Message-ID: <345@lsuc.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 2-Feb-85 03:37:31 EST
Article-I.D.: lsuc.345
Posted: Sat Feb  2 03:37:31 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Feb-85 05:01:01 EST
References: <202@ttidcc.UUCP> <2304@nsc.UUCP>
Reply-To: msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader)
Organization: Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 22
Summary: Amusing silliness in mediocre movie - The (Transatlantic) Tunnel ('35)

> >Ever wonder how they got that enormous elevator shaft into that small ship?
> >[in Dark Star]
> 
> Better yet, look closely at the size of the bombs vs. the size of the ship,
> and try to figure out where they stored 20 of those things.

Last weekend I saw the 1935 movie The Tunnel, also titled The Transatlantic
Tunnel.  (Incidentally, all prints of this were believed lost.  Also inci-
dentally, it's a British remake of a 1933 German movie.)  For a 1930's sf
movie, it wasn't that bad -- but there were some nice howlers.

Like... you're digging a tunnel, depicted as about 30-40 feet in diameter,
from London to New York.  This is somewhat over 3000 miles.  Converting
to metric, say 10 m diam and 5000 km length.  The volume of the tunnel is
therefore PI*5*5*5000000 m^3, which is 400000000 m^3.  If the rock has
only 2.5 times the density of water, that's ONE BILLION metric TONS to be
lifted to sea level and disposed of... this was simply ignored!  And the
1500-mile trip from the tunnel ends to the working face was depicted as
taking a time on the order of minutes, maybe an hour, in vehicles shown
moving at no more than 50 mph...

Mark Brader