Has anyone seen this movie without a chip on their shoulder?

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2002)

Sometimes I wonder about the people who watch movies and those who comment on them. This movie was never meant to be the end-all scientific question/debate/answer on the subject of asteroids. I find it interesting that many of the people who complain about the movie either find fault in nonexistent problems (cups of coffee falling in space - that was back at NASA!) or they assume things they know nothing about. The solar system is a big place, and asteroids four times the size of Texas are found at regular intervals much less "just" the size of Texas.
It's true, this movie jumps around a lot. But they have a lot of story to cover. And, i'll say this for the movie, unlike Deep Impact - which is just as cheesy, this movie does keep your attention riveted. From it's comedy to it's music, to the shifting scenes, to the actors themselves, everything happens right after another.
This movie fulfills in some part a fantasy of many people. Being called to save the world because they know something other people don't. Sorry to ruin your theories guys, but NASA astronauts don't know everything. Often they are trained and trained and trained on specific tasks for years - just to eliminate mistakes. When you've only got eighteen days to train someone to do something important, you want to pick someone who's good enough to handle unforeseen problems that might arise. Drilling a hole in space isn't like rock collecting, it's something that requires skill and practice.
Some science critics apparently haven't watched the movie before they complained about it. The moon is far more than a thirty minute trip. Truman tells the astronauts good morning. That means a day has gone by. Gravity, even if it is far less, still works in space. "Heavy" - i.e. massive objects will still "fall". I admit the sounds was extraneous, but who complains about sound in Star Wars? And for people who argue that NASA would never run a mission like this, think about it. How many times has NASA had to identify, plan, and execute a mission in 18 days? How many times has the Earth truly been in danger of existence-threatening events?
My only complaint was the scope of the movie. It tried to do too much while still keeping it exciting to the average viewer. As a result, scenes are cut until they're only on a shot for a few seconds and then the camera is off to the next scene. It's hard to believe how much they actually do in such a short time, but its effect is measurable. This movie just keeps on going.