History Main / HollywoodDensity

* In ''TheLordOfTheRings'' Gollum falls into a river of lava and sinks in it as if it's barely thicker than water. It may be molten, but it's still ''rock.'' The director has said that they know that shot is all wrong in terms of science, but decided to just let the RuleOfCool reign.

* First Edition ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Advanced Dungeons and Dragons]]'' actually went too far in the ''opposite'' direction: All coins were assumed to weigh a whopping 1/10 of a pound each. This would make one Gold Piece bigger and heavier than almost any gold coin known to exist in real world history.

* In WhiteCollar a briefcase full of Krugerrands was quite easily passed around, while in reality that much gold would have weighed about a hundred pounds.

* ''TheItalianJob'' features several Mini Coopers that are packed full with gold bars, but it doesn't affect their meaneuverability or speed as they zip around Italy. The [[TheItalianJob2003 remake]] gives it a HandWave by stating that they've beefed up the shocks to accomodate the extra weight, though this wouldn't be sufficient in real life. The remake also features the plot point that the robbers identify which truck is carrying the gold based on how low it's sitting.

* Density is a plot point in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats}}'' episode "All That Glitters", with the fuel source [[{{Unobtainium}} Thundrillium]] being stated to be ''denser than gold''. Granted, the Thundercats are all pretty strong (even those whose skills ''don't'' have anything to do with power still have a ridiculous amount of musculature for someone never shown pumping iron), but for something to be that dense and still of use as anything but a permanent doorstop...

* Averted in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. Bilbo has helped the dwarfs reclaim the Lonely Mountain, and can theoretically claim 1/14th of Smaug's horde. What does he take? One chest of gold coins and one chest of silver coins. That was all he conveniently transport home with a single pack animal.

** [[LampshadeHanging A lampshade]] gets hung on this when Fry and Leela are going to have a fiddle contest with the Robot Devil where the prizes are Bender's soul and a solid gold fiddle. When Fry ([[SmartBall of all people]]) asks "Wouldn't a solid gold fiddle weigh hundreds of pounds and sound crummy?" The Robot Devil admits that it's mostly for show.

* In a case where density is exaggerated rather than underestimated, the Geico gecko recently stepped in the cement for a starlette's new Hollywood Walk-of-Fame paving square. He leaves deep tracks in the wet cement, even though such a tiny reptile shouldn't even weigh enough to dimple the surface.

** Justified in the case of Frodo's bruised neck, as the One Ring becomes a heavier burden the longer he carries it.

* The story ''{{Asterix}} and the Cauldron'', Asterix is given charge of a small cauldron that is filled to the brim with silver coins. Given the size of the cauldron, that much silver should weigh more than Asterix does. Despite that, he is able to carry the full cauldron without the aid of the magic potion.

* In ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', Film/JamesBond releases himself from a handcuff by using two gold bars as makeshift hammers. He later throws a bar through a respectable distance, hitting [[TheDragon Oddjob]] with it, but not doing any damage since the henchman is MadeOfIron. However, the film has a ActionFilmQuietDramaScene where Bond explains to Goldfinger how robbing Fort Knox, even if he killed all the troops stationed there, is impossible. Namely, gold is so heavy that the 15 billion dollars worth at the fort weighs 10,500 tons. That means Goldfinger would need sixty men to load it onto 200 trucks over a period of twelve days while the US military would find out what happened at the fort and move to stop the robbery within 2 hours. From that he concludes that Goldfinger's real plan is to use a nuclear bomb to irradiate the gold, making it unusable for decades and thus making his own gold much more valuable.

* According to [[Literature/TheBookOfMormon Mormon]] tradition, Joseph Smith discovered two plates made of solid gold on which newly-revealed scriptures had been written. He picked up both of these plates and ran off with them. Given the dimensions of the plates Smith described, they would have to weigh over a hundred pounds each.
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