GIANT MONSTERS AND ALIENS!!!!!
Apologies for any regular readers who have come along, things have been crazy this summer, and that's really my best excuse. I have a sweater pattern that I need to go back and write because the sweater is super-duper cozy and snuggly, and I've taken up cross-stitch, and have a couple nerd-tastic samples already mostly completed, so more on those once they are web-picture ready!
So my inspiration for today's post was my reaction to seeing the amazing movie, Pacific Rim. (Don't worry, nothing here will reveal any spoilers beyond the basic premise of the movie. I hate spoilers, and refuse to add to them!)
First, I had so much fun watching that movie. It was totally amazing and fun and hilarious. I am constantly in awe of Guillermo del Toro's magnificently warped mind and the way that he can create such imaginative monsters. While the kaiju are both traditional in their size and fierceness, the shapes they take and the faces (particularly the mouths) are so unique and yet it seems that they are the only logical way for such creatures to be so terrifying. This is the same guy from Pan's Labyrinth and the Hell Boy series (some of my all time favorites). He has an imagination that runs wild and in entirely unexpected directions.
Also Ron Perlman is hilarious. If you go to see it, be sure to stay all the way to the end (it's not a Marvel picture, but there's a golden nugget before the credits).
I love over-the-top action movies and sci-fi, so it didn't take a great deal of convincing to get me to go see this (and I love having a geek movie buddy). And there is always a certain suspension of disbelief when it comes to these films for many reasons (including awful dialogue, ridiculous premises, the idea that not only can alien races travel to the Earth, but that they would also take an interest, most of the actors/actresses' bodies, etc.). This movie, however, beyond that initial suspension of disbelief really irked me on a couple points of physics. I will here acknowledge that I am by no means a physicist, and that I barely made it through high school physics (though I blame an inept instructor).
1 - The choice of an upright, bipedal robot in incredibly and horribly inefficient at moving around quickly. By comparison, the kaiju take many forms, have all kinds of limb types and functions, and are generally more capable of moving in 3 dimensions. (Luckily, humans are determined and have something tangible to fight for, so that always helps. And unless this is your first ever sci-fi movie, you already know that will be worked in.)
2 - Even if we take the upright bipedal mobility as given, they shouldn't be moved around in the warehouse in that upright form! In the film, the giant robot shells are moved around in an upright position on giant rolling platforms. This means that for these highly top-heavy robots (since they are built on the male ideal on steroids with oversize shoulders and chest), there is a constant danger of them tipping over and crushing hundreds of workers. Something more like a ready crouch would be much more effective for transportation, provide a lower center of gravity, protect workers, and still look incredibly bad-ass.
3 - There is a scene of city destruction where either a kaiju or a robot's fist crashes through an office building and stops just short of a desk with a Newton's Cradle. When the giant fist just ever so softly taps the cradle, it starts to do its tapping swing (like the first few seconds of this video). And no, it's not a spoiler to say that there is urban battling, since that's already in all of the trailers. I would argue that in reality, if an external object imparted a horizontal force on the cradle, it would not do the typical tapping that makes us love Newton and his cradle. I believe that it would instead actually act on the frame first, since that is the portion that is on the furthest edge--not the ball, the frame would move horizontally, which would pull all the balls equally horizontally, and make them all swing together with no tapping. I know that this wouldn't look nearly as cute on screen, but it just angers me.
Overall review: Awesome (but keep any hopes for character development and witty dialogue to an absolute minimum). If you like sci-fi, if you like action, if you like silliness, you'll probably enjoy this movie. There were definitely some scenes where my buddy and I were laughing violently where I'd doubt that Mr. Del Toro actually intended it. Still incredibly enjoyable, if entirely ridiculous. And the special effects are really incredible.
So my inspiration for today's post was my reaction to seeing the amazing movie, Pacific Rim. (Don't worry, nothing here will reveal any spoilers beyond the basic premise of the movie. I hate spoilers, and refuse to add to them!)
First, I had so much fun watching that movie. It was totally amazing and fun and hilarious. I am constantly in awe of Guillermo del Toro's magnificently warped mind and the way that he can create such imaginative monsters. While the kaiju are both traditional in their size and fierceness, the shapes they take and the faces (particularly the mouths) are so unique and yet it seems that they are the only logical way for such creatures to be so terrifying. This is the same guy from Pan's Labyrinth and the Hell Boy series (some of my all time favorites). He has an imagination that runs wild and in entirely unexpected directions.
Also Ron Perlman is hilarious. If you go to see it, be sure to stay all the way to the end (it's not a Marvel picture, but there's a golden nugget before the credits).
I love over-the-top action movies and sci-fi, so it didn't take a great deal of convincing to get me to go see this (and I love having a geek movie buddy). And there is always a certain suspension of disbelief when it comes to these films for many reasons (including awful dialogue, ridiculous premises, the idea that not only can alien races travel to the Earth, but that they would also take an interest, most of the actors/actresses' bodies, etc.). This movie, however, beyond that initial suspension of disbelief really irked me on a couple points of physics. I will here acknowledge that I am by no means a physicist, and that I barely made it through high school physics (though I blame an inept instructor).
1 - The choice of an upright, bipedal robot in incredibly and horribly inefficient at moving around quickly. By comparison, the kaiju take many forms, have all kinds of limb types and functions, and are generally more capable of moving in 3 dimensions. (Luckily, humans are determined and have something tangible to fight for, so that always helps. And unless this is your first ever sci-fi movie, you already know that will be worked in.)
2 - Even if we take the upright bipedal mobility as given, they shouldn't be moved around in the warehouse in that upright form! In the film, the giant robot shells are moved around in an upright position on giant rolling platforms. This means that for these highly top-heavy robots (since they are built on the male ideal on steroids with oversize shoulders and chest), there is a constant danger of them tipping over and crushing hundreds of workers. Something more like a ready crouch would be much more effective for transportation, provide a lower center of gravity, protect workers, and still look incredibly bad-ass.
3 - There is a scene of city destruction where either a kaiju or a robot's fist crashes through an office building and stops just short of a desk with a Newton's Cradle. When the giant fist just ever so softly taps the cradle, it starts to do its tapping swing (like the first few seconds of this video). And no, it's not a spoiler to say that there is urban battling, since that's already in all of the trailers. I would argue that in reality, if an external object imparted a horizontal force on the cradle, it would not do the typical tapping that makes us love Newton and his cradle. I believe that it would instead actually act on the frame first, since that is the portion that is on the furthest edge--not the ball, the frame would move horizontally, which would pull all the balls equally horizontally, and make them all swing together with no tapping. I know that this wouldn't look nearly as cute on screen, but it just angers me.
Overall review: Awesome (but keep any hopes for character development and witty dialogue to an absolute minimum). If you like sci-fi, if you like action, if you like silliness, you'll probably enjoy this movie. There were definitely some scenes where my buddy and I were laughing violently where I'd doubt that Mr. Del Toro actually intended it. Still incredibly enjoyable, if entirely ridiculous. And the special effects are really incredible.
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