NASA’s DART mission aims to demonstrate the possibilities that our planet could face a meteorite or comet threat. An old fear present in many films and accompanying mankind since the destructive potential of various cosmic bodies became apparent. In fact, much of the project, which began on November 23, 2021, is a long journey of aerospace exploration. Everyone focused on studying data about how to respond to a cataclysm of this magnitude.
But cinema had already analyzed this topic and its possibilities long before NASA’s first scientist came up with the disturbing idea. From 50s sci-fi movies in which meteorites announced an alien presence to modern films with scientific rigor. The possibility that some unknown element of cosmic origin could threaten life on Earth is a common occurrence in the cinematic world.. But much more important is how a civilization might respond to such an opportunity.
To commemorate the mission of DART, we recommend five films that have already explored the idea of a possible impact of a celestial object on Earth from different perspectives. From political satire to the horrors of the total destruction of our planet. There is not a single extreme that cinema does not explore and deepen. A journey through collective anxieties worth analyzing.
don’t look upexcess meteorite even for the DART mission
Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate DiBiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discover that a space hazard of catastrophic proportions is almost as serious as collective stupidity. When a group of scientists try to warn of the consequences of an impending event, they will stumble upon the most unpredictable obstacle..
From the political indifference of President Orleans (Meryl Streep) to a mob clinging to a disdain for science. The possibility of a disaster that the DART mission avoided in the real world will become a mere inconvenience in the film as the cosmic phenomenon approaches the devastation of life on the planet.
Adam McKay’s political satire faces the challenge of not only penetrating modern cultural consciousness. Also analyze our culture’s superficial view of survival and identity itself. With mixed reviews and a complicated controversy, the film was a clumsy Christmas present from Netflix last year. For history? Its heartbreaking final scene is far more raw and painful than many similar feature films in decades.
Armageddon
At the height of his outrageous style, with long slow-motion shots and old-fashioned, sugar-coated patriotism, Michael Bay filmed the ultimate epic of interplanetary disaster. Armageddon It was the first in a series of productions that had the same possibility of a catastrophe caused by a meteorite.
But while many others focused on analyzing the scientific possibilities, desperation, and pain of an event like this, Bay, of course, chose the show. As edgy and idiosyncratic as the idea of trying to save the planet with a by then insane plan to blow up the threat. Something similar to what happened in NASA’s DART mission. On this occasion, Bruce Willis, leader of a group of experienced drillers, led a mission to save life on Earth.. All this in the company of a group of losers and without any guarantee of success.
The film was a generational success and also brought one of Aerosmith’s most memorable songs to pop culture. With flags waving in slow motion and Liv Tyler’s youthful face as a symbol of humanity in peril, the story was captivating. But it also did something else, it showed that Hollywood was in danger of being analyzed from every possible angle. Michael Bay later admitted: “There were a lot of other meteorites in the movies; however, mine was the first.
Significant Impact or a world without a DART mission
While Michael Bay was sending a non-aerospace-trained team to save the planet, director Mimi Leder was filming a different version of the theme. Movie Significant Impact I had to do my best to fight popularity Armageddon and, moreover, inevitable comparisons. Although his story was much more emotional and better built than Bay’s.
But the film took an effort to convince viewers of its complex plot. The script tells almost the same story as the feature film starring Bruce Willis. Only this time this is a realistic version, more focused on the possible consequences of a failed plan to distract or destroy the celestial threat. Something that we would have to consider ourselves were it not for the success of the DART mission. His destruction scenes were the epitome of disaster cinema.
However, of greater interest was his emotional exploration of a group of characters who are threatened with the destruction of an entire civilization. It was a mature, touching and horrifying attempt to present the state of disaster as a human fact. Much more, the ability of the planet to face total devastation. A clever and intuitive look at a disturbing topic turned out to be much more effective than any other spectacular.
Melancholy
At the other extreme of Hollywood harshness, Lars von Trier decided to imagine an unacceptable disaster from an early age. Starting with the most personal pains and tribulations, Melancholyin all its miniature and tragic beauty, is more of an allegory than a story about the possibility of a destructive celestial phenomenon.
One day, This is a very harsh look at the state of man in the face of his destruction.. Built from an awareness of mortality and human suffering based on death as an absolute fact.
Von Trier also creates a condition of collective pain. He does so with a stern vision of the futility of hope in the midst of an unstoppable and unimaginable event. Cynical and cruelly honest, but sensitive to the suffering of its ensemble of characters, the film is striking in its beauty and at the same time is a cruel reflection on the transience and insignificance of life on our planet. Existentialist reflection with hints of science fiction.
Greenland: the last refuge
Rick Roman Waugh’s film is arguably one of the most realistic depictions of the chaos following a total disaster like the one averted by the DART mission. Against the backdrop of a total threat to life on the planet, the film takes place at several points at once.
From how governments react to a situation that overwhelms them, to inevitable chaos at all levels. Greenland: the last refuge trying to portray the horror in different layers. Also, analyzes how the best and worst in a person appears in the middle of an emergency with no way out and no real solution. At least in the first part, the film leaves aside sentimentality and patriotic epic.
Instead, he builds a painful look at the loss of all hope. A caution that remains the centerpiece until its disappointing final twist. But despite everything, the film maintains an intellectual discourse about a catastrophic event that has already become part of popular culture. And it also reinvents fresh and, in most cases, solid elements.
