14 Lies About War We Believe Because of Movies
![14 Lies About War We Believe Because of Movies](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/7/781967_320x180.jpg)
World War II is by far the most commonly represented war in Hollywood blockbusters.
So what is the deal with them? Do these blockbusters tell us the whole truth? Ever wonder what the reality is?
War is a dreadful place to be if you don't wear a helmet, and that's about all the movies get right about it. That's understandable; a film can have a variety of objectives, but none of them include destroying an enemy bunker.
As a result, many people have a completely erroneous understanding of what happens on a real battlefield. This is somewhat advantageous because it means you'll never have to dodge gunfire or explosives (opinions may differ, but we count this as a plus). But do you know what's even better? In terms of shit, I'm not wrong. That's why we made these: to send war myths back into the Stone Age.
So scroll on down for more wild lies that movies told us about war…
![Bullets aren't always intended to kill. During a battle, tons of bullets are fired that aren't actually meant to hit any target. This suppressive fire is used to keep the enemy behind cover, not to kill them. When rifles are fired in automatic mode, it's usually in this kind of situation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/7/781947.jpg)
Source: Business Insider
![You can't pull a grenade's pin with your teeth. It's definitely badass, but also definitely not something you can do. Try it, and you're more likely to pull your teeth out than the pin. You have some perfectly good fingers- use those instead.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/5/781955.jpg)
Source: We Are The Mighty
![You don't hear a descending whistle as bombs fall on you. Some bombs made a whistling sound because they had actual whistles, intended to scare people. Now, the pitch decreasing (because of the Doppler effect) is what the plane's crew would hear- if you were on the ground, you'd hear it increase instead.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/8/781958.jpg)
Source: MechStuff
![Land mines don't wait until you step off of them. With very few exceptions, a landmine will go off the moment your foot touches it. Even if you freeze in place, you'll have no time to say goodbye.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/7/781957.jpg)
![Artillery fire isn’t just an inconvenience. In movie battlefields, enemy rifles and machine guns are the real danger, while exploding shells are mostly a nuisance. In reality, it’s the other way around -- in World War I, an estimated 70-80% of casualties were from artillery fire.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/9/781959.gif)
More: 5 Stupid War Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks To Movies)
![A cavalry charge isn't an unstoppable force. Horses have eyes, and also a survival instinct. No matter how well trained, they won't run into just anything (let alone a line of pikes and spears). In real life, cavalry made most of their kills after the enemy had already broken formation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/1/781961.jpg)
Source: Direct History
![Flamethrowers are indeed deadly even for the operator. You turn into a real-life dragon- for about 10 seconds. Then you're out of fuel and become a sitting duck. You will last even shorter if an incendiary round hits the huge-ass fuel tank.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/8/781948.jpg)
Source: We Are The Mighty
![Grenades don't explode in a big fireball. A real grenade going off is quite underwhelming by movie standards- just a loud poof of smoke and shrapnel.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/4/781954.jpg)
Source: We Are The Mighty
![Planes in a dogfight don't get close to each other. Modern dogfighting is about planes throwing stuff at one another from a distance. A big distance, usually of several miles- even in an up close and personal battle, your enemy can look no bigger than a speck of dust on your windshield.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/0/781950.jpg)
More: 5 Weapon Myths You Probably Believe (Thanks to Movies)
![Snipers don't work alone. Snipers operate in teams of two persons- a spotter, who does all the necessary calculations, and a shooter, who does the actual putting-bullets-in-their-place thing.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/2/781952.jpg)
Source: U.S. Army
![Flaming arrows were never common. An arrow on fire will go out as soon as you shoot it, unless you make modifications to it that make it a crappy arrow. They were only used as incendiary devices during sieges- and even in those cases, they were ineffective most of the time.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/3/781953.jpg)
Source: Tales of Times Forgotten
![A general wouldn't give an epic speech just before the battle. While rousing speeches were occasionally a a thing, these would be given in camp- not on the battlefield, with the enemy itching to attack you (and where your troops in the back couldn't hear you).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/1/781951.jpg)
Source: War History Online
![Ancient battles didn't turn into melee combat as soon as the armies met. You didn't win because your fighters were individually better in single combat than your enemy- -you won because your soldiers stayed in boring, organized formations. Any army who just charged into battle to take on their foes one-to-one was called the losing side.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/6/781956.jpg)
More: 5 Stupid War Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks To Movies)
![Soldiers are younger than you think. Forget about the thirty-somethings you see in movies - an awful lot of recruits are barely out of school. Over half of all soldiers killed in action aren't old enough to drink in the U.S.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/0/781960.jpg)
Sources: Business Insider, Military Times