Hercules Top 10 Tech Movies - Part 2

Author: Ogor Anumbor

 

Source: Business Insider

This is the concluding part of our Top 10 tech movies which we began last week Friday and if features our remaining five movie picks.

You can see our other article to see our criteria for our movie selections.

The Dark Knight Rises (2008) - Number 5 

Gotham city has become a commercial centre place for drug barons, thieves, etc., but they are somehow squeezed into submission by the Batman (Christian Bale). The pressed mobsters rent the services of the worst-of-the-worst; a psycho-death-worshiping cold blooded murderer - the Joker (Heather Ledger), to handle the batman but the mobsters soon realize that their hit-man would give more than what they bargained for as the city is turned to a killing field. 

The batman now has one mission which is to take down the joker and his cohorts and restore the city; the batman deploys all his weapons and stretches to the limits to get the job done.

Tech Highlight: The Batpod

We get to highlight one tech feature among the many techs used: The Batpod. The Batman rides an unbelievable batpod bike that comes out of his batmobile (the tumbler, explained later) that the bat rides around the city with incredible maneuvers chasing the joker and his gang.

 

According to Ben Wojdyla,

“Only stunt driver Jean-Pierre Goy has ever piloted the intimidating Batpod — the giant tires, crude suspension, and prone riding position make it more dangerous to ride than almost anything on wheels — but it is one of the sickest two-wheeled creations since Kaneda's cycle in Akira. Despite that, a replica of the Batpod was inevitable, it just needed the right kind of lunatic to build it. While many lunatics have tried, this full-scale version from Florida, assembled in just two months, is by far the most precise.

batman batpod

catwoman in batpod

“The hardest part of almost any build is the design. In the case of the Batpod, it took two months of thorough research studying the real 'Pod followed by careful blueprinting. The project naturally began with a set of 508-mm Hoosier Racing tires mounted on steel wheels, a welded block-and-tube style frame, and an ultra-compact, water-cooled, single-cylinder motorcycle engine like that of the KTM 690.

batpod

reverse engineered batpod framework

“Every motorcycle starts with a frame. The Batpod is unique in how it offsets its wheel hubs and uses that structure to house underslung steering and hidden drive components. The big challenge in building the frame is getting everything welded at the proper angles so the bike tracks straight and true, and so the wheels aren't sitting at different camber angles relative to each other”

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Number 4

Bruce Wayne, Gotham city billionaire, aka. the batman is being hunted by assassins who know him personally and strategically take over his companies and leave him penniless. Furthermore, the suicidal mercenaries succeed in bringing the city to its knees and hold it to ransom with a nuclear bomb, and the government of the day declares a state of emergency. The batman forms alliance with Gotham police force and others to tackle the menace and he uses his tech machines; Batmobile and flying 'batcopter' which is lightweight and flexible to maneuver in-between buildings with ease. Further, the batmobile - the tumbler, is a high tech sturdy military car the batman cruises in.

Batmbile - The Tumbler

Batcopter - The Bat

Tech Highlight: Batmobile - Tumbler, 'Batcopter'

We highlight the batmobile called the Tumbler and the flying ‘Bapcopter’ – the Bat.

The ‘high-tech’ tank looking car is very intimidating and is actually designed, built and mostly used in Britain, thanks to the 20-strong team working on the project.

It was conceived by Nathan Crowley and his team originally, but the difficulty in the project came from taking the Styrofoam model from a concept to actual reality – and required a lot of ingenuity when it came to the actual mechanics of making the Batmobile (Beavis, 2013)

According to the qi.net (2008), the Tumbler is essentially a truck hybrid, with a rear truck axle and transmission and a front suspension modeled after Baja racing trucks but equipped with racing tires. This batmobile can actually take a30-foot fall and shake it off. Also, it has a 5.7 liter Chevy V-8 engine that's been tuned to allow the 5000-pound machine to go from zero to 60 mph in five seconds.

Tumbler

According to Joey Paur (2013) "production designer Nathan Crowley, and engineers Chris Culvert and Andy Smith, have been consulting on the designs. All three previously worked on Nolan's Batman trilogy. They were responsible for converting Nolan's crude Play-Doh design of the Tumbler into the Lamborghini/tank-like vehicle that it became."

The Bat

(Jeremy Hsu) According to Mitchell Burnside Clapp, a program manager for the U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

"The problem with a vehicle like the Bat is that it's going to have to generate enough thrust to hold itself off the ground," Burnside Clapp said. "The main thrust appears to come from the belly rotor while the other devices seem to be applied more to maneuvering."

“Enough power can make almost anything fly (maybe even a prohibitively expensive flying aircraft carrier). Helicopters represent a power-efficient way of providing lift, followed by the less efficient "vectored thrust" aircraft such as the F-35 joint Strike Fighter”

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

To make the bat fly “Downward thrust from the Bat's belly rotor must at least equal the weight of the Bat to achieve the hover effect, Burnside Clapp explained. Helicopters create such lift by having long rotor blades extending well beyond the main aircraft body — the blade sections close to the main rotor hub do not create much lift because they don't move very fast relative to the air.

“But helicopter lift also depends on accelerating air downward through their spinning rotor blades. That becomes a problem if the rotor sits underneath an aircraft such as the Bat (although Lucius Fox, Batman's gadgets master in the Christopher Nolan film trilogy, mutters something about solving air re-circulation issues in the Bat's design).

“Putting the main rotor beneath the Bat also leads to some stability problems — "think of the problem of balancing a broomstick on your palm" to get an idea, Burnside Clapp told InnovationNewsDaily. By comparison, rotors act as a restoring force for stability when they sit on top of helicopters. 

“Assuming the Bat weighs about as much as modern helicopters, the Bat's rotor would still need to have "enough air to push a several thousand pound vehicle upwards," Burnside Clapp said. Such force would easily knock a standing person down, which would have changed certain "Dark Knight Rises" scenes in a fairly dramatic fashion.”

Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) - Number 3

IMF Agent Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team are on a mission to unmask and prove the existence of a powerful underground organization – The Syndicate, and they must go through difficult terrains to prove their mission is possible 

Tech Highlight

 

Several tech used in the movie include Smart window glass biometric (finger print) lock for a car, smart glass, eye communication lens, among others.

 

Smart window glass with biometric (fingerprints)

Smart glass like Google glass

Eye video communication lens

Iron man (2008) – Number 2

Somewhere in the Middle East, a carefree weapons manufacturer's (Tony Stark) convoy is attacked and he is kidnapped. His abductors threaten him to create lethal weapons for them which is his condition for release. 

As his deadline draw close, he forges a metallic suit that is nuclear-reactor-powered with missile capabilities with jet pack boosters, instead of the agreed weapons for the terrorists. A confrontation ensues when the terrorists realize he is not building weapons but a metal suit but fortunately he manages to jet-away and escapes from his captors. 

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), finally gets home to his lab and starts to reinvent the crude suit design he built in the cave of his captors to a new suit design. The suit is fully functional with missile guided/ targeting systems, face recognition, missile capable, incorporated with heads-up-displays on the helmet, a talking AI (called Jarvis) that manages the suit which can fly at supersonic speeds. He calls it the iron man.

Iron man

Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man

According to American Chemical Society, His original suit, made only of iron, would have weighed around 70kg (150lbs) according to the ACS - not very comfortable or easy to move around in.

He later upgrades it to a gold-titanium alloy, but that would actually make things worse explained the video. 

‘That suit would probably weigh around 160kg (350lbs), which might work for the Hulk but not for Tony Stark,’ said the narrator.

However, Dr Raychelle Burks continued that it is later made of a nickel-titanium alloy called nitinol.

This is ‘strong but light, and can be reformed after taking damage,’ she said.

‘There may also be some graphite reinforced with carbon fibre, which can take a lot of heat - useful if Iron Man doesn’t want to singe his feet using those rocket boots.’

But today many corporations have taken the challenge of building a real-life iron man suit. Raytheon technology – exoskeleton 3 suit, LockHeed Martins – HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier), Hyundai, among many others.

   

Raython technology - exoskeleton 3

Hyundai robotic suit

Hyundai robotic suit

Raytheon - exoskeleton - soldier doing pushups

LockHeed Martins HULC

Plans are in place to use these tech in human-aid for carrying wounded solders in war zones, lifting war heads, or used in construction sites to lift heavy objects, etc.

Batman vs. Superman (2016) – number 1

This movie has already received a lot of accolades since its debut; from the $872 million box office down to the details of the real-life tech used in the movie organized by director - Zack Snyder.

Ben Affleck (Batman) and Zack Snyder

The movie is actually a sequel to 2013’s Superman: Man of Steel; an alien  of a Kryptonian descent that lands on planet earth. In the ensuing drama in Dawn of Justice, in the city of Metropolis, a young billionaire and scientist, Lex Luthor (Jason Eisenberg) is envious and goes all out to take down the Kryptonian hero - Superman (Henry Cavill). Superman, Batman (Ben Affleck), and Wonder Woman (Gol Gadot) partner together to fight a monster created by Lex Luthor.

Tech highlights: The Batman's Cowl

Batman

“The Tech Cowl is a highly advanced, specialized cowl that Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth developed for Bruce's activities as the Batman. It was designed with to have a built in voice changer and eye lenses that sink into the cowl to keep vision from being impaired at all times, with latter designs being reminiscent of a fighter pilot's helmet, as well as a holographic heads up display within the lenses. The cowl is made of an lightweight titanium alloy, protecting Batman's head from impacts and even point blank gunshot from a pistol. The lenses have infrared vision capabilities and can show information in real time.

 

According to Adam and Sharon (2016) “Batman’s tech has been reimagined and reinvigorated in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the new blockbuster from director Zack Snyder releasing in March 2016. This book takes an exclusive, in-depth look at Batman’s arsenal, vehicles, Batsuits, and the iconic Batcave. The new Batmobile design is explored from first concept sketch, through detailed blueprints, all the way to the physical construction of the vehicle itself.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Tech Manual is a definitive guide to the weaponry and props created for the movie. It closely examines the Utility Belt, the Batwing, grappling hook and Batarang. Everything in the Batcave is explored down to the construction of the set and the graphics from Bruce Wayne’s mainframe. This official volume also goes deeper in to the world of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, showcasing Superman's Kryptonian suit and Wonder Woman’s iconic weaponry.

Batman's Cowl

The official companion book to the new movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Tech Manual, features interviews with concept artists, the film’s weapon’s master, the mechanic for the Batmobile, and Zack Snyder himself."

According  to Acuna (2016)

“Batman's cowl (the mask he wears) is made up of an outer costume cowl and a tech cowl underneath.

Alfred (Jeremy Irons) works on making sure all of Batman's gear is in check in the film.Warner Bros.

It allows Ben Affleck's Batman to have better control over his neck movements, something which was a problem with previous incarnations of the Batsuit.

"In the past it's been difficult for the actors who play Batman to turn their head, because of the way the cowl is connected to the piece that lays across the shoulders. So that's really the innovation — we were able to create this really thin membrane that allows the actor to look around," Snyder said.”

According to Armitage (2016), Ben Affleck's Batman was hiding some serious tech under his mask - including a throat microphone to get that perfect throaty bat-rasp - not to mention a reinforced titanium helmet. It's a wonder there was any room for his head.”


References

Adam Nerwell, Sharon Gosling,  Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual

http://dccomicsextendeduniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_v_Superman:_Dawn_of_Justice:_Tech_Manual

Acuna, K., Business Insider(2016) 25 things we learned about the making of 'Batman v Superman', Business Insider. 

Callaghan, J. (2015) The science of Avengers Physics and Chemistry Iron Man Suit and Captain America’s Shield Revealed. Published April  29, 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3060629/The-science-AVENGERS-Physics-chemistry-Iron-Man-s-suit-Captain-America-s-shield-revealed.html, date accessed: December 22, 2016, 1.00PM

Extended Universe Wiki (2016) Tech Cowl, http://dccomicsextendeduniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Tech_Cowl?file=Bc.jpg

Armitage, H. (2016), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - 7 amazing behind-the-scenes secrets from the Tech Manual, Published12 April 2016, http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice/feature/a790384/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-amazing-behind-the-scenes-secrets-from-the-tech-manual/, date accessed: December 23, 2016, 8.00PM

Wojdyla, Ben (2010) How To Build Your Own Batpod, published July 2, 2010, http://jalopnik.com/5543789/how-to-build-your-own-batpod, date accessed: December 22, 2016, 4.30PM.

Beavis, Gareth (2013) he technology of the Tumbler - how Britain made the Dark Knight mobile. July 17, 2013, http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/the-technology-of-the-tumbler-how-britain-made-the-dark-knight-mobile-1166564, date accessed: December 22, 2016, 9.00 PM.

The Tumbler Batmobile Explained, August 9, 2008 http://www.qj.net/qjnet/gadgets/the-tumbler-batmobile-explained.html, date accessed: December 22, 2016, 6.00PM

Paur Joey (2013) Batman v Suprman – Info on Batman’s costume and bat Mobile, http://geektyrant.com/news/batman-vs-superman-info-on-batmans-costume-and-batmobile?utm_source=gametyrant.com&utm_medium=related

Hsu Jeremy, InnovationNewsDaily (2012) US Military Shoots Down Dark Knight's Flying "Bat" Idea, July 31, 2012 01:27pm ET

http://www.livescience.com/21994-why-dark-knight-s-flying-bat-wouldn-t-fly.html

Meti, V. (2015) Top 10 Gadgets Used In Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation, Published: Saturday, August 29, 2015, 14:04,  http://www.gizbot.com/gadgets/news/top-10-gadgets-used-in-mission-impossible-rogue-nation-027817.html date accessed: December 20, 2016, 3.16PM