MovieChat Forums > Fail Safe (1964) Discussion > The speed of light is pretty darn fast

The speed of light is pretty darn fast

posted 12 years ago by lanlguy
5 replies | jump to latest

So when the Soviet premier tells the president that he hears explosions in the northeast, and THEN sees bright lights, it is completely backwards. The light and incredible heat from the blast (the real killer) travels almost instantaneously and this would have killed him before any sounds of the explosions got to him.

You can see this effect in old films of nuclear tests from the 50's. I remember one in particular where the camera is focused on a house. A bright flash comes from the left of the screen and the paint on the house vaporizes into smoke, a moment before the blast wave blows it to smithereens; not even enough time to exclaim wtf was that!

[–] richbolden 12 years ago

The ambassador hears ground to air defensive missiles being launched. If they were 5 miles away it would take about 25 seconds for him have heard the sound. Had the bomber (flying Mach 2) been about 12 miles from it detenation point then, the ambassador would have heard the missiles about 4 seconds before he saw the light. Te impression I get, and for reasons of physics I know not, light and heat take a second or two after detenation to reach max, and the phone to melt.

[–] drivenkick43 10 years ago

Agree. I took it to mean he was seeing ground-to-air defensive measures being employed by the Soviets, meaning the bomber was almost there.

[–] Artdoag2 11 years ago

well, maybe the physics was wrong, but it sure made for a cool scene! The sky is very bright, all is - WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[–] artisticengineer 11 years ago

One of the most chilling moments in movie history.

[–] tuba_man_58 11 years ago

Not to be gruesome, but (especially for a larger weapon) the flash takes several seconds to build up to full intensity, which is where the old "Duck and cover" drills came from