On Mythbusters Episode 206 ("Breaking Bad Special") the Mythbusters team experimented with various acids and tested their ability to dissolve meat.
They achieved the best results with a mixture of 70% Sulfuric Acid and 30% of another chemical which they only referred to as "Special Sauce" during the episode to prevent people from recreating their experiments.
Adam Savage revealed in a much later interview that it was Sulfuric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide. This mixture is known as Piranha Solution and is extremely good at dissolving organic matter.
They then filled a tub with the solution and tried to dissolve a pig carcass with it. They performed that experiment on a controlled outdoor set in the desert.
What you would expect from Movie Acid:
- It succesfully dissolved the pig carcass within 5 minutes. All that remained of it was some black sludge. Definitely very impressive.
What you would not expect from Movie Acid:
- The chemical is a clear liquid which looks quite harmless when in a suitable container with nothing to dissolve. No weird colors, no bubbling, no glowing in the dark.
- The experiment created a huge amount of smoke (which was likely very toxic)
- The tub boiled over and spread acid all around. It was quite a mess.
- The acid did almost no damage to fiberglass or wood.
- (not mentioned in the episode) The solution can not be stored for prolonged amounts of time. It must be freshly prepared whenever you want to dispose of a red shirt or mook.