From Jonathan Crow:
If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn't explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis/Jackie Chan/Will Smith would most likely be in a coma after getting kicked in the head. Some movies, though, put science front and center in the story and more often than not the science proves to be head-slappingly bad. Here are some of the worst offenders.
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Chad notes, in response to PZ's rather absurd assertion that biology is the only Dumped Upon science, and that physics is so well treated in movies and TV, that "Most of the SF movies I see are lucky if they can get Newton's Laws right, let alone any of the finer points of astrophysics."
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Still no word on when the commenting issues will be resolved. Hopefully soon. But I did want to poke my head up long enough to warn you away from seeing Ridley Scott's Alien prequel, Prometheus. Really, really bad. This one's going to be on a lot of ten worst lists at the end of the year.
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I go back and forth about the whole question of scientific accuracy in tv shows and movies. On the one hand, I think that complaining "Explosions don't make noise in space!" is one of the worst forms of humorless dorkitude, and I'm generally happy to let bad science slide by in the service of an…
Let's not forget all those movies from the 1950's where radiation made you grow up big and strong...
I'm slightly disappointed not to see a mention for Earthstorm - possibly the worst science (and acting, and writing) in a movie ever. They literally got everything wrong.
I'm no physicist, but I saw Sunshine with a bunch of them and I'm a little surprised not to see it on the list.
Where's Volcano? I'd nail that for bad science before complaining about Jurassic Park.
On that list I am tempted to grant Total Recall a pass for the same reason The Matrix gets one for most of its physics-bending.
Total Recall has the standing question of "is this really happening, or it it just Quaid's fake vacation?" If it's just the 'ego trip', then there are no issues with physics because it isn't really happening.
The Ten Commandments. Oh? What? It's not science? Well, don't tell that to the cdesignproponetists...
I saw that last night and also thought they could have put worse movies in. Of course then I also saw they had a list of the top 10 historically inaccurate movies, they put 2001: A Space Odyssey on the list. That's when I realized the site really has no clue.
Total Recall and The Core were the only ones I was able to finish. Given how drunk I was for The Core, I guess I might have been able to finish some of the others if I'd had enough alcohol. However, I claim I did in no case get up and leave due to the shoddy science. After all, I sat through 8 Star Trek movies, all of the original Battlestar Glactica episodes, and dozens of Dr. Who episodes.
So, Sheril, now that we know girls are not disadvantaged at math, how about the proposition that they are equally unable to discern reality for fantasy as are the teen age boys who take them on dates to see this dumb stuff.
At least we have found one good thing to have come out of No Child Left Behind.