Ghost Rider, released in 2007, is a film
based loosely on the Marvel Comics anti-hero of the same name. The film follows
the story of motorcycle daredevil Johnny Blaze, played by Nicholas Cage, who
sells his soul to the devil in an attempt to save his father from cancer. While
his father is spared from cancer, his father ultimately dies during an
unsuccessful stunt. Years after initially making his deal with the devil, Blaze
is set ablaze as he transforms into a fiery skeleton at night when he is around
evil. Blaze is set to become the devil’s bounty hunter and must stop the
devil’s son from taking over the world for evil. To do this, he must find the
deal that the devil made with a small town. The live-action film relies on CG
in order to create the skeletal figure of Johnny Blaze, as well as the fiery
effects that occur throughout. Although Ghost
Rider takes place on Earth, the laws of physics in the movie are often
inconsistent with the physics of the real world in order to move the story
forward.
The
first hypothesis is that in Ghost Rider
the speed of an object has no bearing on whether that object can cause
shockwaves or produce enough heat to set other objects on fire. Based on the
physics of our universe, it would require a great amount of pressure, friction,
or speed, and therefore force, to cause either shockwaves or instantaneous and
immense heat. When Johnny Blaze first becomes the Ghost Rider, the force from
the speed of Blaze’s motorcycle causes windows to shatter, presumably from a shockwave.
It is highly likely that the physics of the Ghost Rider world would have to
reject the notion that a certain amount of force or pressure must be applied to
create an immense amount of heat because it would take an incredibly large
force based on our physics to cause a shockwave. It also seems unlikely that a
motorcycle, a small object, would be able to create enough force to cause a
shockwave, unless it had an impossibly quick velocity.
In
addition to the ability for Ghost Rider’s motorcycle to cause shockwaves, it leaves
a trail of fire on the road wherever it travels. Not only does it leave a trail
of fire, but at times melts the asphalt beneath the wheels. According to the
physics of our universe, it would take a large amount of heat over a large amount
of time in order to melt asphalt. It is unlikely that a motorcycle would be
able to create enough heat to melt asphalt as the amount of heat and time
required would likely damage the motorcycle significantly. In fact, the only
way to create enough heat would be to have an enormous amount of friction and a
high speed or an already incredibly hot tire touching the asphalt for a long
enough time. In order to create enough heat to melt asphalt, the tires of the
motorcycle would also likely melt, thus rendering the motorcycle immobile. As
the motorcycle’s tires are caught ablaze for a long period as the motorcycle
travels, it is obvious that the tires have not melted due to heat. Therefore,
the only way that this is possible is that the speed of the motorcycle is
irrelevant to the amount of heat that is produced. The difference in physics is
not to defy our laws so much as to move the story forward. The motorcycle
catches fire to show that the motorcycle has changed with Johnny Blaze into
Ghost Rider.
The
second hypothesis is that gravity does not affect objects as strongly when they
are under the control of supernatural beings. Blaze is protected by the devil’s
power as the devil plans to turn him into the Ghost Rider later in the story.
He jumps over several buses during one stunt jump in the movie. While in theory
the jump is physically possible given a high enough speed at a near 45-degree
angle, the arc in which Johnny Blaze travels is not a parabolic arc, which
would be expected if gravity were to act as it does in our universe. In
addition to the unrealistic arc of the motorcycle, the airtime for the
motorcycle is far longer than it would take to land according to our physics. Based
on the strength of gravity for Earth, it would take a large height in order for
a fall to last roughly 30 seconds. Not only does the jump itself seem
unrealistic based on our laws of physics, the landing causes Blaze to suffer a
large amount of force over a short time span. It seems unlikely that Blaze
would survive such a large amount of force in such a short time. Not only does
Blaze survive the crash landing; he is conscious and able to walk only seconds
after his crash landing. In a separate jump later in the film, Blaze jumps over
several helicopters, supposedly spanning 300 feet. The amount of time that
would occur for the jump is far less than the amount of time that the jump
takes in the movie. Again, the jump takes several seconds longer than the jump
would take on Earth in our universe. In addition, the parabolic arc again is
inconsistent with the laws of physics for Earth in our universe.
The
third hypothesis for Ghost Rider is
that objects can instantaneously catch fire or melt at the touch of a Ghost
Rider, regardless of that object’s temperature. Ghost Rider melts the bars of
the prison with his bare hands after he burns the souls of several he deems
evil. It would take an incredibly hot surface to cause metal to melt instantly.
It is impossible based on the physics and biology of our universe for a human
being to be hot enough to melt metal instantly without being severely injured.
Another peculiar instant of an object catching fire instantly is whenever Ghost
Rider touches his chain-link whip. When he takes the whip from his back, it
catches fire all at one time. Assuming that the chain could indeed catch fire
whenever the Ghost Rider touched it, it still seems more likely that the whip
would catch fire link by link instead of all at once based on the physics of
our universe. While the physics do not match our universe, it makes sense for
the film to engulf the entire whip on fire for story purposes. It conveys the
control that Ghost Rider has gained over his new powers.
Ghost
Rider’s motorcycle does not only leave a trail of fire; it also catches fire
instantly whenever Jonny Blaze becomes Ghost Rider. Based on the laws of
physics of our universe, it is highly improbable that a motorcycle, or any
other stable object at room temperature, would ignite instantly. There would
have to be some source of heat in order for the sudden ignition of the
motorcycle. However, if we assume that this can occur in the Ghost Rider universe, we must also
assume that the laws of physics in that universe allows for objects to be
capable of withstanding large amounts of heat without being destroyed.
According to the physics of our universe, a motorcycle that instantly caught
fire would suffer catastrophic damage, and might even explode after the oil or gasoline
was heated to a high temperature. Similarly to Blaze’s motorcycle, Carter
Slade, the previous Ghost Rider, ignites along with his horse. Based on the
laws of our universe, it is highly unlikely that three different flesh beings
would be capable of catching on fire instantly without a source of heat. It
seems far more unlikely that all three would survive such heat. It seems more
unlikely that all three would be able to survive the process multiple times. Obviously,
the laws of physics for the Ghost Rider
universe allows for objects to instantly combust on multiple occasions without
severe damage. This hypothesis is not entirely thorough though. On several
occasions in the film, objects combust for various reasons and are destroyed.
One instance of this would be when the road is destroyed be Ghost Rider’s
motorcycle. A more correct hypothesis for this film’s physics would be objects
that are under the control of supernatural forces can instantaneously catch
fire with no damage and objects can melt at the touch of a ghost rider
regardless of the object’s temperature.
Clearly,
the movie Ghost Rider, released in
2007, has some elements of physics that are consistent with the laws of physics
from our universe. This is likely because the film is supposed to take place on
Earth. However, despite the setting of the film being Earth, several laws of
physics are broken involving velocity, gravity, and heat. They include
instances where low speeds can cause shockwaves and intense heat, a lower
effect of gravity, and the ability of fire to act differently than it does in
our world. The instances where the laws of physics are broken often revolve
around Johnny Blaze and Carter Slade, the two Ghost Riders, or the devil and
his son, the supernatural beings. The
physics are different in the film in order to carry the story forward.
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