Four NASA astronauts recently returned from a loop around the Moon on the Artemis II mission, splashing down down successfully on April 10. The mission marked the first time in 54 years that humans have ventured beyond Earth's orbit.
In the meantime, we've had to do with stories about human space travel.
In honor of Artemis II, here are my top space movies honoring what it takes to rocket through the cosmos, blending science with imagination.
Maestro Stanley Kubrick directed this meditation on the technological progress of human race. In cinema’s most famous match cut, an ape in prehistoric times repurposes a bone and uses it as a blunt implement to bludgeon another ape. He then tosses the weapon into the air, as it falls back to earth, we flash forward many, many years into the future as a space station comes into view.
The message slashes like a double-edged sword. Humans are capable of discovering amazing technological advances, yet there is always a temptation to use it against each other.
Or, as the movie unfolds, we may invent artificial intelligence that turns against us.
Philip Kaufman directed the Tom Wolfe book that detailed the seven men assigned to the Mercury missions in the late '50s and early '60s, who were tasked with the goal of beating the Soviets to orbiting Earth.
After sending unmanned craft, robots and chimpanzees (with varied success) to the heavens, it would eventually fall to men. They were not just any old men, but men with the “right stuff,” those who knew the risks of peril of space travel and embarked on that bold journey anyway.
It’s a little-known fact that American astronauts emerge in disproportional numbers from small Midwestern towns. I’d imagine it’s a sector of the country with the clearest views of the night sky that also produces those with the bravest of hearts.
The film’s casting alone gathers actors of the “right stuff”: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, and Dennis Quaid.
It’s not glamorous, but for any major technological and scientific breakthrough, the math must math.
Although not depicted in Oppenheimer physicist and Catholic convert John Von Neumann was brought into the Manhattan Project to confirm the math checked out in the creation a nuclear reaction with an atomic bomb.
So, too, with the mission to put the first men on the moon, do the “hidden figures” support this outrageous plan? The film honors the stories of three African-American women mathematicians tasked with calculating John Glenn’s launch into orbit.
Ron Howard’s depiction of the Apollo 13 mission -- which suffered a catastrophic mishap on the way to the moon in 1970 -- combines brave astronauts and the number crunchers at Mission Control.
When the manufacturing goes awry in mid-journey, it takes split-second decision-making to problem-solve and improvise along the way
Although I knew miraculous outcome beforehand when I watched the film for the first time as a teenager, the film nevertheless proved gripping.
Howard chose the right mission to realistically adapt. The crew of the three never landed on the moon, but the film was nominated for an Academy Award.
Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon (who makes cameo appearances in Apollo 13), once remarked that the only thing more difficult than landing on the moon would be to fake it realistically.
My first movie in the theaters was Empire Strikes Back (1980), now also labeled Star Wars V. As a three-year old, I commented to my father that it must have taken a lot of money to film all of that in space. My father laughed and said, “that’s movie magic.”
Many consider the film to be the best of the original Star Wars trilogy.
From Parade:
The film-centric publication Empire Magazine ranked the “galaxy far, far away” sequel as the “greatest movie of all time” based on a 2014 fan poll, HuffPost reported at the time. Yes, The Empire Strikes Back even beat out The Godfather, which came in at No. 2 on the headline-making list.
As an adult, I would have to say my favorite space opera would be the current Dune series. Denis Villeneuve’s third and final installment is due out later this year and will be based on the second book, Dune: Messiah.
Dune: Part 3 hits theaters on Dec. 18.
Contemplating the mysteries of outer space can lead people to also considering the mysteries of faith -- and that includes one of the Artemis II astronauts.
From CBN:
That message of faith was particularly present with pilot Victor Glover, a Sunday school teacher known for carrying a Bible and communion cups on his missions. Glover delivered several Christ-centered messages from space, including one just before an anticipated 40-minute communication blackout aboard the vessel.
"As we continue to unlock the mystery of the cosmos, I'd like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth, and that's love," Glover said. "Christ said in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are…and he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself."
Image: Shutterstock
Father Vince Kuna, C.S.C., is a Holy Cross priest and a 2016 graduate of USC's film school. Click here to visit Father Vince Kuna’s IMDB page.
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