by "Vizzini" (993Dave)
Published 10/02/2017 at 15:23
by "Vizzini" (993Dave)
Published 10/02/2017 at 15:23
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STARS: 5
Just about everyone has their little area of expertise in life. Some people know all the nuances of China-Taiwan relations, so folks really know how to pick a melon, and most of us here know some facets of the world of automobiles pretty well. Experts of any stripe tend to readily spot a false statement in their area of expertise. That can be a fun point of pride, but it can also be an annoyance.
This weekend, we took in “American Made,” the latest Tom Cruise flick. The movie had to contend with the usual problem of a Tom Cruise movie: you can’t ever quite get past the sensation that you are watching Tom Cruise do Tom Cruise-y things. I signed up for that when I bought the ticket, though, so I could accept it and spend a reasonably enjoyable evening basking in the Tom Cruise-iness of the whole thing.
What I did not count on, and what sorta ruined the movie for me, was a heaping, obvious, glaring vehicular anachronism. The movie is set in the late 1970s and 1980s, which gives the set dressers, costumers and prop masters the opportunity to let their malaise era flag fly. At one point, set in about 1980, Tom Cruise and his Tom Cruise Movie Family were headed out in a period-correct Dodge Aspen wagon (brown, of course). I spent much of that scene just enjoying the craptacularness of that car, with all the features I remember from the terrible cars of my youth: unending brownness, rectangular speedometer, massive chrome bumpers, etc.
In the very next scene, taking place in the movie’s timeline a few scant minutes after the previous scene, another character pulls up driving a 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity. They couldn’t even finesse the issue by using an early 80s version with the four sealed beam headlights; they had to get a late version with the smooth “Euro” headlights. I couldn’t stop thinking about this easy screw-up for the rest of the movie. It would have been so easy to avoid. Was there nobody among the several dozen people crawling around the film set who could tell at a glance that the late-80s A-body was totally out of place in a 1980 scene?
It’s a dumb thing for me to get hung up on, but that’s the burden we gearheads carry.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
10/02/2017 at 15:34, STARS: 0
My working theory is that any movie involving a subject you know well will drive you bananas like that. Virtually any movie about aviation does that to me.
For us, though, any period movie better get the damn cars right. For that time frame, it’s not even that hard to find the right cars (as opposed to a movie set in 1925 for example)..
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
10/02/2017 at 15:37, STARS: 1
The worst one I’ve noticed is in Narcos try get out of a E39 5 Series. After googleikg it to make sure I was right, turns out they were really bad offenders about having cars made after my1994(Escobar died in Dec of 1993).
"interstate366, now In The Industry" (interstate366)
10/02/2017 at 15:40, STARS: 1
Could be worse. In The People vs. OJ Simpson, during a scene set in the 1980s, a Prius and a MK6 Jetta were in the background.
"My citroen won't start" (lucasboechat)
10/02/2017 at 15:44, STARS: 0
This always bothers me, but the 80's car in a 70's movie is not the worst.
What pisses me off incredibly is the city filled with 2010 cars in a movie set in the 1990s or earlier.
Narcos is one of the worst offenders.
Pablo died in 93.
"My citroen won't start" (lucasboechat)
10/02/2017 at 15:46, STARS: 2
Great minds.
Had not seen your reply, Narcos is one of the worst offenders indeed.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
10/02/2017 at 16:16, STARS: 1
I thought Narcos was/is great, but the wrong vehicles per the year was really upsetting me.
"Mondial goes to 11" (mondialgoesto11)
10/02/2017 at 16:26, STARS: 1
Yesterday, my friend was complaining about historical movies about British royalty substituting Rolls Royces for Daimlers. Yes, he owns a Daimler.
"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
10/02/2017 at 18:26, STARS: 2
I have that going on with cars, but now I also have it going on with general set dec stuff and props. I work in the biggest props rental warehouse in western Canada, and we rent to lots of major shows and movies, including tons of Netflix stuff. It gets really distracting when I’m watching something, and see things that we rented, especially when they’re from the wrong era, or being used wrong in some other way.
"coqui70" (coqui70)
10/02/2017 at 21:41, STARS: 2
You know who does it right? Archer.