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Space movies (possible spoilers)

Discussion in 'SpaceX' started by SwedishAdvocate, Jun 14, 2015.

  1. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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    I just watched Ad Astra. I had high hopes but I found it incomprehensible and riddled with scientific errors. It’s supposed to be set in the “near future”. I assumed the basic laws of physics still applied, but apparently not. I can accept that some type of new incredibly powerful rocket propulsion system has been invented that cuts travel time to Mars to 19 days and to Neptune in a few months. But I cannot accept the main character sneaking aboard a rocket on Mars while the engines are firing simply by opening a little hatch at the base of the rocket right by the engines (after swimming through an underground lake of water(?), on Mars!) nor can I accept the main character returning to his ship in orbit around Neptune by easily detaching a metal panel on another ship and powering through a rocky ring using the panel as a shield, miraculously arriving exactly the location of his ship but at such a high velocity that he impacts it very hard but managed to grasp the last remaining handhold before being swept out to space and there happens to be a convenient airlock nearby.

    And then there is the fact that it is never explained just what evidence there was for believing that the Lima Project had anything to do with the mysterious energy “surges”, nor did I understand if the main character’s father went crazy on his own, or if aliens were involved, or if aliens were involved with anything, or why the surges were happening.

    Deeply disappointing film.
     
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  2. Nikxice

    Nikxice Active Member

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    Yup, right after the movie theater release reviewers weren't too kind. No doubt it's technically flawed (unperfect!). I see it's now out on Redbox. Not a big fan of the NBA, still might pick it up for the special effects to watch on Xmas day.
     
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  3. Bobfitz1

    Bobfitz1 Active Member

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    No disrespect, but you will be grateful if you watch two episodes of the Expanse instead. Even if you've watched them before!
     
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  4. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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    It’s not just the scientifically invalid absurdities, it’s the incoherent plot.
    I am currently enjoying the new season of The Expanse. I admire the basic concept; in the distant future, human civilization has fractured between the Belters, Martians, and Earthers. It’s interesting to see the different paths those three groups have taken, and the conflicts between them. It’s something that I can imagine actually happening.
     
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  5. e-FTW

    e-FTW New electron smell

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    Just saw Ad Astra last night, and if you disregard the Gravity-style ending, it was believable enough for me to enjoy up to that point.
    I did enjoy the Mars and Moon bases and the different feel they had. And the commercial flight to the moon (complete with overpriced onboard fees lol) made this all believable for a “near future”. Just like other efforts though, it failed to account for reduced gravity in interior scenes on Moon and Mars.
    In the end it leaves a lot unexplained, but you do get an interesting take on life and travel through the solar system. And it is visually stunning. I kind of want to go hang by Neptune now...
     
  6. Nikxice

    Nikxice Active Member

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    I won't attempt to make any predictions on this one, except to say that I'm excited while awaiting its December 18th release. At least the trailer sounds good, evidenced by hearing Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of the Moon'.

    When I first read Dune in the late 60's, Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel blew me away. I also had high expectations for the movie version released in 1984, but turned out bored and disappointed in the film. I so want this to be good!
     
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  7. TEG

    TEG Teslafanatic

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    In some ways, Dune has been cursed as a movie project.
    Hopefully this time they get it right.
     
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  8. Grendal

    Grendal SpaceX Moderator

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    Dune is a bit like the Lord of the Rings. It will take the right filmmaker telling the story in exactly the right way to pull off the subtle complexity of a fantastic universe. It will be hard to shove all the political and religious complexity into just a movie. That's what caused the original Dune movie to fail but had a cult following resurgence when the four to five hour versions surfaced. Personally, I think it's along the complexity of Game of Thrones and needs something like an entire season (10 to 12 hours) to properly tell such a complex tale. Or break it into a trilogy of movies if there are proper end points for each film. JMHO.
     
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  9. ZsoZso

    ZsoZso Supporting Member

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    I was also disappointed in the 1984 Dune movie, actually liked the mini series released in 2000 better:
    Dune (TV Mini-Series 2000– ) - IMDb

    Looking forward and hoping the new movie will be better yet.
     
  10. Bobfitz1

    Bobfitz1 Active Member

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    I think that was when I first read Dune. It was fascinating and well written in a way most of the sci fi I'd been reading up to then was.
    When I saw your post I had a recollection of the book's paper cover art work and from that I knew I'd gotten it from the Science Fiction Book Club. I belonged for years and the reasonable prices and offers brought me so many memorable sci fi novels and short story collections!
    I'll bet a few of the long time sci fi fans here may have belonged and have similar memories of how good it was.
     
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  11. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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    I had the same experience; read it in the late 60’s and belonged to that book club. Though my favorite authors were Clarke and Asimov. Pohl and Niven were pretty good too.
     
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  12. ZsoZso

    ZsoZso Supporting Member

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    I also read pretty much everything from Clarke and Asimov. They write consistently great SciFi. There are some other great SciFi books, but I could not find other authors with such consistent quality.
     
  13. Cosmacelf

    Cosmacelf Well-Known Member

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    Heinlein.
     
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  14. Cosmacelf

    Cosmacelf Well-Known Member

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    I suppose I should point out my top four Heinlein books to not leave folks hanging in case anyone gives a crap:

    1. Stranger in a Strange Land (Hugo winner) - his magnum opus. Politics, religion, and sex. Heinlein obviously didn't give a crap about what the reaction to his book was. :) Read the originally published version, not the version his wife later published that was an earlier draft of the book. It wasn't as good and only of interest to Heinlein fanatics.

    2. Citizen of the Galaxy - coming of age story that tackles twin themes of freedom and responsibility. Rather interesting story start.

    3. Tunnel in the Sky - stranded survivor pron. Actually deals with a lot else including a more realistic take on a Lord of the Flies scenario, and coming of age (again).

    4. Starship Troopers (Hugo winner) - military grunt pron. If you want to learn about Heinlein's worldview, this is one of the best books since there's a character that monologues Heinlein's thoughts.

    There's a lot else including Heinlein's take on a dungeon and dragons fantasy book (Glory Road), what rocketry/humanity will be like in fifty years if Elon is successful (The Rolling Stones), and a sweet young romance adventure (The Star Beast). Oh, and if you ever wondered what a hard sci-fi author's take on real life magic would be, the short story Magic, Inc. found in the book Waldo and Magic Inc. is not to be missed.

    BTW, all these stories are old, so Heinlein's view of future technology is occasionally clunky. But those stories above hold together pretty well (others like Starman Jones, not so much).
     
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  15. Grendal

    Grendal SpaceX Moderator

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    I grok you on your choices.

    I think my first Heinlein book was Friday. After that I went through all of them.

    Bringing this back onto the topic of movies. I thought the Starship Troopers movie wasn't bad. The book was much better of course.

    I'd add "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress as one of his must read books.

    In "Expanded Universe" Heinlein makes a number of significant predictions about the future with the intention of revisiting them every fifteen years. His predictions are very interesting in what was successful versus what didn't happen.
     
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  16. Cosmacelf

    Cosmacelf Well-Known Member

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    People do like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (it won a Hugo after all), but I only read it once a long time ago so I only remember bits and pieces. Maybe I should revisit it.

    The movie Starship Troopers managed to capture the spirit of the book even though they changed quite a few things. So, it did indeed do justice to the book, or at least as well as a movie can. Frankly, the masters of science fiction haven’t had much luck when it comes to screenplays based on their works. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the upcoming Foundation series!

    I’ve daydreamed that you could take about five of Heinlein’s juvenile books and make an 8 or 10 part single season out of each one. As I read and re-read these (they are like comfort books to me), I can envision how they would each work as a one season streaming series. Maybe I’m deluding myself, but I think it could work...
     
  17. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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    Agreed. One of the few successful movie versions of a now classic sci-fi work was 2001, but it’s a unique case; the book and the movie were created at the same time although the book was published some time after the film debuted.
     
  18. Cosmacelf

    Cosmacelf Well-Known Member

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    I agree. It’s also unique in that Kubrick directed it. I think he’s the only director that could have pulled that movie off.

    Speaking of offbeat sci-fi, anyone see THX 1138? Before he got famous by directing American Graffiti (and really famous from Star Wars), he wrote and directed this small sci-fi film that has a Brave New World vibe in it.
     
  19. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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    Of course. :D Impressive first film directed by George Lucas. With Robert Duvall before he was famous. THX 1138 - Wikipedia
     
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  20. ecarfan

    ecarfan Well-Known Member

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