The famous physicist, Wolfgang Pauli, once described students physics paper as "It's not even wrong". That describes this movie. Now I don't demand absolute technical accuracy in the movies I enjoy. I'm not one of those who freak out because space ships make noise in the vacuum of space. But when they make a movie about real life things, like the space shuttle for instance, I expect at last half an attempt to make it believable. A summary of glaring inaccuracies. Don't worry, while some may call these spoilers, there's nothing here to spoil...
When the shuttle attempts an RTL (Return to Launch) abort, they do a nose over, a half a barrel roll and then attempt a turn to starboard....uh, with the external fuel tank still attached and the main engines firing. Uh, NO.
When they do jettison the external fuel tank, the main engines continue firing for time and then later shut down. Sorry, the space shuttle doesn't carry any internal fuel.
When they find they can't make it back to launch point, NASA instructs them to do a trans-Atlantic crossing and land in Europe. They inform NASA they can't because they've lost their main engines. What, they were going to fly it across the Atlantic like an airplane? And then there's the ditching in the ocean, and the shuttle sinks to the bottom. Yes, the shuttle is built to be air tight, but its designed to hold pressure in, not out. Put that thing under water and it would get crushed like a beer can.
When it appears that the oxygen supply, which was enough to keep them alive for days in space, will only last a few hours under water, they need a way to escape. So they turn to the satellite they were carrying into orbit. The plan? Get into the satellite, jettison it, and let it take them to the surface. Space and weight are at an absolute premium on satellites. They don't have room for people inside, and even if they did, it's certainly not pressurized with an air supply. Oh, and a ten ton satellite definitely won't float. A friend of mine works for a company that builds satellites. I'll have to ask him how deep they test them under water.
And this all says nothing about the acting, or lack of therein. Dale Midkiff appears to put all his energy into convincing the world that he's a real bad boy. The only thing bad is his acting. The good news is, he's the high point in this stink bomb.
Basically this move is just silly. A total waste of time.
To put in simply, this movie is just silly.
When the shuttle attempts an RTL (Return to Launch) abort, they do a nose over, a half a barrel roll and then attempt a turn to starboard....uh, with the external fuel tank still attached and the main engines firing. Uh, NO.
When they do jettison the external fuel tank, the main engines continue firing for time and then later shut down. Sorry, the space shuttle doesn't carry any internal fuel.
When they find they can't make it back to launch point, NASA instructs them to do a trans-Atlantic crossing and land in Europe. They inform NASA they can't because they've lost their main engines. What, they were going to fly it across the Atlantic like an airplane? And then there's the ditching in the ocean, and the shuttle sinks to the bottom. Yes, the shuttle is built to be air tight, but its designed to hold pressure in, not out. Put that thing under water and it would get crushed like a beer can.
When it appears that the oxygen supply, which was enough to keep them alive for days in space, will only last a few hours under water, they need a way to escape. So they turn to the satellite they were carrying into orbit. The plan? Get into the satellite, jettison it, and let it take them to the surface. Space and weight are at an absolute premium on satellites. They don't have room for people inside, and even if they did, it's certainly not pressurized with an air supply. Oh, and a ten ton satellite definitely won't float. A friend of mine works for a company that builds satellites. I'll have to ask him how deep they test them under water.
And this all says nothing about the acting, or lack of therein. Dale Midkiff appears to put all his energy into convincing the world that he's a real bad boy. The only thing bad is his acting. The good news is, he's the high point in this stink bomb.
Basically this move is just silly. A total waste of time.
To put in simply, this movie is just silly.