10 Giant Lies Told By Movies That Will Definitely Kill You

3. Lava Is Fine, As Long As You Don't Actually Touch It

The Main Offender: Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith

Lava is a great staging device - it looks all angry and cool, and can add infinite danger to any situation. But according to the movies, as long as you don't actually touch it, you'll probably be totally fine, even if you're just wearing the pyjama-like robes of a Jedi, and not the heavy-duty spacesuit get-up that Spock wears at the start of Star Trek Into Darkness.

The Reality There are a multitude of things wrong with Revenge Of The Sith, and it perhaps might seem churlish to criticise it based on George Lucas' ignorance of science (especially in the context of the rest of the filmic universe he created,) but staging a climactic battle on a lava river for dramatic effect means you have to acknowledge the actual threat of that lava. Lava is hot. Like, really hot.

As with all fire, it's not just a matter of touching the actual source that leads to burns, because the air (and smoke) created above the fire can be just as hot and dangerous as the flame itself. And if cooking for extended periods makes you uncomfortable, imagine the effect of being anywhere near some lava, which is usually around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Discomfort isn't really the right word - in actuality, coming close to lava will melt you. You will burst into flame, there's no diluting the fact.