7 ms·

I feel compelled to plug the 2013 sci-fi film "Europa Report"[1], a great movie that no one watched. Space.com called it "awesome" and "stunningly realistic"[2

by pshin45 13y ago

I feel compelled to plug the 2013 sci-fi film "Europa Report"[1], a great movie that no one watched. Space.com called it "awesome" and "stunningly realistic"[2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Report http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Report [2] http://www.space.com/21247-europa-report-scifi-film-trailer.html http://www.space.com/21247-europa-report-scifi-film-trailer....

fletchowns 13y ago
I watched this recently and really enjoyed it. Definitely check it out if you are into the genre.
incision 13y ago
I enjoyed Europa Report (It's on Neflix [0]) thoroughly I and I feel compelled to link this invigorating (2007) talk from Bill Stone [0]. 0: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Europa_Report/70276016 http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Europa_Report/70276016 1: http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_stone_explores_the_earth_and_space http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_stone_explores_the_earth_and_s...
qbrass 13y ago
It was an advertisement for manned spaceflight that ironically showed why it's a bad idea.
- darsham 13y ago
  Advertisement ? It's borderline a space horror movie, no irony here... The mockups of mission branding and press conferences were rather well made though, so I can imagine why you'd get that impression.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  I don't agree at all. If that had been an unmanned mission the results would have been less than conclusive, if they had been transmitted back to earth at all (I'm being cryptic to avoid story specifics).
Udo 13y ago
It was certainly a lot kore realistic than Gravity (which was massively hyped for its realism) and a lot more fun to boot. Of course, no space movie can do without plot device-related absurdities for the sake of drama, but at least it was entertaining and relatively clever. One thing I liked too was that the crew was not composed of abrasive drama queens, which is refreshing considering the genre.
- arrrg 13y ago
  Huh? Gravity was massively hyped for its special effects and the very real feeling of exhilaration it creates. It’s an awesome action movie with none of the stereotypical and boring tropes of action movies. (Also, the cinematography is very much above average and I personally really loved its rhythm of quiet and action.) The depiction of space hardware is actually awesomely realistic (to some level of detail) but I don’t recall anyone praising it for realism beyond that. Because it very much isn’t. (Still, getting the actual space hardware right is something not many movies manage to pull off and pretty impressive on its own.) I don’t think it matters very much or reduces the enjoyment very much. This movie is very much not about space travel. Europa Report is a bit cringe but probably the best you can do with that kind of budget and in that respect it’s pretty and also pretty realistic.
  - Udo 13y ago
    Huh. I recall my friends citing articles from popular publications where astronauts supposedly praised Gravity for its utter phycics realism. I disagree with you about Gravity (I didn't like it very much) but I agree that in the great scheme of things realism isn't that important for entertainment.
    - jessaustin 13y ago
      SPOILER WARNING, I guess. I can't imagine an astronaut praising the "physics realism" of the "buffeted by the wind in space" moment that caused the death of the male character. His momentum had clearly been completely stopped by the tether, but instead of rebounding back toward the other tethered astronaut (as had happened multiple, more realistic, times earlier in the movie), some unknown force kept pulling him away until at last the tether came loose. If the setting were terrestrial the force would be inferred by most viewers to be the drag of a moving fluid such as wind. What similar force exists in space? I don't complain about the presence of unrealistic space plot device in unrealistic space movie, but there it is.
anigbrowl 13y ago
I watched it! It's hard work in that it takes a very non-linear editing approach, but well worth worth it - a good, unpretentious hard SF movie, which is something you don't see very often. Had a strong Stanislaw Lem feeling to it, for anyone who's a fan of Solaris.
benmorris 13y ago
I don't know how I missed this. Looks like the local Redbox has it in, so I'll be checking it out!
afterburner 13y ago
It's ok, the writing is pretty amateurish.
tambourine_man 13y ago
I was very excited about Europa Report, unfortunately it's really bad. Poor execution, script, acting, you name it. Such a shame.
- freehunter 13y ago
  I felt similarly. While I didn't think it was bad, I didn't think it was good, either. I watched it, but it never really pulled me in despite having everything that should have pulled me in. I spent most of the time waiting for something to happen or trying to figure out what had happened when something did happen.
TheCoreh 13y ago
Just watched it based on your recommendation. Thanks! It was a really enjoyable movie. Very centered on reality, I could barely spot any innacuracies, really good hard science fiction story.

by pshin45 13y ago

fletchowns 13y ago

I watched this recently and really enjoyed it. Definitely check it out if you are into the genre.

incision 13y ago

I enjoyed Europa Report (It's on Neflix [0]) thoroughly I and I feel compelled to link this invigorating (2007) talk from Bill Stone [0]. 0: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Europa_Report/70276016 http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Europa_Report/70276016 1: http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_stone_explores_the_earth_and_space http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_stone_explores_the_earth_and_s...

qbrass 13y ago

It was an advertisement for manned spaceflight that ironically showed why it's a bad idea.

darsham 13y ago
Advertisement ? It's borderline a space horror movie, no irony here... The mockups of mission branding and press conferences were rather well made though, so I can imagine why you'd get that impression.
anigbrowl 13y ago
I don't agree at all. If that had been an unmanned mission the results would have been less than conclusive, if they had been transmitted back to earth at all (I'm being cryptic to avoid story specifics).

Udo 13y ago

It was certainly a lot kore realistic than Gravity (which was massively hyped for its realism) and a lot more fun to boot. Of course, no space movie can do without plot device-related absurdities for the sake of drama, but at least it was entertaining and relatively clever. One thing I liked too was that the crew was not composed of abrasive drama queens, which is refreshing considering the genre.

arrrg 13y ago
Huh? Gravity was massively hyped for its special effects and the very real feeling of exhilaration it creates. It’s an awesome action movie with none of the stereotypical and boring tropes of action movies. (Also, the cinematography is very much above average and I personally really loved its rhythm of quiet and action.) The depiction of space hardware is actually awesomely realistic (to some level of detail) but I don’t recall anyone praising it for realism beyond that. Because it very much isn’t. (Still, getting the actual space hardware right is something not many movies manage to pull off and pretty impressive on its own.) I don’t think it matters very much or reduces the enjoyment very much. This movie is very much not about space travel. Europa Report is a bit cringe but probably the best you can do with that kind of budget and in that respect it’s pretty and also pretty realistic.
- Udo 13y ago
  Huh. I recall my friends citing articles from popular publications where astronauts supposedly praised Gravity for its utter phycics realism. I disagree with you about Gravity (I didn't like it very much) but I agree that in the great scheme of things realism isn't that important for entertainment.
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    SPOILER WARNING, I guess. I can't imagine an astronaut praising the "physics realism" of the "buffeted by the wind in space" moment that caused the death of the male character. His momentum had clearly been completely stopped by the tether, but instead of rebounding back toward the other tethered astronaut (as had happened multiple, more realistic, times earlier in the movie), some unknown force kept pulling him away until at last the tether came loose. If the setting were terrestrial the force would be inferred by most viewers to be the drag of a moving fluid such as wind. What similar force exists in space? I don't complain about the presence of unrealistic space plot device in unrealistic space movie, but there it is.

anigbrowl 13y ago

I watched it! It's hard work in that it takes a very non-linear editing approach, but well worth worth it - a good, unpretentious hard SF movie, which is something you don't see very often. Had a strong Stanislaw Lem feeling to it, for anyone who's a fan of Solaris.

benmorris 13y ago

I don't know how I missed this. Looks like the local Redbox has it in, so I'll be checking it out!

afterburner 13y ago

It's ok, the writing is pretty amateurish.

tambourine_man 13y ago

I was very excited about Europa Report, unfortunately it's really bad. Poor execution, script, acting, you name it. Such a shame.

freehunter 13y ago
I felt similarly. While I didn't think it was bad, I didn't think it was good, either. I watched it, but it never really pulled me in despite having everything that should have pulled me in. I spent most of the time waiting for something to happen or trying to figure out what had happened when something did happen.

TheCoreh 13y ago

Just watched it based on your recommendation. Thanks! It was a really enjoyable movie. Very centered on reality, I could barely spot any innacuracies, really good hard science fiction story.