The movie Gravity may have rocketed to the top of the box office and into industry record books during its opening weekend, but one space expert was definitely not impressed.
Gravity broke box office records this weekend but famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had a number of problems with the movie
Famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson saw the film on Sunday night. He then took to Twitter to complain at length to his 1.4 million followers about what he saw as scientific inaccuracies.
In a run of 12 tweets over the course of an hour, Dr Tyson conceded that the premise of the plot was plausible. But he had a number of problems with the rest of the movie starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.
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His rant began: ‘The film #Gravity should be renamed ‘Zero Gravity” Then, under the tagline ‘Mysteries of #Gravity’, Dr Tyson lists what he saw as mistakes.
Dr Tyson asked: ‘Why Bullock, a medical Doctor, is servicing the Hubble Space Telescope,’ and ‘How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.’
The astrophysicist questioned that ‘When Clooney releases Bullock’s tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together’ and ‘Why anyone is impressed with a zero-G film 45 years after being impressed with ’2001:A Space Odyssey”
He continued by wondering ‘Why Bullock’s hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head’ and why ‘Astronaut Clooney informs medical doctor Bullock what happens medically during oxygen depravation (sic).’
Dr Tyson concluded with a final ‘mystery’: ‘Why we enjoy a SciFi film set in make-believe space more than we enjoy actual people set in real space.’
But while Tyson had several issues with the movie, Gravity was spectacular success at the box office.
The Warner Bros. adventure debuted with $55.55 million in North American ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
This represents the biggest October opening ever and the biggest openings for Bullock and Clooney. The film also dominated the international box office, adding another $27.4 million overseas.
‘It’s all good news,’ said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution.
He credited director and co-writer Alfonso Cuaron, who takes viewers into orbit with a story set almost entirely in space that explores challenges faced by two astronauts during a spacewalk.
Cuaron’s team developed equipment and technology to replicate the weightlessness of space.
‘It’s never been seen before, visual effects like this,’ Fellman said. ‘Just the space shots are mind-boggling. It looks like you’re right there.’
AP
