I’m not sure when it started, but somewhere along the way, I realized that I like movies. I try to find good ones. But how do you know, really? One way, the most common way, is to go on other people’s recommendations.
Even though all of us have different tastes, relying on others’ opinions seems like the best path. It especially helps if the person who recommends the movie knows something about the topic.
Like, if you wanted to watch a movie about outer space, it seems logical to ask an astronaut. And guess what. Someone did.
I mean. They’ve been there. They know what space feels like. So when they talk about outer space movies, it isn’t just any old opinion. It comes with actual experience.
So. Here are a few of the movies astronauts often talk about. Some good. Some bad.
– The Right Stuff
– Apollo 13
– 2001: A Space Odyssey
– Gravity
– Armageddon
– Interstellar
– Star Wars
2001: A Space Odyssey.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield has praised 2001: A Space Odyssey for its realism. He says he likes the silence, the slow movement, the sense of isolation. According to him, that quiet, eerie feeling is just like space.
Gravity.
On the other hand, Chris Hadfield also gently poked at movies like Gravity. He agrees that the filming is beautiful. But from his perspective, things move a little too conveniently up there. Space doesn’t quite work like that.
Apollo 13.
Astronaut Scott Kelly knows what is what. He spent nearly a year aboard the International Space Station. He’s talked about how Apollo 13 gets something essential right. He says their depiction of the teamwork it takes is right on. All the problem-solving. He says that when things go wrong, you don’t panic. You instead have to figure it out. That part, he’s said, is very real.
Onto Astronaut Mike Massimino. He has taken a lighter approach. He’s openly laughed about Armageddon. Of course, he had to point out how wildly unrealistic it is. (The movie shows them training oil drillers to be astronauts? Like, in a couple of days?)
But he says it is all in fun.
Finally, there is Astronaut Sunita Williams, who has spent months in orbit and understands the emotional side of space travel. Movies like Interstellar resonate because they touch on something deeper. Those kinds of movies show the stark distance from Earth, from family, from normal life. The science matters. But so does the feeling of being far, far away.
So there they are, for what it is worth. The people who have actually left Earth rate the movies about leaving Earth. And just like the rest of us, they have favorites.
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“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding.” — Plato
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“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
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“Reality is frequently inaccurate.” — Douglas Adams
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