xkcd

by **Ryu Gaia** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:00 am UTC

Alt-text: In the LotR map, up and down correspond LOOSELY to northwest and southeast respectively.

...wow, the sheer degree of detail in this one is astounding.

by **Someursault** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:03 am UTC

12 Angry Men did it right. The '57 version, of course.

by **recon455** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:03 am UTC

Uaagh! I want to see the LOTR graph full size!

EDIT:I retract my statement. I love you, Randall.

by **Kimmeh** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:05 am UTC

recon455 wrote:Uaagh! I want to see the LOTR graph full size!

Click on it.

by **Vorghagen** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:05 am UTC

Poster.
Very. Big. Poster.
When will the store be updated to include this?

by **Dasafrak** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:05 am UTC

All that buildup for such a lame joke.

by **rgoomh** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:06 am UTC

This is all wrong! All wrong! You're missing Back To The Future, Randall!

by **glasnt** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:06 am UTC

P.S. Click for Larger.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/movie_narra ... _large.png

Hi joee!

Gah, I like comical graphics, but this, along with the Laptop/Toilet comic, really annoy me because you can't read the graph really well. As soon as you make the assumption that close-lines mean interaction, e.g. R2-D2/C3PO, you get a general understanding, til you get lines crossing over and then the grey bubbles? Oh hell no.

Spoiler:

by **zdc26z** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:06 am UTC

I'm impressed.

by **Nintendon't** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:07 am UTC

Holy cow, Randall put a ton of effort into this one.

by **SocialSceneRepairman** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:07 am UTC

It took me a while to realize that the bulk of this was a setup for the jokes of the last two. One of these days I've got to watch Primer. And I will understand it on the first try, dammit!

Anyway, bit of "card trickses in the dark" syndrome here, Randall.

by **n3mo** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:08 am UTC

agreed, im quite impressed.

12 angry men had me laughing out loud, much to the confusion of those around me.

by **irishnut** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:09 am UTC

Gee Willikers just awesome, randal my hero.

by **SocialSceneRepairman** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:09 am UTC

Waiiit a minute...you swapped two of the Jurassic Park characters!

Not cool, not funny, not a good comic.

Although part of me is wondering if the Primer flowchart is actually precise...I wouldn't put it past Randall...

by **Omegaton** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:11 am UTC

SocialSceneRepairman wrote:It took me a while to realize that the bulk of this was a setup for the jokes of the last two.

Same here. I was wondering if there was even a joke at all. It doesn't help that those two frames are really small relative to the other ones.

But this is actually pretty awesome.

by **MeisBarry** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:11 am UTC

Make this a poster please. I love this.

by **keeperofdakeys** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:12 am UTC

Based on the Primer graph, all I can say is that Randall must be counting the time from the perspective of the characters, or I am just trying to find accuracy in something designed as a joke...

SocialSceneRepairman wrote:It took me a while to realize that the bulk of this was a setup for the jokes of the last two. One of these days I've got to watch Primer. And I will understand it on the first try, dammit!

All I can say is good luck, if you watched it in 5 minute increments from the last 5 minutes to the first, then it might be possible, just maybe.

by **Cal27** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:13 am UTC

rgoomh wrote:This is all wrong! All wrong! You're missing Back To The Future, Randall!

Agh, no! My brain hurts enough already!

by **Eternal Density** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:14 am UTC

Wow!
(Finally found that I can log in with Chrome. Whenever I log in with Firefox, when it redirects back to the main forum page i'm logged out... maybe something is eating my cookies?)

It would be fun to see more of these sorts of diagrams. We need the Stargate:Universe premier for those people who can't keep track of all the flashbacks

Mmmm, BTTF

by **sstpm** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:15 am UTC

I'm astounded people are having negative reactions to this. When I think XKCD, this is the sort of thing I think of!

by **vcpink** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:15 am UTC

Muldoon and Arnold have their names switched on the start column... never saw Primer though... hope it's on netflix...

by **sje46** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:16 am UTC

I don't care if it's not too funny. It's interesting to look at. Although I would have preferred the entire Star Wars saga, even if you all think the prequels sucked.

by **DeeJus** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:17 am UTC

I like this comic. He put effort into it and it shows.

by **kyle90** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:20 am UTC

Randall Munroe: The next Charles Joseph Minard

by **Velict** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:23 am UTC

12 Angry Men is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

by **sje46** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:24 am UTC

Haha. The fine critics at xkcdsucks are misreading it as "Primal"

by **AislinKageno** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:24 am UTC

I thought this was absolutely astounding in its detail, and a prime example of what makes xkcd awesome. I want this on my wall, at least the top half. The 12 Angry Men one had me laughing out loud, although I don't know anything about Primer, so I wouldn't get that one. Seeing that representation makes seeing it a daunting prospect. The LOTR chart is an interesting way of showing my friends who seem to think that the story is too convoluted to keep track of that it can be done, it just takes lots of color coding.

by **compholio** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:25 am UTC

If only someone would do this for the Wheel of Time books.

by **Omegaton** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:27 am UTC

sje46 wrote:Although I would have preferred the entire Star Wars saga, even if you all think the prequels sucked.

Me too, that would be impressive.

by **TheTruePhoenix** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:27 am UTC

Long time reader, but just registered to use my LotR Geekiness =p

->Saruman and Wormtongue don't die there....
They are alive in the "Scouring of the Shire" at the end of Return of the King
[Edit] In that chapter is where they both actually die.

by **oldstarnewshine** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:28 am UTC

Movies by way of Charles Minard! This is brilliant. I want one for Harry Potter, but that would require paper the size of my house. (And I echo the calls for a poster!)

by **Salomon926** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:30 am UTC

You can watch Primer right now...Just go to http://video.google.com, do a search for "Primer" and the full movie is legitimately available (and has been for quite sometime.) As far as trying to understand it the first time, I'm not sure it's worth it since half the fun is rewatching it with all the prior knowledge of the entire film. If you want a real chart of Primer, someone made a really complicated one here: http://classicalconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/primer_timeline.jpg

by **saraid** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:35 am UTC

"They are alive in the "Scouring of the Shire" at the end of Return of the King "

Yes, but that story isn't in the movie. Hammond doesn't survive in the Jurassic Park book, either.

by **pretzil** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:37 am UTC

Personally I think that a vertical line technically should indicate moving slowly through time (bullettime)

by **Cal27** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:38 am UTC

Anyone else see Arnold and Muldoon are overlapping on each other at the beginning now?

by **albert** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:39 am UTC

Ahh, xkcd is back in fine form. I was getting worried that it was slipping.

by **BlueNight** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:39 am UTC

Randal: awesome. No matter how many Wikipedia or Google jokes you make, you have my respect permanently.

And my ax.

I would love to do one of these charts myself. The only two I would consider would be the entire Back To The Future saga (as someone already mentioned), and The Prestige.

The Prestige would be way more awesome, but full of spoilers, and agreeing with it depends on your interpretation of the film.

by **Storm** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:42 am UTC

This was amazing - simply for the LotR Graph! I haven't seen Primer so I can't judge looks interesting.

by **Newto** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:42 am UTC

I must say, I'm a little disappointed. You've missed the most obvious of jokes!

Why is there no line for Luke and his hand parting ways?

by **TheTruePhoenix** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:43 am UTC

saraid wrote:"They are alive in the "Scouring of the Shire" at the end of Return of the King "

Yes, but that story isn't in the movie. Hammond doesn't survive in the Jurassic Park book, either.

True, but it seems he was taking some parts from the book, or at least "assumptions" you have to make in the movie based on the book into consideration. =p I just would have liked to see that part added to the chart.
But overall i like it ^_^

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