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Sci-Fi Movies and 'Bad Science'
Roland Piquepaille writes "Science fiction movies can be fun, and sometimes boring, when Hollywood producers want to show us a 2 1/2 hour film when 90 minutes would be enough. But what about the 'science' behind them? BBC News says it's pretty bad in 'When sci-fi forgets the science.' For example, the metamorphosis of Bruce Banner into The Hulk, based on work of marine biologist Greg Szulgit from Hiram College, Ohio, about sea cucumbers, is qualified by himself as "really awful"." The Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics website, which we've previously mentioned, is referenced in this article, and is now freshly updated to deal with movies like The Hulk.
does this mean the flux capacitor isn't real?
Radioactive spiders do not actually change you into a buff moviestar who swings around fighting hobgoblins.
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Geeks have a special gene that won't let us keep quiet during a movie when something isn't technically correct.
My sig can beat up your sig.
OBVIOUSLY
SHOW A LITTLE EFFORT IN YOUR WORK, EDITORS!
and
ICE CREAM IS A SUMPTOUS TREAT.
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Hulk smash puny web server!
The Incredible Hulk: Not Real
Also Not Real:
The Tooth Fairy
Santa Claus
Porn
The New York Times
Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!
Gigli conjured up some matter out of my stomach and onto the theater floor.
one day working the hell known as OEM tech support, I had a customer call me claiming that AOL told him he needed to have his "modem flux capacitor" reset in order for him to get connected to the internet.
Prozac makes the voices in my head say nice things to me.
Consider this: perhaps owing to the ubiquity of space combat in the Star Wars universe, every starship contains a synthesizer system combined with radar which senses ships in the vicinity, explosions, and blaster trails, and generates a surround-sound representation of all within the cockpit, to aid the pilot in dodging and maneuvering.
This explanation makes about as much sense as any other.
Yes, 'Independence Day' was pretty much mindless enjoyment... I got as far with the 'willing suspension of disbelief thing' as
'Ok, so these aliens are invading earth pretty much for the sheer hell of it, the Fresh Prince is an ace fighter pilot, Lone Starr is the president, and they've just given Cousin Eddie control of a multi-million dollar fighter jet'
But when Jeff Goldblum plugs his Macintosh in the mothership network (good thing those aliens have compatible jacks in their spaceship control panels) and "uploads a virus" to an completely alien operating system written by a species advanced enough to have mastered interstellar travel, I'm not buying it anymore. He must have had a copy of O'Reilly's "Giger-derived Alien Scripting Language In a Nutshell" with him when he went to Area 51.
My major complaint about Star Trek was that in all that time, they still can't come up with a uniform that has to be adjusted every fucking time Picard gets up from his chair.
Things I learned by watching SCI-FI
1) When hacking into any computer system, the system will tell you that you are in by flashing "ACCESS GRANTED" or something similar in HUGE letters across your screen.
2) Any technical problem can be solved by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow (Dr. Who)
3) Any humanoid or machine that is devoid of emotion will always somehow develop emotion.
4) If you travel to a distant planet that you've never been to, (IE Dagobah) to see someone you've never met (Yoda), you will manage to land in just the right place. (Star Wars and others)
5) All planets other then Earth have just one climate type (Hoth - Ice, Tatooine - Desert, Dagobah - Swamp) (Star Wars)
6) Even if you don't have a protocol droid, you can communicate with an Alien slimeball in English, and he will understand you, and likewise you will understand his language. (Star Wars)
7) Space Ships can travel planet to planet and can easily escape gravity, and never have to worry about burning up upon reentry.
8) No matter unhumanlike your species, you will find Earth women attractive.
By reading this sig, you agree to the terms of my sig license.
There's more truth to what you're saying than I think you realize. Perhaps the reason that people don't seem to care that explosions in space make loud boomy sounds, and that computer hackers navigate networks in ridiculous VR suits, is that they've already suspended their disbilief for what is often an extremely unreal story with fantastic premises.
Like a number of people, I watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, usually with large groups of friends. Most of them are in physics, and I don't think I've watched one show all the way through without somebody making a snide comment about the dubiousness of some bit of physics, chemistry or what have you.
Physics Nerd: "That shouldn't have made such a big explosion"Me: "You're watching a tv series about that assumes the existance of vampires, demons, magic, hell dimensions, the appearance and reappearance of souls, spirits, mystic births, oracles, and a teenage-college age rich girl who has been imbued with the sacred and confusing powers to conveniently save the universe during sweeps, who's died and come back 3 times for some reason. I think your claim to the position of 'evangelist of science and reason' is hereby null and void."
*silence*
Physics Nerd: "That shouldn't have made such a big explosion"
Not to insult those who find fault with movies that are actually trying to present a realistic world to us, but most of the time it seems you guys are just trying to prove your intellect. Or something.
Seriously, go call radioshack right now and ask if they have flux capacitors in stock. They'll pause for a moment, then tell you they're out but should have more in stock in about two weeks.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
"What gets me every time is when there is, say, an explosion (ala Star Wars) in space, and it goes "Boom!"."
What gets me is when somebody walks into a shot, and you can hear music. I've watched my boss get that look in her eyes and start walking towards my cube. I never once heard the Darth Vader march.
Stupid movies shouldn't have incidental music. They should all be like the Blair Witch Project.
I couldn't figure out what Captain Picard was doing to his uniform until I saw the movie Friday. Ice Cube does the same shirt smoothing move, but afterwards says "Do I still look high?".
-B
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade