Analysis of Unrealistic and Physically Impossible Scenes in Movies and Television Shows

Cinema features intense action movies which glorify death-defying stunts, incredible falls from unfathomable heights, and actions that blatantly resist the law of physics. How do we tell our kids these actions are impossible? That these movies and television shows are not realistic? Would it crush their hopes and dreams? Well, assumingly yes, it would. Movies and television shows feature unrealistic and physically impossible scenes but this makes them exciting and adventurous keeping us on the edge of our seats. Sometimes, these scenes may be a way of finding an escape from reality. An escape from the bleak world operating off of equations and mathematics. It is fun to forget our world follows the strict laws of physics, but, there comes a point where a science fiction movie or television show just becomes a little too fictional. 

An example of this could be Newton’s first law of motion. Said law states an object at rest remains at rest or in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force. But, this outside force must be strong enough to act against the object in motion because the effect is intensified the heavier or faster the object is. A human would not be able to stop a boulder. Many cartoon shows and superhero movies stretch and bend this law, even pushing to completely break it.

A scene in which Newton’s first law of motion is broken is from the action-adventure animation “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa''. On the zoo animals’ quest back from Africa, the penguins of Madagascar craft an airplane featuring a broken engine and the other on fire, conversely, it manages to fly in the air. While traveling, the airplane suddenly loses power and remains still in the air for a second or two. Then proceeds straight down to the ground, spiraling out of control and sending all of the passengers into a free fall. No force was applied to this airplane to make it abruptly stop in the middle of the sky, and according to the law of inertia (Newton’s first law of motion), a force must have been applied to the airplane to affect its state of inertia. It would be physically correct if the airplane had hit a building, lost power and eased into a halt while gaining speed heading toward the ground, or even endured a flock of birds that damaged the structure of the plane, but it is practically impossible for any airplane to lose power suddenly and come to an abrupt stop. Airplanes are an object in motion so they will stay in motion unless an unbalanced force is applied to them. In this scene from Madagascar, no unbalanced force was applied therefore it breaks Newton’s first law of motion.

A second scene featuring poor physicist Isaac Newton's first law of motion being broken is in the animation series Looney Tunes. Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character that seems to constantly prove the law of physics does not apply to him. Alongside entertaining little kids, Bugs Bunny can also run on thin air. One scene from Looney Tunes features Bugs Bunny running out of a flying airplane thousands of miles in the sky and floating for a second, before getting scared and running back to the moving airplane. There are many reasons as to why this scene defies the law of physics, but we will focus on his anti-gravity qualities. Bugs Bunny was at rest while floating in the middle of the sky, and according to the law of motion and the law of gravity, he should have been free-falling to the ground. An external force, gravity, was pulling him towards the center of the Earth. Secondly, when Bugs Bunny ran out of the airplane he should have flown toward the tail of the plane, like how skydivers fly out of an airplane when they jump. Bugs was an object at rest and the external force, the wind, acting against him would have pushed him to move sideways. Bugs should not have been able to accomplish anti-gravity qualities because he is not a force powerful enough to push against gravity, something like a spaceship blasting off is. Bug’s antigravity qualities and ability to run on-air proves he breaks Newton’s first law of motion. 

Even our favorite superheroes challenge Isaac Newton and his laws of physics. In “Superman Returns”, Superman is practically bulletproof. After flying into the path of a bullet to save two security guards’, he begins walking towards a chain gun while bullets deflect off of him. Not even flinching, he features no body armor on him that would withstand the impact of a bullet, all he has is his skin-tight suit. This defies Newton’s first law of motion because a human body is made of soft tissue and bone, and is unable to withstand the impact of a bullet. No force was applied to the bullets heading Superman’s way, so they should have stayed in motion and at least penetrated his body. His force was not stronger than the bullets therefore they would have stayed in motion and not deflected off of him. This scene could have been made more realistic by adding a steel plate in front of him as steel can deflect bullets. Even with this, Superman should have flinched or portrayed some sort of reaction to the bullets striking him. Maybe the man of steel is really made of steel? 

These examples from the movies and tv shows “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”, “Looney Tunes”, and “Superman Returns” show that often cinematic pieces portray Newton’s first law of motion incorrectly, and in some cases, don’t portray it at all. Intentionally defying the law of physics can make a film interesting, impressive, and comedic. It can be a great cinematic experience to feel out of this world and to watch the impossible occur, yes, but that escape from reality can sometimes be a little too obvious.