Angels & Demons (may 2009)

[Aka]

Originally Posted by sa547

Spoiler for Which is...?:

Who put the bomb under the Assassin's car?

Spoiler:

Camerlengo Patrick McKenna.

It was good, but I was tricked yet again with the hype. I really disliked how the film started.

[Tri-ring]

I was massively underwelmed seeing this movie.

Spoiler for Typical Hollywood BS:

Where should I start, the low air system for one, but I let that slide.
Why on earth would trained officers shoot in a hostage situation and why did they not demand the assailant to put the gun down first before shooting?

The biggest goofs is the anti-matter explosion. If it was anywhere near the size of a Kilo-ton blast, making it airborne is the worst thing they could have done MAXIMIZING the effect of the blast which is about the size of Hiroshima.
The people at the square would have been incinerated and anyone within a 1Km radius of ground zero would have been irradiated by enough gamma ray radiation to make them glow in the dark.

[Justin Kim]

Let us see how fast the Vatican Church freaks out about this and tries to ban it.

[Vexx]

They already know about it, and have whined. Some self-appointed catholic league is playing the loud guard dog role.

I don't think there's a single religion that hasn't gotten ribbed or fictionalized and it really looks childish to get all their panties in a bunch over such fiction.

Everything is fair play in fiction. Anyone remember Helsing visiting the secret underground research labs of the Vatican in that recent movie with Hugh Jackman? It even had a "Q" character demonstrating the gadgets. No one got riled up over that, isn't that strange?


"Is Nothing sacred?" - Gahan Wilson.

[Justin Kim]

Originally Posted by Vexx

They already know about it, and have whined. Some self-appointed catholic league is playing the loud guard dog role.

I don't think there's a single religion that hasn't gotten ribbed or fictionalized and it really looks childish to get all their panties in a bunch over such fiction.

Everything is fair play in fiction. Anyone remember Helsing visiting the secret underground research labs of the Vatican in that recent movie with Hugh Jackman? It even had a "Q" character demonstrating the gadgets. No one got riled up over that, isn't that strange?


"Is Nothing sacred?" - Gahan Wilson.

Maybe they should just start one of those bloody crusades like they did back then. "Supposively for religious purposes, but never involving religion; just bloody slaughter." I found it comical that the Catholic Church banned the distrubution of the DaVinci Code in some countries, although on the very first page it states: "This is a work of fiction."

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Aka

Spoiler:

Camerlengo Patrick McKenna.

It was good, but I was tricked yet again with the hype. I really disliked how the film started.

Spoiler for Hmmmm...:

Although he did served a brief time in the Italian Army and was a medevac pilot, yeah, I wonder if he actually planted such a bomb... Waitasec, he's from Northern Ireland, where decades ago carbombs are common but...

@Tri-ring:

Spoiler for Regarding antimatter...:

In the novel, unlike radioactive materials, antimatter is zero radiation.

Of course IMHO some things are just as inaccurate -- for entertainment purposes -- in the novel, as the Swiss Guards decide to gun down instead of using tasers.

Okay, most of the backstory had been removed, along with some of the more potentially controversial stuff such as Ventresca's real father in the book.

All that makes me read "The Third Secret" again, which has a more accurate representation of the Vatican, its men and its practices.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by sa547

@Tri-ring:

Spoiler for Regarding antimatter...:

In the novel, unlike radioactive materials, antimatter is zero radiation.

Of course IMHO some things are just as inaccurate -- for entertainment purposes -- in the novel, as the Swiss Guards decide to gun down instead of using tasers.

Okay, most of the backstory had been removed, along with some of the more potentially controversial stuff such as Ventresca's real father in the book.

Spoiler for Author doesn't have a clue:

Offcourse matter anit-matter annihilation reaction will create gamma ray radiation. If it didn't I sure want to know in what form of energy it's going to release.

Makes me wonder if this author had done any research concerning the subject.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Tri-ring

Spoiler for Author doesn't have a clue:

Offcourse matter anit-matter annihilation reaction will create gamma ray radiation. If it didn't I sure want to know in what form of energy it's going to release.

Makes me wonder if this author had done any research concerning the subject.

All right, you win. +5 cookies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter

The presence of the resulting antimatter is detectable by the gamma rays produced when positrons annihilate with nearby matter. The gamma rays' frequency and wavelength indicate that each carries 511 keV of energy (i.e. the rest mass of an electron or positron multiplied by c2).

http://www.positron.edu.au/faq.html

What is a gamma ray?

A gamma ray is a form of light, but with much higher energy than visible light. Gamma rays are produced is nuclear decay and when matter and antimatter annihilate.

The late Michael Crichton did a better job by citing research material he uses for his stories.

[kenjiharima]

Blame Dan Brown and he's research lolz

[sa547]

Originally Posted by kenjiharima

Blame Dan Brown and he's research lolz

Inaccuracy in pop fiction makes us reach for a concise book on the subject.

[kenjiharima]

Originally Posted by sa547

Inaccuracy in pop fiction makes us reach for a concise book on the subject.

All I can say...it was more action pack than the Da Vinci Code.

[Tri-ring]

Although I do not know if it is true or not but I hear that a retina scan does not work on gouged out eyes because the capillaries will collapse changing the retina patterns itself.

[Kinny Riddle]

Watched the movie just now, and like the novel, this was much better than Da Vinci Code. I still don't know why Da Vinci Code became famous before this, when this was the first in the novel Robert Langdon series.


Do you know what happens when you've watched too much Star Wars?

Spoiler for Geek concerns about Camerlengo "Obi-Wan" McGregor:

1. When he spoke to the Conclave about the emergence of an "ancient foe", I was half-expecting him to say "the Sith has returned". Imagine my disappointment when instead he said, "the Illuminati has returned".

2. And when he further explained how scientists were naive and not know the way of God, etc, he sounded like those Light Sided Jedi Masters preaching to the naive young Padawans who were tampering and experimenting dangerously with the Dark Side of the Force.

3. He's flying a starfighter! Sorry, I mean, helicopter.

4. The new Pope choosing the name Luke, for he is "A New Hope" for the Church, being "strong in the Force".

Yes, please do facepalm and roll eyes at all this geekiness.



Anyway, about the movie itself, the adaptations were good to say the least, and actually made the pace flow better. It also got rid of some of the more ridiculous elements of the novel.

Like:

Spoiler for Ridiculous novel stuff rightfully cut out:

1. The Camerlengo going into a fanatical trance, pretending it was the Holy Spirit that led him to the antimatter canister.

2. Langdon riding on the chopper as well. But as the Camerlengo jumped off with the only parachute, hoping to kill off Langdon, he didn't expect, and neither did the reader, that he would use some sort of seat cushion cover as a parachute and land into the Tiber river.

3. The Camerlengo being the murdered Pope's secret son, conceived through artificial insemination.

4. The CERN director in the wheelchair.

All in all, this was an enjoyable start to the summer blockbuster season, much like Iron Man last year.



One interesting piece of conversation is between the Camerlengo and Langdon, in which the Camerlengo asks if Langdon believes in God, Langdon replies:

"I don't believe I understand the existence of God, it's beyond my mind to determine."

And that in his heart

"Faith is a rare gift, and I don't believe I'm worthy enough for that."

A very Agnostic answer indeed, which I find very satisfying as a self-confessed Agnostic myself.

[kenjiharima]

Spoiler for Vatican Archives:

You can't "BORROW" anything form the Vatican archives.

Elements in the film

EARTH
FIRE
AIR(Wind)
Water
???(Heart?)

Captain Planet lolz

[Papaya]

Originally Posted by sa547

All right, you win. +5 cookies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter


http://www.positron.edu.au/faq.html


The late Michael Crichton did a better job by citing research material he uses for his stories.

I think the entire point of the container in the movie is that the antimatter didn't come into contact with anything, and therefore produced no gamma rays.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by kenjiharima

Spoiler for Vatican Archives:

You can't "BORROW" anything form the Vatican archives.

Elements in the film

EARTH
FIRE
AIR(Wind)
Water
???(Heart?)

Captain Planet lolz

Uh, have you forgotten the book?

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by MakubeX2

The movie is great for those who want a cheap 2 hour amusement ride through Rome and the Vatican.

For people excepting a good plot, try reading the book.

I agree with this, but I haven't read the book. The movie wasn't too interesting though.

Originally Posted by Papaya

I think the entire point of the container in the movie is that the antimatter didn't come into contact with anything, and therefore produced no gamma rays.

Spoiler for The near-end:

No, but when the container ran out of batteries, its function ceased, causing the huge explosion. That should have created gamma rays.

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by Papaya

I think the entire point of the container in the movie is that the antimatter didn't come into contact with anything, and therefore produced no gamma rays.

Spoiler for In reality:

Although it's technical, a magnetic field can contain anti-matter from moving out, but a magnetic field can not keep air from moving in therefore unless the container is a complete vacuum matter/anti-matter annihilation reaction would have occured long before the container had been stolen.
Yeah major plot hole, I know.

[KimmyChan]

One of my workmates saw it the other day & he said that it's one of those movies which you don't actually have to read the book beforehand or at all in order to still be able to enjoy & understand what's going on

[dragon4dudes]

I just want to watch it because I liked the book which spurred me into deep thinking.