There is a corner of the Science Fiction genre devoted to the actual event that dazzles plenty of us - traversing the cosmos! From the very first Sci-Fi film, the epic 18 minute, A Trip To The Moon all the way to last years First Man; heading to the stars opens us up to all of the other wild adventures that have happened on screen, like Star Trek and Total Recall.
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With the exception of a few films on this list, most of these movies are still fiction. But theyre based in science fact. With help from scientists like Kip Thorne and Carl Sagan, these movies also do their best to maintain the integrity of the real science that might be involved to what the movies need them to do. Here are 10 Of The Best Space Travel Movies Of All Time, Ranked.
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For most sci-fi fans, Stanley Kubricks 2001 is the pinnacle of everything a science fiction movie should be. Co-written by one of the Big Three of Science Fiction, Arthur C. Clarke and based off of his short story, The Sentinel, there was literally nothing like it in cinema ever in 1968.
No matter what you think of the films actual plot about an ominous monolith affecting human evolution, the visual beauty of the film and many of the scenes and tropes it introduced still hold up over fifty years after its release and influence many films.
One of those many films and filmmakers inspired by 2001 and Kubrick is Interstellar, directed by unabashed Kubrick devotee, Christopher Nolan. The film takes place in a not too far off future where most of our worlds food resources are depleted, real history about space is replaced to keep people from looking up and NASA is hiding.
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Until former pilot, Cooper and his daughter stumble upon them. Coops presented with the most arduous of missions - find a suitable replacement to bring all of mankind to its new home.
What if there was a whole team working to find and bring Tom Hanks home in Castaway? The Martian features Matt Damon as an astronaut, Mark Watney stranded on Mars.
After calculating that he has four years he has to survive until the next crew will touch down, Mark goes to work, growing his own potato farm. Once he gets a Pathfinder going is when NASA realizes that hes still alive and the journey to bring him home begins.
Weve all seen that big hero shot - all of the films stars walking in slow motion getting ready to do the task at hand. That shot was originated in the astronaut movie, The Right Stuff.
The movie tells the real-life story of the military pilots, including John Glenn, who helped test and refine the space program that would lead to Project Mercury, the first US manned mission into space.
Ed Harris did such a good job at playing and astronaut in The Right Stuff, that Ron Howard had tapped him to play flight director Gene Kranz in Apollo 13.
The film features Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, and the incomparable Tom Hanks as the three astronauts who were set to orbit the moon. Until an explosion happens on the shuttle, turning the mission into getting back to Earth safely.
Being lost in the vastness of space sounds absolutely terrifying. Combine that with your shuttle being broken. Veteran astronaut, Matt Kowalski and Dr. Ryan Stone are aboard the Explorer tasked with repairing the Hubble Telescope.
That mission goes haywire when debris smashes the Explorer forcing Matt and Ryan to find a way to a nearby station and find a way home. But they have to work fast, the debris field is orbiting them.
Based on Carl Sagans novel, Contact is about a different type of space exploration. Instead of physically traversing the cosmos, its up to Ellie Arroway and her team to research radio emissions and waves from space looking for signs of intelligent life.
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As she is about to be shut down, a sequence appears from the Vega system, light years away. Its one of the best movies that feature the research that actually goes into helping the astronauts.
After the success of Apollo 13, director Ron Howard teamed up with Tom Hanks for the HBO miniseries, From The Earth To The Moon. The ambitious series took a look at the lives of the men and women from the early Apollo missions.
The show was memorable for its use of archive footage of prior missions and news reports, mixed in with dramatic scenes as well to give the show a documentary type of feel while still being a high-stakes drama.
Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for all mankind might be the most famous quote of the 20th century. Neil Armstrongs life has been whittled down to that one epic moment (and can you blame history for doing so?!).
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But the personal triumphs and tragedies that led Armstrong to that one moment and Kennedys We Go To The Moon speech; the death of his daughter, is something that no one should ever have to endure.
While there is absolutely zero scientific research involved in the events of Galaxy Quest. But not every movie about space travel has to be scientifically accurate or filled with soon doom and gloom. Its also not every day that a parody of Star Trek is so well received that fans of that franchise actually rank it when theyre discussing their favorite Trek movies.
While the cast of the TV series Galaxy Quest, series star Jason Nesbit is approached by several members of the Thermian race contact him to get his crew together and help them stop an evil threat. They really think that Nesbit is his character, Commander Taggart and the rest of the actors are their characters. Its up to them to now stop pretending their astronauts and save the galaxy for real.
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10 Of The Best Space Travel Movies Of All Time, Ranked - Screen Rant
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- Newspaper review: Heartthrob and space travel in Wednesday's papers - BBC News - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Another View: NASA's Twins Study offers vital sign for space travel - Press Herald - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
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- Meet Shawn Pandya, The Third Indian-Origin Woman To Space-Travel - Huffington Post India - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Shawna Pandya clears the air on rumours of space travel - Daily News & Analysis - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- The Expanse and Frankie Adams: Meet the Kiwi who's conquered space travel - Stuff.co.nz - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Did a CSU study find that space travel makes you younger? Not so ... - The Denver Post - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Twins study offers valuable data on space travel - Herald-Whig - - Herald-Whig - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- The Expanse and Frankie Adams: Meet the Kiwi who's conquered space travel - Waikato Times - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Kelly twins offer a vital sign for space travel - San Angelo Standard Times - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Lacoste delves into the world of space travel at New York Fashion Week as Baptista honours founder's lesser-known ... - Evening Standard - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- NASA's Irish Twins Study reveals first results of space travel on humans - IrishCentral - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
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- How Does Long-Term Space Travel Affect Humans? - Voice of America - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- A VR Company is Attempting to Make Holographic Videos for Space Travel - Mobile Magazine - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Two-Time Space Traveling Astronaut to Speak at Black History ... - Patriots Point - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Make space travel great again: NASA, heeding Trump, may add astronauts to a test flight moon mission - National Post - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
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- Focus Friday: The necessity of space travel - The Daily Cougar - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- NASA announces $2m investment on technology advancement for deep space travel - WDSU New Orleans - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
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- Ask Ethan: How Can I Travel Through Space Without Getting Into Trouble? - Forbes - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
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- UK bids to be world leader in Space travel by 2020 - Daily Star - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Know before you fly: privatized space travel - Observer Online - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- You could fly to SPACE from the UK within three years as plans are for space port are unveiled - The Sun - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Cosmic cinema: spurring interest in real-life space travel? - Miami Student - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Commercial space travel could be ready as early as 2020 - New York Post - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- This Finnish startup democratizes space travel and it just raised over 3 million to find the next 'Slumdog ... - Business Insider Nordic - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Commercial space travel WITHIN THREE YEARS on flights to launch from BRITAIN - Express.co.uk - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Katherine Johnson led African American efforts in space travel - Farm and Dairy - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
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- TRAPPIST-1: How Long Would It Take to Fly to 7-Planet System? - Space.com - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- NASA Looking for Bright Ideas to Help With Space Travel - Tech.Co - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
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- FSU researcher to lead US-Russia project on health, space travel - Florida State News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
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- 'Blast Camp' gives students lessons on space travel - Fremont News Messenger - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- IKEA looks to space travel for new micro-living furniture collection - Dezeen - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
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- Here's how space travel is helping keep you healthy - Eyewitness News - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]