Dave the Producer: You know what movie I really liked? Go on, guess. No, not that. The Core! It was great. Funny, exciting, nice characters, some good visuals... There was only one thing that bothered me, the science. How can something so realistic ever be interesting! We need to go wild. John, go out and find a movie script with a more unscientific premise than The Core.
John the Assistant: I'm sorry, Dave. I don't think I can do that.
Dave: What do you mean, you can't do that!
John: I don't think a movie can be more unscientific than The Core. The core of an entire planet stopped spinning because of some bombs. You can argue back and forth about biology and chemistry, but angular momentum is angular momentum and it doesn't just go away. And then they jump started it.
John edit:<:/b> You can make things withstand a few thousand degrees of temperature, but the pressure is a million times an atmosphere. *rock* doesn't stand up to that.
Dave: OK. We need something an order of magnitude order of magnitudes more amazing! Forget fire-retardant materials. Let them invent a device to resist millions of degrees, enough to rip the electrons from anything that's actually an element rather than a neutron star. Let them invent a device to effect an energy converter a million times bigger than the whole earth, that relies on laws of physics so basic it can only be broken by physically dismantling it. THAT's what the audience wants.
John ...
Dave: THE CORE OF THE SUN HAS STOPPED SPINNING!
John Ok. Right. Do you mind if I hire someone to make it artistic and thrilling?
Dave: Sure, whatever.
Notes
I just had to get this off my chest. Actually it's quite misleading. The core was quite an enjoyable film, and the science, while superficially ridiculous, stemmed from the right feelings and dealt with the right things. The premise was just very hard to get past. (Though Jules Verne got away with it!)
I saw the Sunshine trailer, and was seized upon to write this. In actual facts, reports claim the film is good, typical Danny Boyle, and the science isn't a problem.
John the Assistant: I'm sorry, Dave. I don't think I can do that.
Dave: What do you mean, you can't do that!
John: I don't think a movie can be more unscientific than The Core. The core of an entire planet stopped spinning because of some bombs. You can argue back and forth about biology and chemistry, but angular momentum is angular momentum and it doesn't just go away. And then they jump started it.
John edit:<:/b> You can make things withstand a few thousand degrees of temperature, but the pressure is a million times an atmosphere. *rock* doesn't stand up to that.
Dave: OK. We need something an order of magnitude order of magnitudes more amazing! Forget fire-retardant materials. Let them invent a device to resist millions of degrees, enough to rip the electrons from anything that's actually an element rather than a neutron star. Let them invent a device to effect an energy converter a million times bigger than the whole earth, that relies on laws of physics so basic it can only be broken by physically dismantling it. THAT's what the audience wants.
John ...
Dave: THE CORE OF THE SUN HAS STOPPED SPINNING!
John Ok. Right. Do you mind if I hire someone to make it artistic and thrilling?
Dave: Sure, whatever.
Notes
I just had to get this off my chest. Actually it's quite misleading. The core was quite an enjoyable film, and the science, while superficially ridiculous, stemmed from the right feelings and dealt with the right things. The premise was just very hard to get past. (Though Jules Verne got away with it!)
I saw the Sunshine trailer, and was seized upon to write this. In actual facts, reports claim the film is good, typical Danny Boyle, and the science isn't a problem.