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Improbable Cover

 Improbable Cover
type
FeatureClass
 Improbable Cover
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover
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ImprobableCover
 Improbable Cover
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The rule of Improbable Cover states: Explosions in movies can't see you if you sidestep behind a wall or jump behind a table.
Of course, as the Mythbusters showed, this can be Truth in Television. The shockwave produced by explosions is one of their most dangerous elements as it can cause significant internal damage. Even a flimsy barrier can potentially blunt the shockwave's power enough to avoid outright fatal injuries. At the same time there is no guarantee that the barrier will do enough or prevent death due to flames and shrapnel.
Sister trope of Concealment Equals Cover. Also see Bulletproof Human Shield. Contrast Outrun the Fireball.
 Improbable Cover
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2023-10-29T05:14:49Z
 Improbable Cover
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2023-10-29T05:14:49Z
 Improbable Cover
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Dropped link to ArtificialBrilliance: Not an Item - FEATURE
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 Improbable Cover / int_110d4471
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_110d4471
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Predator and Predator 2. In the first film, Dutch lives through a small nuclear explosion at close range because he ducked behind some cover. In the second film Lieutenant Harrigan survives the exhaust blast of a Predator ship taking off by doing the same thing.
 Improbable Cover / int_110d4471
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Improbable Cover / int_110d4471
 Improbable Cover / int_22f49cdf
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_22f49cdf
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In the Castle two-parter "Tick, Tick, Tick..." and "Boom!", Beckett survives her apartment being blown up by diving into her bathtub just as the bomb went off. More justified in this case since her tub is one of those old cast iron jobs.
 Improbable Cover / int_22f49cdf
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Improbable Cover / int_22f49cdf
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_33dd1d90
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The AI of Half-Life 2 takes a page from The Ravenous Blugbatter Beast of Traal; if you can't see it, it can't see you. This means a paint can counts as cover.
 Improbable Cover / int_33dd1d90
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 Improbable Cover / int_33dd1d90
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Improbable Cover / int_33dd1d90
 Improbable Cover / int_4cc06582
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_4cc06582
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In Hot Fuzz a massive explosion that takes out a whole building is survived by the people inside it. They do this by hiding behind some old sofas. This is "explained" in the extras.
 Improbable Cover / int_4cc06582
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Improbable Cover / int_4cc06582
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Improbable Cover
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Tokumei Sentai Go Busters: Ryuji uses a table in #1 to block a bullet attack from the Monster of the Week. Said monster has an arm that can cut through a car with no effort.
 Improbable Cover / int_6ad694c5
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Improbable Cover / int_6ad694c5
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Improbable Cover
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In the Die Hard, series, this happens multiple times.
In the first film, McClane builds a homemade bomb and tosses it down an elevator shaft. When it goes off, a blast of fire shoots upward toward him. He survives by stepping to the side of the door.
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Improbable Cover
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In the first season finale of The Walking Dead, Dale and Andrea survive the explosion of the CDC by flattening themselves against a pile of sandbags.
 Improbable Cover / int_73a9c933
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Improbable Cover / int_73a9c933
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Improbable Cover
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The Day After Tomorrow: They outrun an oncoming ice storm, and escape it by closing a door.
 Improbable Cover / int_7777a79c
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 The Day After Tomorrow
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Improbable Cover / int_7777a79c
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_7988cb68
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Mass Effect:
True of most "heavy" weapons, including rocket launchers, anti-materiel rifles, and grenades: all of them are stopped by the flimsiest of cover. However, in Mass Effect 3, enemies have learned to throw grenades behind your cover — and you can return the favor by grabbing a heavy sniper rifle and sniping enemies through cover.
In Mass Effect 3, one mission involves traversing the maintenance tunnels along side an enormous spaceship-sized railgun. Each time it fires, an intense electric shockwave pulses down the tunnel. Luckily you can avoid all damage kneeling behind anything waist-high, when in reality just touching anything metallic (i.e. everything there) would be enough to kill you.
 Improbable Cover / int_7988cb68
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Improbable Cover / int_7988cb68
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Improbable Cover
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Subverted, in Tremors 2: Aftershocks, when Earl tosses a bomb in an attempt to kill the Shriekers, it lands in the bed of a truck packed with explosives. When the others hide behind a nearby building, Burt shouts at them to "Keep running!". They look at Earl, who replies "Burt knows his bombs". After quite a bit more running, they find a ditch, which, combined with the distance, provides sufficient cover. In the subsequent explosion, the aforementioned building is indeed blasted to bits along with the rest of the base.
 Improbable Cover / int_9ba382b
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 Tremors 2: Aftershocks
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Improbable Cover / int_9ba382b
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Improbable Cover
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Independence Day: Jasmine, her son and the dog hiding in a maintenance room inside the tunnel could be plausible... if not for the door that remains open with a wall of fire running through and somehow not entering the room.
 Improbable Cover / int_a40b1126
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 Independence Day
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Improbable Cover / int_a40b1126
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Improbable Cover
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Wonder Woman: In "Mind Stealers from Outer Space", the aliens demolish the building that Wonder Woman and Andros are inside of. The next scene, they're climbing out of the rubble with bonus points for the dirt forcefield clearly in display.
 Improbable Cover / int_ad20e006
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 Wonder Woman (1975)
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Improbable Cover / int_ad20e006
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Improbable Cover
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Barefoot Gen, Gen survives the detonation of the nuclear bomb simply because there was a wall between him and it. The people around him were not so lucky. Even more terrifying because it actually happened....
 Improbable Cover / int_c9fea0c4
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Improbable Cover / int_c9fea0c4
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Improbable Cover
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In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indy survives a nuke by hiding in a refrigerator. The (explicitly labeled) lead lining excuses him not getting radiation poisoning, but everything else...
 Improbable Cover / int_f16adb7
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 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
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Improbable Cover / int_f16adb7
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Improbable Cover
 Improbable Cover / int_f8bb2cc8
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In Double Team, the heroes hide behind a coke machine and survive despite roaring walls of flame on either side. Possibly a moment of genre-savvy.
 Improbable Cover / int_f8bb2cc8
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Improbable Cover / int_f8bb2cc8

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Improbable Cover
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Action/Adventure Tropes
 Improbable Cover
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Military and Warfare Tropes
 Improbable Cover
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Spectacle
 Dante's Peak / int_d79a579f
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Improbable Cover
 Die Hard / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Double Team / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Hot Fuzz / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Independence Day / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Predator / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 The Day After Tomorrow / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Tremors 2: Aftershocks / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Predator (Franchise) / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 HAT Films (Lets Play)
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Improbable Cover
 Barefoot Gen (Manga) / int_d79a579f
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Improbable Cover
 Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Wonder Woman (1975) / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover
 Half-Life 2 (Video Game) / int_d79a579f
type
Improbable Cover