The Rock : Background, Scene Description,
& After Viewing Comments
Include here are some of the comments, discussions, and questions used when viewing The Rock in chemistry and biochemistry classes. The film is useful for general chemistry classes (both science and non-science major courses) and more advanced biochemistry courses.
A. Background
The Rock is an adventure/thriller movie about domestic terrorism. Chemical weapons (nerve gas) are a major part of the plot.
A chemically interesting scene occurs relatively early in the movie. This scene provides character information about Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage) as well as expository information about nerve gases, chemical weapons, and the use of explosives to disperse chemical agents. It also introduces the use of atropine as a means of treating poisoning by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.
Unlike some other movie scenes that focus on a very specific aspect of chemistry, this one contains a smorgasbord of information about a wide range of chemical topics. After a brief introduction describing who Stanley Goodspeed is and what he does, I ask the students to make a list of some of the chemical items mentioned in the scene. Since there are so many chemical aspects to the scene, I usually ask the students to write down three chemical or physical chemical (phys/c) aspects of the scene. By only writing down a few items, they still have time to concentrate on the movie and get a bit more involved. After viewing the scene, the class attempts to construct a complete list by combining the lists of individual students.
B. Scene description
Start viewing at Chap02:H0:M10:S23 on DVD. “FBI Laboratory Washington, D.C.”
Chronological list of chemically interesting aspects of the scene:
1. “Could be Sarin gas...”
2. “Dog caught whiff...”
3. View of fancy chamber (basically a fume hood room) (phys/c)
4. Get suited up in protective suits (phys/c)
5. “Do you bring the cockroaches?”
6. Airlock (phys/c)
7. “Marvin, Sarin is a...” “...GB aerosol.”
8. Gas mask (mostly phys/c) (DVD Chapter# switches from 2 to 3 here.)
9. Baby doll’s eyes open, gas emitted from doll’s mouth.
10. Exhaust (phys/c) “... have that room cleared in 50 seconds.” Cyclonic nature of gas leaving room. (Related to positive vs. negative pressure?)
11. “The bad news is that the gas is corrosive and it’s eating our suits.”
12. “The really bad news is there’s enough C4 explosive and poison gas to blow the whole chamber and kill everybody in the building.”
13. Snap, Crackle, and Popping cockroaches.
14. “Where are my sprinklers?” (phys/c)
15. “Tell them to take the atropine, now!” ..... “Inject it in your heart before your suit melts!”
16. “Poisons mixing.” This, I don’t quite get. Perhaps a suggestion of a 2nd gas that is binary? (See “Binary Technology” heading in reference #2, below.)
17. They finally get the sprinklers activated (phys/c), the bomb is disarmed, and the scene resolves.
Stop viewing Chap03:H0:M14:S50 on DVD, “I almost stabbed myself in the heart with this thing.”
C. After Viewing Comments/Questions for the students
General comments: The scene has many interesting chemical components. This gives the opportunity to focus on aspects of the scene that are most relevant to a particular subset of students. For biochemistry applications, the nursing students are often more interesting in the neurotoxin/atropine aspects of the scene. For more general chemistry applications, there are many interesting physical and chemical concepts to consider.
Subjects to consider discussing in more detail with the students:
1. protective equipment
2. positive vs. negative pressure in chamber
3. gas mask function
4. cold traps re. air pollution
5. naturally occurring acetylcholine esterase inhibitors
6. organophosphate pesticides
Additional resources:
1. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/weap.html Neuroscience for kids website. Has simple, but nice animations showing cholinergic synapse function, as well as mode of action of nerve agents & atropine. Also has some relevant links.