Summary of Five Science Fiction Movies that get the Science Right

By Michael Marshall 09 May 2008 of Newscientist.com

A majority of Hollywood science is incredible false, however some films get most of the science right. The author mentions five films that they believe does this: 2001:A Space Odyssey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Alien, Gattaca, and Solaris.

Marshall states that they are not totally right, but that they “get it right when it matters most.”

Some aspects of the films showing accurate science:

For 2001: A Space Odyssey

• Realistic space travel
• Silent space
• Details of the crew such as the food they would eat
• Newtonian physics and the pods they use outside of the ship

For Alien

• Use of suspended animation instead of faster than light travel
• Life stages of the aliens follows that of some in nature such as the robber wasp

For Gattaca

• The view of the future of genetics is shown as a plausible possibility
• Many things about a person is defined by their genetics
• Also explores genetic discrimination.

In addition to the summary of Gattaca’s science I also like a quote from Marshall about how Vincent is able to out do all of the genetic superiors

“Does this mean that genetic testing really cannot predict how people will perform – or does it just mean we haven’t found the genes for willpower yet?”