MovieChat Forums > Chain Reaction (1996) Discussion > Next to 'The Core', possibly the most ph...

Next to 'The Core', possibly the most physics-impaired movie of all time

posted 18 years ago by CorumJI
16 replies | jump to latest

I admit, I haven't seen "The Core", but just from its premise, I presume it to be more incompetent than this one -- BUT, until that was released, this one was the clear winner for "Most Egregiously Bad Physics Ever Put Into A Mainstream Movie".

I mean, the entire movies' base macguffin derives from the fact that the writers did not grasp the essential difference between *molecular* reactions (as occur between - ahem! -- atoms to form molecules -- like *WATER*) and *nuclear* reactions (as occur between nuclear particles to form or alter atoms themeselves).

The "fusion" tech this imbecilic movie is based on is the combination of hydrogen and oxygen which "fuse" to form water.

It demonstrates their sheer incompetence right from the start, with a lecture given by a supposed physics professor to a PHYS 101 class wherein he demonstrates that he doesn't grasp the difference himself, and the rest of the movie goes on from there.

POTENTIAL AUTHORS GET A CLUE: When you're writing about technical things -- go ask some bright high school science geek to look over your premise for GLARING FLAWS, huh? I don't mind if you don't calculate out a Hohmann Ellipse in order to get your precise orbital pattern right -- but for GOD's SAKE -- at least don't put something in that a reasonably bright 12th-grader can spot!

And YES -- TRUST ME -- *******IT MATTERS*******

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 13 years ago

How funny is it that you're posting in a manner to establish your self-assessed superior intelligence and knowledge because you took a couple science classes, yet (1) you evidence that you didn't pay very close attention to the dialogue of the film, and (2) you show yourself to be a complete moron in understanding the concept of fiction.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

[–] lexicron 12 years ago

You're probably right. You may as well be speaking latin or something, but you seem to know what you are talking about except for one thing. This movie was better than the Core. If you take away the science, for some reason, I believed Keanu working with the scientists a lot more than the drill to the center of Earth film. Maybe it was paced better. I don't know.

[–] zen12084-231-9383 11 years ago

I mean, the entire movies' base macguffin derives from the fact that the writers did not grasp the essential difference between *molecular* reactions (as occur between - ahem! -- atoms to form molecules -- like *WATER*) and *nuclear* reactions (as occur between nuclear particles to form or alter atoms themeselves).

The "fusion" tech this imbecilic movie is based on is the combination of hydrogen and oxygen which "fuse" to form water.

Erm, no, just no.

It's obviously supposed to be cold nuclear fusion based on numerous real attempts such as the water car.

Either acoustic cavitation or electrolysis using palladium, which has a unique property of being proton permeable, to fuse the hydrogen.

[–] filmfanaticNorCal 10 years ago

Watching the movie I was reminded of the hydrino theory, in which it is claimed that hydrogen has an energy state lower than the ground state. In fact, the company working on this, BlackLight, operates in Princeton, NJ. By allowing the hydrogen to contact a catalyst to lower it to this new lower energy state, energy is supposed released. The problem is that it defies the quantum theory of physics.

Life is for lovers, and lovers are for life.