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Favorite Film Scientists?
theodp asks: "From Rotwang in Fritz Lang's Metropolis to Wallace the Engineer in last year's Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Slate notes that scientists have long been a staple of the movies. So who are some of the more memorable scientist characters from your movie-going?"
..Cristopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy.
The gift of death metal does not smile on the good looking.
The guy from Back to the Future without a doubt. They can safely archive this discussion right now, I think.
Dr. Strangelove of course
Doc Brown:
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit."
Let's hear another scientist top that quote.
Tom Cruise... oh wait... Scientist. Nevermind.
Jeff Goldblum, no contest.
A blog about stuff.
Of course, the real heros are engineers.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
Dr Strangelove, of course. Although he was more of a 'political' scientist... "Mein Furher! I can walk!"
Dr Buckaroo Banzai and his arch nemesis Dr Emilio Lizardo
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
Dr. Peter Venkman
Dr. Raymond Stantz
Dr. Egon Spengler
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
Dr Bunsen's assistant. They must have appeared in at least one of the muppet movies.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Definitely Kate Beckinsale as the brilliant nymphomaniac physicist who can't willingly keep her clothes on in... oh wait, that's my fantasy ... Probably make one hell of a movie though.
Okay then, I guess it's gotta be Doctor Emmett Brown and his sidekick, Dr. Delorian.
"09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0"
Why? For one of my favorite lines in all of film: "Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."
See, like a true scientist, even when a epic global disaster is about to take place in front of him and his death is imminent, he says something coherent and explanatory. He even apologizes!
mahlen
Samantha Carter
[Insert pithy quote here]
who knew archeology was so dramatic?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Mr. Spock, science officer of the USS Enterprise.
His objectivity, intellect, and curiosity made him the quintessential scientist.
(Okay, he's mostly a TV character, but he appeared in his share of movies.)
Favorite Mad Scientist?
Winner: Dr. Evil
Favorite Scientist?
Winner: Einstein
The problem with the way scientists are depicted in movies is that they are Hollywood stereotypes. They know little or nothing about what science really is. An exception is Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) in Contact. I cannot think of any other movies that depict scientists as people who love science - real science, not the glamorous or nefarious hobby that it is for Hollywood.
This is one of my favorite engineer exchanges in movies, from "No Way Out," 1987, with Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, and Sean Young. A computer is crunching away at a bad photograph which when enhanced will incorrectly incriminate Costner in the death of Sean Young's character. He estimates that he has only a few hours to find the true killer before the photo is legible. The following exchange takes place. (Compare and contrast this with absolutely every other movie and TV show in which a photograph can be zoomed indefinitely by simply clicking on the interesting part, or can be immediately enhanced by the geek of the day with only a few key strokes (never a mouse) upon directions from a superior such as, "Can you make it clearer?")
- What do you want me to do?
- Slow up the resolution on that picture.
I need more time, Sam. I need more time to get this straightened out.
That's what I need.
I'm not satisfied with the way this is coming up. The eigenvalue is off.
Looks all right to me.
We're pulling away from our reference information. Program a Fourier transform.
- That seems like a waste of time.
- Just do what I want, OK?
+1
Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?
first place for me would be:
Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
(played by Keifer Sutherland in Dark City)
Honorable mentions would be:
Dr. Evil & Dr. Stranglove
They were about to reveal it to the world. You don't want to tell the world that you PLAN on making one, as then the other countries will bomb you back to the stone age to make sure you don't make it.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
I humbly submit:
Hell, you could probably take half a dozen other quotes from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Of course, Real Genius had some great lines too.
Not Dr. Frank-n-furter? Or the rival scientist Dr. Scott?
-os
The professor from Gilligan's Island. When I was a kid, that's what a scientist was like.
He knew nearly everything except how to get them off the island. He was a social misfit, still everyone respected him because of his high intelligence.
Hump? What hump?
...
...
Wow! What knockers!
So which brain did you get?
Abby.
Abby who?
Abby normal.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper; one of the most realistic scientists I've seen portrayed in film.
"I keep hoping for an epiphany... but all I seem to get are conundrums."
Jeff Goldblum is my favorite movie psychic, not scientist. Although I would like to hire his Independence Day character to be in charge of our Mac installers at work.
As far as movie scientists are concerned, I always liked that group of scientists in Brainstorm (which I haven't seen in a long time). I've worked in real labs of several different sorts, and those guys still look like the real deal. Unlike most Hollywood "science" movies, which force their scientist characters into Frankenstein-inspired cliches, there were a few common mistakes that Brainstorm avoided with its scientist characters:
- No one scientist who works in isolation. This was a team of at least 3 scientists, like you'd find in real life. The two team leads who were the primary researchers shared credit equally as far as the film was concerned. The project was their baby.
- No "mad" scientist. Although one of them was played by Christopher Walken. Louise Fletcher's character I think was better written. She was the one who smoked if I'm remembering correctly. Movie scientists are usually too smart to smoke. They've done research or something and found that it's bad for you.
- Intense personal relationships. Walken's character was having marital problems. That's very strange for a movie scientist, who usually remains single to avoid confusing audiences who do not view scientists are normal human beings. (If he has any family members at all, their purpose in the script is to be props- they will be in close proximity to a volcano or bomb or something, so as to establish that the amoral movie scientist has "something to care about".) Not only does this guy use his machine to rejuvenate his marriage and make things better between him and his wife, people in the lab immediately discover the new technology's potential for porn. Good call on that one!
- Problems with upper management. They had a boss who was trying to militarize their whole project, and IIRC they had to cooperate to keep their funding. Most "movie scientists" either require no visible source of funding, or can just rely on their own personal wealth to buy all the Jacob's ladders and other mad-looking items they need for their lab. (Or they have the scientist running an entire company, like Eldon Tyrell. As a CEO scientist, Tyrell naturally has plenty of time to spend with local city policemen as they give Voight-Kampff tests to his employees.) As far as militarization of scientific work is concerned, most movie scientists are amoral and don't care. In the movies, scientists are completely amoral unless they are saving the world that day- and they're probably only doing it because their wife or kid is too close to a volcano or bomb.
Having said all that, I have to admit that in general the characters in Brainstorm are not very well developed because the movie is trying too hard to impress you with its technology. In 1983 it looked pretty impressive- these people had a system where you could dial in over an acoustic modem and have a tape robot play terabits of personal experience directly into your head! As far as text went, their terminal software looked like the setup I had in 1983. But even for 1983 they made reasonable guesses. I always remember that scene where they finally demo the technology and have some sort of hub with a dozen ribbon cables coming out of it connected to everyone's heads.
Bill Murray from ghostbusters. Favorite line.
"Back off man, I'm a scientist"
evil is as evil does
I mean practically the whole script is mad scientist-y, a few of the classics...
Winston Zeddemore: Hey, wait a minute. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hold it. Now, are we actually gonna go before a federal judge, and tell him that some moldy Babylonian God is going to drop in on Central Park West, and start tearing up the city?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Sumerian, not Babylonian.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah. Big difference.
Winston Zeddemore: No offense, guys, but I've gotta get my own lawyer.
Dr Ray Stantz: You know, it just occurred to me that we really haven't had a successful test of this equipment.
Dr. Egon Spengler: I blame myself.
Dr. Peter Venkman: So do I.
Dr Ray Stantz: Well, no sense in worrying about it now.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why worry? Each one of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.
Dana Barrett: You know, you don't act like a scientist.
Dr. Peter Venkman: They're usually pretty stiff.
Dana Barrett: You're more like a game show host.
Dana Barrett: Are you the Keymaster?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Not that I know of.
[She slams the door in his face. Venkman knocks again]
Dana Barrett: Are you the Keymaster?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes. Actually I'm a friend of his, he asked me to meet him here.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What do you think, Egon?
Dr. Egon Spengler: I think this building should be condemned. There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone.
Dr Ray Stantz: Hey. Does this pole still work?
[slides down a fireman's pole]
Dr Ray Stantz: Wow. This place is great. When can we move in? You gotta try this pole. I'm gonna get my stuff. Hey. We should stay here. Tonight. Sleep here. You know, to try it out.
[Venkman looks at Spengler. Spengler slowly shakes his head. Venkman turns to the real estate agent]
Dr. Peter Venkman: I think we'll take it.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon... what've you got left?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?
Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.
Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad?"
Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Dr Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.
Dr. Egon Spengler: Oh good, you're here!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah, what have you got?
Dr. Egon Spengler: This is big, Peter, this is very big. There is definitely something here.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that one?
Dr. Egon Spengler: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.
What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.