Why it wouldnt work

[vando]

Hi everyone,
i was just wondering why stuff would work or would not work in war of the worlds 2005 movie.

Stuff like, heat rays, humans turning into ash instantly, wind blowing toward the storm, lightning striking the same place twice etc.

Please could you help me, needed urgently

[Lensman]

Be advised there are three-- yes that's 3, count 'em, three-- 2005 "War of the Worlds" movies. From your mention of lightning, I'm guessing you're referring to the Spielberg/Paramount movie, and not the Asylum or Pendragon productions.

The heat rays: Well the deadly rays in that film didn't really seem to be "heat rays". They didn't usually set fire to stuff. They did turn humans to ash-- but not their clothing. Apparently this is technology far in advance of ours, so perhaps it's not appropriate to say "that's impossible", but I don't think anyone has come up with a reasonable explanation of how the rays could do what they're shown to do. In fact, various discussions here have generally concluded what was shown doesn't make any sense.

Humans turning to ash: The problem with this is, if there is so much energy or heat pumped into a body it's turned to ash instantly, where does the heat go? The body should radiate heat like a blast furnace-- or even a vest-pocket nuke, briefly. But they don't. So where does the heat go? Not realistic from the standpoint of science as we know it. And ditto for the clothes. Why are the clothes left intact? Even if the deadly ray affects only organic material, most clothing is organic-- plastics are organic, as are leather and of course cotton and linen.

Wind blowing towards the storm: Sure, if the storm is sucking air in at the bottom and blowing it out at the top, like a tornado, then you'll get just that effect.

Lightning striking the same place twice-- The old saw about "lightning never strikes the same place twice" simply isn't true. Lightning strikes the metal mast atop the Empire State Building quite frequently during thunderstorms. However, striking dozens of times at exactly the same place on the flat ground within a brief period won't occur naturally. For one thing, there doesn't seem to be anything sticking up to attract the lightning; and for another thing, after the lightning discharges the buildup of static electricity, it will take awhile for a charge to build up again in the same area. So assume it wasn't natural; there's something like a Van de Graaff generator involved. Assume the lightning is coming out of the ground, not vice versa-- believe me, in real life you can't tell which way the lightning is moving, because lightning moves at the speed of light.

libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/van-de-graaff/index.html

[vando]

Thank you so much Lensman,
That has helped me heaps.
Just the answers i was looking for.
Cheers again.
Ill put a shrimp on the barbie for ya.

[the Donal]

Do you think there's a bit of Hicks in the Spielberg WOTW script?

"What's G12 do?"
"Say's here- Destroy's everything except the shirts on their backs- helps clothe the troops"
"Great! Bring it up!"
"Bring up G12"
Whoosh....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.BOOM!
"Great! What does G13 do?"

[richardburton]

lol Bill Hicks - what a legend!