oldbob39

Hey, did anyone else notice that the patch on the general's sleeve was for the First Cavalry? What!?! Cavalry? Couldn't they at least have invented some bogus "Joint Astrospace Defence Command" patch?

I must admit, I didn't watch the movie intently: my wife was watching, and I would sit with her until the bogusness got too bad, then I'd go clean my closet or something. But I must also admit that I'm biased by my own history. I worked for NASA for 37 years, then taught high school for six, so the stunning level of bad science really grated on my sensibility. As someone noted, couldn't the writers have at least talked an amateur astronomer into critiquing the script. Maybe he could have explained the law of the conservation of momentum, and if the writers were quick studies, they might have progressed to complex topics like basic orbital mechanics.

There were redeeming features, of course. The little girl proved herself a fine young actress with her expressive face in that video conversation with her dad, and the grandpa was splendid, just as he was in "Babe". (I'd like to look for more of his movies to rent: I enjoy his work.) And, of course, all us old-timers know that all female space scientists are blonde, slender, very attractive, 30 to 35 years old, and possessed of big boobs. So they did get that part right.

Seriously, there should be no excuse for such bad science fiction on TV. Too much of the US population is nearly illiterate in science. And I am not talking about the kids in school now. This movie was shown in prime time, so was presumably intended for adult audiences. But this is the population who agree, in the majority, with the statement "early humans often had to defend their caves against marauding dinosaurs." And let's not forget there are politicians that claim to not believe the theory that is actually the fundamental guiding principle of contemporary biology. With a little more effort, some of the major flaws in the story could have been corrected and the audience might have gone away with a little better understanding of the underlying science. Yes, it's science FICTION, but fiction still needs internal self-consistency and a clear understanding of its own premises and their consequences. (Think "Jurassic Park" as a good example.)

Some of us have worked hard to educate this country in science, and seeing this movie is so discouraging, as if taunting us by saying we are never going to win.

When I saw this movie at the time it first appeared, I thought it was riotously funny. But then I grew up. I saw it again recently and found it astoundingly bad. Astoundingly! It is full of good comedians, but the timing is awful, and I no longer find it funny to watch a service station being trashed in endless detail, nor to be subjected to an endless mother-in-law shtick. Good God, why didn't they just give her six minutes screen time and pay her off? If they had cut all the extraneous, overdone trash, it could have made a good 75 minute movie. HOWEVER, HOWever, however, there were a couple of uncredited performers who combined to lift it all the way to a 2-star level in my estimation. Their performance and timing were perfect! And she set my hormones flowing the first time they turned the camera on her! I'm referring, of course, to the twin-Beech, Model 18, and her pilot, Frank Tallman. Regrettably, I could never read her number, so I couldn't send a fan letter, and Tallman died shortly after, so there won't be a performance to match this one, ever. I did not appreciate, the first time through, how good the flying was, but I've flown enough since to appreciate their performance. Skip the first half of this tedious piece of rubbish, and after they get that sweet Beechcraft down, hit rewind and put on something else.

Well, there was one other redeeming feature. I always thought Dorothy Provine was cute.