Movies that taught you something you didn't know.

[mako88sb]

Title says it all. Of course a lot of them fall into that category but for me, the standout is the baseball movie "61*". I'm not a huge baseball fan, pretty well limiting my viewing to the post season play but I knew enough that Roger Maris held the home runs hit in a single season record until of course 1998 when Mark McGwire broke it. What I didn't know was how much more difficult were the circumstances that Roger played under. My goodness. Your own fans booing you because if anybody were to beat Ruths record, it should be Mickey Mantle, not somebody from North Dakota. Mostly negative support from the media and death threat letters to him and his family on top of all that. He was so stressed that his hair was starting to fall out and he was getting hives. For him to accomplish what he did says a lot about the type of man he was and it was great to see that he and Mickey were good friends throughout the home-run race. For those who don't know, the asterisk was an indication that Maris did not accomplish breaking Babe Ruths record in the same amount of games that The Babe played due to the extended 162 game season that came out that year. Sadly, it wasn't removed until after Roger's death.

Also in regards to Mickey Mantle there was one scene were Mickey pretty well hit a home-run one handed due to a pulled forearm muscle. It's one of those scenes were you wonder if it happened that way or was it something added for dramatics. Well it turns out that in fact, he actually hit two home-runs that day so one of the rare instances when the reality trumped what was put to film. It's funny fact that Thomas Jane who portrays Mickey never played baseball and lied his ass off to persuades Billy Crystal to give him the part.

So what's the movie/movies you feel you learned something from?

[Sailor Steve]

That's a tough question, and one I don't have an answer for. However, since you brought up 61* I have to admit that it tought me several things I didn't know, most importantly that Mantle and Maris, far from being bitter enemies and rivals, were very good friends. I love the scene in which Mantle asks Maris if they're enemies. Maris replies "We must be. It said so on the TV." Mantle says "Well..." and swears at him, then both laugh.

[mako88sb]

That's a tough question, and one I don't have an answer for. However, since you brought up 61* I have to admit that it tought me several things I didn't know, most importantly that Mantle and Maris, far from being bitter enemies and rivals, were very good friends. I love the scene in which Mantle asks Maris if they're enemies. Maris replies "We must be. It said so on the TV." Mantle says "Well..." and swears at him, then both laugh.

Yes, I was still in diapers when this all happened so I was surprised to hear they were supposed to be bitter rivals. My favorite scene was when Mickey and Roger are at the bar and because of the hip infection, Mickey is done for the season. Thomas Jane did a great job capturing Mickeys competitiveness. You could tell it was killing him to concede he couldn't go on. Mickey: "And I thought I was taking pretty good care of myself". Roger:
'Damn straight you were."

I must admit, this movie really gets to me every time I see it.

[Catfish]

'Action in the North Atlantic' told me that a lot of Hollywood films are pure propaganda bull, even if the (by me) much adored Bogart plays in it :03:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_in_the_North_Atlantic

ok ok i still like it for nostalgical reasons ..

In that respect, the real Queen in 'African Queen' should have been the german steamer 'Graf Goetzen', twice times sunk and raised again, still underway under its new name 'Liemba' on Lake Tanganyika. And the 'Kilimanjaro' is of course the 'Kilima Njaro' :D

[Rockstar]

This really caught me by surprise. I learned a small ragtag band of rebels destroyed Death Star II which was under construction near someplace called Endor.

[Mittelwaechter]

HOME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

[Dowly]

That it was the Americans who captured the first naval Enigma machine. :yep:

[frau kaleun]

Rosebud was just a sled.

[Rhodes]

Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze!

[Armistead]

I paid 50 cent to watch a peep show when I was a kid. I learned a lot. That's was way before Gore invented the internet.

[WernherVonTrapp]

:hmmm: I can't think of anything, of any significance, that I ever learned from any movie. I learned some things about some movies after the fact, but that's as close as I can get right now. So, I'll offer that I later learned the movie, "The Natural", was loosely based on a true baseball player who was shot by stalking fan.

[Gargamel]

That it's possible to have a 4 digit IQ.

:hmmm:

Other than that, I really enjoyed that movie....

EDIT:

From the movie Limitless.

For those that don't understand, IQ's are based on a distribution curve. ie, they're based on the worlds population, and basically indicate which percentile you fall in. Depending on which scale you're using, usually 100 is 50th percentile. So, again based on the particular scale, the highest IQ possible is around 195 or 205. Maybe when the worlds population hits 100 billion will a 4 digit IQ be possible.

No matter how much smarter then second place you are, you will always only be one IQ point higher.

[Jimbuna]

Ben Hur....didn't know a charioteer wore a wrist watch in those days.

[TarJak]

Tron taught me what goes on inside a computer game. Rough place.

[Platapus]

In Apollo 13, I learned that no one sweats in Houston in July.

[Nippelspanner]

In Apollo 13, I learned that no one sweats in Houston in July.
It's because of all the nicotine closing the pores so no drop of sweat can come out...

[razark]

In Apollo 13, I learned that no one sweats in Houston in July.
Didn't Apollo 13 occur in April?

[Gargamel]

In Apollo 13, I learned that no one sweats in Houston in July.

Apollo 13 launched April 11, 1970.

But it's still Houston.

[Nippelspanner]

On April 11th, 1970, the closest available weather station to Houston, TX (HOUSTON ELLINGTON AFB, TX), reported the following conditions:
High Temp: 76.3F
Low Temp: 59.4F
Average Temp: 66.1F
Dewpoint: 60F
Wind Speed: 4.4 Knots
Precipitation Amount: 0 Inches
Snow Depth: n/a
Observations: n/a

There's nothing the internetz doesn't know!
True dat, Abe... :D

[CaptainMattJ.]

That nobody knows the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

[TarJak]

That nobody knows the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

African or European?

[STEED]

Don't whip out your pecker...

Cross of Iron


OUCH...Big time.

[the_tyrant]

I learned that a flame throwing ex-con with control issues, a washed up catcher with a bad leg, a voodoo man who can't hit a curveball, and Wesley Snipes can beat the Yankees.

Than, they would come back next year, Wesley Snipes would magically become Omar Epps, Voodoo Man now believes in Buddhism, their new catcher can't throw the ball back to the pitcher, and their new Japanese outfielder likes to knock themselves out. Yet they still beat the White Sox to win the ALCS

[Jimbuna]

Zulu Dawn

The scene where the British army is crossing the Buffalo River is in the historic place but they are crossing in the wrong direction.

[Platapus]

Didn't Apollo 13 occur in April?

But the scene where they watch the first moon landing was in July and despite no air conditioning, none of the actors were sweating.

It is one of the goofs identified with this movie.

[razark]

But the scene where they watch the first moon landing...
Ah. It's been a while, and I'd forgotten that part.

[Sailor Steve]

Zulu Dawn

The scene where the British army is crossing the Buffalo River is in the historic place but they are crossing in the wrong direction.
I thought it was movies that taught you something you didn't know, not movies that you can show where they got it wrong. :O:

Or did they actually cross the other way and you didn't know that? :rotfl2:

[Jimbuna]

Actually your right...I read it a couple of years ago then checked out the accuracy/authenticity :oops:

[mako88sb]

Hmm! I guess I should of stated my intent here better. I should of worded it to say what movies did you learn a historical fact that you were unaware of?

Here's another one for me. The 1987 movie "The Lighthorsemen" has a opening battle scene were the British are attacking Gaza on April 19 1917. They showed some British tanks in the mix which I figured were just added to make things interesting for the movie. I didn't think they actually participated in the battle.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANUKw3IrrUg


Checking into it I soon found that yes indeed, the British had actually sent 8 tanks to beef up the attack. They were suppose to send 12 but looks like there was a mix-up. This link has more details:

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=149709

[frau kaleun]

Hmm! I guess I should of stated my intent here better. I should of worded it to say what movies did you learn a historical fact that you were unaware of?

No, I think your intent was clear and would/will make for an interesting thread if everybody stays on topic with it.

That said... THIS! IS! SPAR-- er... SUBSIM! and all it takes is for one of the goofy regulars to give a goofy answer and the rest of us idjits just have to get in on the silliness (myself included). :O:

But don't worry, it'll get back on track. :up: Nevertheless there will still be the occasional smartass answer, because that's just the nature of the beast. It's all meant in good fun though.

[TarJak]

Nevertheless there will still be the occasional smartass answer, because that's just the nature of the beast. It's all meant in good fun though.

Smartass answers on GT threads? Where?:D

[Platapus]

Smartass answers on GT threads? Where?:D


Not a lot of smart asses on GT. The opposite however.......:D

[Platapus]

Hmm! I guess I should of stated my intent here better. I should of worded it to say what movies did you learn a historical fact that you were unaware of?

Well that would pretty much cover any educational or documentary movie.

I have learned a lot from educational and documentary movies.. that's the whole purpose of documentaries. :D

Or are you asking about non-documentaries? Fictional or fictionalized movies about historical events?

Or are you asking about learning something from watching a movie that one did not expect to be historically accurate, but was?

[mako88sb]

Well that would pretty much cover any educational or documentary movie.

I have learned a lot from educational and documentary movies.. that's the whole purpose of documentaries. :D

Or are you asking about non-documentaries? Fictional or fictionalized movies about historical events?

Or are you asking about learning something from watching a movie that one did not expect to be historically accurate, but was?

The latter two points although I can't recall any right now that would fall into the last category.

[Sailor Steve]

Not a lot of smart asses on GT. The opposite however.......:D
Stop talking about me! :O:

[Wolferz]

There isn't a film out there that can teach me anything because I already know everything.:smug: It's what I learned afterward that counts and it didn't come from a movie.:03: