Salyut-7

I watched it recently on HBO GO. I've seen it accidentally, never heard of that movie before. I must said I did not expected it to be so good. Very good camera, special effects, SGI, science consulting and so on. You can't really tell where the SGI was used at all. Very good acting and story. I don't know exactly how close the story was to original events. I assume it had to be a little exaggerated but it's ok for me. I guess it could be a little shorter for average audience. The only unrealistic scene was Challenger flyby so close to Salyut-7 crew so they can actually see and (nomen omen) "salute" to the russian cosmonauts. Too hollywood to me.

A film like this is always going to draw comparisons to Gravity, and while it doesn't contain the kind of hair-raising action scenes of that film, Salyut-7 does manage to offer a sustained level of tension that lifts it far above the average space movie fare.

This is a good dramatic story well told. Initially I found the main character to be a rather stuffy and wooden, but as the film progresses this reveals itself as a reserved stoicism that makes him a well-rounded and likeable character. The photography and special effects are first class and the acting is universally convincing.

I had no expectations when watching this and was pleasantly surprised. That it is based on a little known true story just makes it all the more exciting and engrossing. The short mid-credits footage of the actual cosmonauts is worth sticking around for too. It's a well-deserved 9/10 from me.

Being am American space geekette all my life, I was understandably drawn to the movie "Salyut-7". Let me start with my overall opinion of this production and then the why's.

Ready?

Outstanding Entertainment.

Make no mistake, this is a dramatized story of the events surrounding the rescue of the Salyut-7 research station after it became unstable and threatened Earth with an uncontrolled ballistic re-entry. It is NOT a documentary by any means of the imagination. This said, please note that the special effects are top notch and show a love of both reproduction the rugged dependability of Russian Space hardware as well as a keeping up with the Jones quality in the overall visual effects in both the captured directly to film footage and the post processing CGI effects. Kudos are well deserved.

The story is delivered in a tightly scripted yet dramatic setting replete with humor and situational challenges to be conquered as if planned on a clipboard checklist. This tone and story telling technique is apparent from the beginning of the movie and it prepares the viewer for a climatic ride where you are indirectly warned to just suspend your disbelief and to just hang on. Once you realize this is not a testament to the brave cosmonauts of the Soviet Space program nor a history of the role that the Salyut-7 research station played in the Soviet pride, it seems that you are invited into the tale being told.

This is a fictional story about men who fly into space and perform their assigned tasks with grit and determination. The classic well trained, stoic cosmonaut is missing from this story replaced by a very human repair crew.

The story is not as absurd as that presented in "Gravity" or so over the top as in "Apollo 13" yet you feel the drama build as each step in bringing the station back to life is met with the inevitable challenges of cold, water moisture, frustrating electronic components, failed servo-motors & sensors, EVAs and seemingly impossible to repair damage. fire and stress. All these challenges are conquered in turn as a cold war of decisions takes place at central space command including some terrifying consequences from the earlier events put to rest.

The crew is made more human with unusual flashbacks into their marriages and estranged relationships with contrived dialog moments, but the acting itself shows the love between these men and their lives with their families on Earth.

Decisions are made, the impossible becomes possible and you are left with a pleasant reminder that ingenuity does conquer all.

Asking for more from this film will simply frustrate you. Simply enjoy the ride.

After watching Salyut-7 which I found well made, well acted, human and tense, I wanted to know the true story. For that, I credit Nickolai Belakovski for his article "The little-known Soviet mission to rescue a dead space station" which can be found on the Ars Technica website. Suffice it to say, Salyut-7 is very much a work of fiction and, to be fair, was not intended to be taken as a true depiction of events.

As far as any shuttle mission to grab Salyut-7, it's complete hogwash despite there being a Russian documentary that promotes US efforts to steal the station. Bart Hendrickx wrote the article "Kidnapping a Soviet space station" for The Space Review website. It debunks the Russian conspiracy theory quite convincingly.

Enjoy the movie but don't rely on it for truth.

I found this film thoroughly entertaining. Few films follow the truth so I really don't know if it is accurate. I think the Ruskies did a fantastic job with this film. Better than the diarrhea that comes from Hollywood.