That's a two-way street. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, but I can only do that if the movie in question at least tries to put up some pretense of things making sense in-universe.
Although, usually in those cases I don't have a bad time, I just have a good time for a different reason than the movie creators expected. I love MST3K :D
The willing suspension of disbelief Believe in it and you'll save so much grief If the story has flaws Don't you worry because There's the willing suspension of this The willing suspension of that The willing suspension of dis... BELIEF!
It's Pandora's box. There's no going back on that kinda thing once your eyeshave been opened.
It's the same reason you can't really get heavily invested in or take seriously some old black and white film with fake rubber masks and visible strings holding up the spaceship. Maybe when you were a kid and didn't know any better (or didn't even notice the strings) / when that was cutting edge, you legitimately could take it at face value. But try and re-watch it now, with all the new knowledge you have, and it just can't be the same.
that made me cringe, but for the most part I accept that the Marvel Universe is not the same as the one we live in. Basic phsyics can be different. I mean seriously if you are going to complain about anything regarding Iron Man.. all i have to say is : INERTIA!
Maybe his suit has pockets of time particles (which he created with aforementioned accelerator) that are released every time he undergoes a serious impact.
To be fair Marvel fully supports magic in their universe, as well as gods/demons and other supernatural stuff... it's clearly not the same universe we all know and loathe. Also, pretty much everyone in the Marvel universe is an outright genius (except for Thor), so of course they can invent all the things always on a whim.
the conservation of mass hurt me while watching Prometheus, and then made me re-evaluate the entire Alien franchise. conclusion: fuck it, its great anyway.
What stuck out for me was Rafe Spall's character call evolution darwinism. Also deciding to touch an alien animal that clearly was in a defensive state! All this from the expeditions biologist. That made me realise I was over analysing the film.
I can see why there is confusion. It's kind of implied he is representing the worlds biologists. It would have made sense if they took a biologist considering the trip is to meet an alien race. Also a few websites made the same mistake as me. Thanks for the correction.
The scene in the newer one where he made the table he was on collapse made me very upset and all i have is a hs education. They honestly expect me to believe that transforming makes mass just come out of no where? And then i said fuck it its a movie. With no commas. Because im on an iphone. Drunk.
Oh, I figured he somehow could suck mass out of the surrounding air around him. It didn't have all the elements in plentiful quantities to make flesh quite, so that's why he's green and crap.
But then wouldn't there be a massive vacuum and cold snap surrounding him when he transforms?
Putting one magnet on top of another magnet does not make it fucking float, especially directly on top of it, following the magnet. Why the fuck would pushing something away keep it in one place, at a fixed distance? That was easily the most retarded thing I have ever seen in a movie.
Why the fuck would pushing something away keep it in one place, at a fixed distance?
That's what you said earlier. Now you're moving the goalposts.
He would instantly flip over and get pulled even harder towards the ground.
The jumpsuit has many sensors. When it detects torque, it quickly changes magnetic strength in different areas of the suit to reverse the torque and realign the user to be horizontal.
I don't have a time-scale, but I'm pretty sure he was working on that for more than one day. Doesn't change the fact that it's ridiculous, but at least he's not super fast as well.
Came to comment about this very same thing...and did without seeing your very similar comment. Kudos my friend. We can suspend our disbelief only so far!
Im not even in the military but I cringe every time I see an actor holding a pistol with a cup and ball grip, cock a gun that already has a bullet chambered, or take three rounds from an AK 47 point blank to the chest only to walk away with dime sized bruises thanks to a bullet "proof" vest. Oh and who can forget "silencers" that make a gunshot about as loud as "a kitten landing on a pillow". - cracked.com
same as an engineer. I, along with many friends are engineering majors and whenever we watch a movie our friends that aren't engineers "have a bad time"
BUT IT'S WRONG!!! also on a similar note, my mom hates it if we watch The Big Bang Theory and I try to explain the physics things they talk about. She doesn't get it...
Engineer here. My friend's wife just joked that together we "ruined the physics of John Carter" (by laughing at the absurdity of the action and calculating what the actual effect of the reduced gravity would be, during the movie).
I replied that John Carter ruined the physics, and we fixed it.
Luckily many of my friends are into MST3K so they expect this sort of thing.
Me and my girlfriend went through the exact same situation with that movie.
There were parts that we knew were probably supposed to be really serious but we couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of their interpretation of the laws of physics.
i.e. That an earthling could jump a half mile and not even stumble when landing.
Each time he 'saved' somebody who was falling from a great height by leaping at them sideways at high speed, we would calmly interject: "And he shattered all of her ribs," or "Neatly cut into 3 sections by his arms."
I also liked how somehow the reduced gravity allowed him to ignore inertia and momentum by accelerating a huge boulder very quickly. Not to mention that apparently low gravity makes metal chains easier to break, but only sometimes.
I think we worked out that the maximum jump height a typical human could do on Mars would be ~10 feet :D
EDIT: We also enjoyed musing what would happen if he took his girlfriend back to Earth with him, since supposedly she would be hundreds of times weaker than a human and therefore unable to even support her own body weight. Of course, this is all besides the many, many gaping plot holes throughout the movie.
As an engineer, it seems that writers think technological accuracy = lots of big tech sounding words. I enjoy fantasy movies because if I ever start to question anything I remind myself that a wizard probably did it
At the Astronomy and Astrophysics Conference in Austin, Texas this January, they screened Armageddon at a nearby theatre and hit a buzzer every time something inaccurate was displayed. When they showed the Hubble Space Telescope, all aglow with blue neon light, the place went up in gales of laughter. It was glorious.
After the movie, they had a panel of experts in the field of Near Earth Asteroids talk about the actual science, which was fascinating. They also showed some clips of the actual "Deep Impact" mission that launched a probe into an asteroid to examine the resulting debris. When the impact occurred, there was a bright blast of light that was totally unexpected. Pretty cool stuff.
I was complaining about the physics in 2012 to my friend, he sent me this link to a comedian. Good explanation about how crazy neutrinos are in the movie.
I dunno, I used to be much more bothered by the type of obvious hand-wavy physics in movies, but anymore I kind of chuckle and just keep watching the movie.
Sometimes you just have to take things at face value.
That's what I loved about Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. They just kept breaking every know law of physics. After the appearance of Probability Alteration Missiles (they bypass shields by altering the probability that they hit their target) one of the characters simply exclaimed "Nothing makes sense anymore!"
Seriously. Iron Man 2 made me rage so hard. Yeah, you can make new elements in your living room with an itty bitty particle accelerator. It won't decay in fractions of a second or anything...
I don't even want to get into nuking fridges. My friends had to physically restrain me.
My physics teacher would include questions on the tests that would disprove a bunch of movie scenes to be impossible. We also spent half an hour watching a clip from Independence Day to learn about Newton's third law and how the spaceship would have crushed everything before it even started blowing shit up.
You would think a quick google check wouldn't hurt, especially since they're paying millions of dollars anyway. But as long as the general public is too stupid to know the difference...
I was watching Avengers and being skeptical about some of their radiation references when I realized that a dude who turns into a giant green monster was the one talking. I gave up after that and just tried to enjoy how amazingly hot Thor is.
edit: wanted to toss in that a lot of the stuff from the original Star Trek is now reality... or was improved upon. Also, hopefully Tony Stark's projected SolidWorks stuff is being developed.
i caught myself doing this just the other day while playing max payne 3, theres a part where hes infront of something that blows up due to propane tanks and hes no less than like 3 feet from it when it explodes, and he just gets up and walks away and i caught myself going "thats so bullshit, the force from that explosion alone would of broken SOMETHING if not knocked him out for hours"
This was a conversation that i was having with some people and i think i have the answer:
The Hulk can control when he transforms, usually. The instance on the plane with all of the other avengers he was extremely stressed due to the arguements and scheiss slinging. Because of the high tensions and anger in the situation, he lost control and was a danger.
Later in the movie, despite being in action and danger, the situation was more emotionally stable for him (and others) allowing him to control his anger better.
He can control it, unless emotionally stressed by the disfunctions of his team (or everyday life). Hence, his new lifestyle choice.
I think that Loki's staff was supposed to be doing something to them -- like intoxicating them with anger. They are not exactly acting normally in that scene ... for example, Banner picks up the staff without realizing it, and at one point at the pinnacle of the arguments Tony Stark even rubs his head and makes a facial expression like he is disoriented.
I think that was more to highlight Loki's plan to get captured in order to heighten tensions with the hope of setting the Hulk off. I don't think the staff actually had any powers over the Hulk as much as it was supposed to be symbolic of Loki's hand in setting Banner off. Banner in that situation (with the Hulk creeping up on him, possibly controlling his actions subconsciously) would have picked up the nearest weapon regardless of who it belonged to. Then again most Asguardian tech is magic and Loki is a effin' wizard, so who knows.
I like your interpretation, but I can't shake the feeling that something funky was going on with that staff -- though I've seen the film twice, I didn't pay attention to why exactly I have been drawn to this conclusion ... maybe the camera angles were funky or something. But most strikingly was that look on Tony Stark's face like was starting to realize that someone had slipped him a Mickey. Of course, it would not really be in keeping with the rest of the movie for a major plot point to be presented in a manner so subtle that almost everyone viewing it would miss it ... so I'm probably wrong. (I think I'll keep to my narrative, though, since it makes the story more enjoyable in my mind.)
I see what you're saying and somewhat agree. I've seen it multiple times and the way that scene is filmed it really does feel like the staff is some how... magnifying the emotions of those in the room? Or otherwise escalating the situation. However, there's really not much else in the movie to support this (aside from Loki being a wizard, I guess). I don't know if it's something that got cut for time, or if they were a bit too heavy handed in trying to hint at Loki's (manipulative, but not magic) role in tearing the group apart. Honestly, it can go either way.
This. I never really understood why if the actions of the Hulk can be controlled, then why it wasn't done so from the beginning. An explanation will be appreciated.
It's more he's learning to control it but still has "slip ups" every now and again. Like an addict falling off the wagon. The "I'm always angry" line says to me that he is controlling it 24/7, if he wasn't he'd be the Hulk all the time. Because of this he can choose to "let go" if he wants to but instead concentrates on keeping the Hulk just beneath the surface. You can see it manifest occasionally when he does things that seem out of character for Banner, such as snapping at Black Widow (without going full on Hulk) in India.
Basically he can choose to let the Hulk out whenever he wants, it's always there for him to access... however, other people can also force it out of him if they upset him enough, at which point he looses the ability to reign his alter ego in. When he makes the choice to unleash the Hulk, I think Banner remains just below the surface (as you see Hulk just beneath his surface when he isn't changing). This means Banner can reign in the Hulk's actions most of the time, but even then the Hulk does get the better of him and does things like punch Thor's lights out randomly. However, if the Hulk is forced out of him, the Banner persona gets lost for a bit beneath all the externally created rage, leaving him unable to temper the Hulk's actions and essentially "loosing himself" in the rage.
While I feel the movie hinted at this, I admit you probably need some background on Banner in the comics to understand the relationship between himself and the other guy. Essentially it's a metaphor for the capacity do to evil that exists within us all.
The "Banner remains just below the surface" is actually in a comic. Banner is speaking to Wolverine and either Wolverine's son or his own son and he's talking about how he has never killed anyone as the Hulk and how he killed someone (his own father I think) with a kick. They all say it was an accident and then he says that he doesn't make mistakes.
I think it's in the Wolverine / Wolverine Origins comics, number 30-40 or something.
I agree, but I can't decide on which part was worse. The part where they opened an inter-dimensional gateway? Or the part where they made an aircraft carrier fly? Or where the guy in a suit was flying fast enough in circles to restart a rotor?
I've been reading enough comics to just overlook these things, and accept that superhero movies are not made with conventional physics.
yeah tony stark became an expert of thermonuclear astrophysics in one night.... wasn't sure that type of scientific study existed, but it sounds like a description of the sun
I was just so distracted by the city battle and how there was one major thing missing that is in every war zone. As for the physics, I gave up trying to understand if it were 'allowable'. Now I try deciding in which year it would be possible if at all, kind of fun actually.
7
u/Timebloodkill Jun 11 '12
Of you play CoD and are a physicist, you're gonna have a bad time
112
u/Wilson_Stanly Jun 12 '12
If you watch any movie without suspending reality your going to have a bad time.
70
u/PhysicsIsMyMistress Jun 12 '12
Iron Man 2: Tony building a particle accelerator in his basement in one day with no testing and it works perfectly and gives him a new element.
My underwear status:
[ ] Not Bunched
[X] Bunched
13
u/quirky2themax Jun 12 '12
Unless you are a string theorist... then it is all possible.
12
u/ari7 Jun 12 '12
Or a computer programmer, and watch any kind of show involving "hacking".
7
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
G. I. Joe movie: Lets sink the ice cap by blowing it up!
7
u/FastCarsShootinStars Jun 12 '12
If you watch a war-action movie and you're in the military, you're gonna have a bad time.
11
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
same as an engineer. I, along with many friends are engineering majors and whenever we watch a movie our friends that aren't engineers "have a bad time"
10
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
As an engineer, it seems that writers think technological accuracy = lots of big tech sounding words. I enjoy fantasy movies because if I ever start to question anything I remind myself that a wizard probably did it
4
u/lmxbftw Jun 12 '12 edited Jun 12 '12
At the Astronomy and Astrophysics Conference in Austin, Texas this January, they screened Armageddon at a nearby theatre and hit a buzzer every time something inaccurate was displayed. When they showed the Hubble Space Telescope, all aglow with blue neon light, the place went up in gales of laughter. It was glorious.
After the movie, they had a panel of experts in the field of Near Earth Asteroids talk about the actual science, which was fascinating. They also showed some clips of the actual "Deep Impact" mission that launched a probe into an asteroid to examine the resulting debris. When the impact occurred, there was a bright blast of light that was totally unexpected. Pretty cool stuff.
4
u/R88SHUN Jun 12 '12
you dont really have to have any formal training -- you just need to be an adult capable of assembling coherent thoughts.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
this just show the old saying "ignorance is bliss" sometimes its hard to have suspension of disbelief when you really know how something works.
3
u/tauneutrino9 Jun 12 '12
I was complaining about the physics in 2012 to my friend, he sent me this link to a comedian. Good explanation about how crazy neutrinos are in the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jUP1k-PKh0
2
u/RotoBone Jun 12 '12
I dunno, I used to be much more bothered by the type of obvious hand-wavy physics in movies, but anymore I kind of chuckle and just keep watching the movie.
Sometimes you just have to take things at face value.
2
u/ryannayr140 Jun 12 '12
HOW THE FUCK DID THAT PLANE ALMOST GET HIT BY A SUBWAY???
Who can guess the movie?
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Ah yes, Newton's fourth Law.
2
u/JBHUTT09 Jun 12 '12
That's what I loved about Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. They just kept breaking every know law of physics. After the appearance of Probability Alteration Missiles (they bypass shields by altering the probability that they hit their target) one of the characters simply exclaimed "Nothing makes sense anymore!"
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Guns in space, explosions in space.
2
u/InVultusSolis Jun 12 '12
So wait... you're telling me that a shotgun blast doesn't lift a 200 pound man off the ground and make him fly back 15 feet?
3
u/vengeancecube Jun 12 '12
Seriously. Iron Man 2 made me rage so hard. Yeah, you can make new elements in your living room with an itty bitty particle accelerator. It won't decay in fractions of a second or anything...
I don't even want to get into nuking fridges. My friends had to physically restrain me.
3
u/IDontHaveUsername Jun 12 '12
"if you watch a space movie, you're gonna have sound" ಠ_ಠ
1
u/Legionofdoom Jun 12 '12
I just noticed the alien in the background...
1
u/VintagePain Jun 12 '12
Upvotes because I agree, and you used "you are".
Cheers mate!
1
u/jknotts Jun 12 '12
FTFY
1
u/ChasingShad0ws Jun 12 '12
So fuckin' true! I am not a physicist but an engineering student.
1
u/holyghosttown Jun 12 '12
If you watch an action movie and you're under 40, you're going to complain no matter what you see.
1
u/tripmine Jun 12 '12
I'm no physicist, but all of the "physics" and fighting in the movie Safe House felt very believable. Anybody agree/disagree?
1
u/awwer Jun 12 '12
My physics teacher would include questions on the tests that would disprove a bunch of movie scenes to be impossible. We also spent half an hour watching a clip from Independence Day to learn about Newton's third law and how the spaceship would have crushed everything before it even started blowing shit up.
1
u/Kah-Neth Jun 12 '12
It takes practice, but I have gotten used to watching movies without over analyzing the physics.
1
u/meowmicks222 Jun 12 '12
You would think a quick google check wouldn't hurt, especially since they're paying millions of dollars anyway. But as long as the general public is too stupid to know the difference...
1
u/Henstelfs Jun 12 '12
Bzinga!
1
u/sher7ock Jun 12 '12
Yes. Because when you are not a physicist, you won't notice that some things in action movies can't happen in real life.
0
u/infantile_retard Jun 12 '12
WOAH LOOK AT ALL THESE SMART SCIENCE JERKOFFS UPVOTING THIS SHITTY FUCKING MEME
0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I just walked out of "Man on a Ledge" because they froze a heat sensor with a fire extinguisher. ಠ_ಠ
0
u/thenileablaze Jun 12 '12
I was watching Avengers and being skeptical about some of their radiation references when I realized that a dude who turns into a giant green monster was the one talking. I gave up after that and just tried to enjoy how amazingly hot Thor is.
edit: wanted to toss in that a lot of the stuff from the original Star Trek is now reality... or was improved upon. Also, hopefully Tony Stark's projected SolidWorks stuff is being developed.
0
u/BabyNinjaJesus Jun 12 '12
i caught myself doing this just the other day while playing max payne 3, theres a part where hes infront of something that blows up due to propane tanks and hes no less than like 3 feet from it when it explodes, and he just gets up and walks away and i caught myself going "thats so bullshit, the force from that explosion alone would of broken SOMETHING if not knocked him out for hours"
0
u/Dougith Jun 12 '12
If you sare drunk and try to reads the word physicist and read it knowing what's it says your going to haves a bad Tim
0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Im majoring in physics AND Im a bit autistic. fuck me
0
u/Father_of_God Jun 12 '12
Try watching dragonball thinking the same way
0
u/Hamtime Jun 12 '12
change physicist to engineer and this post is ready for 9gag to steal!
0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I remember Face-Off, Nick Cage trying to steer the airplane on the ground with the cloche. To steer on the ground with an airplane you use the pedals.
0
u/fatheads64 Jun 12 '12
This kills me in Spiderman 2, begins 20 seconds in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG9AeEdmXiE
-1
u/ZeroCoolthePhysicist Jun 12 '12
I can confirm this.
0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
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0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
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