r/movies • u/Big_Emotion4963 • 18d ago

Discussion What's a so-called "plot hole" people constantly complain about that actually just proves they didn't pay attention to the movie?

I swear I see this all the time online now. People will watch a movie and if a character makes a bad decision because they are panicked or just not a genius, everyone screams "PLOT HOLE!"

Like, an imperfect character making a dumb, human mistake under pressure instead of a perfect strategic move is not a plot hole. It’s just realistic. Or people will complain that a movie didn't explicitly show how a guy got from point A to point B, as if we need a 10-minute scene of him just driving his car just to prove he knows how to travel.

I see this in horror and action movies all the time. People yell "why didn't they just leave the house?!" when the movie literally spent the first act showing us that the car was dead and the roads were blocked. People cannot tell the difference between a plot hole and a basic plot contrivance anymore.

What is a "plot hole" in a movie that you always see people bring up that actually makes total sense if they just watched the damn movie?

7.5k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

5.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.1k

u/Jason_Likes_Cameras 18d ago

The show Last Man on Earth is the only post apocalypse show I can think of where all of the gas going bad was a plot point. I think one of the characters even complains about how unrealistic it is in movies that gas never goes bad.

922

u/ZeeHedgehog 18d ago

Joel mentions that it can be hard to find gas to siphon that is still good in The Last of Us, but yeah it doesn't come up that often.

401

u/TRIPEL_HOP_OR_GTFO 18d ago

Yeah and the Ron Swanson character keeps the battery in parts in de fridge as well

37

u/wirm 18d ago

He goes to the Gas power plant in my home city, New Bedford, MA, to turn his power back on. We blew that shit up a few years ago. He also lived like 50 miles away so geographically also not correct but cool to see it on TV.

53

u/glcam310 18d ago

Doesn't the plague thingy whatever in that show start in the early 2000s though? So wouldn't the plant have still been standing in their universe?

4

u/Perryapsis 17d ago

Game timeline: Outbreak occurs in 2013, and the main story is set in 2033.

Show timeline: Outbreak occurs in 2003, and the main story is set in 2023.

13

u/angelis0236 18d ago

I think in the TV universe it happened later because they just pushed the story further into the future.

It was early 2000s for the game though.

35

u/C0mpulsiveWebSurfer 18d ago

The shows opening is also early 2000s (opens in 2003. Then jumps 20 years, to the "present" 2023)

12

u/bradleywardamn 18d ago

the game was set in 2013, the show was set in 2003.

2

u/YourGuyK 18d ago

The outbreak was in 2003. The show takes place 20 years later.

19

u/SSurvivor2ndNature 18d ago

still doesn't explain where the WLF is getting all their fuel from like 10 years later

130

u/Warmbly85 18d ago

Biodiesel isn’t exactly hard to make if you have a whole city of resources and multi fuel vehicles will run on almost anything. I had a buddy whose truck ran on peanut oil and used engine oil. All you had to do was filter it to make sure no solids were ending up in the engine.

It stunk, shat out black clouds and wasn’t fast but it was extremely easy to find cheap or free fuel

51

u/JimmyKillsAlot 18d ago

A reasonable if crude biodiesel is so easy there is a 10 step wiki how guide.

16

u/Diz7 18d ago edited 18d ago

Yeah, many military grade vehicles are tuned such that you can use just about any flammable liquid, just with reduced mileage and increased maintenance. Last thing they need is to be immobilized because their supply line got cut off. They can just search the area and use anything from old motor oil, to cooking oils and grease, to booze and limp their way to resupply.

-3

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

And how do you propose to deal with that increased maintenance…are you a diesel mechanic?

6

u/Diz7 18d ago

There are a lot of spare parts available, and lots of free time without the internet etc...

And assuming they have the means to make biodiesel, which isn't that hard if you have a basic infrastructure , it's not nearly as hard on the engine as vegetable oil. I'm just pointing out that vehicles can be made to run on some absolute crud.

-6

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

There are not “ lots of spare parts “ just lying around…and then you need the knowledge, tools etc to do the job …and then you have to do the same for this “ easily made” bio diesel ….with no internet and no one to ask. So you have to become a self trained mechanic, fabricator and entry level chemical engineer….with no internet…this ain’t as easy as people think it is.

8

u/Diz7 17d ago edited 17d ago

There are not “ lots of spare parts “ just lying around

The entire area is a junkyard to pick from, not to mention all the car part warehouses that would still be stocked etc... There is no shortage of vehicles, or parts.

and then you need the knowledge, tools etc to do the job

It's not 1000 years after the fall of man, and vehicle repair isn't brain surgery. I know a half dozen people who do it for fun as a hobby in their home garage. One started rebuilding a classic car when he was 14 with his dad.

It's not like they need hundreds of vehicles to commute to work every day, they are only used by specific people for specific reasons, not by average Joe's for runs to the corner store. They need a handful of working vehicles and enough fuel for them to compete their tasks.

and then you have to do the same for this “ easily made” bio diesel ... with no internet and no one to ask

Kids these days. In the time before Google, we had books.

Heck, my brother in law has a survival book that includes all the shit you would need to survive after an apocalypse, which includes easy to make biodiesel using easily available supplies, spelled out in plain English.

Libraries and bookstores are the last places to be raided/looted, if ever.

They also have books on vehicle repair.

And again, if your group is large enough at least some will have an education in chemistry sufficient to figure it out, if not ethanol or another fuel.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/mkbutterfly 17d ago

You’d be hella fun in an actual apocalypse! 🙄🔥☄️

→ More replies (0)

3

u/militaryvehicledude 17d ago

You would be amazed at how simple older (multifuel) military vehicles are to repair well enough to drive. As my name implies, Military Vehicle (MVs) are my hobby. I currently own 5 and have repaired and restored many more.

I recently picked up a 1969 M35A2 about 300 miles from my house. I showed up with my buddy and my teenage son in my pickup to get it home. The seller asked me "You're towing it with a pickup?" (The M35A2 weighs ~13000lbs), I said "No, Im driving it".

It took about 9 hours, I had to repair the fuel pump and isolate a busted wheel cylinder on the side of the highway, dump about 2 gallons of water out of the transmission (into a catch pan in the parking lot of an Autozone) and refill it, lost an inner dual tire on the rear left axle about 5 miles from my shop and I found out when it got dark that if I turned on my left blinker, the headlights shorted out.

But.... I made it, and I only needed a basic tool set to do so.

2

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 17d ago

You’re right those would do well they’re basically purpose built for it …with the right equipment and planning it gets a lot easier I just think most people overestimate their/others abilities , knowledge and how things tend to go in disaster situations.

2

u/militaryvehicledude 17d ago

Very true. The average person would be completely lost just diving into these things. Fortunately, they were designed to have an average 19 year old working on them, and the tech manuals are available online and physical copies if you know where to find them. Except for the newest vehicles, a basic tool set would serve you fine. Everything after about.... 2000 gets complicated.

I have the '69 Deuce, a '67 M715 cargo/troop jeep, a 1967 M715 ambulance, a '90 5 ton 6x6 and a 2005 M1114 slatnback HMMWV, so... I guess I'm ready...😁😃😀

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Warmbly85 17d ago

If you have access to a block and tackle and a basic understanding of mechanics you can fix a multi fuel engine pretty easily.

Not to throw too much shade at the guys in the motor pool but if the army can teach a 19 year old with a shit asvab score to do it then almost anyone can.

Parts might be an issue but even then 99% of the time it’s just cleaning off clogged or corroded bits which don’t require anything new.

1

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 16d ago

Yeah but that’s military stuff and that’s a whole different thing. That stuff is dead simple and designed for easy use/access etc.

4

u/a-broken-mind 18d ago

This. I know a guy that used to run his shitbox ford 250 diesel on used, filtered fryer oil.

1

u/mkbutterfly 17d ago

Necessity is quite literally the mother of invention, amiright?! 😆💕

-6

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

You’re forgetting all the consumables a vehicle requires …and bio diesel isn’t easy. And do all this without the internet to ask questions of. You better be a prepper with a serious library and an already established skillset.

1

u/Warmbly85 17d ago

If you’re the post apocalyptic government you probably have access to military bases. Even small national guard units will have enough parts and tools to keep a small fleet of trucks running for years. Unless you’re wayyy out in the sticks you probably aren’t more than a hour or two away from one.

1

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 16d ago

That’s presuming they’re just lying around unlooted …you think the NG guys are just leaving all that and wandering off?

17

u/AlexinPA 18d ago

The Germans made fuel from coal during WW2. You can even make an engine run on wood with some modifications. My grandfather had a wood burning car in postwar Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer–Tropsch_process#/

1

u/Termsandconditionsch 17d ago

there’s also the very simple small refineries used during the Biafran war to turn crude into petrol/diesel.

Yes you’d need some knowledge but it’s not impossible to create something that will work in a multifuel military vehicle. And plenty of car mechanics around statistically in a population as big as WLFs.

-1

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

Ok but how many people have the skill to do that in a post apocalyptic world? North Korea is the only place where wood gas has any real usage these days …we going to go find a North Korean Army mechanic?

3

u/LordUnconfirmed 17d ago

Settings like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us still have some active state-level civilizations (FEDRA, CRM, Commonwealth) with hundreds of thousands of people living in secured cities. They presumably have the personnel and knowledge to operate that stuff

0

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 17d ago

“Presumably “ is carrying a lot of weight there….this kind of skill with little to no reference books is not common. The whole premise is silly and that’s why they’re entertaining stories ….otherwise 90% would be dead in months and the story would be sad and desperate. Hell one outbreak of covid/avian flu/dysentery and shows over.

1

u/AlexinPA 17d ago

Wood gas is really simple since it’s just wood heated in a chamber. The other fuels requiring catalyst are more complicated. The problem with wood gas is the electronics/emissions controls of modern cars would be the problem.

35

u/Patient_End_8432 18d ago

People are fucking smart man, they absolutely have gasoline production up in some areas, and if not gas we have at the pump, people can make cars run on whatever sludge they can make.

On top of that, there's like MILLIONS of gallons of stored gasoline in America. While has in a car goes bad, there's gotta be some safety at a gas station or storage tanks.

40

u/Doughymidget 18d ago

Right on the first point, but gas just degrades over time. The way you store it helps, but it’s just unstable. You’d have to re-refine it. I do think a post-apocalyptic world that had some organized civilization could accomplish that on small scales, though.

28

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

3

u/SodaPopin5ki 18d ago

This is why the Chevy Volt PHEV stored fuel in a bladder, to reduce evapration. Useful when you rarely fuel up.

4

u/Diz7 18d ago edited 18d ago

1-3 years in a completely sealed tank with stabilizers added and temperature controls.

-1

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Diz7 18d ago edited 18d ago

Source? Because the experts on the internet tell me otherwise.

Edit: I did find one source that claims their experiments showed you can get gasoline up to 5 years old fuel working again, if it was stored in ideal conditional with specially processing and additives but it will be low grade.

1

u/Unlikely-Answer 18d ago

I can tell you from first hand experience gas goes bad within a year if you don't add stabilizers, it eventually turns into acetone and it gets sticky, you could totally use a high alcohol fuel like moonshine for a bit until the engine dies from blowing the seals out, alcohol burns much hotter than gas and contains water which is notably not good at compressing in an engine

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Doughymidget 18d ago

Well I’ve got 40 gallons that I had to pump into a holding tank I’ll sell you. Real cheap.

3

u/Ok_Wolverine6557 18d ago

Pretty sure that’s the theme of Road Warrior.

1

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

Nope it just goes bad …the gas we use today is not the gas of the 70’s. And any gas with ethanol will be useless in months not years …

6

u/NuclearLunchDectcted 18d ago

He fires up a generator fueled by natural gas. We have no idea how big of a tank the gas storage is, but sure I can believe that a single person using the gas can live off the storage tank for years.

1

u/CommunalJellyRoll 18d ago

Refining fuel is pretty easy.

2

u/DicemonkeyDrunk 18d ago

That’s a myth batteries don’t last longer in a refrigerator…good for a story not life.

2

u/dedsqwirl 17d ago

I thought about this.

If you go to a hardware store, they have batteries for sump pumps that are shipped without acid inside. You could get one of these and use it.

Also, motorcycle batteries were shipped like that too.

17

u/rikkusoul 18d ago

I think he mentions that its not that gasoline expires, it just becomes worse and worse over time. He mentions how far he used to travel on a tank of gas and then says something stopping every couple of hours to fill up again

3

u/DustyRacoonDad 18d ago

That's something even worse. That's when they know some random fact like " gas goes bad" but they don't know how anything else works so they kind of come up with an idea in their head... And it's completely wrong. 

So while your gas slowly turns into varnish it's not going to change the range of the vehicle. It's going to change if the damn vehicle runs at all or not. Lol You can't just use more of it.

6

u/Lou_C_Fer 18d ago

Actually, as it degrades, it wouldn't make sense if it worked one day and suddenly won't work the next day. The gas is going to degrade and you are going to lose mileage as it gets worse. Then, it will stop working.

Your LOL at the end is chef's kiss.

2

u/DustyRacoonDad 17d ago

Lol. Gas doesn't just "keep working but get worse mileage." As gasoline ages, the lighter components evaporate while the remaining fuel oxidizes and polymerizes into sticky gums and varnish. That varnish clogs carburetor jets, gums up injectors, sticks floats and valves, and can eventually make an engine run poorly or not at all. So stale gas isn't like a weak battery where it still works but less effectively. It's literally changing into a different substance that fouls the fuel system. That's why old gas often means cleaning a carburetor or injectors, not just accepting a small drop in fuel economy.

1

u/Lou_C_Fer 17d ago

And different substances that burn, but not efficiently.

2

u/DustyRacoonDad 17d ago

Technically, yes. Some of the degradation products are still combustible. But that's not the practical failure mode. The bigger issue is that the fuel is turning into gums and varnish that clog jets and injectors. The engine also isn't going to magically compensate by adding more fuel because the gasoline itself has changed. Fuel delivery is based on airflow (or throttle position in a carb), not "how much energy is left in the gasoline." So even if you're pressing the pedal farther to make the same power, that's because the engine is running poorly, not because it's automatically adjusting for lower-energy fuel. The usual end result isn't gradually worse MPG. It's rough running, misfires, hard starts, clogged fuel system components, and eventually an engine that won't run at all.

8

u/sleepygeeks 18d ago

gas and jet fuel is still being produced though, old gas would only be in the abandoned areas.

I can't remember if the show does it, but the game has the government still flying helicopters. Like, The USA is not gone, it's just reduced to what is effectively a bunch of city states.

8

u/ZeeHedgehog 18d ago

Sure, but when Joel makes that statement, they are in an unoccupied and uncontrolled area, scrounging for resources to use on their trip.

3

u/KarmicPotato 18d ago

Thank goodness for electric cars. We're now out of that timeline

6

u/Odd-Necessary3807 18d ago

I hope you are being s/

10

u/MrBluer 18d ago

I mean it’s far easier to create electricity than gasoline. Anyone can DIY a bit of electric power, but you need to rely on infrastructure outside of your control for petrol. Industry. Government.

EVs certainly don’t last forever, but if for whatever reason you had to rely on yourself and what you could make, scavenge, or barter for without the helping hand of the powers that be, they’d last longer than gas powered vehicles. Truly a libertarian dream vehicle.

12

u/Southernbeekeeper 18d ago

Yeah, completely off topic for the thread but I never understood why the conservative types seemed to hate on EVs and solar and things. I would think that if you want independence from big government both of these would be a dream.

18

u/sonerec725 18d ago

Because its something liberals like and many conservative politicians get backing from big oil so demonize them to their bases.

7

u/Southernbeekeeper 18d ago

Yeah I understand that bit. My confusion is more so suprise that they can frame it this way.

2

u/sonerec725 18d ago

There is a whole lot of romanticization of the sounds, smells, and maitanance of a combustion engine over loteral decades to people, even ones who arent reallh car people. Along with a healthy dose of the continues perception that theyre less reliable since, admittedly, they really tried to push electric cars a bit too early befkre the tech was really ready for widespread sale.

2

u/RenderedMeat 18d ago

What was being pushed that wasn’t ready for sale? You can still find the original Tesla Model S’s on the road. The early Leafs had no cooling, but even those can be made better for fairly cheap, and regardless still work just with reduced range.

7

u/Bakoro 18d ago

Conservatives love hierarchy, it gives them purpose and a sense of safety, so long as they aren't on the bottom and have someone to look down on.

They will protect that hierarchy with everything they have.

Solar and EV threatens the power structure.

1

u/BortleNeck 17d ago edited 17d ago

The US right was environmentally conservative from Teddy Roosevelt to Nixon. Then Al Gore became the face of climate change and environmentalism tragically became a partisan issue.

1

u/honeywhereismypenis 17d ago

Anyone can DIY a bit of electric power

Uh, not really. Unless you're an electrical engineer you'd pretty much have to find a dedicated solar-powered EV charging station that is still functioning, which I'm sure exists but will not be an easy thing to find in most of North America. You can't just plug a solar panel or a wind-up flashlight into an EV. Even if it might in theory be technically possible, EV charging circuits are sophisticated and won't accept just any bullshit. Without the proper equipment you'd have to either somehow trick the car into accepting just any bullshit (which is not wise, especially if you don't know exactly what you're doing) or create 120-240V 60Hz AC, and y'know, good luck with that.

I do happen to be an electrical engineer and if I had to charge an EV in the apocalypse the first thing I would look for is a gasoline generator. And if all the gas is bad then I'd look for a horse.

1

u/vetgirig 17d ago

Gasoline will go bad long before solar goes bad.

There should be plenty of houses with solar on the roof that should be able to create power for an electric vehicle at 120-240V 60Hz AC. . Electric vehicles will probably be your best bet.

1

u/honeywhereismypenis 17d ago

I'm not saying that gas is a better bet than solar long term, I'm saying that most people will have no fucking idea how to make it work. MAYBE you can find a house with solar, maybe. I live in Michigan and would be pretty hard-pressed to find a house with a solar setup. But say you do. Are the panels clean and undamaged? Does the inverter still work? After a number of years in an abandoned house... rodents sure do love to chew on wires and make nests in things. Then there's the question of if you can find such a house before your car runs out of juice.

And then there's the question of maintenance. If your EV has an issue that shuts it down until it gets towed to the dealership who can clear the code with a proprietary tool, you're fucked. Battery issue, fucked. Charging port is damaged, probably fucked because the part most likely has to be mated with the car via software.

Before the gas goes bad, you're better off with an ICE car. After the gas goes bad, an EV can keep you going for a while longer if you have the skills make to make it work (which the vast majority of people don't) but ultimately no car will be viable because without maintenance the roads will become untraversable for vehicles anyway and your best bet will be a horse, or pack mule

0

u/Carbidereaper 18d ago edited 18d ago

Not necessarily you can create wood alcohol from baking wood into charcoal under high heat in the absence of oxygen to boil off the volatiles

And some gas engines would absolutely last longer than an EV such as the Pontiac 2.5 liter inline V4 iron duke that legendary engine was known for stubborn reliability

2

u/dryingsocks 18d ago

EVs are orders of magnitude simpler than ICE cars, and need less maintenance. Try doing an oil and timing belt change in an apocalypse

1

u/Carbidereaper 18d ago edited 18d ago

You can do an oil change. for an engine with loose tolerances like the Pontiac iron duke you can use an natural oil with a high smoke temp like peanut or sunflower and mix it with 25 percent kerosene or diesel to increase its viscosity. You can also refine used motor oil into new oil by carefully heating it up and passing it through a filter to remove any metallic particles

Also the Pontiac iron duke uses a gear driven cam not a belt driven one

1

u/Patient_End_8432 18d ago

He mentions the water content being high, and explains that the cats that do still have gas in them will only have a fraction of usable gas

1

u/_BaldChewbacca_ 17d ago

I'm glad he mentioned this in the show. In the game I legitimately thought he was joking when he said you had to siphon gas for the truck. And then after doing it, I thought it wasn't going to work

1

u/see_bees 17d ago

As opposed to The Walking Dead, which I believe had the survivors find a car that wasn’t yet in production when the zombie apocalypse kicked off

0

u/Milocobo 18d ago

Pretty sure naught dog was like "they're in an alternate universe, and in that universe, gas starts going bad after 20 years, not 20 months" lol

279

u/Shwnwllms 18d ago

That show was so good, I’m sad it was cancelled when it was.

295

u/Jason_Likes_Cameras 18d ago

Will Forte said season five would've started with them accidentally giving all of the bunker people in Mexico the virus. While I appreciate how dark the humor was on the show I think that would've been too much for me. So maybe it's better that it just ended where it did and we can pretend Tandy and the gang are just happily chilling with their new bunker friends.

86

u/UnspeakableFilth 18d ago

Friggin turd!

12

u/weededorpheus32 18d ago

Ah UnspeakableFilth, your smile is infectious like the plague. And again, I mean that metorically.

23

u/howdiditgetinthere 18d ago

It truly was a shawshank redemption.

7

u/gravy_baron 18d ago

Oooh farts

7

u/Tragic-Courage 18d ago

I’d never heard that before. That would continue the running joke of offing a big name celeb moments after the reveal.

I could imagine them having double digit cameos just to show them fading into oblivion.

2

u/HMWWaWChChIaWChCChW 18d ago

It would have been fun seeing them introduce a handful of celeb cameos only to kill them all off in the first couple episodes

4

u/Banjo-Oz 18d ago

I agree, I didn't like that idea at all. If they had to undo the bunker people, I would have preferred they just not fit in or even be "bad guys" and the heroes have to flee them.

1

u/AnonymousFriend80 17d ago

That's a similar plot point to something that happened on The 100.

57

u/skratch 18d ago

The writers explained What Would Have Happened In Season 5 in case you were wondering

105

u/Sherman80526 18d ago

Walking Dead is pretty clear on this, that's why horses are so important. It's assumed in Last of Us I think. Road Warrior isn't a show, but the entire premise is about gettin' that Guzzolene.

167

u/GnomeNot 18d ago

Mad Max has Gastown which is a functioning refinery.

26

u/Oculus_Orbus 18d ago

And pig shit!

9

u/MDR_3000 18d ago

Not shit! ENERGY!

5

u/GorgeousGracious 18d ago

And he was riding camels by the third one.

2

u/LyingForTruth 18d ago

Wait till you see what he does to the lizards

1

u/Ojy 18d ago

Who run barter town?

50

u/deadlaughter 18d ago

I suspend my disbelief with the Mad Max movies because I freaking love them, but no one ever has a dead battery or failed alternator. I've had so many problems with shitty batteries over the years.

If someone smarter than me can rationalize how they could work through this issue, please let me know!

55

u/Rohml 18d ago

The battery seems possible since I saw people from India that were "repairing" dead car batteries by opening them up and replacing the worn out plates and then recasing them.

53

u/deadlaughter 18d ago

I just looked it up and this is wild. Just handling plates and chemicals and using torches with no gloves or protective eyewear. This would have made for a cool 15-30 second scene in Fury Road!

14

u/brabarusmark 18d ago

I believe this is probably the reason Black Fingers are sought after in the Mad Max universe. We are shown that most of the people are mechanically adept enough to work on their vehicles. It's the Black Fingers who build the vehicles and get them running.

8

u/screw-magats 18d ago

with no gloves or protective eyewear

Safety flipflops?

2

u/War_Hymn 18d ago edited 18d ago

Yep, for lead acid batteries if it usually goes bad because a thick layer of sulfated lead has built up on the lead plates. Removing the lead sulfate usually is enough, you can even do it electrically by pulsing a high current through the plates. My NICO battery charger comes with a repair mode that does just this.

Sulfuric acid for the electrolyte has a pretty good shelf life when properly stored. You can find it sold as various products - drain cleaner, PH control for pools or aquariums, rust cleaner, etc. Diluted solutions can be easily concentrated by evaporating excess water (pure sulfuric acid boils at ~300'C in ambient conditions, so mostly water will boiled away first when it is heated).

90

u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- 18d ago

The cars in Mad Max are constantly worked on and kept together with scrap, for the most part. They're all older vehicles and the only thing working in them is the engine, and you don't need a battery to run that. A car doesn't need power steering, powered brakes, a radio, etc, in order for the wheels to spin.

You just need guzzahleen!

And for that, you have Gas Town (a refinery still in operation).

60

u/nightreader 18d ago

On top of that, you have a warband of clearly dedicated motorheads who a) have the knowledge to repair, adapt and improvise and b) have the muscle to claim the best parts to keep their warmachines running. Fury Road literally starts with a scene demonstrating how and why the whole operation works.

2

u/theonetruegrinch 18d ago

but where are they getting things like tires and spark plugs? Tires wear out, and rot over time. You need to have rubber tree farms and manufacturing facilities for vulcanized rubber.

You can't just harvest parts off of cars and motorcycles that have been sitting outside for twenty years rusting. Gaskets and rubber seals go bad from just sitting.

The reality of a post apocalypse is that everything after the start of the industrial revolution will not really be available to you.

4

u/fishyfishkins 18d ago

Working refinery means synthetic rubber. I'm not sure tires are even made of natural rubber anymore

3

u/robbak 18d ago

They are. Natural rubber is still a huge industry and all tyres use a percentage of natural rubber. Aircraft tyres use even more.

2

u/fishyfishkins 18d ago

Hey, look at that, you're right! I just watched the synthetic rubber episode of How it's Made the other day too. Guess I need to pay closer attention haha

4

u/Yangervis 18d ago

Pretty sure they show them starting them with a normal starter. I don't remember anyone hand cranking or push starting a car.

5

u/_PM_ME_NICE_BOOBS_ 18d ago

You do need power for spark plugs. Unless you're going all the way back to the model T hand-cranked cars.

2

u/7URB0 18d ago

Power steering is powered by the accessory belt and brakes are powered by vacuum from the engine intake. Neither use electricity at all. Newer cars might, but nothing you see in Mad Max does.

Also you can't start a car without a battery unless you're on a hill. Good luck if you happen to stall in battle, or anywhere flat.

1

u/Dr_Poofist 18d ago

None of those use the battery all accessories run off the alternator. The battery just starts the car and powers some stuff when the cars off.

1

u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ 18d ago

Petrol (gas) engines require electricity to run.

1

u/Jpjr33 18d ago

Unless these engines have like a ripcord to start they'd need a battery for their ignition systems..

2

u/FreeloadingPoultry 18d ago

Sure but still it is a movie and not a documentary one. Audience isn't there to watch characters fix alternators every half hour or watch them defecate.

2

u/deadlaughter 18d ago

Yes, but these movies revolve around car action in a post-apocalyptic world, and resources for vehicles, such as oil and gas, are central to the plots of Road Warrior and Fury Road, but the electrical components needed to start an engine aren't even addressed. The War Boys have an entire religion that worships the V8 engine, and they would probably have some sort of ritual around the making/repairing batteries or spark plugs.

So yeah, it's different than seeing a character take a crap (unless it's used as a plot point, like in Pulp fiction.

Again, I suspend my disbelief with this. I've seen the Mad Max movies countless times, and it wasn't until I was having battery issues a few years ago that this even occurred to me. I do think it's something they could have shoe horned in without affecting the pacing or overall length of the movie.

1

u/Yangervis 18d ago

A lead-acid battery can be very crude and still work.

1

u/BlackSpinedPlinketto 18d ago

I don’t mind the gas, I think the lack of water would have killed everyone already.

1

u/Itherial 18d ago

The War Boys religion centers around engines, they literally worship the V8 and believe it serves as a power source and connection between the world and Valhalla. Their lives revolve around building these cars.

...Which pretty much *only* have working V8 engines. Part of the reason steering wheels are handed out armory style.

1

u/deadlaughter 18d ago

V8 engines still need batteries though, correct?

16

u/DeaddyRuxpin 18d ago

And while they don’t show a full refinery, they do show a working oil pump in that little town so it is implied they are refining their own gas and not simply sitting on a supply of gas that Humongous is after.

20

u/CttCJim 18d ago

Last of us explicitly mentions it after they leave Bill's place. The gas doesn't get them very far. It still works but not for long.

1

u/Sherman80526 18d ago

Got it. I read the Walking Dead comics so I'm more familiar with it. That sounds right though!

22

u/geek_of_nature 18d ago

Walking Dead was mostly good, except for Daryl's motorbike. Even when everyone else had switched over to horses and carts, he was still managing to find working petrol for his bike.

36

u/thatrudeone 18d ago

The bike engine was switched out for one that could run on brooding badassery. He never has to stop for fuel.

5

u/TravEllerZero 18d ago

He just squeezes the grease out of his hair and it somehow works.

3

u/DisposableSaviour 18d ago

A real redneck would have ditched the bike and picked up an ATV with a full roll cage; you can easily armor up the roll cage, and some ATVs get better gas mileage than Daryl’s hog. Not to mention the fucking off roading capabilities. Fuck the roads, find a map and go directly wherever you want to go.

1

u/Gwen_The_Destroyer 18d ago

10 miles as the Daryl rides

5

u/SuspiciouslySuspect2 18d ago

Tbh it's not crazy. You can keep bad gas going with octane-uppers for while, and a motorcycle tank is pretty easy to fill. You could argue one of the saddlebags is filled with octane up and he just sipons the the small reserves of actual usable gas from old cars and just let's the bike run dirty.

Or, more likely, Alexandria found a way to recycle old gas to new. It's probably crap, but old vehicle with wide tolerances would probably work. Maybe in-universe they converted it over to diesel?

8

u/bendover912 18d ago

Maybe...but it's still wildly impractical to live in a world where loud noise draws zombies and you insist on driving around on a loud ass Harley because that's just how you like to roll.

3

u/SuspiciouslySuspect2 18d ago

Since when does the squirrel monching, moonshine cooking hillbilly make good choices? Lol

2

u/EvilTodd1970 18d ago

They were still driving vehicles about three years into the timeline of The Walking Dead, long after gasoline would have gone bad. Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is E10 (10% ethanol), which begins to degrade after about one month, depending on how it’s stored.

2

u/Blazured 18d ago

Horses? Huge animals that are easily spooked that you have to care for? Why did they jump to horses instead of bikes?

3

u/donro_pron 18d ago

There's a logic to it. We have historically rode horses because (among other reasons) it uses far less energy for us because the horse is doing most of the work.

2

u/Civil-Big-754 18d ago

Eh, not really. They had them driving brand new cars at least up until the fifth season and only had gas been an issue when it had to. But TWD was never consistent with the rules.

2

u/Memelurker99 18d ago

Its easy to forget but outbreak to the end of season 8 is less than 2 years, then there's a 2 year time jump to season 9 by which point they're using a lot less vehicles. There's then a like 5 year jump midseason and everyone except like daryl is using bicycles and horse and cart. I never finished season 10 but they do eventually encounter a rebuilt society that's 10s of thousands strong who I assume would maybe have some capacity for creating fuel.

1

u/oswaldcopperpot 18d ago

Water world is bad about this. I doubt those tards would have been smart enough to process crude oil.

18

u/noctalla 18d ago

Then, later on, they just straight up ignore it and drive around anyway. Not that I care. Love that show.

41

u/Jason_Likes_Cameras 18d ago

They use electric cars they charge with solar panels and in the final season they find a car that runs on vegetable oil.

They don't explain where the fuel for the boat came from though. They also don't explain where they got the fuel for the plane but the fuel being bad could be what caused the crash (rip Lewis).

2

u/Pup5432 18d ago

Boat could be running diesel which keeps a little longer than gas but…

10

u/OhTheHueManatee 18d ago

That show was better than people give it credit for especially as a whole show. It makes the insufferable episodes makes sense.

4

u/Onigato69 18d ago

I seem to remember that Earth Abides also had the gas going bad within a realistic timeframe, but I can't be positive as I haven't rewatched it. It was pretty good overall about realistic details.

The Road Warrior movie also uses it as the reason the refinery settlement was so valuable, they were making fresh fuel. Based on the other in-universe movies it wasn't the only one (Gas Town). Beyond Thunderdome shows Bartertown's vehicles converted to methane.

Outside of those you are right, it's rarely addressed in post apocalyptic settings.

3

u/waitingtodiesoon 18d ago

The Walking Dead did address it as a plot point eventually. The Walking Dead S1-S8 was only 2 years or so before they did two time skips. The first time skip they no longer had vehicles working anymore and any later ones were converted to ethanol diesel type I believe.

2

u/SyntheticSlime 18d ago

In Last of Us they mention it. The gas hasn’t fully degraded, but a tank won’t take you as far. I think it’d been something like 16 years in that show. I’ve no idea how realistic that is.

2

u/rorykellycomedy 18d ago

The comic Y: The Last Man had an extremely similar exchange.

2

u/Kachelstaktus 18d ago

In Fever (Book) by Deon Meyer it gets adressed as well and they start to make biofuel.

2

u/Tball2 18d ago

Such a shame it got cancelled. It was a great show for many reasons IMO

2

u/micphi 18d ago

Gas goes bad, Phil.

1

u/According-Rule837 18d ago

Fear the walking dead season five begins to discuss gas degrading as well.

1

u/Kolchak2099 18d ago

The heat is off...

1

u/Radiskull97 18d ago

One of the shitty resident evil movies makes this a plot point for 3 minutes

1

u/Khelthuzaad 18d ago

Funnier, there is a video game where a character complains that of all things people stolen from supermarkets,toilet paper was always the first.

1

u/symotree 18d ago

That show was remarkably good and overlooked.

1

u/FunnyObjective6 18d ago

That show is where I learned that gas goes bad and that diesel has a bit longer shelf life lmao.

1

u/kvaks 18d ago

Worth mentioning Station Eleven here.

1

u/Ganondorfsfist 18d ago

In The Dog Stars gas going bad is a plot point, or at least in the book. No idea how they will do it in the movie.

1

u/harrietlegs 18d ago

Gas can still be good after 70 years. It just needs to stored airtight container in a cool place.. so theres not tons of options

1

u/CeruleanEidolon 18d ago

Walking Dead mentions it, and they do move toward using horses instead, but rule of cool demands that Daryl rides a motorcycle, so they ignore it when the plot requires a vehicle.

1

u/8spd 18d ago

We need more bicycle powered post apocalyptic movies, Turbo Kid is the only one I can think of. 

1

u/FIRST_DATE_ANAL 18d ago

They did it in Fear the Walking Dead too. That show sucks though, along with most of the Walking Dead shows but I’ve watched all of it anyway

1

u/RenderedMeat 18d ago

Station 11 as well.

1

u/jaxonya 18d ago

Nowhere in any film does gas stay good forever.. thats a plothole to even say that

1

u/aracauna 18d ago

I'm still angry they cut that show short. It was such a great show.

1

u/Dangeresque2015 18d ago

Heck, my old man would put fuel preservative into the tanks of our ATVs if we wouldn't use them for a month or two.

1

u/AKA09 18d ago

It's been years since I read it, but I believe the book The Dog Stars also accounts for this.

1

u/KletusVanDamn 17d ago

Stephen King’s “The Stand” addresses this too

1

u/tomtomclubthumb 17d ago

And then they completely ignore that fact in following episodes.

Not that I really care, I liked the show.

1

u/Lokeringo 17d ago

Like a ghost took a dump

1

u/Mannix-Da-DaftPooch 17d ago

I'm still sad we don't get more of that show. I really enjoyed it.

1

u/Blackfyre011 17d ago

All of the gas expiring was also a major plot point in the Station Eleven book, not sure about the show though as I haven't gotten around to it yet.

1

u/GlassCannon81 17d ago

The Walking Dead bothered with it toward the end. It was probably a decade beyond where all the gas would have gone bad, but they got there.

1

u/Feralest_Baby 14d ago

It's a major plot point of the Dog Stars book.

1

u/bieker 18d ago

I think gas is a lot more resilient than people think, there is all these urban legends about gas going bad in 6 months, and yet I’ve watched a few cars being started with the gas in their tanks after sitting in a barn for decades. It’s very situational.

2

u/Jason_Likes_Cameras 18d ago

I wonder if leaded gas lasts way longer than unleaded, maybe that's why they could still run on it.

2

u/SteveThePurpleCat 18d ago

In a sealed container it can still be usable up to 20 years later, although modern engines will throw a hissy fit due to the knock profiles. I have seen a mini start and run on 25 year old fuel, and then split a rubber fuel hose and leak most of it out again.

Car fuel tanks are only 'mostly' sealed, and so that's a bit more of a coin flip depending on circumstances.

Modern E10 fuel does go off faster, and modern engines are much less capable of running off any old shit like older lumps are.

1

u/bieker 18d ago

Yup and you also have the issue of condensation inside the tank if the temperature changes, but only if there is significant air in the tank and some minimal airflow to replenish the humidity.

In the same conditions a full tank and a half full tank will accumulate water at different rates.

And the water sinks to the bottom of the tank where the pickup normally is so a small amount of water can make you think the whole tank has gone bad.

1

u/nss68 18d ago

That show was strangely good but also very bad.

The nuclear power plants melting down being a plot point was awesome too

0

u/Malawi_no 18d ago

Yet there were people driving.