Bad science - what the filmmakers make up!

Beautiful, handsome actors, amazing special effects, and exciting story lines. This is why we love going to the cinema. But a lot of what we see the stars doing is just... wrong!

Today I read an article in The Telegraph about annoying errors in films and stuff that - if you take a moment to think about - just doesn't make sense! Here are a few examples:

Aliens that use our computers

In the 1996 film Independence Day, alien ships threaten to destroy the world. Humanity appears to be doomed until computer expert David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) steps in to help. He uploads a computer virus to the spacecraft and disables the strong forcefields so that we can destroy them. Good job that the aliens were using Microsoft Windows for the virus to be effective...

How often do we see someone shot in a film and thrown backwards by the momentum? Apparently, this wouldn't happen in real life. A bullet weighs less than ten grammes, so even when taking speed into account, a person who is shot may stumble, but certainly wouldn't be catapulted ten metres back.

Harmless glass

We often see characters jumping through glass windows, and then getting up and running away with nothing but a few cuts and grazes. In real life, each piece of shattered glass is razor sharp and can cause serious injuries. While safety glass is safer than plate glass when shattered, it could still cause nasty injuries.

Fake explosions

Cars generally do not explode when they crash. Unfortunately, people often think of the movies when they witness a car crash and pull victims out of cars because they expect it to explode. Doing this can injure the victim even more.

Noisy PCs

Don't you get annoyed when you see actors using keyboards that make sounds when they type? And what about emails that appear letter for letter on the screen, in real time? I do! When was the last time you received an email in that way? A good example of this is a scene in the 2001 film Bridget Jones Diary, where Bridget and Daniel Cleaver exchange emails.

Read about more strange film science at www.intuitor.com/moviephysics