 |
 From left: Bill Paxton, Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise and Kevin Bacon in "Apollo 13." |
Famed Canadian astronomer David Dodge is angry, yet resigned: Hollywood almost always gets it wrong when its filmmakers turn science into fiction.
"Hollywood and science? ... Wait a minute! ... There's a dichotomy," Dodge, astronomer-in-residence at the Macmillan Space Centre in Vancouver, says with a sarcastic bite on a recent Toronto visit.
"I think a lot of Hollywood is strictly about ego and they put out something just for the money, just for the money. Most of science is boring, when you get right down to it. It's like any job. So Hollywood wants to tart it up somehow and they usually find something and jam as much conflict into it as possible, to make it look exciting. They get the science all wrong, no matter how many times they consult (with scientists)."
There are rare exceptions to the bad science rule, Dodge tells the Sun in a free-wheeling conversation about his love of astronomy, space, the history of flight and the few good space films he can watch without the scientist in him cringing.
Ron Howard's thrilling true story, Apollo 13, is one of those good -- even great -- films in Dodge's world. That is what brings him to Toronto: To praise the glossy, two-disc, 10th Anniversary Edition DVD, which was released last week.
"The only movie that stands out as being good, pure science is Apollo 13," Dodge says. "It's the only one I can think of right now because it's based on an actual fact that happened. It was a Hollywood re-creation of a real event. They had to get it right. They were not allowed to get it wrong. I think a lot of people would have given up on Hollywood right then and there if they had got that wrong. But the only person who had the balls to do it was Ron Howard."
|
The new DVD includes Howard's commentary, another by Apollo 13 astronaut and author James Lovell (who is played by Tom Hanks) with his wife Marilyn Lovell, plus three documentaries. One of them is a routine making-of piece. Another is an informative 48-minute overview, Conquering Space: The Moon And Beyond, which really plays in Dodge territory by outlining the true facts.
The third is the 12-minute NBC-TV special from 1995, Lucky 13: The Astronauts' Story. It gives the details of the nearly catastrophic Apollo 13 mission in April of 1970.
Dodge is also keen on The Right Stuff, although it ranks behind Apollo 13. "I think what separates Apollo 13 from The Right Stuff is simply the technology. The special effects in Apollo 13 are spectacular and, of course, they got into the zero-G (zero-gravity) airplane. They didn't do that with The Right Stuff. It doesn't have the same kind of sparkle but they're both good, scientifically correct movies."
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a fiction but it also has strong, well-researched science in it, Dodge says in admiration. On the other extreme is the fun trash such as the cult favourite Plan 9 From Outer Space, which is just a joke to scientists -- and anyone else with a brain.
More problematic are movies such as Deep Impact and Armageddon, says Dodge, because they create the illusion of a real story. "They are both the same story, basically, and they both made huge mistakes. But I'd say Deep Impact is far more watchable because it was not 'space cowboys' so much as it was a story about the trauma of life on Earth."
The critical error in each was the solution to the threat: "Well, let's blow the bugger up!" Absolutely wrong, says Dodge: "You never want to do that. Instead of being hit by one projectile, you'll be hit by 1,000 projectiles. That's the basic tenet of that whole scenario and both of them got it wrong."
Filmmakers have been making space science movies for 103 years, ever since French illusionist Georges Melies shot men into space from a cannon in the historic silent short, Voyage To The Moon. That one is amusing, and non-scientific. But most sci-fi flicks since have also been simply ridiculous, says Dodge. Titles such as Red Planet really get him steamed up, in part because they encourages the idea of manned missions to distant planets -- and Dodge believes in sending robots instead. Putting those issues aside, it's the bad science that concerns him most.
"Why should we care? One should always find an opportunity to educate. Even if it doesn't look photographic, I think it should still be true to the scientific reality. The thing is, a lot of people still feel that what Hollywood produces is close to reality. (But) the truth is not sexy enough. The truth hurts."
What also galls him when Hollywood turns science into bogus fiction, Dodge says, is what he calls the "disheartening" fact that space science is being reduced or dropped from the education system in Canada. "And, of course, on the other side of the border (with Christian fundamentalism affecting what can be taught) that is even more frightening."
These forces make it even more crucial that scientists get the message out about science fact, Dodge says.
"That is my job, that is our job at the space centre, to provide astronomical and aeronautical knowledge to people."
Myths flame out
Scientists can cite 1,001 insults to their intelligence in Hollywood movies. But astronomer David Dodge has two salient examples that really drive him to distraction.
One is that comets do not move across the night sky, at least not in a way noticeable to the human eye. Yet that is exactly what happens in most movies with a comet, including 1987's Roxanne, in which Daryl Hannah played an astronomer.
One of Dodge's friends consulted and begged the filmmakers not to make that mistake. "So what happens at the end of the movie? (The comet moves). That's because Hollywood doesn't care."
Another great example of science stupidity is having a space rock hurtle to Earth and land in a ball of flames, often lighting a forest fire or being found, scorching hot to the touch.
These rocks, dating back to the origin of the solar system or even of the universe and aged between 4.5 billion and 13.5 billion years old, do burn on entry. But that is just on their surface, Dodge explains. Otherwise, they are as cold as they were in space. "There is no heat in space, except near stars. So you can safely assume that this rock, no matter how big it is, is as close to absolute zero as any physical thing can get. The core of that rock is still minus-400 degrees."
Try telling that to people who see otherwise in movies, Dodge says. "This is the truth and they just can't accept it."