Outline for second term paper Science Fact vs. Cinematic fiction

       Many super heroes movies such as The Avengers ,Superman, or Scott Pilgrim tend to break laws of physics in order to dramatize an action, also called cinematic fiction. For example, conservation of energy is constantly changed to make a hero more powerful. According to Physics, the laws of conservation of energy state that energy can not be created or destroyed but transferred from one object to another. Down bellow are scenes examples of how the law have been broken.

1. The Avengers-Captain America's shield

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KekWFB4EPE

There is a scene where 3 superheroes in a forest and Captain America and Thor are getting into a fight and Thor trows his hammer to the captain. The hammer hits Captain America's shield but instead of knocking it out of his hand, the shield absorbs the energy and repels the hammer as well as the other super heroes. If this scene was reproduced in real life, the hammer would have probably landed on the floor (considering of it's mass) and if it knocked the shield, the shield would have fallen on the floor.

2.Spiderman-Sandman fight

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2YqbS5X4Y

In that scene, Spiderman is in a truck fighting against Sandman and trows a punch in Sandman's stomach. Spiderman's hand goes thru his stomach because he is made of sand however, the energy of the punch is not equal to the energy of sand that flies of Mr. Sandman's stomach. It seems that the sand is projected like a rocket. Because of laws of energy, the punch would have created a different reaction and thus less sand flying of the villain. 

3. Scott Pilgrim-First fight with evil ex
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv5unIz8cZk

This is the first time Scott Pilgrim encounters one of Ramona's first ex (Matthew) and needs to fight against his in order to keep Ramona. The movie is meant to look like a live action comic book which is why most of the action are exaggerated. Scott is fighting the first ex and trows a Drum cymbal towards his enemies' face (while randomly floating in the air). The cymbal hits his head without leaving any bruises and then Matthew does a backflip in the air. What should have happen since Scott trowed the cymbal with great energy, Matthew would be looping a second time and moving backwards instead of the same spot.


It is common for super hero movies to break the laws of physics such as conservation of energy to emphasize an action. If a hero is trowing a punch to it's enemy, the villain it will fall further out than it should because it is showing the strength of the hero. Exaggeration in action is needed to create this style of cinematic fiction.