HT can discuss movies too: Anyone see "The Core"?

[CZroe]

The movie "The Core" was so inexplicably stupid I can't imagine what the HT regulars would have to say about it. In non-scientific terms, here's what I have to point out:

The movie refers to "Diamonds the size of Texas" as the crew tries to dodge these obstacles near the center of the Earth (Supposedly, one of the only things their craft can not penetrate). Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't carbon, and thusly diamond, chiefly an organic mineral? It's pretty obvious the creators didn't think "How would so much carbon ever reach the center of the earth?"

In an earlier scene, the crew crashes their craft into a giant hollow geode and a crystal gets lodged in their engine (Doesn't this sound like The Magic School Bus?). Hmm, wouldn't the pressure of the entire planet easily crush a hollow sphere? Immediately, anyone with half a brain would wonder why their puncture did not destroy it, or at least instantaneously fill it with magma. The movie, and crew, totally ignores this until AFTER they get out in so called "pressure suits."

And then it really gets ridiculous. Their "pressure suits" are totally flexible! It takes STRUCTURE to withstand pressure. They could pinch each other through it or smash their foot with a brick! That means that JUST as much force from the outside is pushing down inside unless the pressure inside matched (Which would make them useless of course). It would be as if they went out in flame-retardant underwear.

It got stupid for other non-scientific reasons too. Why on Earth would anyone think that the astronaut that saved the crew's ass would never be allowed to fly again when it was clearly known by more than just the viewers that the crew was not at fault? Why even HINT at such stupidity? As if we're supposed to be shocked when some council decides otherwise when it's obvious that the truth was no secret.

And lets not touch on how stupid the "hacker" stuff was. At least it wasn't as bad as "Swordfish"...

 

[Mday]

it's fiction, and this isnt OT.

 

[Shalmanese]

While HT might be good for discussing the scientific MERITS of a particular movie, pointing out obvious scientific deficiencies might go better in OT.

 

[Chaotic42]

Check out badastronomy.com. It's got a huge list of things wrong with that movie.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Shalmanese
While HT might be good for discussing the scientific MERITS of a particular movie, pointing out obvious scientific deficiencies might go better in OT.

I was specifically requesting a much more technical evaluation of the movie's scientific merits than I could provide.
I just wanted to see how HT regulars, not myself, could tear apart a movie. I'm very interested in the real technical limitations which the movie did not attempt to explain, so I expect to learn much from discussion of the topic.

 

[CQuinn]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't carbon, and thusly diamond, chiefly an organic mineral?

You're wrong... While Carbon (element 6 on the periodic table) is a chief component in organic
material, it is a fairly common element.

* Common enough that there had to be a lot of it around, along with hydrogen and oxygen, for
organic life as we know it to develop in the first place.

Hmm, wouldn't the pressure of the entire planet easily crush a hollow sphere?

depends on how hollow, and how close to a "perfect" sphere it is.

IIRC a sphere is one of the best possible structures for withstanding high pressure environments,
because the forces involved counteract themselves on opposite sides of the structure. The same
idea can be applied to a hollow sphere, assuming the "walls" of the structure are thick enough.
That was one of the guiding principles behind the early experimental deep-sea submersibles.


A better way to phrase your question for HT might be: Would it be possible to build a device
or craft that could reach the core of the Earth?

 

[Howard]

Does "organic" not mean containing both carbon and hydrogen?

 

[MrThermistor]

Meh

Don't get me started on "The Matrix" -that film was crap.

 

[Ichinisan]

The idea that human bodies are an "infinite, renewable, energy source" is particularly absurd.

Our bodies get energy from food, which gets energy from the sun.

 

[CQuinn]

Our bodies get energy from food, which gets energy from the sun.

Which we no longer had access to in the "real world" of the Matrix. The Sun was blotted out
by the nuclear winter that was a result of the war between men and machines.

Basically the story needed some plot point to give a reason why the machines would store
humans in some virtual fantasy world instead of killing them all off. It may seem like a
weak premise, but I've seen worse.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: CQuinn

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't carbon, and thusly diamond, chiefly an organic mineral?

You're wrong... While Carbon (element 6 on the periodic table) is a chief component in organic
material, it is a fairly common element.

* Common enough that there had to be a lot of it around, along with hydrogen and oxygen, for
organic life as we know it to develop in the first place.

Hmm, wouldn't the pressure of the entire planet easily crush a hollow sphere?

depends on how hollow, and how close to a "perfect" sphere it is.

IIRC a sphere is one of the best possible structures for withstanding high pressure environments,
because the forces involved counteract themselves on opposite sides of the structure. The same
idea can be applied to a hollow sphere, assuming the "walls" of the structure are thick enough.
That was one of the guiding principles behind the early experimental deep-sea submersibles.


A better way to phrase your question for HT might be: Would it be possible to build a device
or craft that could reach the core of the Earth?

Saved me some time.
Also, consider how much pressure an egg can handle.... quite a bit.

 

[Ichinisan]

Then consider that the egg had a hole punched through it...

Originally posted by: CQuinn

Our bodies get energy from food, which gets energy from the sun.

Which we no longer had access to in the "real world" of the Matrix. The Sun was blotted out
by the nuclear winter that was a result of the war between men and machines.

Basically the story needed some plot point to give a reason why the machines would store
humans in some virtual fantasy world instead of killing them all off. It may seem like a
weak premise, but I've seen worse.

That's what I was saying. I had hoped they would fix it by saying that the machines were using the un-tapped computational power of human brains, but then the second movie was released and stunk miserably.

 

[RadioactiveHamzter]

What makes it even more unbelievable is that they 'combined it with a form of fusion'. Errm, aint fusion an infinite, renewable, energy source in the first place?

On the other hand it aint a film for the scifi enthusiast, it's meant to be a fast action film, which it's very good at.

 

[CQuinn]

Originally posted by: RadioactiveHamzter
What makes it even more unbelievable is that they 'combined it with a form of fusion'. Errm, aint fusion an infinite, renewable, energy source in the first place?

infinite? No.

renewable? Yes, as long as you can feed it lesser elements (hydrogen) that can be fused into heavier
elements within the fusion chamber, otherwise the reaction runs itself out.

With current technology, you also need a primary energy source that can be used to trigger the
fusion reaction and maintain the conditions for it to keep going. The idea is that you still get more
energy out of the fusion reaction, than you have to put in to keep it going in the first place.

 

[FINGERS20]

I saw the film when it first came out in the UK earlier this year and I thought that it was very underated............ Thoroughly enjoyed the story line and special effects. You could pick holes in almost every Sci-Fi film made but you must remember that it is put on the screen to entertain you and not to make you wonder about what you were taught in science class at school! As long as you come out of the cinema having enjoyed the experience then you really can't ask for any more. If it makes you use your grey matter so much the better. What about the thinking behind the Matrix, one of the best Sci-Fi films of all time? Did people watch this film and pick holes in what they saw and heard on screen or did they leave the cinema (as I did) wondering "What if?"

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: FINGERS20
I saw the film when it first came out in the UK earlier this year and I thought that it was very underated............ Thoroughly enjoyed the story line and special effects. You could pick holes in almost every Sci-Fi film made but you must remember that it is put on the screen to entertain you and not to make you wonder about what you were taught in science class at school! As long as you come out of the cinema having enjoyed the experience then you really can't ask for any more. If it makes you use your grey matter so much the better. What about the thinking behind the Matrix, one of the best Sci-Fi films of all time? Did people watch this film and pick holes in what they saw and heard on screen or did they leave the cinema (as I did) wondering "What if?"

yea like "What if Keanu actually finished acting school?"

 

[FINGERS20]

Along with Arnie and a good few others?

 

[FINGERS20]

Along with Arnie and a good few others?