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matt-hansen1
Reviews
Constellation (2024)
Scientifically Illiterate
Bad science is not necessarily enough to kill a story for me, but after Ep1 of this show it was enough for me to look into spoilers and I didn't see anything impressive there either. After all, I was attracted by the Sci-Fi label for this one, but it's far more Fi than Sci. I would prefer pure magical fiction than badly pretended science. (Star Wars, LOTR, Space Balls, etc... All Great!) If you're going to place a serious story into a real science setting, at least try to get some of it right.
Some of my gripes from just 1 episode:
Real life astronauts are not dumb. There is a bad-sci-fi trope that portrays astronauts as not being able to use their hands unless someone in Houston, Tx tells them how. If there's an emergency on ISS, you can be certain that all personnel on board have trained extensively for that exact scenario and won't be sitting around helplessly waiting for orders.
If life support shuts off on ISS (or any pressurized vessel), oxygen does not just turn off. That's not how breathing or oxygen works. ISS has approximately 35,000 cubic feet of breathable air (same 80% N2 20% O2 mix as earth atmosphere). If life support just shut off suddenly, it would take the average human roughly 120 days to consume enough of that oxygen for CO2 to likely become fatal. That's about 4 months. The show pretends the danger is seconds away as soon as electrical power is lost.
In real life, if a crew of 4 needs to evacuate the space station and the escape capsule only has 3 seats: "We're going to need to improvise. Someone's getting cargo strapped on top of some soft cargo as a make-shift seat." In this show: "Welp... only 3 seats... someone's just going to have to stay behind and probably die. *shrug*"
This is just too much. It breaches to fourth wall or whatever. I can't do it.
Outlaws Don't Get Funerals (2019)
Came for Internet Comment Etiquette, Stayed Because the Movie is Actually Amazing
I didn't expect anything going into this, and in fact could tell immediately that the budget must have been low and the production quality wasn't amazing. But by the time I saw the scene I was watching the movie for (about 10 minutes in) I had been introduced to some engaging characters and pulled into a weaving story who's end I found myself gradually more invested in. A crime drama with more fascinating characters and philosophical nuance than I'm used to. And it's free on Amazon... Pleasantly surprised!
Keep your clothes on, Erik!