Apollo 18

[Codz]

Then RENT it...don't buy it. You don't want to encourage them to seriously consider a sequel. Definitely in the Top 5 worst movies ever made.

You obviously haven't seen The Core or Avatar...

 

[T.Neo]

The Core is arguable, but sorry... Avatar... no. Avatar is most definitely not in the top 5 worst movies of all time. Even I wouldn't have said that.

It may have been preachy and it might have had a seriously annoying comic book portrayal of humans as universal evil villains and blue catpeople as perfect and idyllic, but that doesn't put it into the top 5 worst movies of all time...

 

[statisticsnerd]

Just saw it. It was good and most of the tech was accurate.

All kidding aside, they did do a very good job with the LM & CSM.

They could have done a better job simulating the Moon's gravity though. All of the Apollo videos I've seen have been grainy too, I don't think the video cameras were as high quality back then. Also, how did the aliens breathe or eat? Didn't they require nourishment of some kind? I'm talking about before they started snacking on the astronauts of course :lol:

 

[Columbia42]

All kidding aside, they did do a very good job with the LM & CSM.

And an even better job with the LK.

And for the record I thought Avatar was an amazing technical accomplishment that set the stage for a whole knew era of movie making and redefined the capabilities of CGI technology.

 

[statisticsnerd]

And for the record I thought Avatar was an amazing technical accomplishment that set the stage for a whole knew era of movie making and redefined the capabilities of CGI technology.

I agree with you. Seeing Avatar in 3D at the theater was absolutely breathtaking. I didn't really care for the story, but the effects were phenomenal. I loved the bioluminescent forest at night and the flying dragon scenes.

 

[T.Neo]

Also: Avatar had the best movie spaceship we have seen in decades. Perhaps not "diamond hard", but it really is miles better than pretty much everything else, and not a clone of 2001's Discovery, the Shuttle, or the Millenium Falcon:

What it lacked in realism and originality it most certainly made up for in my book by being graphically superb and part of a huge speculative world with immaculate attention to detail. Something that Apollo 18, with its stupid backstory and inane moon-creatures, cannot claim.

 

[statisticsnerd]

Something that Apollo 18, with its stupid backstory and inane moon-creatures, cannot claim.

*SPOILERS BELOW*
The story was so stupid it was funny. One scene in particular cracked me up- when Nate (the astronaut infected first) is trying to break into the LM with a chisel while the other guy is trying to fire the ascent engine to get away and Nate almost breaks the glass, but right before he stops the LM from taking off the beetles cover up his face and he dies. PWNED LOL

Overall it really was a pretty entertaining movie, in a so bad it was good kind of way.

 

[Yoda]

Just got back from watching the movie with my son; eventhough everybody agrees it is nothing even remotly close to the real thing it was a pretty entertaining movie to watch.
Scared the crap out of my 11 year old son ( should have been rated R instead of PG-13).
Not bad for a night out; reminded me of the Blair Witch project.

 

[T.Neo]

I'm not sure you know the meaning of "backstory". From Wikipedia;

A back-story, background story, or backstory (or in games, the background of a character) is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start.

In Avatar's case: Humans have established a mine (1) on a Moon in the Alpha Centauri system (2) and have come into conflict with natives there(3). Humans remote controlling special alien bodies act as ambassadors (4).

1. Makes sense as long as you don't crunch the numbers too much.
2. Again, conflicts with some physics/maths but is outwardly believable (there are gas giants with extensive moon systems in our solar system, after all).
3. Practically lifted out of the history books.
4. Not made possible by fields such as virtual reality and genetics, but certainly made believable by it.

Whereas for Apollo 18: NASA conducted a secret(1) seventh lunar mission(2) during which aliens on the Moon (3) kill all involved(4).

1. Evokes extremely annoying conspiracy nonsense.
2. Pretty difficult to believe, at least if you have a little bit of knowledge about how space programs work.
3. Again, pretty silly, considering that there's nothing up there to live off of, and pretty silly creature design too (Avatar had a lot of nitpicky biology things- like the fact that the protagonists were blue catpeople, but it was very thought out and not like this at all).
4. That's just mean, man.

The origin story of Apollo 18 strikes me as:

Hey guyz, I, like, wonder what it'd like, be like to, like, do Blair Witch Project like, IN SPACE! Like, on the Moon, with like, Saturn Vs and stuff! It'd be, like, so like, far out!

 

[Codz]

I'm not sure you know the meaning of "backstory". From Wikipedia;



In Avatar's case: Humans have established a mine (1) on a Moon in the Alpha Centauri system (2) and have come into conflict with natives there(3). Humans remote controlling special alien bodies act as ambassadors (4).

1. Makes sense as long as you don't crunch the numbers too much.
2. Again, conflicts with some physics/maths but is outwardly believable (there are gas giants with extensive moon systems in our solar system, after all).
3. Practically lifted out of the history books.
4. Not made possible by fields such as virtual reality and genetics, but certainly made believable by it.

Whereas for Apollo 18: NASA conducted a secret(1) seventh lunar mission(2) during which aliens on the Moon (3) kill all involved(4).

1. Evokes extremely annoying conspiracy nonsense.
2. Pretty difficult to believe, at least if you have a little bit of knowledge about how space programs work.
3. Again, pretty silly, considering that there's nothing up there to live off of, and pretty silly creature design too (Avatar had a lot of nitpicky biology things- like the fact that the protagonists were blue catpeople, but it was very thought out and not like this at all).
4. That's just mean, man.

The origin story of Apollo 18 strikes me as:

To each his own. However the aliens may not be carbon based. Perhaps they feed on minerals or some as-of-yet unknown food. I believe it was good if only to showcase the Apollo tech on the big screen. Anyone who actually believes it happened would already be conspiracy prone and therefore not worth argueing with.

 

[T.Neo]

However the aliens may not be carbon based.

Does not help. There are a lot of problems with life that is "not carbon based", and one of those problems that it shares with carbon based life, is the inability to live on the surface of the Moon (a very unfriendly environment, a near-total vacuum with horrendous temperature variations and little to no moisture).

Perhaps they feed on minerals or some as-of-yet unknown food.

Bad explanation, as "minerals" are generally very "tightly bound" chemicals, that do not really have any potential to extract chemical energy from (try eating a rock, try burning ash, etc). Lunar rocks are high in oxygen, but this oxygen is tightly bound to other elements- you have to expend energy to release it.

Of course, abundance of volatiles is very low on the Moon too.

And even if they did somehow eat lunar regolith, how do they suddenly parasitise or infect creatures (humans) from Earth? Parasitism is a relationship that evolves over millions of years and requires a number of different variables to occur a certain way. If Sacculina parasites infect crabs but can't infect humans, how come moon-creatures can infect humans when there isn't anything remotely like a human for 300 000 kilometers?

I believe it was good if only to showcase the Apollo tech on the big screen.

Maybe, but the question is: is it a good advertisement?

I would be inclined to say no. Even Transformers 3 was better. It too spun the lunar conspiracy angle. There may be many reasons to hate Micheal Bay, but deep down he's probably pretty enthusiastic about the space program as well.

Anyone who actually believes it happened would already be conspiracy prone and therefore not worth argueing with.

Oh yes, let's establish a new "underclass" of those who are "conspiracy prone". :dry:

Seriously though, if it propagates conspiracy theories, it's a bad thing.

Also; I criticise this a lot, but not some of the aspects of films like Avatar, because this ties itself into a specific situation by basing itself off of reality. A LK lander is more realistic than an ISV (the LK actually existed but the ISV would likely fry itself upon activating its propulsion system), but while the ISV can just wave its hands and suppose that someone figured out how to store antimatter in the next 150 years, it is fact that the LK's dials and controls and soforth were labeled in Russian and it would likely be totally impossible for an untrained astronaut to pilot.

In short: a lot of works of fiction presuppose some things that allow that work of fiction to 'function' believably. Apollo 18 and similar works of fiction presuppose reality and don't obey it's rules, and are therefore Whiny Plausibility Critic Bait.

If you enjoyed Apollo 18, then that is good for you. It means your admission fee was not money wasted. But a lot of critics seem to have disliked this film, and from that I gather the conclusion that if it is (in the eye of the majority) a good film, it is only in the sense that it would be highly entertaining for my guests should I ever hold a "bad movie night".

 

[Codz]

And even if they did somehow eat lunar regolith, how do they suddenly parasitise or infect creatures (humans) from Earth? Parasitism is a relationship that evolves over millions of years and requires a number of different variables to occur a certain way. If Sacculina parasites infect crabs but can't infect humans, how come moon-creatures can infect humans when there isn't anything remotely like a human for 300 000 kilometers?







".

Maybe they weren't trying to infect humans. Perhaps they merely were investigating the astronauts and the infection was a side effect.

 

[orbekler]

I saw Avatar in 3D, and to me, it was an eye orgasm, though the story was a bit nauseating and too politically correct (of course humans must be bad... :dry.

Apollo 18 simply didn't push the envelope.
More daring story à la Michael Bay could have been more entertaining, but alleged "true" conspiracies would have dropped into fiction, and would have not filled their believers thirst.

But is it? The following is a fake clip (3DS and Adobe), I'm sure many would believe it's a true footage.

BTW:
To anyone who saw Apollo 18: which one is "The following footage has not been altered or enhanced"?