The Fi Movie has been praised by Neil deGrasse Tyson

SlashFilm

Know that when celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson nitpicks the bad science commonly encountered in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, he’s not trying to spoil anyone’s fun.
When it comes to most space-bound movies, though, Tyson has a lot to complain about.
In fact, he once felt that “Armageddon” was the most brazenly unscientific sci-fi film ever made.
Tyson doesn’t even bother delving into details as to the myriad reasons why the physics in “Moonfall” are wrong.
But know that Tyson also listed Robert Zemeckis’ time-travel thriller “Back to the Future” as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time … just because it’s entertaining and well-written.

POSITIVE

Recognize that renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is not attempting to ruin anyone’s enjoyment when he criticizes the subpar science frequently found in popular Hollywood blockbusters. I believe that we can all accept that he is just being a nerd. Possessing extensive scientific knowledge is not a source of shame, and pointing out physics and astronomical mistakes in a film should only inspire filmmakers to make better films in the future. For instance, Tyson famously bemoaned to director James Cameron that he had made a mistake with the night sky in “Titanic,”. Tyson proposed that Cameron use digital cunning to alter the skies to match the constellations that were visible in the North Atlantic on that fateful April night in 1912. Cameron, a nerd himself, complied.

However, Tyson has a lot to say about the majority of space-bound films. The majority of science fiction spacecraft, for example, are equipped with “artificial gravity,” despite the fact that this is untrue. A physicist would point out that in order to keep its inhabitants affixed to the ground, a ship would have to be laterally spinning. Naturally, every science student would also be able to tell you that there is no sound in space and that incredible explosions, zappy blasters, and growling starship engines would all be silent.

Some films, on the other hand, would make anyone’s credulity strain. In the 1998 thriller “Armageddon,” for example, Michael Bay tells the story of a group of astronauts and oil drillers who fly to an approaching comet and blow it up. During an episode of “The Jess Cagle Show” in 2024, Tyson presented a number of arguments against detonating a potentially fatal comet. Indeed, at one point, he thought “Armageddon” was the most blatantly non-scientific science fiction movie ever produced.

But an even more dumber film recently replaced “Armageddon.”. Tyson has harsh things to say about Roland Emmerich’s 2022 mega-dud, “Moonfall.”. “.

The film “Moonfall” tells the story of two astronauts (Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry) who were on a casual space mission in 2011 when Wilson’s character spotted a swarm of unusual spacecraft. His career was lost because no one took him seriously. A crazy conspiracy theorist (John Bradley) contacts Berry and Wilson ten years later, claiming that the moon is a huge, man-made superstructure with an entire alien civilization inside. Additionally, he has observed that the moon is descending from its orbit and will eventually approach Earth.

The Earth’s weather systems are messed up as the moon does just that. People are eventually lifted off the surface of the Earth by the moon’s gravity as it gets so close. Flying to the moon . are the three main characters. and discover extraterrestrials hiding there. Like many of Roland Emmerich’s films, the movie is overblown and entertainingly stupid.

According to Tyson’s social media declaration, “Armageddon” “violated more laws of physics (per minute) than any other film in the universe.”. He claimed that Disney’s 1979 failure “The Black Hole” had previously held that distinction. Unfortunately for both, “Moonfall” came along and completely destroyed them. On “Jess Cagle,” he stated, “That’s what I thought until I saw ‘Moonfall,'” before bursting into giggles. Outraged, he gave this description of the movie.

The movie was called Pandemic [. [— you know, Halle Berry — and they discovered that the moon is hollow as it gets closer to Earth. In addition, a moon formed from rocks is residing within it. The purpose of the Apollo missions was to visit and feed the moon creature. * I ., too. And I was unable to dot. I believed that “Armageddon” had a firm grip on this throne. Apparently not, though. “..”.

Tyson doesn’t even bother to go into the specifics of the numerous reasons why “Moonfall”‘s physics are flawed. Viewers might find many of them obvious. You wouldn’t be able to do sick car jumps, for example, if the moon fell to Earth.

*Editor’s note: This synopsis of the plot is not totally correct.

As Tyson noted during his appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Hollywood does it right sometimes. He may have detested the fact that the sky in “Titanic” was wrong, but he believed that fewer people would have perished if there had been a clever scientist and engineer on board. He hoped Matt Damon’s Dr. Watney from Ridley Scott’s 2015 film “The Martian” was more like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack. Because it tackles actual physics and useful space travel issues, Tyson adores “The Martian.”. In a video essay for Slate, Tyson even went so far as to explain the scientific accuracy of “The Martian.”.

In fact, Tyson ranked science fiction films according to their accuracy (or lack thereof), general ideas, and even philosophy in a video that he uploaded to his own channel, StarTalk. Simply because it was so awful, he considered “The Black Hole” to be among the more important movies he had ever seen. When he watched the film in college, he was indignant that no research had been done before it was produced. He did, however, also adore “The Matrix,” even though it was impractical to use human brains as a power source. Other movies that Tyson praised included “Contact,” “Interstellar,” “Gravity,” “Arrival,” “The Quiet Earth,” and even “The Blob,” which he claimed was the most realistic portrayal of an extraterrestrial ever. Why would an alien be a biped like a human, after all?

However, be aware that Tyson also named “Back to the Future,” a time-traveling thriller directed by Robert Zemeckis, one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. simply due to the fact that it is well-written and entertaining. Though Tyson can enjoy the movies, it is possible to criticize the science of time travel and the way causality isn’t applied in Zemeckis’ film. Not just a stick in the mud, he is. His only goal is to encourage readers to read more books on physics.

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