system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it in movies a guy will snap another guy's neck and he will die instantly?

Does this happen in real life? What exactly are the causes of death?
gpt
Neck snaps are particularly useful in film because they require little to no special effects work. Just have the actor turn their head, dub in a cracking sound, and you are done. It looks better than the terrible "judo chop" used previously.

Breaking your neck could be lethal in reality, but it would be terrible difficult or impossible to do by hand on an unwilling target. The cause of death would likely be from spinal cord damage stopping breathing or something similarly traumatic.