The science fiction movies hated by NASA
You’d like to think that NASA knows a thing or two about science. After all, they are the independent agency of the United States government that is responsible for the civil space program and research into the possibilities of space travel and even space dwellings. But what do NASA think about science fiction movies?
The science fiction genre quite often gets science so right that it sheds new light on its human and social importance, and it’s always a delight when audiences genuinely learn from their experience with a given sci-fi movie. However, naturally, sometimes films can get science oh-so-wrong, leading to awful films that are likely to anger scientists worldwide.
Back in 2011, scientists attending a meeting at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory picked out the seven science fiction movies that they simply couldn’t stand. They began with the awfully titled What the Bleep Do We Know!?, a pseudo-scientific movie that attempts to connect spirituality to quantum physics and consciousness and completely misrepresents science, so it is unsurprising to learn of NASA’s disdain.
Arnold Schwarzenegger being cloned in 2000’s The 6th Day was also not well received by the NASA scientists; clearly, they did not want more than one Arnie throwing his weight around. Keanu Reeves’ performance in 1996’s Chain Reaction fared a little better, so perhaps NASA just preferred the glory of The Matrix instead, which would be more than understandable.
Clearly, there’s a distaste in NASA for movies rife with bad science, so the fact that 1997’s Volcano, which tells of a volcano springing up in the middle of Los Angeles before destroying the city, makes perfect sense. Its cheesy dialogue and special effects likely did little to help its cause.
Newton’s First Law of Motion, “an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force”, was completely ignored in 1998’s Armageddon, and unfortunately, NASA were unable to see beyond this and allow themselves a guilty pleasure in the shape of Bruce Willis hurtling into space to destroy an asteroid heading for Earth.
2003’s The Core almost made it to the top of NASA’s most-hated movie list, but even its dodgy geological understanding couldn’t top the horrendously awful 2012, in which the world comes to an end after neutrinos from a solar flare heat up the Earth’s core. In the science world, it’s well known that neutrinos pass directly through matter, so the movie was something of a non-starter for NASA from the get-go.
The science fiction movies NASA hates:
- What the Bleep Do We Know!? (William Arntz, 2004)
- The 6th Day (Roger Spottisewoode, 2000)
- Chain Reaction (Andrew Davis, 1996)
- Volcano (Mick Jackson, 1997)
- Armageddon (Michael Bay, 1998)
- The Core (Jon Amiel, 2003)
- 2012 (Roland Emmerich, 2009)
