»Highway chase scene in Reloaded impossible?«

After watching Reloaded again last night, it got me thinking, how could Morpheus and the Agent fight on top of the semi? I mean with the semi traveling at about 60 mph most likely, they would've been blown off, especially if they tried to jump. Anybody else agree?

Ya I kinda thought about that once too but I dont know whether it would work or not. Not a physics guy

Yeah I kinda dismissed it at first, but then I watched Mission Impossible when they were on top of the train, and every time they let go of the train they flew backwards and they couldn't even stand up. The train though, probably is going quite a bit faster than a semi, but still, the same concept.

actually, if the matrix operated along real physics, morpheus would never have been able to jump onto the top of the truck because once he did he would have to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph instantaneously. He would have just rolled off of the back of the truck. The same goes for Trinity, the keymaker, and that agent.

Isn't this kinda the point?

Morpheus and the gang do mess with physics as do the Agents.

Anyone who can do the skyscraper jump can surely handle a little truck.

But this is quite a bit different. It isn't just involving one person, but three. I don't think Morpheus has the powere to alter physics for himself, the agent, and the keymaker. I thought that was gonna come up, about how thats part of the agent's or Morpheus' power in the matrix, but I just think it's a bad mistake.

Ahh who cares. Its still cool as hell though.

It's not that hard for him to jump on to the lorry. He was lauching himself from a moving car, so that's got to give him a bit of momentum surely? I don't remember them jumping around that much while they were on the lorry except when Morpheus nearly fell off after being punched by the agent.

And no - it's not going anything like as fast as a TGV.

Still, if you ever stand up in the back of a truck while it's moving, you're going to fall over unless you hold on to something. Morpheus does his famous high jump on top of the semi, so take it for what you will.

Acute sense of balance these matrix warriors

Anyone remember the scene where they stand on trees in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The wachowskis are giving their characters that kind of magical martial arts power.

not to mention that the key makers arm should have ripped off when he went from 60 mph in one direction to 60 mph in the opposite direction instanteously...

yeah, that could hurt just a little

morpheus was surfing just like the teen wolf did on top of the van

That was pretty silly too, but yep it goes to show that they weren't breaking the laws of physics simply by standing on the lorry as it drove along.

kinda like when you jump straight up, you land in the same spot and don't crash through a wall because the earth is moving, and you are moving at the same speed it is moving.

well no it's not quite like that. the wind resistance against morpheus on top of the truck would knock him off, it woudl prevent him from traveling at the same speed as the truck, unless of course he was super aerodynamic.

the matrix is a dream world, so it can happen

well DUH! But we are talking about how the scene would be changed if it operated along physics...

Maybe that they have a "fall on a moving truck" program just like the "jump" program ?
If not, then I must agree, Morpheus should have hard time falling on the truck (ditto for Trinity, the Keymaker and Johnson) and staying on the top of it... note that the wind seems to be inexistant.

The same applies to Morpheus when he kicks Johnson... Morpheus was going at the same speed that the truck and therefore he should not have been able to kick with so much force.

The wind is not "non-existant". If you look at Morpheus' sleeves, they are blowing all over the place.

you're being too literal. He meant the wind resistance that would have knocked them off the truck had it been operating along real physics.

People can stand on lorries as they go along - there is nothing unrealistic about that.

What is unrealistic is doing kung fu and jumping around on lorries. For that you need to suspend your disbelief - which should be easy enough considering that this is a movie!

ditto

They seem to be able to partially control their weight or at least their position in space... but I doubt that they can control something outside of their bodies, like wind. Anyway, Moprheus's speed was the same than the truck, so where did he get the velocity to crash Johnson like that ?
Maybe we should first agree on what they can do or not. It appears to me that their control is limited to their RSI, all the rest is programmed by the Matrix and they have no control on it.

Indeed you have been too literal, I think that everyone got the idea about the wind.

Well, considering newton's 3 laws of mechanics, once Morpheus was on the truck and acceleratied to 60mph, he would have been able to move around with no il effect. Ever try to jump up and down when you are on a train? Nothing abnormal happens, because you and the train are traveling at the same velocity. When the train accelerates by turning or speeding up, that is when you notice a wierd effect. The only problem morpheus would have is holding on the truck at the second he lands.