Films You Can Dig: "Scientific" Cinema on the Rocks

Disaster movies. They evoke love/hate responses from many who watch them, relying on action rather than science to move the story along. If you want to explore the science behind the action, then this class is for you. We’ll watch a series of movies, most with geological themes, over the course of the semester. More recent films like The Core and The Day After Tomorrow plus classics like Them! and Earthquake will be examined.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Armageddon (1998)

Why didn't it work?
Buscemi goes crazy AND
Jerry Bruckheimer!


It's the Big One: Armageddon. Orignally we were going to do this over two classes due to its length, but it will probably be less painful to take it all at once. This is a definitive disaster film: All-star cast, an end of the world scenario, a love story, and an Aerosmith soundtrack. Well, that last one isn't really a criterion but it helps set the tone of the film.

Ooo, and here's some interesting links:

Intuitor's Physics Review of Armageddon. Good thing we aren't in a coastal area.

Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy The first thing the film got right: Asteroids do exist.

Are we in danger? Chicken Little may have been right...


See you all Thursday!