favourite bad science in movies

[ydoaPs]

i like how all of the aliens(except for two in startrek, iirc) breath the same air we do.

[j_p]

Among mine are the fact that all aliens species are basically humanoid in appearance ...

Invalid; science fiction has long accepted the premise of parallel evolution; the humanoid form is universal because it is the 'best'. After all' date=' there are instances on earth of species with similar appearance evolving independently.

 

... and the fact that humans can arrive at a planet that we have never been on before and beam down, breath the air and seem to be immune to whatever bugs and diseases that have evolved there.

 

Um, we don't beam down to plantets without breathable air, that's all.

 

And do you really want to clutter up the movies with all the necessary medical treatments? After all, if faster than light travel is possible, general innoculations against the types of diseases likely to evolve on any planet with breathable atmosphere would be easy enough.

[towjyt]

Invalid; science fiction has long accepted the premise of parallel evolution; the humanoid form is universal because it is the 'best'. After all' date=' there are instances on earth of species with similar appearance evolving independently.

.[/quote']

 

And how many of these species can we procreate with?

[ydoaPs]

i like how you can see lasers. i guess space must be filled with a gas that isn't visible, yet still makes laser light visible.

[PhDP]

Invalid; science fiction has long accepted the premise of parallel evolution; the humanoid form is universal because it is the 'best'. After all, there are instances on earth of species with similar appearance evolving independently.

 

The idea that the "human model" is the "best" is quite ridiculous, and it's an incredibly arrogant in a world dominated by insects and arthropods... There's a limit to convergence and It's more like an excuse for a lack of imagination... or of $$$ (probably a little of both).

[alt_f13]

Star Trek humanoids were all "seeded from the same DNA." I don't know what that does about breeding, but it explains the appearance (i guess).

 

And ST: Enterprise sufficiently explains why all the aliens can understand each other.

 

It's the random sciency jibberish that gets me, common words that sound technological when put together like "phase inducer" and "flux emitter."

 

WTF are those supposed to be anyway?

 

[edit]

ST uses an electronic universal translator, though I think Klingons are supposed to be able to speak English fine (for the non-trekkie nitpickers on the forum.)

[PhDP]

Well that's a better justification

[alt_f13]

Interestingly enough, in Star Wars II, the lightning comes before the thunder on the water planet scenes. It was great for effect, though it might have been the only bit of (apparently) accurate science actually used in the whole film. Funny how that works.

[Hellbender]

Every time a soemone gets hit, kicked, elbowed, kneed or slammed in the face in movies, they never seem to get knocked out. Maybe if all action movie heroes were professional boxers I could see this, but I have been hit in the face, and it really messes you up. Also, people punching/kicking through safety-glass windshields is kinda hard to believe as well.

[j_p]

And how many of these species can we procreate with?

As many as are necessary for the plot.

[towjyt]

As many as are necessary for the plot.

 

That seems to be the case.

 

Another one that you don't see so much anymore is getting into a gun fight in a saloon and using a table top for cover.

 

Those old 44/40s and 45 Long Colt slugs would have pierced that table top like it was newspaper.

[Phi for All]

It's not really bad science, but the bullets/tabletop example reminds me of one of Hollywood's favorite conventions, that professionally trained guards, presumably hired for their marksmanship skills, are unable to hit the hero with a clipfull of bullets/lasers, even when he is holding still for his close-up.

 

A knife thrown from as much as 30 feet away, on the other hand, always seems to hit the hero, albeit in the arm or leg only.

[atinymonkey]

that professionally trained guards' date=' presumably hired for their marksmanship skills, are unable to hit the hero with a clipfull of bullets/lasers, even when he is holding still for his close-up.

[/quote']

 

Presumably they are hired for their ability to make a silencer on a gun only issue a weak 'phfft' sound, rather than the large bang it should actually produce. It's quite a skill.

[mmalluck]

I beg to differ. With the right editing' date=' it's really rather ominous and mesmerizing to move from the inside of the ship with all the sounds of crew, klaxons and engine throb, to the outside of the ship where you watch the missiles strike silently as the ship explodes without a sound, and the only flame is extinguished as soon as the available oxygen is burned up.

 

It's all a matter of contrasts. Using silence to counterpoint sound is like using shadow to offset light.[/quote']

 

I see you're a fan of Stanly Cubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". If you haven't seen the movie I suggest you do.

 

If they ever released a sound track it would be something like this:

1. Opening Theme (Also Sprach Zarathustra)

2. The Blue Danube

3. Remainder of the disk feeled with breathing sounds.

 

Don't get me wrong, it really is a good movie, it's just a little hard to get through sometimes. I watched all 3 hours of it with a friend late one evening ( I own the disk) and after watching the movie we found that regular TV was hard to watch. It was too bright, loud, and flashy. The movie had the same effect as sitting in a sensory depravation chamber. Kind of funny actually.

[the tree]

Ammunition that never ever runs out. Such as the phasers in Star-Trek or the guns that Will Smith uses in IRobot. Talking of IRobot, that silver goo that came out of the injured robot, what was it?