Is it possible to drive a Podracer at 900 mph or more without a windshield or face mask? Could you survive a 50-foot fall into a snow bank like Luke Skywalker? Can you avoid freezing to death in a blizzard overnight by gutting a dead animal like a tauntaun and getting into its carcass?
It's these types of burning questions that keep some fans up at night, especially those who debunk urban legends and movie myths for a living. Each week special-effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, and their talented build team, take on urban legends and use modern-day science to see what's real and what's not in "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel.
Often using themselves as the test subjects -- unless it's too dangerous, then their crash test dummy "Buster" gets the honors -- the team sets up scientific experiments to test each part of the myth and tally the evidence at the end. Based on their experiments along with other documented evidence, they then pronounce the myth busted, plausible, or confirmed.
In past episodes, the "MythBusters" cast members have tested such urban legends as dropping pennies from skyscrapers onto pedestrians below, surviving being buried alive in a coffin, jumping from freefalling elevators, and the ultimate dare -- eating and drinking large quantities of Pop Rocks and cola to see if their stomachs would explode. They've also challenged famous movie myths such as sharks destroying boats in Jaws, death by gold paint in Goldfinger, yanking the rear axle clear out from under the car when it drives off as in American Graffiti and jumping from an airplane using an inflatable life raft to land in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
"The word 'science' in science fiction is the key here," Hyneman explains. "Sci-fi enthusiasts like to think about the future and its implications to present society and culture. On the show we deal with a lot of these same elements. I think in general the show and science fiction is intended to be thought provoking. Much on television and in the popular media is mindless. But some people, like our viewers, actually enjoy using their minds."
"That aesthetic of the Star Wars universe: the do-it-yourself, hotrod ethic that George Lucas exported from his childhood, is exactly the same kind of soul behind what we do and build for the show," Savage explains. "It may not look pretty, but it gets the job done."
However, long before "MythBusters" debuted in 2003, Savage, Hyneman -- as well as two of their build team members Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci -- worked at Industrial Light & Magic on various films including the Star Wars prequels, as well as other noteworthy films such as A.I., Terminator 3, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest and Van Helsing.
Savage worked for ILM in the model shop for nearly five years building ships and miniature sets for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, as well as working on over a hundred commercials and two features for Hyneman when he ran the shop at Colossal Pictures, and later for Hyneman's own San Francisco Bay Area company, M5 Industries -- where the majority of "MythBusters" episodes are filmed.
"I arrived at ILM during the final push to finish Episode I, and it was like going to heaven," Savage recalls. "A shop full of some of the best people I've ever had the honor to work with. I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks at Skywalker Ranch working on pre-production models for Episode II. Given that it was one of the first jobs I ever wanted to have, it was pretty cool to get a chance to participate."
"Adam, Grant and Tory have worked at ILM for some years," Hyneman adds. "I worked there on one job with Grant and we became friends. Adam and Tory had worked with me or for me before then and, in fact, Adam got his first work in the field when I hired him over a decade ago. I found ILM a great place to work and that there were a lot of very talented people there. Many of the people there have worked with me over the years." In addition to his work at ILM, and later creating his company M5 Industries, Hyneman's well-rounded skill set includes Russian linguist, animal wrangler, toy creator, inventor, wilderness survival expert, diver, machinist, chef and model maker.
