Hollywood - do your research!

One thing that annoys me is movies that portray things the directory clearly has no concept of. I’m sure, for example, that the people and scenes in Walker, Texas Ranger bears absolutely no resemblance to anything Texan whatsoever. They do look a lot like those in Calgary, Alberta where the series was filmed however.

We’re watching The Day After Tomorrow right now. The movie has an interesting premise - what would happen if the world froze in weeks? Unfortunately, the screenwriter and director have no apparent awareness of what being in weather colder than Los Angeles is actually like. Take, for instance, the scene in the film in which British helicopter pilots crash because a super cold snap freezes the fuel lines on their helicopter. After one of them crashes, a crewman opens the door of the coptor, putting his bare hands on the outside of the metal door. But they don’t stick to the door, which of course they would instantly.

Then the crewman sticks his head out, catching his breath. He stands there with the door open for about five seconds, then his hands freeze (but still not stuck to the door), then his face freezes, covering itself in ice.

Now let’s stop here - if you’ve ever stuck your face out into a really, really cold breeze, it burns, just like fire. What do you suppose the reaction would be of someone who puts their face out into a fire? You’d imagine instinct would kick in and the person would recoil, right? You’d imagine right. That’s exactly the reaction this crewman would have had. When he opened the coptor door and put his hands out, he’d have screamed in pain, and would have tried to yank his hands free of the door.

Secondly, when something flash freezes, it doesn’t become instantly coated with ice. Ice is just water - it forms from moisture. You do not get it on things that freeze quickly. Don’t get me started about the stupid scene with the wolves. When the weather gets cold in Toronto, the wolves escape from the zoo all the time, right? Because they like cold? And don’t all zoo wolves instantly develop wolf pack culture without an experienced and trained alpha male as leader, right? And of course cold makes them attack humans. Ice age cold, of course, since modern day wolves of course do no such thing, being shy animals and all.

Argh.