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ReAction!: Chemistry in the Movies
ReAction! gives a scientist's and artist's response to the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in 140 films, most of them contemporary Hollywood feature films but also a few documentaries, shorts, silents, and international films.
Even though there are some examples of screen chemistry between the actors and of behind-the-scenes special effects, this book is really about the chemistry when it is part of the narrative. It is about the dualities of Dr. Jekyll vs. inventor chemists, the invisible man vs. forensic chemists, chemical weapons vs. classroom chemistry, chemical companies that knowingly pollute the environment vs. altruistic research chemists trying to make the world a better place to live, and, finally, about people who choose to experiment with mind-altering drugs vs. the drug discovery process.
Little did Jekyll know when he brought the Hyde formula to his lips that his personality split would provide the central metaphor that would come to describe chemistry in the movies. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science. Watching films with chemical eyes, Dr. Jekyll is recast as a chemist engaged in psychopharmaceutical research but who becomes addicted to his own formula. He is balanced by the often wacky inventor chemists who make their discoveries by trial-and-error.
Even though there are some examples of screen chemistry between the actors and of behind-the-scenes special effects, this book is really about the chemistry when it is part of the narrative. It is about the dualities of Dr. Jekyll vs. inventor chemists, the invisible man vs. forensic chemists, chemical weapons vs. classroom chemistry, chemical companies that knowingly pollute the environment vs. altruistic research chemists trying to make the world a better place to live, and, finally, about people who choose to experiment with mind-altering drugs vs. the drug discovery process.
Little did Jekyll know when he brought the Hyde formula to his lips that his personality split would provide the central metaphor that would come to describe chemistry in the movies. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science. Watching films with chemical eyes, Dr. Jekyll is recast as a chemist engaged in psychopharmaceutical research but who becomes addicted to his own formula. He is balanced by the often wacky inventor chemists who make their discoveries by trial-and-error.
340 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 16, 2026
A great idea, looking at chemistry in the movies, how it matches with real science and how it influences the films. It has some interesting insights about things like the scientist stock types (naive idealist, monomaniac, sinister schemer, etc.). However 1)it's got some errors about Jekyll and Hyde films, which I know well, so I assume there are other errors elsewhere. 2)the movie choices are questionable (Back to the Future is hardly about chemistry) and 3)ultimately they're much more interested in discussing science than the films. Plus the style is a droning voice.
Just enough interesting bits that it made two stars.
Just enough interesting bits that it made two stars.
March 23, 2013
While the chemistry and the film analyses were each interesting, the links between them were often tenuous, and the book as a whole felt rather disjointed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews