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Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:26 pm
by Lighthawk
The site

A rather interesting site for those of us who enjoy considering the science behind the things we see in movies, whether done well or poorly.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 1:43 am
by Captain Picard's Hair
One of the less obvious examples comes from Independence Day; the mother ship wouldn't need to expend any effort to eradicate the human infestation from Earth since the output from her engines which would have been needed to slow such a massive ship would have by itself devastated the Earth's surface!

Some things, particularly the well-known issue of sound in space, is just a necessary 'error' for the sake of movie drama; try to imagine Star Wars without the space "sounds" and it simply doesn't work.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:39 am
by kostmayer
Sound in space is just one of those things you accept in a movie, like humanoid aliens who speak English. Though BSG did a pretty good job of showing battles in space without sound.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 12:49 pm
by Mikey
nBSG was also one of the only shows/movies to show a more accurate (if not entirely accurate) conception of maneuverability in space.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:57 pm
by stitch626
One reason I loved Firefly from the beginning was the lack of sound in the first episode. It made the nerd in me smile.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:12 pm
by Sionnach Glic
kostmayer wrote:Sound in space is just one of those things you accept in a movie, like humanoid aliens who speak English. Though BSG did a pretty good job of showing battles in space without sound.
nBSG did have sound in space. It was just muffled as though it was taking place underwater. Which I thought was a nice compromise.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:19 pm
by Sonic Glitch
Sionnach Glic wrote:
kostmayer wrote:Sound in space is just one of those things you accept in a movie, like humanoid aliens who speak English. Though BSG did a pretty good job of showing battles in space without sound.
nBSG did have sound in space. It was just muffled as though it was taking place underwater. Which I thought was a nice compromise.
I suspect test audiences didn't like the lack of sound. And wouldn't you still here things in the cockpit due to: 1. The cockpit being pressurized, and 2. Sound being transmitted by vibrations through the viper/ship frame itself?

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:29 pm
by Lazar
Well, you would only hear sounds coming from within your own ship.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:32 pm
by Sonic Glitch
Lazar wrote:Well, you would only hear sounds coming from within your own ship.
That's what I meant. Guess I didn't make that clear.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:40 pm
by Sionnach Glic
Aye, but you wouldn't hear things like ships exploding, or rocketing past you.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:58 pm
by Tsukiyumi
You'd hear it if something impacted your hull.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:48 pm
by IanKennedy
It was B5 that first showed silent space battles. Any noises you heard there where part of the music.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:49 pm
by Reliant121
In its early series it did, but the SFX later developed to show weapon sounds. I've spent god knows how long watching them since christmas :lol:

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:32 am
by kostmayer
IanKennedy wrote:It was B5 that first showed silent space battles. Any noises you heard there where part of the music.
The ships behaved a little more like ships in space would as well, rather then flying round like aircraft.

Re: Insultingly stupid movie physics

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:38 am
by Reliant121
I've always been fond of starfury dogfights because of that.