MovieChat Forums > Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009) Discussion > Using physics, explain the shark grabbin...

Using physics, explain the shark grabbing a jet out of the air

posted 15 years ago by tth0r
32 replies | jump to latest

Now, the first thing to determine is what speed the million pound mega shark needed to clear the water fast enough to reach 30,000 feet in the air. Furthermore, what sort of senses would it need in order to see? sense? smell? something else? a jet traveling several hundred miles per hour. It would need to sense it far enough away to launch itself out of the ocean so that it travels exactly 30,000 feet vertically while the jet travels a certain distance based on speed horizontally. So what this means is that it would need to determine based on the distance the plane was from it's position, how long it would take to reach it's position and how long it will be in the air in order to intercept it going several hundred miles per hour. Now, this is not the only factor the mega shark would have to concern itself with. It is a property of physics that the shark, or any object traveling in a parabolic path, will have a moment of 0 miles per hour at its apex, which is how the shark timed the bite of the jet, meaning it perfectly understood the speed it needed to not only reach 30,000 feet in the air but to also reach it at the exact moment losing speed that the jet reached its position while maintaining a constant velocity. That is one mega smart mega shark.

[–] etf-3 15 years ago

I imagine the most obvious fail is that, unless the shark can actually fly, it would need to be travelling extremely fast when it left the water, in order to get that high. By my calculations it would need to be rising at 1000mph, even before you take into account air resistance.

They did say the shark could go at at least 500mph, and maybe it was going slow. LOL.

Another problem is how is a shark surviving by eating ships and aeroplanes? I guess it couldn't have eaten anything edible for the whole film. Something that big could survive a while without eating i guess.

[–] ScottStrout 15 years ago

let's say for instance that even if the shark could travel fast enough to get that high, once coming back down the resistence of the water would kill him on impact. It's like hitting concrete. Since unlike a high diver he has no hands to break open the water surface

[–] KorreltjeZout 14 years ago

Using my cats as a model species, I was able to demonstrate that hungry animals can and do jump at food.

Obviously, the Mega Shark was able to sense the vibrations of the plane approaching (planes are noisy). The Mega Shark must have calculated the plane's path (sharks have 200 million years of experience doing this). It was hungry after all these years in the ice, so it must have been very motivated to catch this prey.

[–] astimoli 12 years ago

"Another problem is how is a shark surviving by eating ships and aeroplanes? I guess it couldn't have eaten anything edible for the whole film. Something that big could survive a while without eating i guess."

I guess it's a bit like that Gary Larson drawing of 2 polar bears opening up an igloo. One polar bear is saying to the other "I love these things, crunchy on the outside with a soft centre".

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[–] FloridaSunshine 15 years ago

OK... I can't believe I'm about to post this but.....

Remember the stewardess was telling everyone to put their seats forward... this means they were on approach for landing so the plane would not have been at 30,000 ft.

Also, when they showed the view looking out the airplane from the passenger's perspective (before the shark snatched it out of the sky) you could see the water and it appeared as though the plane wasn't very high at all. So really... the shark only had to jump a couple thousand feet.

I still can't believe I'm actually posting this.

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[–] backwards_pi 13 years ago

Actually the beginning establishing shot clearly shows the plane ABOVE the clouds...so unless it descended several thousand feet in 30 seconds...

[–] glssr60 15 years ago

I stopped watching the movie the moment they showed that shark grabbing an airliner out of mid-air. I have no problem with "suspension of disbelief" but I have a HUGE problem with an absolutely moronic scene that is not only incredible in that they conceived it, but that they actually "filmed" it. I've watched several of these Sci-Fi/Syfy original movies and they ALL have been absolutely terrible. Almost no special effects budget. If anybody from Syfy is reading this, then watch the movie "Troll 2". You guys make that piece of crap look good considering it was 20 years ago.

[–] Bernnard_Black 15 years ago

I think that's the deal with this particular one, though; they made it as ridiculous and far-fetched as possible, almost as a parody of these z-grade SyFy movies they show every Saturday. A shark that can swim at 500 knots and is about 3000 feet long?

[–] Sharmster 15 years ago

In some fairness to SyFy, I don't think they were involved in the production of this movie. This was a direct to video film from earlier this year that generated some online buzz for the absurdity of its trailer. As such, SyFy probably figured that a decent number of people would be interested in checking it out for the trainwreck nature of the movie, and it probably cost them next to nothing to acquire the rights.

However, your post pinpoints the risk of doing this, as not everyone cares to witness the trainwreck (or even knew about it). I'm sure many people didn't know anything about this movie beforehand and were simply looking to SyFy to provide some quality programming - and they ain't happy!

[–] nikongal 15 years ago

I have to agree with Sharmster: Two months ago, one of my friends told me a movie about a giant shark and a giant octopus was coming to SciFi, and I only half-believed her -- 'til I remembered The Asylum. Sure enough, she found the trailer online and my suspicions were confirmed. Having seen the shark jump up to attack the plane, and knowing it was indeed an Asylum film, this Saturday's flick was one I actually put on my calendar.

Tho it is dark . . . know our flag . . . is still there.

ABC = Already Been Canceled.

[–] tonylee27 12 years ago

If sci-fi stopped airing these outrageously dire movies, maybe they would stop being produced. ALL sci-fi channel/asylum movies i have been unfortunate enough to catch on tv, have been truly terrible. The acting, the diaglogue, the storyline, the fx, EVERYTHING is unbelievably bad. And to make it worse they give thier movies such idiotic names... "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus".. "Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus".. "Mega Pirahna".. cause its like.. mega! sounds like they are thought up by children.

Even though these movies are free to watch on tv, you will still feel you have been robbed of valuable time that could of been far better spent doing other things. Things like sticking hot needles into your eyes. Or castrating yourself.

[–] phwhite-1 15 years ago

My question is: Why are some people taking this so seriously? If you *seriously* watch a move titled Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus, you deserve to be disappointed, as you probably lack basic mental capacities. Or you're seven years old. It was a campy movie. It was an INTENTIONALLY campy movie. It didn't take itself seriously, and was kinda really funny. Lighten up

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[–] phwhite-1 15 years ago

Just because the actors didn't constantly go over the top with their acting does NOT mean they took it seriously. The only way to know is to ask them yourself, but there were some moments (Seiji + Emma's creepy glances at each other) that seemed to indicate to me that this wasn't just kitsch for the sake of being kitsch. And really, a movie can't be this unintentionally hilarious.

[–] unicornpeg2003 15 years ago

How do you know? They certainly seemed serious. I've seen intentional campy and it is obvious. Hack is a good example of intentional campiness. I am so sorry that these actors had such crappy material.

[–] tth0r 14 years ago

Physics people!

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[–] nakedinthelimelight 14 years ago

Honestly my biggest concern is not necessarily the how of Mega Shark pulling off this incredible feet, but the fact that with the intelligence Mega Shark must possess, that Mega Shark probably has gained internet access and is keeping tabs on this very message board, possibly this very thread. I'm a bit worried for my own safety after contributing...

[–] MICHAELM6 14 years ago

It was actually the giant octopus that figured it out. Mega sharks are notorious for using research done by other sea creatures and using it to their own advantage.

[–] Rett_Mikhal 14 years ago

I always assumed the writers watched one special on sharks on Discovery Channel and heard that sharks sometimes attack shadows that look like food, such as buoys or surfers. Then, they saw one piece of footage of a shark jumping to attack and devour birds perched near the surface of the water.

They took that and ran with it to the realm of... just plain stupid. Someone thought "What if he saw the shadow of a PLANE?!"

However, I fail to see why the shark would go through the amount of effort. He might surface, look for food, then give up and continue somewhere else. Even if he had the brains to realize it was in the air, why would it concoct this plan of swimming 1000+ mph to attack that metal bird?

Maybe it was put in there just for trailer fodder. The trailer DID become a viral hit on youtube, that's how I heard of it. I showed it to my CAM instructor and he thought it was pretty amazing.

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