Forget Armageddon, This $684 Sandra Bullock Flick Is the Most Inaccurate Sci-Fi Movie Ever

Summary:

• Gravity is undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi movies from an artistic point of view, but it is extremely unrealistic, as astronauts and scientists have confirmed.
• Kowalski communicates informally with the crew, wasting the resources of his spacesuit and backpack – such behavior would be considered extremely unprofessional in reality.
• Dr. Stone would never be able to get to the space station, much less go into space, with her six months of training – people in her position prepare for a flight for a couple of years and do not have the skills to do a space walk.
• Technical inaccuracies include the rope scene, Stone's lack of special underwear, and the backpack not having enough power to move between stations.

Alfonso Cuaron's thriller Gravity deserves every one of its ten nominations at the 86th Academy Awards. A rookie astronaut, played by Sandra Bullock, is sent into space for the first time to work with her experienced colleague played by George Clooney to ensure the normal operation of the space station.

The film successfully alternates between meditative sequences where nothing seems to be happening, and moments so intense that you're glued to the screen, earning its place as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.

Gravity Was Intended to Be Scientifically Accurate

We've seen a lot of sci-fi movies, like Armageddon, where the "sci" part clearly needs to be in quotes because the creators of those projects weren't striving for realism, but Gravity is not a movie in that category.

Cuaron tried to make the space and gravity in the movie to look as scientifically accurate as possible, and the viewers even thought he succeeded. Unfortunately, scientists disagree.

Experts have even called Gravity one of the most inaccurate science fiction films in history, which is doubly significant given the filmmakers' intentions.

A member of NASA was very candid about Gravity, saying that “everything that could go wrong went terribly, terribly wrong, and that's not exactly the feeling we want everyone to have about this industry.”

So let's find out what went wrong with the scientific aspect of what is undoubtedly one of the best movies about space.

Kowalski is Acting Extremely Unprofessional

We are introduced to Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, an experienced astronaut on the last space flight of his career. Clooney floats through the surrounding space, wasting the resources of his spacesuit and the fuel of his backpack.

At the same time, he tells stories about his personal life, listens to country music, and even flirts with another crew member. Communication between Earth and the astronaut may be informal, but the movie exaggerates the reality – such behavior by a real astronaut would be considered extremely unprofessional.

Ryan Stone Is Too Inexperienced

Then we see Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock – she only spent six months preparing for the flight, while going into real space requires years of training.

In addition, Stone is a payload specialist, a person who performs very specific functions in flight (which require at least a couple of years of training) and who is not expected to be able to even land the simulator, let alone do a space walk. This was confirmed by the astronaut in an interview with Vulture, who has done seven space walks.

Also, it is later revealed that Kowalski and Stone do not know each other, which is also extremely inaccurate – they had to go through long training sessions together and understood each other perfectly.

Movie is Full of Technically Inaccurate Moments

Other inaccuracies are purely technical – in the most tense moment, when Stone and Kowalski are hanging from a rope, Bullock's character could simply pull up the rope and save Kowalski, since he was no heavier than a matchbox in zero gravity.

In addition, Stone does not wear special underwear under her spacesuit, without which it is easy to lose consciousness in space. And the power of the backpack would not be enough to move between stations.

Sources: IndieWire, Vulture