The MythBusters The MythBusters

MythBusters Special 7: Hollywood on Trial

Premier Date: May 5, 2005

Bullets will spark when ricocheting off other objects.

partly confirmed

After several tries and mistakes, they manage to make it work. With a photo of Adam and Jamie as target, Kari shot a bullet at it, while Grant shoots the paint balls and Tory watches them spark. Extremely improbable, but it can be done.

The aluminum paint used on actor Jack Haley while portraying the Tin Man in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz caused an adverse reaction that hospitalized him.

busted

Kari survived her aluminum paint session just like Jamie survived his gold paint session when testing the Goldfinger myth. The myth is true, but not as told. Actor Buddy Ebsen (better known later from The Beverly Hillbillies) was originally cast in the role of the Tin Man. Ebsen suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction and was hospitalized for two weeks after inhaling aluminum powder from an experimental aluminum makeup. After the aluminum makeup incident, Ebsen was replaced by actor Jack Haley and the makeup was replaced by an aluminum paint. Haley went on to complete his role as the Tin Man without suffering any serious health issues.

It is possible for a medium-to-large build man to bust through a wooden doorframe on his own power.

plausible

Using only his shoulder, Jamie was able to break through three of the four locks installed on the doorframe the Build Team constructed that met the American Building Code standards. The only reason the fourth lock did not break was because the Build Team used stronger screws to anchor it into the frame than what came with the actual lock. Adam attempted to break the fourth lock but slipped on a mat in front of the door and fell on his back instead. Still, considering that Jamie got so far by simply shoulder-ramming, a determined individual could easily break through.

It is possible to be thrown through a glass window and walk away without a scratch just like in Hollywood movies.

partly busted

While it is possible to fly through an 1/8th inch glass pane with little or no injuries, ¼ inch glass is thick enough to inflict significant lacerations on a body, should one be thrown through it. In Hollywood, a breakaway faux-glass substance called sugar glass is used in stunts requiring an actor to be thrown through a window. Sugar glass does not fracture into sharp fragments like real glass does and does not injure stunt performers.

It is possible to ignite a pool of gasoline using only a cigarette.

partly plausible

A cigarette has the potential to light a pool of gasoline but just doesn’t have enough sustained heat. Gas ignites between 500 °F and 540 °F, the cigarette at its hottest was between 450 °F and 500 °F but only when it was actually being smoked. An ignition is very improbable.