Friday, December 21, 2007

Redefining the laws of physics.

I am sick and tired of "action movies" which have totally unrealistic action scenes. Most such movies have guns being fired in them. I am sure you have heard of the term recoil. A recoil is a backward impulse exerted by a gun, whenever it is fired. A recoil is based on one of the most fundamental laws of physics known as Newton's third law of motion, the simplified versions of which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So when a bullet goes forward, the gun goes backwards, the extent of which is defined by the second law of motion (the one about the conservation of momentum). Most Hollywood movies do have recoiling guns but I am yet to see a hindi movie which incorporates the idea of a recoil. One of the best examples of recoil would be the scene from Men In Black where Will Smith fires his miniature gun, only to be thrown back by 10 feet or so. But that was fiction, and hence the amplified recoil. And then there is the other part when the gun is fired, the reaction of the person who was shot at. No I am not talking about the pain and stuff, which i am sure is nothing more than a sting initially because of the shock and adrenaline, I am talking about how much the person/object being shot at is thrown back. This is one thing that sometimes even the big shots in Hollywood mess up, while some Indian directors may get it right too. If a gun is fired and it causes a recoil which only causes the person shooting the gun to jerk his wrist, how come the "bad guys" go airborne??? There is only one thing that could initiate such a reaction, the bullet itself needs to have some sort of jet propulsion system, like say may be some propulsion unit activated right after the bullet leaves the muzzle of the gun <*rolling over with laughter*> that gives it the extra momentum. Jokes apart, guns are dangerous and so is their recoil. The recoil of an assault rifle could even dislocate your shoulder if the gun isn't properly held. But still people like Bruce Willis are gonna keep firing their rifles one handed, 'cause action heroes will be action heroes and they ain't gonna let a tinsy-winsy recoil hamper their image.

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