4 ms·

Seems like a good weekend to watch Europa Report. I highly recommend that film to realistic sci fi fans, just hang in there for the first half hour or so with i

Seems like a good weekend to watch Europa Report. I highly recommend that film to realistic sci fi fans, just hang in there for the first half hour or so with its nervous cuts.

tambourine_man 10y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7358710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7358710
- m_mueller 10y ago
  I think it depends on whether you can get over its style (which is probably also chosen due to budget constraints). For me it is one of these films that get my imagination going, and I actually prefer that to one that just feeds you everything on a silver spoon. It's certainly a matter of taste though, I totally understand if it's not for everyone.
  - tambourine_man 10y ago
    I like its style, it's the execution that bugs me. If you pay attention, you can almost always tell if a movie is a low budget production, but the good ones don't feel like one. But in Europa Report, that's evident through and through
    - dave_sullivan 10y ago
      > you can almost always tell if a movie is a low budget production, but the good ones don't feel like one. I've noticed that too and found the difference to be largely not enough time spent (or no time spent) on post processing (color grading, adding film grain, etc) and sound (both foley and simple-to-produce atmospheric music). These things are all cheap to do yourself, yet often neglected for some reason. They never skimp on this in big budget productions and so you get that "big budget cinematic look".
      - tambourine_man 10y ago
        That makes a lot of difference, for sure. But to me, acting and scripting are where it hurts the most. And you can't “fix that in post” But color grading is far from the easy but neglected icing on the cake. I've been to an editing studio and it's amazing how it's essential to the story sometimes.
        jessriedel 10y ago
        Yep, the basic story and setting of the money were fantastic, and I had no trouble suspending disbelief regarding the low-tech effects. But I could not get past the awful community-theatre acting and the cliche-filled scrip.
    - m_mueller 10y ago
      I had the same reaction as you... until it grabbed me. As I wrote, it depends on whether you can get over the first half hour or so - after that you're kind of used to it as for me I could start appreciating it for what it is.
Tharkun 10y ago
I just finished watching it, and now HN tells me Nasa has an announcement? Fun coincidence. I really enjoyed the movie. Mood wise it's somewhere between Apollo 13 and Contact.
IndianAstronaut 10y ago
That was a great hard scifi movie. I hope with that and The Martian, hard sci fi in film becomes very popular.
- m_mueller 10y ago
  For some reason I didn't really like The Martian (as in the movie). I guess after having read the book there just wasn't any surprise left, and I felt that this sort of story just works much better in book form. I prefer Europa Report over it. IMO Interstellar is the big popularizer of hard sci-fi though, or wouldn't you put it in that category? For me it took its liberties in just the right places where it's justified due to lack of more knowledge.
  - kochthesecond 10y ago
    I didn't like the movie adaption either. I felt it lost a lot of the suspense. In the book you get more a sense of how long time he is stranded, his thoughts and how meticulous he is with everything he does.
  - smadsen 10y ago
    Coincidentally, I'm watching The Martian right now after reading the book last week. I have to agree, the movie just does not capture the same sense of surprise and careful attention to detail as described in the book. The sets are nice though, and it's pretty cool to see how the production team visualized the scenes and hardware compared to how I had imagined them. Seems like there could be some scientific inaccuracies too (e.g. hab repairs with only hardware store plastic film and duct tape). Overall, I'd say Interstellar works much better in movie form, although perhaps that is partly due to the scale of the concepts it employs compared to The Martian, which is smaller and more technical.
  - IndianAstronaut 10y ago
    I thought Interstellar was fantastic and would fall into the plausible realm. Same goes for 2001. Star Wars...certainly not.
auggierose 10y ago
I just watched it last weekend :-) Really nice sci fi movie, loved it when they played Space Odyssey 2001 music during takeoff!

Seems like a good weekend to watch Europa Report. I highly recommend that film to realistic sci fi fans, just hang in there for the first half hour or so with its nervous cuts.

tambourine_man 10y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7358710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7358710

m_mueller 10y ago
I think it depends on whether you can get over its style (which is probably also chosen due to budget constraints). For me it is one of these films that get my imagination going, and I actually prefer that to one that just feeds you everything on a silver spoon. It's certainly a matter of taste though, I totally understand if it's not for everyone.
- tambourine_man 10y ago
  I like its style, it's the execution that bugs me. If you pay attention, you can almost always tell if a movie is a low budget production, but the good ones don't feel like one. But in Europa Report, that's evident through and through
  - dave_sullivan 10y ago
    > you can almost always tell if a movie is a low budget production, but the good ones don't feel like one. I've noticed that too and found the difference to be largely not enough time spent (or no time spent) on post processing (color grading, adding film grain, etc) and sound (both foley and simple-to-produce atmospheric music). These things are all cheap to do yourself, yet often neglected for some reason. They never skimp on this in big budget productions and so you get that "big budget cinematic look".
    - tambourine_man 10y ago
      That makes a lot of difference, for sure. But to me, acting and scripting are where it hurts the most. And you can't “fix that in post” But color grading is far from the easy but neglected icing on the cake. I've been to an editing studio and it's amazing how it's essential to the story sometimes.
      - jessriedel 10y ago
        Yep, the basic story and setting of the money were fantastic, and I had no trouble suspending disbelief regarding the low-tech effects. But I could not get past the awful community-theatre acting and the cliche-filled scrip.
  - m_mueller 10y ago
    I had the same reaction as you... until it grabbed me. As I wrote, it depends on whether you can get over the first half hour or so - after that you're kind of used to it as for me I could start appreciating it for what it is.

Tharkun 10y ago

I just finished watching it, and now HN tells me Nasa has an announcement? Fun coincidence. I really enjoyed the movie. Mood wise it's somewhere between Apollo 13 and Contact.

IndianAstronaut 10y ago

That was a great hard scifi movie. I hope with that and The Martian, hard sci fi in film becomes very popular.

m_mueller 10y ago
For some reason I didn't really like The Martian (as in the movie). I guess after having read the book there just wasn't any surprise left, and I felt that this sort of story just works much better in book form. I prefer Europa Report over it. IMO Interstellar is the big popularizer of hard sci-fi though, or wouldn't you put it in that category? For me it took its liberties in just the right places where it's justified due to lack of more knowledge.
- kochthesecond 10y ago
  I didn't like the movie adaption either. I felt it lost a lot of the suspense. In the book you get more a sense of how long time he is stranded, his thoughts and how meticulous he is with everything he does.
- smadsen 10y ago
  Coincidentally, I'm watching The Martian right now after reading the book last week. I have to agree, the movie just does not capture the same sense of surprise and careful attention to detail as described in the book. The sets are nice though, and it's pretty cool to see how the production team visualized the scenes and hardware compared to how I had imagined them. Seems like there could be some scientific inaccuracies too (e.g. hab repairs with only hardware store plastic film and duct tape). Overall, I'd say Interstellar works much better in movie form, although perhaps that is partly due to the scale of the concepts it employs compared to The Martian, which is smaller and more technical.
- IndianAstronaut 10y ago
  I thought Interstellar was fantastic and would fall into the plausible realm. Same goes for 2001. Star Wars...certainly not.

auggierose 10y ago

I just watched it last weekend :-) Really nice sci fi movie, loved it when they played Space Odyssey 2001 music during takeoff!