Incredible facts
Cross these Hollywood myths off your fear list. The real world is far less fatal than in the movies.
For the most part, we watch movies for the magic that's in them, not for realism. So it's no surprise that film directors and screenwriters often defy the usual rules of the universe.
For example, in most films, a bullet wound to the shoulder does not require anything special; a person only needs to treat the wound a little bit with disinfectant and wrap it with gauze.
If you hit a person in the face, they will immediately turn off, sleep for a few minutes, and then just wake up, and maybe even without a brain injury.
While movies often underestimate the severity of some injuries, they exaggerate other dangers. Here are seven deaths that can be seen in movies but are unlikely in real life.
Myths in movies
1. Quicksand can easily suck you into the ground.
In various adventure films, such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or Lawrence of Arabia, you can see a mixture of sand and water that you can't get out of without someone else help. We're used to the fact that the more you move in quicksand, the faster you dive into it.
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have tested how deadly quicksand can be. The results of their experiment showed that quicksand does not absorb humans.
Of course they can be dangerous. Although quicksand doesn't pull a person down, they can immobilize them. If the level of a nearby river rises, for example, the person will simply be covered with sand.
2. Sharks attack humans frequently and fatally.
Many of us have seen movies like “Jaws,” “The Open Sea,” and “The Shallows,” but not everyone knows that sharks don't really want to eat humans. About 80 shark attacks occur each year, but only a handful are fatal.
Read also: Hollywood's Greatest Myths People Believe
Moreover, sharks are not even among the ten most dangerous animals for humans. People are more likely to be attacked by snakes, crocodiles, lions, elephants, and even hippos. The question is why the movies don't show hippopotamus attacks? They probably look too cute for the camera.
3. Magical strikes in martial arts.
You've probably seen Kill Bill, Star Trek, Bloodsport, The White Lotus Clan and others, where the main character is able to kill an enemy with five light blows to specific points bodies.
This hit is called “The Touch of Death”. But experts believe it can't be fatal, and there's no proof of that.
And yet there's a bit of truth to this. There are more than 100 reported cases of heart concussions that occur when a baseball bat, hockey puck, or other heavy object hits a person's chest in an unsuitable place for heartbeat cycle moment.
The victim may die from ventricular fibrillation. But if a ninja decides to use the necessary force to strike like this, he would have to rely entirely on luck to hit the heart at the right time within a 15-20 millisecond window, and this is unlikely.
4. It is quick and easy to strangle anyone.
In movies, you can often see one character strangle another and do so relatively easily, quickly getting rid of the opponent.
In fact, it's incredibly difficult to do that in real life. It takes about five minutes to shut off the channels for air and blood to enter the brain.
Add to this the fact that a person will fight and panic to the end before losing consciousness. Moreover, after a few seconds, the victim may recover if he can free himself.
Read also: Top 20 movies with an unexpected ending
5. Death from gasoline set on fire by a cigarette.
Obviously, this form of destruction looks impressive in movies. All you have to do is pour gasoline on someone or something and drop a lit cigarette.
The problem is that gasoline is not so flammable and it is not so easy to burn it with a cigarette. But this does not mean that you can safely smoke at the gas station!
The researchers used a variety of methods to find out if a cigarette could ignite gasoline. They made more than 2,000 attempts and never managed to ignite gasoline with a cigarette. They believe that the liquid either extinguishes the cigarette or lowers its temperature too much, which is necessary for the oil product to ignite.
6. Blow up a car with a simple shot.
It would seem that all it takes to blow up a car is to shoot at a gas tank. In real life, it's not like that at all. Gas tanks in cars are specially made as safe as possible. They must withstand heavy shocks in the event of an accident.
There is also not much oxygen in the tank, and there is not enough oxygen to cause rapid ignition or explosion. In addition, most bullets simply do not have enough power to penetrate a reinforced gas tank.
7. Death from explosives shot with a gun.
According to the movies, an easy way to get rid of a villain with a bomb is to simply shoot explosives. And while it's true that some bombs can explode if they're shot at, the vast majority won't be seriously damaged.
This is due to the fact that explosive devices are designed to be as strong as possible. The reasons are obvious — the bomb should not explode prematurely.
If someone holds an explosive device and is shot at, that person is more likely to die from a bullet wound than from explosives.