is quite a terrible person, but female audiences are supposed to identify with her thus: 'you go, sister! you CAN have it all!'

Just before that little skit, we see a young man bundling a lady upstairs to the knocking shop above the bar. Moments later, as the bar ceiling shakes to the motion of their exertions, the 'herioine' raises her glass in salute to her fellow woman's prostitutory (is that a word?) activities. Ahh, so you approve, then?? I just DONT understand American women.

Meanwhile outside, another guy (John C. Reilly) negotiates with his ex-wife for time with his yong son. The wholesome ex, who makes clear she couldn't live the life they formerly had, happily agrees to allow the son to go in to the dive bar/knocking-shop with Pops to watch him get loaded and shoot pool for the next few hours!

Ok, enough. I switched channels and The Fugitive was just starting. Tommy Lee Jones, the deputy US Marshall pursues Harrison, while dressed head-to-toe in SWAT gear. Next scene, Tommy's dressed like a Harvard professor, gazing out from the 80th floor of his glass skysraper - because that's where the Marshall's office would be, right? 80th floor in the Financial District.
Then, a scene later, he's in hobo's rags for a ghetto raid (what happened to the SWAT gear??) Then he's back in his Harvard pomp, with his little red scarf, mincing after Harrisson as he tries to escape through the St Patricks Day parade!!

Time for bed, I think......

[–] McCormack7 14 years ago

The pretty girl is none other than DIANE LANE.

Major babe and Oscar winning actress.

[–] chukstir 9 years ago

Diane Lane....no Oscar winner

You're a daisy if you do

[–] bml78 14 years ago

This movie is not stupid at all.Nothing about this movie is stupid.This is a very good movie.

[–] thepartydjz 8 years ago

The OP pointed out perfectly why this film is stupid, Hollywood is stupid, you like it so,..... figure it out, or are you too,...

[–] atomicmutant-1 14 years ago

Stupid posts in threads.

Straight White hope wanders into a forum and thinks "I'll be really clever today". Begins to rip apart a fun, over the top (okay, somewhat hackneyed and ham fisted) but enjoyable movie.

Writes two or three, what he thinks are, wry obsevations about the film, and it's supposed weaknesses. Then he ends his posts, and moves on.

Actully I tend to agree. There was some dumb scenes, but whatever. For the most part this film was enjoyable. Some of the acting was a little on the bad side, and at times there were plenty of "oh brother" moments, but I overall seeing this movie I came away thinking that it wasn't a waste seeing this. Diane Lane was hot in it (she always is) despite her overacting, was fun seeing John C Reilly actually stretch his ACTING chops in a movie. And it was a fun adventure film with some decent, if not a little cheesy tension.

And honestly?, I still don't get the love for "The Fugitive". The train wreck scene (not the sequence, but the giant full sized set) was amazing, and I liked the marshalls, but overall the movie was 'meh' at best.

And you missed a Scene in Perfect storm. George Clooney, out on the boom, twisting and turning in the wind and wash, getting slamed by giant waves while trying to cut a chain with a plasma torch. The guy would have broken every bone in his body. Superman Clooney we likes ta call him,...

But hey, that's Hollywood.
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[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Jane2005 14 years ago

>>Stupid posts in threads.

Straight White hope wanders into a forum and thinks "I'll be really clever today". Begins to rip apart a fun, over the top (okay, somewhat hackneyed and ham fisted) but enjoyable movie.

Writes two or three, what he thinks are, wry observations about the film, and it's supposed weaknesses. Then he ends his posts, and moves on.<<

ROTFLOL. Great writing! Good response. Thanks for setting the poster straight!

-Jane

[–] cr-1761 11 years ago

That's about the point where I said "enough" . . . this is where it broke my "willful suspension of disbelief." But, I will say this . . . the camera crew did a remarkable job . . . in the middle of a big storm like that!

[–] oldmaddog 10 years ago

atomicmutant-1,
An oxy-acetalene (or oxy-propane) torch, not plasma. Plasma torches use high voltage, high current, and high frequency, which can be a dangerous combo around salt water. I suppose you could do it with rubber boots and gauntlets, but would probably not be worth the effort and would still be dangerous (and I do 'love' my 20 year old plasma torch, but don't use it in the rain after that one unpleasant experience).
A little off subject, I once welded a bracket to my tender boat's antenna mast in 2 foot (or maybe less) waves. Pretty funny, as well as very frustrating. LOL (Wish I had videos of some of the stunts I've pulled.)

About the dumbest thing in the movie was leaving the outriggers out after they quit fishing, and especially headed into a storm. They wouldn't have done that, so Clooney wouldn't have had to die trying to cut them free.... (I agree, he couldn't have survived that scene in real life.)

It bugs me when hollywood does stupid things that wouldn't have been done in real life, just so they can include another stupid scene later on.

Both the boats and probably the helicopter would have had coast guard mandated, enclosed life rafts as well.

Another thing, the helicopter rescue guys, probably wouldn't have been wearing all black. No real good reason for stealth in that situation. LOL

Everyone on a commercial fishing boat would have probably been wearing floatation gear on deck, especially in foul weather, at least it's been mandatory in my experience here in Alaska (they have special ones designed for working comfortably in). Safety lines would have been high quality, overrated, and attached to safety harnesses, not just cheap nylon lines tied around their waists (again, not all boat owners supply a full complement of safety gear, but do face increased liability if they don't).
They probably would have even had survival suits (orange, full body, insulated, floatation suits) for ocean going boats in cold climates, by the 1990s as well (if they were my boats they would have, although again, they're expensive and not coast guard mandated like life rafts and floatation gear).

Of course it's a big ocean, you have to deploy the life raft, and get into it, and survival suits aren't designed for long periods of time in the water.

All around good movie though.
You have to cut directors, who after all probably have never been exposed to reality, some slack, don't you? At least I assume that's why they always put stupid stuff in every movie (going by what they put in movies, I suspect most live in ivory towers, which they come and go to by helicopters, without ever touching the ground or communicating with normal people).

bml78,
'This movie is not stupid at all.Nothing about this movie is stupid.'
As I implied in the last paragraph, ALL movies have stupid scenes if you pay attention.

Straight_White_Hope,
"Blimey, for someone who's strapped for cash, she sure found a nice beachview property."
Yea, a prostitutes crib over a riverfront bar....
"A few hours later in the bar, when Clooney, the ships captain, offers him another bit of work, the heroine screams in Marky's face about his selfishness and storms off!"
Good point. Don't most girls want a man who never leaves them to go to work, while still providing for them, unless of course they 'need' time off themselves?

Whew, sorry, got long winded again.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] oldmaddog 9 years ago

You are mistaken.

Plasma-cutter is just another name for a plasma-torch. I've been using them for decades, and understand the principle well. The plasma torch uses electricity for it's energy source, and air or other gas for a source of atomic particles for the plasma, as well as for cooling. An oxygen based torch uses oxygen to burn the carbon and iron in steel (the propane or acetylene are used to preheat the metal so it will burn). That's why they don't work with non ferrous metal.

If you used oxy-acetylene with a plasma cutter, you would destroy the plasma head (the tiniest bit of oil mixed with the air ruins the plasma head), and the probable hose backflash could be very dangerous.

I've heard of their using nitrogen, co2, or even argon for cutting in oxygen free environments (any gas will work as long as it's not reactive). You probably could even use oxygen or a flammable gas if you had no compressed air, as long as you made sure there were no flammables mixed with the oxygen, or that there was no oxygen or air mixed with the flammable gas, but the fire danger would be extreme either way.

They sometimes even use plasma and oxygen based cutting heads in the same machine, which could be what you're thinking of, but they're different cutting heads.

[–] moviechatterer (13226) 6 months ago

Straight White hope wanders into a forum ....

I thought that was some sort of ironic comedic insult dig ,
but no , that is the handle the poster has given himself

to be clear
nothing wrong with being straight or white , i do that myself,
but the username is a dick move.

[–] chatroux13 14 years ago

What do you mean "go gay"? People are born straight or gay, there is no such thing as "go gay"! Homophobe!!!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nightwing23 14 years ago

How do you know that homosexuality is innate and not learned?

[–] Tales-from-the-Goondocks 13 years ago

People are born gay? Oh how wrong you are. And if you think that someone is a homophobe just for thinking that homosexuality is not a biological thing then you are double wrong.

[–] Flags_of_Discontent 12 years ago

If you take out the ridiculous "Clooney welding in a hurricane whilst being whipped around like a CGI rag doll scene"..... this is a good movie.
IMO

[–] lorddeseiz 12 years ago

its typical for gays to call everything homophobe if they dont agree with gay. If you grab a female strangers ass she will raise hell and stand on her rights, if a gay grabs yours and you smack him in the face for it, its being homophobe.
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[–] pequaboy 14 years ago

It's quite apparent, "Straight White Hope" knows little about relationships or the emotional reactions of women in general. The lifestyle of a commercial fisherman and their families is very different and hasn't been exploited until recently. It's not an easy life for anyone involved and this film depicts that life quite accurately. It's frustrating and there are a lot of disappointments. It costs relationships, friendships and lives.
The only thing I didn't care for was the trio on the small skiff. Even though it was meant as a lesson to be learned, the arrogance of the owner made me wish they'd had perished. And why Karen Allen got a starring credit for that is beyond me.
Other than that, I loved this film enough to rate it a 9. It's realism and authenticity, it's execution and it's white knuckle wild ride was nothing short of amazing.

I've had more than my share of harsh ocean weather (specially in the GOM). I'm a deep water junkie but ever since I've seen what could happen, I get a little apprehensive about going out there during hurricane season. But it still don't stop me. The action is too awesome just before natures fury!

"A naked American man stole my balloons".
An American Werewolf In London

[–] eco_savvy 14 years ago

when you live in a tiny oceanside town, EVERY house is ocean view....total idiot.

[–] Joey_Kerr 14 years ago

There is so much wrong with your OP that I'm only going to mention a few things.

First off I live in Gloucester Massachusetts. And where she was was living isn't cheap, but it isn't as expensive has you are thinking it is. She could afford it. Just barley though. Gloucester had become more costly to live in since 1991 as well.

And there have been so many times where my mom dropped me off with my dad at a bar (in my case biker club) because he use to be part of it. My mother obviously could trust that I would be safe with my father just like I'm sure the mother in this movie could have trusted John C. Riley's character with his kid.

And its funny you mention The Fugitive because I was just watching that today before The Perfect Storm came on.

[–] Jane2005 14 years ago

>>>Pretty girl sprints down to to meet Marky Mark, flings arms round and practically humps him to death on the spot. A few hours later in the bar, the ships captain, offers him another bit of work, the heroine screams in Marky's face about his selfishness and storms off! I'm confused: does she want the mortgage arrears paid off or not? <<<

I can tell you that at that moment she's not happy about her soul mate leaving again so soon to do such a dangerous job. To hell with the mortgage. 100 years from now it won't matter if that damn mortgage is paid off or not because someone else will own that house.

What matters is the life she makes with that man (a home, kids, grandkids). There will always be bills to pay and jobs to work. What we don't have much of is time to spend with those we love. Women know that. It doesn't suddenly make her a "horrible" person -- just a scared woman who wants more time with the man she loves. Trust me, moms feel the same way about their children. It's not selfishness or any negative trait at all. It's called love.

-Jane

(What you don't know about women is a lot, Straight White)

[–] Island_Of_Ireland 13 years ago

"What matters is the life she makes with that man (a home, kids, grandkids). There will always be bills to pay and jobs to work. What we don't have much of is time to spend with those we love."

the guy has to make money to give you your home, your kids food etc. go get your own job if that's the attitude, the guys risking his life to put food on the table and she's screaming in his face cuz she want's to spend more time with him? tough balls.

"its called love"

no its called real life, and it dont work like that sweety.

[–] DurakSuka 11 years ago

Absolutely spot on, mate!

Hama cheez ba-Beer behtar meshawad!

[–] nutsberryfarm 11 years ago

bruce springsteen blarin' in the workin' man's bar. so trite. even if it was it sure as hell wouldn't be 'hungry heart'.

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

[–] DurakSuka 11 years ago

I want some of that stuff you're smoking, mate!

Hama cheez ba-Beer behtar meshawad!