Correction: After Earth

[seanotron 2307]

Not that I blame you for missing it as this movie is garbage, but they actually establish that humanity abandoned Earth 1000 years ago, not 20 years ago. They were on spaceships for a thousand years and then settled on that other planet. That's why Earth was overgrown and there were no signs of human civilization. That's also why Will's line that everything has evolved to kill humans is pure nonsense, because how can they have adapted to kill humans if there were no humans for 1000 years?

[Blueman29X 72]

Not that I blame you for missing it as this movie is garbage, but they actually establish that humanity abandoned Earth 1000 years ago, not 20 years ago. They were on spaceships for a thousand years and then settled on that other planet. That's why Earth was overgrown and there were no signs of human civilization. That's also why Will's line that everything has evolved to kill humans is pure nonsense, because how can they have adapted to kill humans if there were no humans for 1000 years?

 

Also, I'm not really an expert on evolution, but I'm pretty sure that 1,000 years isn't nearly enough time for anything to evolve, let alone every species on the planet.

[seanotron 2307]

 

Also, I'm not really an expert on evolution, but I'm pretty sure that 1,000 years isn't nearly enough time for anything to evolve, let alone every species on the planet.

 

Yeah, that line/plot point fails on a lot of levels. It didn't add anything to the story, and contradicted almost all of the human/animal interaction we actually saw on screen.

[Darian 19]

also, there are monuments and structures that last for thousands of years. so even if it's 1000 and not 20, i'm sure there should have been more stuff besides cave paintings.

[ChrisCruz 0]

Just a quick note, baboons DO have a profound fear of deep water. They'll definitely hang out in shallow water, no doubt, and even enjoy playing in it, just as humans do, but they are always very wary of the depth of water because baboons are heavier than humans and that extra poundage is made up of pure muscle. So, baboons drown pretty easily.

 

So, they don't "hate" water, but it is plausible that they are naturally fearful of water enough that you'd be able to get away from a pack of baboons by jumping in a body of water. Just sayin'

[seanotron 2307]

I think you have the wrong thread, no one is talking about baboons in here.

[tambora 4]

About the giant bird that so gallantly sacrifices its life for young Jaden Smith...

 

That giant bird used to exist. It was called Haast's Eagle, it lived in New Zealand, and it lived concurrently with the Maori, who told legends about it to bemused white people, pretty much all of whom said, "Yeah, sure, a giant eagle. Yeti? The Loch Ness Monster? I buy that. But crazy, man-eating birds? Go fuck yourself."

 

I haven't seen the movie, but judging by its brief appearance in the trailer, I'd say Jaden's heroic murder-bird is larger than a Haast's Eagle, but not by a whole lot.

 

Of course, Haast's Eagle went extinct over 500 years ago, so the likelihood that it would suddenly reappear to harass someone in a sub-par sci-fi movie is approximately "Never." And the likelihood of any extant bird species (the largest of which is the ornery but rarely deadly swan) evolving to Jaden-Smith-killing-size in only 1000 years is also "Never."

 

This has been "Scientific Pedantry for Bird-Lovers." Thank you, and good night.