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There's that scene in Iron Man, in the desert, in which Tony Stark's first attempt at a suit runs out of power and crashes into the sand after a fall from a dec

by Dove 14y ago

There's that scene in Iron Man, in the desert, in which Tony Stark's first attempt at a suit runs out of power and crashes into the sand after a fall from a decent altitude. The first time I saw that, I thought, "They just killed the hero in the first 10 minutes of the movie!" My mind raced, trying to figure out how they were going to make this work. That was way too many g's. He was surely very dead. Was he not actually in the suit? Was the story going to focus on a protege of some sort? Was there a clone or twin or something? When he walked away from the wreck, I was disappointed. But I knew then with certainty what sort of physics engine we were using.

jerf 14y ago
I've long hypothesized that a normal human from the "superhero universes" dropped in our world would still seem bizarrely sturdy, if not actually superstrong. Another similar one that really bothers me is Oliver Sansweet's fall in The Incredibles. He attempts suicide by leaping off of a building, gets about twelve stories down, then is "caught" by Mr. Incredible leaping at him and re-entering the building he jumped from. Mr. Incredible exerts enough force to instantly stop his downward descent and enough force to also give him at least a good 20mph horizonally, probably more, and from this Oliver gets... a neck brace. That catch should have killed him, too. Yes, the maximum acceleration might have been smaller than an impact with concrete since Mr. Incredible could give him a very small buffer with his arms... though I see no evidence he does. Mr. Incredible impacts Oliver and within two frames tops Oliver has matched Mr. Incredible's velocity. Mr. Incredible also appears to have incredible mass, as he does at several other points in the movie, as Oliver's impact appears to leave his trajectory entirely unaffected. He seems to mass at least 3 or 4 tons, probably more. Oliver is an incredibly sturdy guy by our real-world standards.
- psbp 14y ago
  Oh my god, these are comic book movies. Get over it.
  - Dove 14y ago
    Well, it's not really something you can turn off. When I saw Tony Stark crash in the sand, the effect on me was very much the same as if I'd seen his head disintegrated by a shotgun blast. I was viscerally sure he was dead. If you haven't seen it recently, here's the scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ1cyUN9RuY#t=5m01s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ1cyUN9RuY#t=5m01s I mean, I know it's a superhero movie, and I still wince at the force of the impact. It's like watching someone get hit by a speeding bus -- only the average superhero would destroy the bus and slow down over its length. The sand actually stops him.
- podperson 14y ago
  They're probably just simulating everything in HERO system, where an "average person" will survive a collision with a car (the car probably won't) and can easily survive two gunshots to the head. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System
Dylan16807 14y ago
As long as people in a movie are consistently more able to withstand blunt force, I don't have any problem with it. I'm only bothered if it's some kind of halfassed plot convenience that's forgotten immediately. Comic book physics are a little bit different, and I'm fine with that.

by Dove 14y ago

jerf 14y ago

I've long hypothesized that a normal human from the "superhero universes" dropped in our world would still seem bizarrely sturdy, if not actually superstrong. Another similar one that really bothers me is Oliver Sansweet's fall in The Incredibles. He attempts suicide by leaping off of a building, gets about twelve stories down, then is "caught" by Mr. Incredible leaping at him and re-entering the building he jumped from. Mr. Incredible exerts enough force to instantly stop his downward descent and enough force to also give him at least a good 20mph horizonally, probably more, and from this Oliver gets... a neck brace. That catch should have killed him, too. Yes, the maximum acceleration might have been smaller than an impact with concrete since Mr. Incredible could give him a very small buffer with his arms... though I see no evidence he does. Mr. Incredible impacts Oliver and within two frames tops Oliver has matched Mr. Incredible's velocity. Mr. Incredible also appears to have incredible mass, as he does at several other points in the movie, as Oliver's impact appears to leave his trajectory entirely unaffected. He seems to mass at least 3 or 4 tons, probably more. Oliver is an incredibly sturdy guy by our real-world standards.

psbp 14y ago
Oh my god, these are comic book movies. Get over it.
- Dove 14y ago
  Well, it's not really something you can turn off. When I saw Tony Stark crash in the sand, the effect on me was very much the same as if I'd seen his head disintegrated by a shotgun blast. I was viscerally sure he was dead. If you haven't seen it recently, here's the scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ1cyUN9RuY#t=5m01s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ1cyUN9RuY#t=5m01s I mean, I know it's a superhero movie, and I still wince at the force of the impact. It's like watching someone get hit by a speeding bus -- only the average superhero would destroy the bus and slow down over its length. The sand actually stops him.
podperson 14y ago
They're probably just simulating everything in HERO system, where an "average person" will survive a collision with a car (the car probably won't) and can easily survive two gunshots to the head. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System

Dylan16807 14y ago

As long as people in a movie are consistently more able to withstand blunt force, I don't have any problem with it. I'm only bothered if it's some kind of halfassed plot convenience that's forgotten immediately. Comic book physics are a little bit different, and I'm fine with that.