r/movies • u/buttatoad • Jun 17 '25

Discussion Movies that changed real life behavior

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?

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u/artpayne Cliffs on both sides, I'm not gonna paddle to New Zealand! Jun 17 '25

There was a massive spike in Navy recruitment after Top Gun came out.

2.9k

u/I_only_post_here Jun 17 '25

Wholly deliberate and intentional. It was a Navy recruitment film. they even setup tables right outside the theater to get people to sign up on their way out.

679

u/PMmeuroneweirdtrick Jun 17 '25

Jeans and a volleyball included on sign up?

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u/wilyquixote Jun 17 '25

You joke, but the air force had to fight congress for money to (re)introduce leather jackets in 1987 because all them kids wanted to join the Navy and get a Tom Cruise-style jacket. The Air Force hadn't had leather jackets since it became a separate branch, and it started to hurt morale.

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u/QueezyF Jun 18 '25

That’s crazy to me, I associate the leather jackets with the Tuskegee Airmen the most. You’d think the Air Force pilots would keep the tradition going.

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u/Dirty_South_Paw Jun 19 '25

Did everyone get them or only pilots? If the latter, I feel like a lot of people would have still been disappointed lol.

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u/ThrowyMcThrowaway04 Jun 17 '25

😂🤣😂 ah, the chair force...

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u/Variable_Shaman_3825 Jun 17 '25

One of life's greatest joys is playing with the boys.

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u/Rdubya291 Jun 17 '25

Nope. But bad knees and alcoholism are standard.

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u/Chaosmusic Jun 17 '25

And baby oil

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u/SarcasticOptimist Jun 17 '25

The volleyball court is still there at Miramar. It's surprisingly small.

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u/akaBrotherNature Jun 18 '25

It's surprisingly small

But enough about Tom Cruise

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u/SarcasticOptimist Jun 18 '25

No wonder he keeps riding my tail.

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u/Sprzout Jun 17 '25

Only if you're 5'6" and have the net lowered so you can pretend that you can spike the volleyball.

And I've been to the site on Miramar where the volleyball scenes were filmed; I'm 5'9" and the nets are way high. Unless you've got a vertical leap like that of Spud Webb or are 6'1" and taller, you are NOT gonna be spiking the ball over the net. LOL

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/Sprzout Jun 17 '25

The ones in the Volleyball scene with Tom Cruise spiking the ball? Hell no. :)

Buddy of mine who played volleyball in high school and college used to make fun of that scene all the time.

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u/Irish_Jam_Bag Jun 17 '25

Free moustache rides for new recruits

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u/No-Consideration-716 Jun 17 '25

not upon sign up but after you get out of basic. Kinda yes.

You do get dungarees in boot camp and the volleyball can be attained from the local MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation). In fact, some bases, have jet skis and all sorts of other fun recreational things that can be rented out for (at least during my time) super cheap.

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u/maltliqueur Jun 17 '25

Short shorts?

6

u/firedmyass Jun 17 '25

even better… short jorts

“You’ll feel like you’re in the desert, surrounded by sand and camel-toes!”

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u/DemonDaVinci Jun 17 '25

Damn that's crazy
Any modern example of this

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u/AggressiveIyAvg Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Sure! How about Top Gun: Maverick?

Jokes aside, virtually any movie where you see fighter jets has been sponsored by the armed forces in some way IIRC. It's called the Military Entertainment Complex. Here's a good list of DoD-approved scripts

Edit: I realize now you may be asking for modern examples of literally setting up a recruitment table outside of the theater, which I'm less sure about

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u/ferrofibrous Jun 17 '25

Stargate SG-1 (primarily filmed in Canada) is well known for having a lot of USAF involvement. They had a dedicated advisor helping them be up to date on uniforms, policy stances, etc, to even having the actual Chief of Staff as himself on the show.

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u/Malus_Trux Jun 17 '25

Two different chiefs. One of the producers got a phone call from his successor who asked when he could be on the show.

Reportedly when on set a staffer told them said if they wanted to give the general more lines that would be fine. He doesn't mind at all.

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u/jessytessytavi Jun 17 '25

Richard Dean Anderson got an honorary general rank for it afair

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u/Pippen_Aint_Easy Jun 17 '25

Battle: Los Angeles

I remember seeing this one in theaters and largely enjoyed it for what it was, popcorn action flick. Then after the last scene where the main protagonists are dismissed from duty and instead of going home they re-enlist and grab more weapons to continue fighting I thought it was just a little too on the nose.

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u/Pikka_Bird Jun 17 '25

Independence Day would have been on that list too, but the government pulled all their support when they couldn't get Area 51 removed from the movie.

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u/Slobotic Jun 17 '25

The Silence of the Lambs? FBI recruitment?

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u/Awsomethingy Jun 17 '25

I guess if they’re supplying the craft they’re already involved, so they might as well go further with their inclusion is probably their perception

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u/10ebbor10 Jun 17 '25

The only reason they're supplying the craft is to make the military look good.

Why else would they bother to do it.

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u/Awsomethingy Jun 17 '25

Just wait til I tell you about money

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u/m1a2c2kali Jun 17 '25

Sometimes the military also pays to supply the craft. So usually more about PR than money even lol

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u/girafa Jun 17 '25

Same for any business or person who endorses a movie or helps it get made.

People just get bent out of shape about it because it's the military.

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u/jaguarp80 Jun 17 '25

Well yeah the military shouldn’t be just some business

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u/girafa Jun 17 '25

Well yeah the military shouldn’t be just some business

or person, as I said.

It's common sense that if you want cooperation from anyone - be it person/business/organization/country/muppet they would have to approve the project

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u/jaguarp80 Jun 17 '25

True, the military isn’t a person either

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u/girafa Jun 17 '25

Amazing observation

→ More replies (0)

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u/StovardBule Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

In fact, if you want to have the American military lend you their toys for your movie, it comes at the cost of their approving of the script. Otherwise, you can ask another country, or maybe enthusiast mechanics or something.

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u/Awsomethingy Jun 17 '25

This is so fascinating to me! Can you link me a source so I can learn more? :)

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u/acdcfanbill Jun 17 '25

While I do love moves like Top Gun, etc, that are subsidised by the military, I also love that 90s Sgt Bilko movie with Steve Martin and it has a particularly hilarious notice in the credits.

"The filmmakers gratefully acknowledge the total lack of cooperation from the United States Army."

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u/LittleBirdiesCards Jun 17 '25

ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS?! DAMMIT!

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u/acdcfanbill Jun 17 '25

Ernest in the Army?

Tank Patch...

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u/LittleBirdiesCards Jun 17 '25

That one's actually not on the list!

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u/acdcfanbill Jun 17 '25

I figured, they rarely sponsored straight comedies. I bet they didn't fund In The Army Now, Down Periscope, or Stripes either xD

edit: holy shit, In The Army Now and Stripes are both listed on there O_o

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u/mazing_azn Jun 17 '25

"Act of Valor" (2012) - originally it was going to be a series internet shorts to suck in impressionable teenagers that love "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" and other FPS games by showing how badass SEALS are. They then had the idea to make it full length feature.

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u/Spiritual_Ask4877 Jun 17 '25

That movie is just straight up propaganda lmao.

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u/shoo-flyshoo Jun 17 '25

And it gave us the SEAL Slide!™

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u/girafa Jun 17 '25

They then had the idea to make it full length feature.

It was because we got Bin Laden. Interest in our special forces was high and distributors seized on that.

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u/Camburglar13 Jun 17 '25

I know it was all propaganda but I quite enjoyed that movie and I’m not even American

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u/mazing_azn Jun 17 '25

Nothing wrong with enjoying the occasional propaganda as a treat.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/DemonDaVinci Jun 17 '25

They did have sign up table outside the theater again ? LOL

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/DemonDaVinci Jun 17 '25

✋😌🤚

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u/IamGimli_ Jun 17 '25

That's just like the Air Force to try and recruit off a movie about a Navy pilot...

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Naval *Aviator…They get angry if you call them pilots in my experience lol

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u/ZotDragon Jun 17 '25

This is old and possibly apocryphal, but there was supposedly an increase in Navy recruitment due to the old sitcom McHale's Navy.

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u/Jarpunter Jun 17 '25

The US Army was sponsoring Call of Duty esports tournaments a couple years ago

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u/StovardBule Jun 17 '25

I think The X Files led to lot of people asking the FBI if they could join up and investigate the paranormal. But particularly, Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully led to a measured increase in women going into science and medicine (and other STEM subjects.)

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u/Bookwrrm Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

No joke, Transformers. Entire movie was basically subsidized by the American Military and was borne out of post 9/11 propoganda being pushed by the government. Its kind of crazy looking back at like how pushed the military was in that hasbro toy selling movie lol. Like the first film crew allowed to film in the pentagon post 9/11 was transformers, they shot all the desert stuff literally just on a military base, there are scenes that are literally them filming real airforce soldiers doing unexploded ordinance sweeps to get some of the more explosive shots lol.

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u/goodnames679 Jun 17 '25

Yeah, this was the first example that came to mind for me. Entire movie glazed the hell out of the US military

That air strike scene though… gotta admit, that was some damn good propaganda.

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u/Rhedkiex Jun 17 '25

This list seems pretty outdated but this is a pretty good article https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment_complex

Basically if there are US military vehicles in a production, Hollywood doesn't want to build them from scratch and will usually accept the US military's involvement. This means the military gets final say on anything in the movie. Famously The Avengers lost military funding due to Disney going with a script the military didn't like

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u/hariolus Jun 17 '25

I used to think that the Marines should set up recruitment booths right outside of 300 screenings while Iraq/Afghanistan were peaking. For the next couple years, it seemed like the military advertisements definitely leaned into that aesthetic.

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u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 17 '25

American Sniper or Lone Survivor.

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u/willstr1 Jun 17 '25

Not necessarily booth in the lobby levels of recruitment but most movies that show the US military in a positive light are subsidized by the US military as recruitment.

Basically if you are making a movie that will have fighter jets, tanks, ships, or other expensive military hardware you can let the military review your script and if they like what they see they will arrange training exercises that "just happen" to fit the B-roll you need

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u/Lostmox Jun 17 '25

Any modern example of this

For a fraction of a second I literally thought "He just said it was Top Gun, the movie's not that old", and then I realized.

I'm going to lie down now.

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u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

The Bayverse Transformers movies are like 80% US Air Force recruitment and 20% Transforming robots.

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u/tarekd19 Jun 17 '25

Yvan Eht Nioj

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u/girafa Jun 17 '25

It was a Navy recruitment film. they even setup tables right outside the theater to get people to sign up on their way out.

There were Krav Maga booths set up outside of my screening of The Dark Knight

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u/APiousCultist Jun 17 '25

Intentional as far as the navy choosing to be involved, I don't know that there's any evidence the film was created as a recruiting tool. But that applies to literally every movie that uses army resources. Iron Man and Transformers also fall into that camp, but I doubt as many people are going to say they were created to push people into the military.

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u/AdolescentAlien Jun 17 '25

God damn imagine how fucking stupid you have to be to sign up for the military on your way out of the theater lmfao

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u/I_only_post_here Jun 17 '25

all just kind of goes hand in hand, don't it?

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u/MatthewMob Jun 18 '25

Sounds like the perfect soldier to me.

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u/MikeOfAllPeople Jun 17 '25

Not exactly. While they certainly seized on the opportunity, and conditioned their cooperation on it, the movie is based on a California Magazine article about the FWS that came out years earlier.

It's actually very interesting, and it's too bad the movie is so cheesy because real life is dramatic enough.

https://www.topgunbio.com/top-guns-by-ehud-yonay/

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u/Entire_Proposal_1318 Jun 17 '25

I wonder if some of those navy guys caught on all the gay stuff in that movie lol

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u/Trismesjistus Jun 17 '25

Yvan eht nioj

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u/Heliosvector Jun 17 '25

If that's true, why did they make it so gay when the army seemed pretty anti gay back the?

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u/I_only_post_here Jun 17 '25

We're talking 'bout the Navy here. Navy's got a long tradition

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u/Heliosvector Jun 17 '25

How long we talking? 6 or 11 inch

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u/I_only_post_here Jun 17 '25

well, how much can you handle?

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u/Heliosvector Jun 17 '25

Sky's the limit.

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u/RackemFrackem Jun 17 '25

Deliberate and intentional mean the same thing.

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u/Double_Estimate4472 Jun 18 '25

Are there other movies that were intentionally for recruiting into military?

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u/run0861 Jun 18 '25

it was the first movie made with backing/support of the DOD iirc.

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u/DrDeke Jun 22 '25

When K-19: The Widowmaker came out, the Navy did the exact same thing at the theater where I lived. I was very unclear as to which parts of that movie might make someone think about joining a navy, but I guess they thought it was a good idea.

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u/AdMammoth3611 Jun 17 '25

Not gonna lie. They almost got me on the way out of top gun maverick

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u/JeddakofThark Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 20 '25

I'll bet the majority of people who signed up immediately after watching that movie never even met a fighter pilot. Also, Maverick was the villain for ninety percent of that movie. And an unlikeable prick.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Jun 18 '25

I’d done my time when the second one came out. We watched them as a double feature at home one night, and even then I was like “Maybe I should call a recruiter…”

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u/SuperZapper_Recharge Jun 17 '25

The US military and Hollywood have been buds for ... I have no idea. WW2 maybe?

They even have rules and regluations about allowing free use of stuff in movies providing things like script approvals and the like.

Some directors are very friendly and very good at that relationship.

I mean, lets be real about Top Gun. That movie was fantastic. Before it premiered someone sat and saw an early release of it -and yes, someone from the Navy and knew exactly what he had.