Posts: 8,933
	Threads: 386
	Joined: May 2006
	
Reputation: 
3
	 
	
		Movie: The Crazies
		
		
		07-04-2010, 07:46 PM 
	 
	
		Is anyone else distinctly put off by this film?  Because I have trouble with the idea that the US Government would nuke one of its own towns and not have some like, say, the President notice.  And I have trouble with the idea that any US President would authorize measures like the ones taken in this movie.
You know, just saying from the perspective of a US Serviceman.
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 1,407
	Threads: 182
	Joined: Mar 2006
	
Reputation: 
2
	 
	
	
		I liked the movie. The fact that the heros don't fall into many heroic cliches and still end up getting screwed is wonderful. I also really love the subplot with the Deputy. It was very nicely done.
As for the whole "would the US nuke US soil" thing. Well, yes. I think they would, in certain circumstances. Did the events in questions qualify? Maybe. It's hard to say since we get so little information about the contagion. I mean, if you accept that the US Government is creating biological weapons that are this horrific as one of the premises of the film, you basically are dealing with a government that is far more evil than actual America.
---------------
Epsilon
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 1,576
	Threads: 94
	Joined: Oct 2002
	
Reputation: 
0
	 
	
	
		Who says that they have to use a nuke, after all don't sufficiently large enough FAE devices get confused for one if spotted by the untrained. 
Anyway if someone can pry Ed from spacebattles, perhaps he could verify the existence of any such plans.
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 2,354
	Threads: 83
	Joined: Jul 2005
	
Reputation: 
0
	 
	
	
		any sufficiently large explosion can cause a mushroom cloud, and can easily be confused with nukes. Mainly because the first nuclear detonations are fairly iconic and people think: mushroom cloud == nuke
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 28,138
	Threads: 2,301
	Joined: Sep 2002
	
Reputation: 
21
	 
	
	
		True -- even relatively small explosions produce (small) mushroom clouds.  It's a result of the physics of the bang, not the nature of the explosive.
That said though, because Hollywood screenwriters are generally an ignorant and superstitious lot, when we see a mushroom cloud on the screen it means nuke -- as Sweno noted.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 8,933
	Threads: 386
	Joined: May 2006
	
Reputation: 
3
	 
	
	
		How about the general rule of BIG WHITE FLASH = Nuke?   
EDIT: Oh, another thing that bugs me.  The woman was looking right at it.  By all rights her eyeballs shoulda been melted right outta their sockets, especially as close as they were.
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 2,564
	Threads: 324
	Joined: Mar 2004
	
Reputation: 
0
	 
	
	
		An FAE bomb or something similar would simulate a nuclear explosion pretty convincingly. If you want proof, there was a recent gas line explosion in Texas which did a pretty good similacra of a mini-nuke. 1000 ft  blast radius. Another one that comes to mind was an explosion in a plant that manufactures the solid fuel for missiles. That one looked like someone set off a 5k nuke and registered 4.7 on the seismograph. 
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell
	
	
	
	
		
	
 
 
	
	
	
		
	Posts: 8,933
	Threads: 386
	Joined: May 2006
	
Reputation: 
3
	 
	
	
		You mean the Pepcon explosion?  It produced a sufficient shockwave, but not the blinding flash of ZOMG-MICRO-SUN-light.