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Sepharo wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 22:07:
Pedant (noun)
1. A person who emphasizes his/her knowledge through the use of vocabulary.
2. (slang) A person who is overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.
jdreyer wrote on Feb 17, 2017, 03:19:Yeah, but frankly -- that movie was just so bad overall I never even bothered noticing plot problems or inconsistencies. It is such a bad movie, why bother?
Fair enough, but the holes were much smaller, many fewer, and better integrated than those in Prometheus. I'm still pissed about that movie.
Mr. Tact wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 14:16:descender wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 14:09:In general I agree, hence my "suspend my disbelief" mantra. But again, when the actors specifically talk about something and then don't manage to make the obvious, next step, logical conclusion, it is annoying.
I really don't fault the movie for any of this stuff though. It's all based in scientific fact and was close enough IMO.
Sepharo wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 05:41:
But language is not unique to humans.
descender wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 14:09:In general I agree, hence my "suspend my disbelief" mantra. But again, when the actors specifically talk about something and then don't manage to make the obvious, next step, logical conclusion, it is annoying.
I really don't fault the movie for any of this stuff though. It's all based in scientific fact and was close enough IMO.
Mr. Tact wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 08:15:jdreyer wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 02:07:While that might be a bigger hole, it is far less "offensive" because they don't specifically talk about it in the film. Like I said, I do my best to suspend my disbelief, it is a movie after all and the purpose is entertainment. But when you actually have the actors saying things which amount to "Gee, aren't we idiots!"... kind of hard to forgive.
There's an even bigger hole. In order for that time dilation effect to occur, the planet itself must be traveling and near the speed of light. Which means that little landing skiff would have to approach the speed of light to catch it. And then escape the massive gravitational pull of a black hole that accelerates a planet to nearly the speed of light to return to the mothership.
Kxmode wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 04:47:
Super secret:
The point of the film is that aliens through their complex non-linear language were able to teach Dr. Louise Banks how to "think" non-linearly. And by doing so, she could, in principle, live a non-linear life. As explained the alien said their race would need the human's help in 3,000 years. This non-linear language was the first step towards that eventuality. Although I will say this plot device creates a sizeable hole in the sense of asking why non-linear beings would need human's help in precisely 3,000 years? Meh... whatever. Great movie!
jdreyer wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 02:07:While that might be a bigger hole, it is far less "offensive" because they don't specifically talk about it in the film. Like I said, I do my best to suspend my disbelief, it is a movie after all and the purpose is entertainment. But when you actually have the actors saying things which amount to "Gee, aren't we idiots!"... kind of hard to forgive.
There's an even bigger hole. In order for that time dilation effect to occur, the planet itself must be traveling and near the speed of light. Which means that little landing skiff would have to approach the speed of light to catch it. And then escape the massive gravitational pull of a black hole that accelerates a planet to nearly the speed of light to return to the mothership.
VaranDragon wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 04:13:
The Arrival was pretty cool.
VaranDragon wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 04:13:
Non-linear existence in time is pretty fascinating although it seems more like metaphysical conjecture than anything that "might" be in the realm of possibility.
jdreyer wrote on Feb 16, 2017, 02:07:
There's an even bigger hole. In order for that time dilation effect to occur, the planet itself must be traveling and near the speed of light. Which means that little landing skiff would have to approach the speed of light to catch it. And then escape the massive gravitational pull of a black hole that accelerates a planet to nearly the speed of light to return to the mothership.
And I thought the BS Dr. Mann pulled was actually pretty realistic, given his circumstances. Some people, alone for a decade, might do the same thing just to be rescued. There are some fantastical elements to the movie and a few problems with the ending, but I've seen it a couple of times and always enjoy it.
Still, that wave sequence was freaking awesome, and I love Chris Nolan's movies. I can't wait for Dunkirk.
Mr. Tact wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 20:07:There's an even bigger hole. In order for that time dilation effect to occur, the planet itself must be traveling and near the speed of light. Which means that little landing skiff would have to approach the speed of light to catch it. And then escape the massive gravitational pull of a black hole that accelerates a planet to nearly the speed of light to return to the mothership.Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 19:38:Interstellar, Looper, Predestination and Source Code all have time travel components and hence have similar problems. I loved the first two thirds of Interstellar and the last third much less. I recently watched it again since it was on the movie channels and noticed a really bad plot problem I missed in the original viewing. Although, in my defense, I do try my best to "suspend my disbelief" when watching films the first time through.
I don't know. I think the last few years have been good for sci-fi, especial cerebral. Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival, Looper, and Predestination. Then there's Moon, Ex Machina, District 9, Source Code, and others that I'm forgetting. Of course, there have been some real stickers like Jupiter Ascending.
Specifically, when they are planning on going down to the first planet near the black hole -- they actually discuss how time dilation is going to be a problem. That one hour on the planet will be seven years to the ship in orbit. Yet, they fail to realize that means the data they have been getting for the past decade came from someone who had been on the planet less than two hours. And they never notice the data being sent was exactly the same every time? Terrible hole...
Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 19:38:
I don't know. I think the last few years have been good for sci-fi, especial cerebral. Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival, Looper, and Predestination. Then there's Moon, Ex Machina, District 9, Source Code, and others that I'm forgetting. Of course, there have been some real stickers like Jupiter Ascending.
Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 18:25:jdreyer wrote on Feb 14, 2017, 11:48:
TFA should have told a unique story, but chose to be an imitation.
Rogue One should have been an imitation, but chose to tell a unique story.
Interesting analysis. Have yet to see Rogue One. Waiting for its release on DVD.
On a side note saw The Arrival. Excellent, cerebral sci-fi! I didn't think it was Oscar "Best Picture" worthy, but it was excellent. The real star of the film is the alien language. It's a unique aspect of the movie that I've not seen in any form elsewhere.
Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 19:38:Interstellar, Looper, Predestination and Source Code all have time travel components and hence have similar problems. I loved the first two thirds of Interstellar and the last third much less. I recently watched it again since it was on the movie channels and noticed a really bad plot problem I missed in the original viewing. Although, in my defense, I do try my best to "suspend my disbelief" when watching films the first time through.
I don't know. I think the last few years have been good for sci-fi, especial cerebral. Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival, Looper, and Predestination. Then there's Moon, Ex Machina, District 9, Source Code, and others that I'm forgetting. Of course, there have been some real stickers like Jupiter Ascending.
Mr. Tact wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 18:32:Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 18:25:First, it is just "Arrival" -- "The Arrival" is a pretty bad Charlie Sheen movie from 1996. ;P
On a side note saw The Arrival. Excellent, cerebral sci-fi! I didn't think it was Oscar "Best Picture" worthy but it was extremely good. The real star of the film is the alien language. It's the most unique aspect of the film that I've not seen in any form elsewhere.
Mr. Tact wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 18:32:
That aside, I really liked it too, I thought it was the best sci-fi movie of the last couple of years. However, it hasn't gotten broad praise from the sci-fi community. Some people dislike any story involving time manipulations, which I have some sympathy for but it didn't bother me in this film.
Kxmode wrote on Feb 15, 2017, 18:25:First, it is just "Arrival" -- "The Arrival" is a pretty bad Charlie Sheen movie from 1996.
On a side note saw The Arrival. Excellent, cerebral sci-fi! I didn't think it was Oscar "Best Picture" worthy but it was extremely good. The real star of the film is the alien language. It's the most unique aspect of the film that I've not seen in any form elsewhere.