Pop Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Unleashes Which Sci-fi Movies Got The Science Right & Which Got It Very Incorrect.

Pop Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Unleashes Which Sci-fi Movies Got The Science Right & Which Got It Very Incorrect.

"Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the celebrated astrophysicist called the 2015 film The Martian 'believable.'

'The science is balls-on accurate,' Tyson said of the Ridley Scott film starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. 'It's a sci-fi movie where science itself was a character in it. 

'The main character figures out how to stay alive for 400 days on Mars using science!'

But of the classic, heart-wrenching film Armageddon, Tyson said while it was 'entertaining,' it 'violated more laws of physics per minute than any movie I had ever seen.'

Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, followed astronauts on their space mission to stop an asteroid from colliding with earth. 

And while Tyson said it was the least scientifically accurate movie he's ever seen, there was one film that took the cake, in his opinion. 

That was the 2022 movie Moonfall, starring Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson.

'The moon was hollow and there's a moon creature? Sorry, I can't go there,' Tyson said of Moonfall. 

However, he gushed over The Martian and the 2011 novel of the same name on which it was based.

'The author [Drew Goddard] was an engineer-turned-novelist. He did all the calculations so the science is accurate.

'The movie is directed by Ridley Scott and has major actors. It's a sci-fi movie where science itself was a character in it. You had them caring about the science!' 

Tyson, a prolific book author and former director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, has appeared as a guest on The Big Bang Theory and hosted Cosmos: A Space Odyssey, which won a Critics Choice award for best TV reality show.

Tyson said another movie which is scientifically accurate in Deep Impact, starring Elijah Wood and Morgan Freeman.

The 1998 movie follows a team of astronauts who attempt to land on a comet and lay explosives to stop it from barreling into earth.  

'Deep Impact had good physics in it and had NASA advisors and of course Carl Sagan's [book] Contact,' he said. 

Tyson revealed he's most impressed by director Christopher Nolan - director of Inception and Interstellar - and admitted seeing his blockbuster Oppenheimer over the summer right before Barbie - the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer. 

'You got to love where Nolan goes with his films. He plays with time and space,' Tyson said. 

'He did Oppenheimer - I did Barbieheimer and saw both movies on the same day!'

Tyson made a suggestion for the order in which you should see the contrasting movies. 

'You got to see Barbie second because it cleanses your system afterwards.'

'I like directors whose portfolio of options are broad because then you can be much more creative than if you just stick in one genre. So check out [Nolan's] movies - all of them!'

The scientist hosts live talks where he says he offers topics to the audience and they pick a subject to discuss.

'The talk is about what they pick!' he said. 'One is the search for life in the universe, another one is called Cosmic Collisions, which is everything that goes bump in the night including asteroid strikes on earth, colliding galaxies and colliding black holes.

'I'm a servant of people's curiosity. I'm not trying to ram anything down people's throat.'"

Tyson admitted he saw the blockbuster Oppenheimer last summer right before Barbie, the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer

Tyson revealed he was most impressed by director Christopher Nolan – director of Inception and Interstellar – and admitted he saw his blockbuster Oppenheimer this summer just before Barbie, the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer.

‘You’ve got to love where Nolan is going with his films. He plays with time and space,” Tyson said.

“He did Oppenheimer – I did Barbieheimer and saw both films on the same day!”

Tyson made a suggestion for the order in which you should watch the contrasting films.

“You should see Barbie second because it cleanses your system afterwards.”

‘I like directors with a broad palette of possibilities, because then you can be much more creative than if you only stick to one genre. So watch (Nolan’s) movies – all of them!’

The scientist organizes live lectures in which he says he offers topics to the audience and they choose a topic to discuss.

‘The conversation is about what they pick!’ he said. ‘One is the search for life in the universe, the other is called Cosmic Collisions, which is everything that comes across at night, including asteroid impacts on Earth, colliding galaxies and colliding black holes.

‘I am a servant of people’s curiosity. I’m not trying to ram anything down people’s throats.’ - dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12757845/Neil-deGrasse-Tyson-sci-fi-films-science-horribly-wrong.html