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As peaceful, law-abiding citizens, much of our knowledge about using weapons for harm is shaped by movies and TV shows. These forms of media provide the perfect escape from our ordinary lives, offering exciting explosions and dramatic combat. However, anyone who works with weapons professionally will tell you that much of what you see in films is exaggerated or downright incorrect.
That being said, we're not suggesting that movies should mirror real-life events exactly—where would the fun be in that? The concept of willing suspension of disbelief is key to enjoying fictional works. But the problem arises when widely accepted weapon myths from films start influencing real-world situations.
10. Burning a Wound to Seal It Only Makes the Infection Worse
You’ve probably seen this one in many films: a person gets shot or stabbed, and with no access to a hospital, they decide to burn the wound to prevent infection. The writers may believe this works because of the simplistic logic that ‘burning skin = burning bacteria.’ However, a basic understanding of wound care would show that this is one of the worst ideas you can have.
Burning the wound doesn’t reduce the infection risk; in fact, it makes it worse. While heat might kill the active bacteria already in the wound, it causes serious burns, which damage the skin’s natural defenses. This allows other, potentially more harmful bacteria to invade. Cauterization is only justified in extreme cases of severe blood loss where nothing else can stop the bleeding, but movies never portray it this way.
9. Grenades Don’t Make People Fly
Movies often depict grenades as destructive tools capable of leveling a house and sending people flying through the air. But in some scenes, grenades appear harmless, even when explosions occur right next to the hero. It’s a baffling inconsistency.
In reality, grenades aren’t designed to send people flying. They’re intended for incapacitation, with most designs using shrapnel to maim rather than kill. Sure, if you were unfortunate enough to land directly on top of one, you could be severely injured or killed. However, grenades aren’t the kind of weapon to cause large explosions that send people soaring. There are far better explosives for that purpose.
8. Warning Shot To The Leg Is Not A Real Thing
This is something many believe due to how prevalent it is in popular fiction. We think that it’s a regular part of a cop’s training to first fire a warning shot in the air and then, if the warning shot didn’t help, shoot the legs to bring the criminal(s) to the ground. We’re not entirely sure where this comes from, but movies and TV shows regularly employ it.
Actually, no cop in any country is trained to do that, for a few good reasons. For one, it’s ridiculously hard to aim at someone’s legs—or any specific body part really—when they’re moving. If a cop is able to do that, they’re probably overqualified and deserve to be a master marksman in some elite division of the military. Another reason is that leg wounds can be fatal if the bullet hits the wrong place and have equivalent odds of killing someone as wounds in the torso, which doesn’t exactly work as a warning.
7. The Landmine Click
We’d be more forgiving toward this one, as working knowledge of how landmines work isn’t something TV or movie writers should have easy access to. Regardless, landmines are a real danger in many conflict areas of the world, and the only things we know about them come from movies.
The iconic 'click' sound of a landmine is so commonly used in fiction that TV Tropes even has an entire page dedicated to it. There’s even a movie titled Landmine Goes Click, which is based on this very trope. The idea is that landmines supposedly emit an audible click when triggered by a step, only to explode when you step off them.
We don’t need to explain why this is incorrect. If landmines worked this way, they would defeat their entire purpose. In reality, they detonate the moment you step on them, designed to cause maximum damage without giving you any time to react.
6. Shooting C4 Won’t Cause an Explosion
Explosions in movies are often wildly misunderstood. Their effects are either hugely exaggerated or seriously downplayed, depending on the film, even though accurate information about how explosions work is easily accessible online—if the writers would just take the time to look. For example, take plastic explosives like C4.
Movies and TV shows often depict C4 as an explosive that will detonate just by being shot or tossed into a fire. However, the truth is that C4 is one of the most stable explosives available. It won't explode from being shot, and it burns at a much slower rate than most other explosives. If you're ever in a pinch with no available fire sources, you could even light it up, as military-grade plastic explosives are thoroughly tested for safety and stability. That being said, don't go experimenting with explosives in your spare time, as certain unstable ones, like dynamite, can easily detonate when shot.
5. Getting Shot Doesn't Always Lead to Death
How many times in movies have we seen someone fall to the ground and die from just a single gunshot? It’s a common trope in film, and one that often misrepresents the reality of gunshot wounds. This portrayal not only shows a misunderstanding of how firearms work, but it also fuels unnecessary fear in real-life situations involving gunshots.
In reality, most gunshot wounds are not immediately fatal. While it's true that a single shot can indeed be deadly, it's far less common than movies make it seem. People have survived injuries that movies would have us believe would be certain death. Even multiple gunshot wounds don’t always result in death, as long as the person receives prompt medical care.
4. Cigarettes Won't Ignite Gasoline
The iconic moment of tossing a lit cigarette into gasoline and witnessing an explosive fireball has been a staple of action movies for years. It’s designed to create suspense, often appearing as a climactic moment where a character makes a bold, irreversible decision, though it feels like a familiar trope. In reality, however, using a cigarette to ignite gasoline is impossible. No matter how dramatic it looks on screen, it would not cause a fire in real life.
While it seems plausible at first, the physics just don't work. A cigarette burns at around 700°C (1,300°F), and gasoline fumes can ignite at a temperature of 246°C (475°F). But the problem lies in the fact that the hottest part of the cigarette rarely comes into contact with the gasoline. In fact, scientists have tested this in lab conditions. They threw lit cigarettes into gasoline vapors over 4,500 times, and surprisingly, the vapor never caught fire in any case.
3. Cars Don’t Explode When You Shoot Them
Despite the frequent presence of car accidents in films, filmmakers often misunderstand how cars actually function. One of the most persistent myths in movies is that a car’s gas tank will explode from a single gunshot. Setting aside the sheer skill required to hit a moving target, in real life, bullets are incapable of igniting fuel. The mechanics simply don’t align.
The popular TV show Mythbusters debunked the myth that shooting a car could result in a fiery explosion. They demonstrated that no matter how many times a car is shot, it will not explode into a dramatic fireball, despite how often this happens in movies. What's even more surprising is how difficult it is to make a car explode, as modern fuels used in vehicles are far too stable for that kind of ignition. The myth can also lead to dangerous misconceptions, as bystanders may hesitate to assist in a car accident, fearing an explosion that isn’t likely to happen.
2. Snipers And Laser Dots
In films, snipers are often shown as solitary warriors who can take down entire armies and vanish without a trace. However, in reality, snipers face extreme difficulty in making successful shots due to factors such as long-range distances, gravity, and wind. Sniping requires a precise understanding of these variables and a highly developed skillset to land a shot accurately. In truth, they often miss their targets.
Movies often provide snipers with an unrealistic advantage in the form of a laser dot that directly indicates where to aim. This, however, is a huge misrepresentation. For one, a visible laser beam is an impractical tool for a sniper, as it effectively gives away their position. More critically, lasers cannot accurately pinpoint where a bullet will land. A sniper’s skill lies in their ability to calculate the necessary adjustments for factors like wind and distance, making the use of a laser both unnecessary and ineffective at long ranges. They are only useful in very close-quarters situations.
1. You Can’t Shoot A Lock Open
This is a common trope in police and detective films, where characters often resort to shooting locks to gain entry to a building during a raid. While various versions of this scene exist, it’s clear that movie writers vastly underestimate the durability of locks, portraying them as if they were simple, flimsy objects—when in reality, locks are far more robust and resistant than that.
As you might imagine, that’s not how things go in reality. Modern locks are far too sturdy to be simply blasted open with a handgun, and trying to pick the lock would actually be more effective than shooting it. While it is theoretically possible to shoot open a lock with a rifle or shotgun, movies often depict the use of a handgun or pistol to break into locked spaces.
Another reason law enforcement professionals avoid this method in real life is the risk of ricochet. A bullet shot at a metal lock could easily deflect off the surface and potentially strike the shooter or one of their colleagues, making it an extremely dangerous move.
