MovieChat Forums > Commando (1985) Discussion > Jump doesn't make sense

Jump doesn't make sense

posted 3 years ago by avortac4 (3742)
25 replies | jump to latest

When Matrix jumps off the plane and lands in the swamp, it's shown completely differently than what it would actually look.

A normal takeoff speed for a plane is about 160 to 180 miles per hour. The latter translates to rougly 290 km/h. Even if we're SUPER conservative, and allow Matrix to slow down before impact to 100 km/h (which is very unlikely), can you imagine hitting ANYTHING, even swamp water, at 100 km/h, without dying or taking HEAVY damage / being severely injured?

I don't care that he lands feet first and is fully clothed with combat boots. His vertical and horizontal movement speed (which I can't calculate, as I wouldn't know the acceleration, wind and other forces affecting it, but you have to add quite an impactful speed to the mere takeoff speed of the plane - of course the plane keeps accelerating, so it's even faster speed at the point of jumping off) would DEFINITELY be enough to kill him, and mangle his body quite a lot.

The way it's shown is as if he has NO acceleration besides downwards, but he should be going REALLY FAST forward as well, since his speed doesn't just instantly stop just because he jumps off a plane - his initial speed should be pretty much the same as the plane's, and then -slowly- decrease.

There is NO WAY anyone could hit a swamp at 100 km/h and survive without problems, commando or not - and the way it's shown is CHEATING! It would NOT look like that, he would be going at least 100 or even 200 km/h SIDEWAYS AS WELL, not just falling!

This movie is such a cartoon, but god damn this suspension of belief requirement is made for toddlers.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

"This movie is such a cartoon"

You've got it, this IS a live-action cartoon!

There is a later scene where Matrix crashes a moving car into a tree or something and yet he impossibly reaches over to check his female passenger just a fraction of a second after, in the next shot! In real-life, he would be stunned himself for several seconds, but here he's totally immune to possible injuries in the crash.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 2 years ago

Thats not true. I tried that stunt one time with a friend. After slamming into the tree, we were both fine. The key is to hold tight right before impact

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21452) 2 years ago

Matrix didn’t even have a seatbelt on. 80mph and dead stopping on a telephone pole might have killed them both. But with no belt on, Matrix would have left the car. Anyhow, it’s a great movie.

[–] PaladinNJ (21509) a year ago

Well said

[–] millsey72 (10243) 2 years ago

Your physics are way off. The plane was racing forward, however Matrix jumped down, so the planes speed was not a factor when he landed. The only scene I have a problem with is when they get into that small plane to fly to the island, the plane is not starting and Matrix punches the dashboard and it starts right up. That part was unrealistic in an otherwise realistic movie

[–] Callahan7 (1155) 2 years ago

Matrix is really smart. He knew exactly where and how hard to hit the dashboard to make the engine start.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 2 years ago

I agree. I am fine with that scene because its the only implausible scene in the entire movie

[–] acelesson (791) 4 months ago

Realistic?

He carried what was probably at least a 1500lb tree while casually walking.

He ripped a phone booth off of a mall floor

He ripped a bolted down car seat out of a Porsche.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 4 months ago

I never tried any of those 3 things so I'm not sure how hard it is

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 4 months ago

I also have a problem with the way he punches the plane into life.

He's so smug about it!
He gives Cindy , the trainee pilot , a look that says "When you have as much experience as me with punching things you'll be able to start broken planes this way too!"

[–] millsey72 (10243) 4 months ago

I'm not a pilot so I have no idea if you punch the dashboard in a particular spot, the plane will start

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 4 months ago

Why did you call it unrealistic then?

[–] millsey72 (10243) 4 months ago

That was an error in my part on that previous post

[–] moviechatterer (15583) 4 months ago

We'll have to wait for a pilot , or airplane tech to show up then

[–] KingBob (2108) 4 months ago

I am a pilot and I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that punching a plane causes it to start.

[–] millsey72 (10243) 4 months ago

So they didn't teach you to punch in flight school?

[–] KingBob (2108) 4 months ago

They didn't have to, it's common sense among us pilots.

[–] javie (2216) 2 years ago

It was a tight first half

[–] Truthtalker (1969) 2 years ago

you're right

[–] tyrannosaurus_sex (496) 2 years ago

1 afghan guy tried 2 do a similar stunt last year on a c130 when the us pulled out of afghan last year. He fell.

[–] Callahan7 (1155) a year ago

He was a Commando.

That jump was no problem.

The OP must be an accountant or something.

When he jumped out of the plane he immediately slowed down. By the time he hit the water he had slowed to a speed that might injure a lesser man but was no problem for Matrix.

[–] Aylmer (417) 4 months ago

I believe several men did, and a few were crushed inside the wheel well when the gear retracted. I believe it was a C-5 Galaxy Transport as well. It's too bad that there weren't any soft swamps near the Kabul airport to land on. :'(

[–] Truthtalker (1969) a year ago

agreed

[–] quartz (482) a year ago

I don't think you can just pull up a mall lift either

[–] Aylmer (417) 4 months ago

Unless LAX has radically changed in the 40 years since, there isn't any swampland off the edge of the runway either. There is some hilly scrubland where a form of endangered legless lizard resides just past the runway, but then it's just Dockweiler Beach and the Pacific Ocean, which he could have jumped down into but by that point (depending on the type of plane) he'd be well over 200 feet above the ground so equivalent of diving off the top of a tall building.

There is the Ballona Wetlands nearby, but to my knowledge the runway was never angled to take planes over the top of it as depicted in the film. They're a little bit north of the runway and a little bit behind the point where any planes get airborne.