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PopSci’s Guide to Summer Sci-Tech Movies

From the gadgets in Get Smart to the gamma rays in The Hulk, we rate the scientific jargon quotient of new films

By Gregory Mone Posted 4.11.08 at 2:00 pm 1 Comments

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Speed Racer:
Warner Brothers
In Theaters: May 9
Based on the popular Japanese animated series, this campy live-action/animated hybrid from the Wachowski brothers, of Matrix fame, follows a racecar driver through a futuristic sport that’s equal parts Nascar, X Games and American Gladiators. The film’s real stars are the animated cars, particularly the Mach 5, which has wheels that can pivot 180 degrees; jacks that deploy on the go to launch the vehicle into the air; and a robotic pigeon that flies out, films what’s going on farther along the track, and creates a simulation of the course ahead so the driver can plan his way.
Geek Candy: Wild visual effects. The Wachowskis are known for their pioneering digital techniques, and the movie’s live-action stars will be racing and fighting in an unnaturally bright environment. [Read more about how they did it in “How to Make a Digital World.”]
Expected Gibberish Quotient (EGQ): High, and proudly so. The creators flaunt the utterly fake technology in the Mach 5.
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Iron Man
Zade Rosenthal/Everett Collection
In Theaters: May 2
Yes, it’s another comic-book movie, but this one begins with a womanizing boozer and ends with a pair of mad geniuses in robotic suits duking it out. The story [spelled out in “The Real Iron Man.”] follows inventor Tony Stark as he develops an exoskeleton that lets him outrace planes, fire missiles from his forearm, and fight crime, with no superpower beyond his own engineering ingenuity.
Geek Candy: The suit. Shane Mahan, a designer who helped construct the exoskeleton, says, “It’s really a wearable jet.”
EGQ: Medium-high. The film skips features of the comic’s suit that seemed too far-fetched, such as an undersheath that’s genetically engineered to pop out of his bone marrow. But, come on, it’s a wearable jet.
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1 Comment

link to this comment

zerinsakech

06/11/08 at 12:20 pm

Zerin Sakech says

These new movies are basicly remakes of books or other films. I liked the original Hulk 2003 film, it was good, though my family didn't undertsand why he turned into the Hulk. It's so hard to explain science from the movies, because it makes no sense!@!!!! I wish, ohh, just wish that one day filmakers will respect science as it is and maybe make a film with at least understandbly scientific jargon.

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PopSci’s Guide to Summer Sci-Tech Movies

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