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Top 10 Uses of Science in Film

By Ally Sinyard · July 7, 2011

There are a lot of films that like to think they’re scientific, but you’d in fact learn more about science from the back of a Mars Bar. In today’s cinema, scientific inaccuracies are standard. As long it features the Statue of Liberty up to her torch in snow or lava and the world is ending, it’ll get made.

You hear quite a lot about how terrible 2012 is or how The Core is so rubbish that there is a drinking game for every scientific inaccuracy. My favourite has got to be Pi…because they get Pi wrong. Brilliant. I’ll admit, Sci-Fi is not my genre. I know virtually nothing about it. I haven’t even seen Star Wars. (I know, should be lashed with a thousand paper cuts). But this isn’t a list about the best Sci-Fi films. It’s not necessarily about Sci-Fi at all.

Instead, this is an article about science. And more specifically, the BEST USE of science in film, featuring the Top 10 movies that use science accurately. You’ll have to forgive me if I missed out some good ‘uns, but I did come across something very telling in my research: accurate science + future setting = DYSTOPIA virtually every time. Well, it’s a good thing I’ll be dead by the time they start cloning people then.

10. Metropolis (1927)

NASA put Metropolis as 2ndon their list below Gattaca as one of the Best Science Movies of All Time. Given that it was made in 1927, it gives a stunningly realistic look into the future. A scientist replaces a woman he loved with an erotic robot, but that’s just scratching the surface of what it’s all about. What puts Metropolis on this list is its fantastic future projections of technology and its place in society. It’s the oldest film on this list by a significant number of years, but what Lang did with the tools and knowledge he had was incredible.

9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

A controversial choice? Perhaps. But I just love the use of science in this film and the way that the scientific material permeates the film’s very essence and structure. True, the memory erasure used in the film is way beyond our current technology, but that isn’t to say that it is not possible. Tim Crimson, in his own article on “5 Science Fiction Movies That Got It Right,” points out that “several forms of dementia affect particular types of memory – for instance semantic dementia, which targets only factual knowledge about the world, and not "personal" life memories.” Seeing Jim Carrey’s character running through houses and bookstores as they disintegrate along with his own memories is my favourite moment in this film. Of course, there is the science itself within the film, but there is also these awe-inspiring representations of the science-at-work that only heighten what we are seeing, without undermining what it all means.

8. Jurassic Park (1993)

OK, so the creation of the dinosaurs is a bit of a stretch, but the ability to take the DNA from the mosquito trapped in the amber tree sap is actually very accurate. This is completely possible. The problem, of course, is that DNA deteriorates over time, and after 65 millions years, the chances of finding decent genetic material that is perfectly preserved is next to zero. All that scientists have been able to do so far is extract the sequence DNA from a mosquito that lived 25-40 million years ago. But the fact still remains – they were actually able to do it. It’s not often that you find a bit of scientific accuracy in an action-adventure film rather than a sci-fi, so I thought I’d include this one in the list. It’s an example of one of those films where the concept itself might be extraordinary (and a little ridiculous) but there is the smallest of very accurate scientific truths behind it. It’s also another film that makes you ponder and feel a little nervous about genetic engineering and its consequences. 

7. Moon (2009)

Moon is a British science fiction drama, starring Sam Rockwell, about an astronaut nearing the end of a three-year solitary mission mining helium-3 from the dark side of the moon. Believe it or not, mining helium-3 is something that NASA is actually working on. So highly regarded is Moon for its scientific accuracy that a professor screened the film as part of a lecture series at NASA’s Space Centre in Houston. As well being a great film scientifically, it also delivers some very thought-provoking and, at times, touching material on human behaviour when faced with isolation. It gives the science genre a much-needed human feel, so you don’t feel completely alienated if you’re not a science buff. Moon is one of the only truly brilliant films about science to have come out in recent years and director Duncan Jones is definitely one to watch. 

6. The Andromeda Strain (1971)

The Andromeda Strain is considered by many to be the first significant biology film, looking at the idea of viruses, transmissibility and global infection. The film is based on the novel of the same name, written by Michael Crichton, who interestingly enough also wrote Jurassic Park.  When the capsule of the Scoop Mission returns to Earth and lands in the small town of Piedmont, it brings a mutant living being. The whole population, except for a crying baby and an old man, dies with clotted blood. Five scientists need to discover why the baby and the old man survived and find an antidote. Elizabeth A. Kingsley writes in her science film blog, “one of the supreme pleasures of The Andromeda Strain is the way its commitment to accuracy and credibility is underscored by its deliberately low-key casting.” This isn’t just a film with accurate science; it’s a film that’s been carefully composed so that its formal elements support its material, and that is what makes this such a top science film.

5. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

And no, you’ll be pleased to read, not the Keanu Reeves one. One of the reasons this version of the film is on this list is because of its age. It’s an incredibly prescient warning about the dangers of nuclear power. In the film, a humanoid alien visitor named Klaatu comes to Earth with a warning. The other planets have become concerned with Earth’s development of atomic power and Klaatu warns that if his message goes unheeded, “Planet Earth will be eliminated.” Like other Sci-Fi films that deal with realism in science, the emphasis is not on special effects, but rather a quiet and serious look at the good and bad in human nature. Perhaps this is why the remake was so heavily criticised, as it failed to do the same.

4. Apollo 13 (1995)

Apollo 13is a dramatization of the real 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission. This film is a great example of real, accurate science and engineering at work based on a real life and historical situation. Director Ron Howard insisted that no shots from the actual launch be used and everything should be recreated. The spacecraft interiors were constructed by the same company that restored the real Apollo 13 Command Module; two individual lunar modules and two command modules were also constructed. The Mission Control room (built on a ground floor) was said to look so realistic that a NASA consultant for the film would leave the end of the day and look for the elevator, forgetting where he was. The cast also attended the U.S. Space Camp in preparation for their roles. The detail and care taken with this recreation of the Apollo 13 lunar mission is nothing short of outstanding. 

3. Contact (1997)

Contact is a smart movie about the meaning of human existence, explored through contact with extraterrestrials. Adapted from Carl Sagan’s novel of the same name, we follow Dr. Eleanor Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) as she finds evidence of extraterrestrial life while working as part of the SETI programme (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The film is often praised for Foster’s realistic portrayal of a scientist and the accurate presentation of the conflict between religion and science. Arroway’s search for the truth in science is deemed no more significant than her search for the truth in God. The aliens are not the forefront in this film and it is very refreshing. It gives the film a heightened sincerity and seriousness as our eyes are not drawn to goo and giant heads, but we are actually invited to consider the reality.

2. Gattaca (1997)

Gattaca is a great film in its own right, but its exploration of the ethical ramifications of our (now very real) ability to manipulate genes is incredibly well done. The film is about the genetic engineering of humans in the not-to-distant future and the way that one’s DNA is the primary factor in determining social class. Those that were conceived naturally are at the bottom of the social ladder and given the most menial of jobs, as they are considered to possess greater health risks, defects, and so on. Gattaca’s dystopian depiction of the use of liberal eugenics has been cited by many scientists as a great case against it, despite being a work of fiction. Watching it in 2011 is ever-so-slightly unnerving as what we witness is not altogether impossible in our lifetime.  

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Daddy of all Sci-Fi films. There is so much one can say about this film that there’s barely enough room on the page, so I shall stick to my job and talk about the science. 2001 is an ahead-of-its-time exploration of artificial intelligence. It is perhaps the most scientifically accurate science film every produced. In fact, the vision of space flight presented in the film was considered so realistic that many Moon Hoax conspiracy theorists believed that Kubrick staged the 1969 moon landing. That’s quite an achievement. Even HAL 9000 is considered a plausible robotic system for the future, given current research agendas in human-robot interaction. One of my favourite scientific aspects of this film is the complete silence in space. The effect it gives is incredibly eerie, but it’s also true! So many science films have the spacecraft roaring through space, but surely “in space, no one can hear you scream.”