In Ridley Scott’s ALIEN, the audience isn’t introduced to the Xenomorph right off the bat, but to the glorious Nostromo travelling through space. Utilizing industrial scrap and military surplus to create a lived-in, “truckers in space”, the ship was filled with techy stuff like lighting built directly into the walls and ceilings using metal grates and practical fixtures, walls filled with “visual noise” created from banks of circuits and equipment salvaged from old automobiles, radios, and television sets. And best of all – the interior dressing came from scrapped Royal Air Force (RAF) stock. Designers famously used parts from a dismantled Handley Page Vulcan bomber to line the walls and corridors.
We still bow at the altar of ALIEN’s Production Designer Michael Seymour, Art Directors Les Dilley and Roger Christian (Christian is specifically credited with the “industrial” look of the Nostromo interiors, utilizing salvaged scrap metal and aircraft parts) and Set Decorator Ian Whittaker.
Read this article about the making of ALIEN: https://theasc.com/articles/behind-the-scenes-of-alien
Bravo to the genius who really got their Nerd on and published a book titled ALIEN: THE BLUEPRINTS. Its utter rapture filled with all the technical drawings of all the major ships and vehicles from the Alien movies, presented in incredible detail. Includes iconic spacecraft like the Nostromo, the Sulaco and the Covenant.
NASA is now readying the launch of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft powering the Artemis II from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to travel to the Moon. Nothing will ever surpass the mighty Saturn V Rocket and the Apollo Missions, but the excitement surrounding the countdown to the Artemis II launch and return to Earth’s closest neighbor is nothing short of fantastic!
In the new film PROJECT HAIL MARY, the filmmakers and production designers had to answer a fundamental question: If humanity truly built a ship to save itself, what would it look like? Production designer Charles Wood (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame) began that exploration with viability. If the filmmakers would be asking the audience to believe that this is humanity’s last, best effort to save the planet, the Hail Mary itself had to feel engineered as if very intelligent people built it under extraordinary pressure. The default of space-movie environments is steel-and-gray hues with sometimes bland or unarticulated spaces. But directors Lord and Miller wanted to experiment with the palette and create something fresh.
“They wanted it not to feel acrid or too monochromatic,” Wood says. “They wanted to find the color in space.” In addition, instead of sleek metallic minimalism, Wood introduced fabric and insulation as structural elements. Soft materials were woven into walls and padded surfaces were shaped and layered.
Gravity itself became part of the language design. Different areas of the Hail Mary operate under different gravitational states – acceleration gravity, centrifugal gravity, zero gravity – requiring sets that could rotate or reorient.
In the new film from directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction…but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.
Go on the ship: ProjectHailMary.com
And this isn’t Gosling’s first time playing an astronaut. Nope! Check out this clip where he played Neil Armstrong who commanded Apollo 11 becoming the First Man to set foot on the Moon.
To mark the blast-off of PROJECT HAIL MARY, we’ve come up with a list of 14 of our favorite techy, spaceship and gadgets movies.
For the movie nerds out there (including us) technically focused space movies are our jam, where we groove on the hard sci-fi films that emphasize realism and scientific concepts – but, okay, mostly for the lights, buttons, knobs, switches and toggles.
THE MARTIAN
A definitive “hard sci-fi” film that uses NASA-endorsed accuracy in botany, engineering, and orbital mechanics to show how a stranded astronaut can survive using existing or near-future tech.
The novel was absolutely brilliant with its schematics and it translated so well to the big screen showing a sophisticated fleet of spacecraft designed for the Ares program to transport the crew and supplies between Earth and Mars. Filled with an Orion capsule, The Hermes (and its ion engines), Taiyang Shen, and the Martian Rover,
There were over 400 interactive screens and many weren’t just random code; they were a “patchwork” of real NASA data. For example, the weather screens used actual Martian atmosphere data, and the Hermes navigation screens used real motion vectors provided by NASA engineers. And the best? Instead of using green screens for monitors, the animations were played live on set. This allowed actors to actually interact with the buttons and data, making their reactions feel authentic. Glorious!
Based on a true story, it celebrates the ingenious problem-solving of NASA scientists who used “square pegs in round holes” and duct tape to bring astronauts home after a technical failure in deep space, never mind a slide rule. The lift off of the mighty Saturn V rocket, mission control in Houston and the crew in the command module made this Oscar nominated movie one filled with realistic physics, engineering, and survival.
Go see it at the Johnson Space Center in Houston TX – its a true marvel, with its original consoles and rotary dials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(rocket_family)
GRAVITY
Director Alfonso Cuaron’s entire film is a masterclass in the physics of microgravity. It focuses on the “Kessler Syndrome,” where a chain reaction of satellite debris traveling at orbital velocity destroys everything in its path. Technology – specifically Manned Maneuvering Units (MMUs) and various airlocks – is the only thing preventing the protagonist from “drifting” forever into the vacuum.
The mind-boggling tech of this film won 7 Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards including Best Score (Steven Price), Best Visual Effects (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, and Neil Corbould) and Best Film Editing (Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger).
INTERSTELLAR
The technological realism is thru the roof. The movie features plausible near-future technologies, such as the Endurance spacecraft, which uses rotation to create artificial gravity, and advanced robotic assistants like TARS and CASE. The interior is compact and practical, with a focus on functionality, including transparent touch screens, crew chairs, and a large main viewscreen.
Check out this better look here – https://www.framestore.com/work/interstellar-cinematic-vr-experience
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
A seminal work exploring humanity’s relationship with technology – from the first bone tool to the sentient AI HAL 9000 – as a driver for the next stage of human evolution.
The ships were wonders to behold.
Discovery One (USSC Discovery) was the 540-foot-long nuclear-powered interplanetary ship sent to investigate the signal from the monolith at Jupiter. It is controlled by the HAL 9000 computer. The Orion III Spaceplane was a sleek, needle-nosed Pan Am orbital clipper used to transport Dr. Heywood Floyd from Earth to the orbiting space station. The Aries Ib Lunar Lander was a spherical, passenger-carrying moon shuttle that transports Dr. Floyd from the space station to the Clavius Base on the lunar surface and the Space Station V was a massive, rotating “wheel” station in Earth’s orbit that serves as a transit hub for travelers heading to the moon
MOON
Huge Nerd Alert!
Duncan Jones‘s movie uses a futuristic lunar mining operation to examine the ethical implications of cloning and the psychological toll of long-term isolation on a solo worker. It’s so rich to look at due to the lunar base, the space station (or lunar mining base) named Sarang Station located on the far side of the Moon to mine Helium-3, a clean alternative fuel for Earth. The movie stars Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, the station’s sole human occupant, who is assisted by an artificial intelligence named GERTY.
With the Helium-3 Harvesters and lunar rovers, the miniature models used instead of CGI gave these vehicles their realistic, gritty look.
SXSW Review: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2009/03/sxsw-review-moon/
Tribeca Review: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2009/04/tribeca-review-moon/
EVENT HORIZON
Okay so it ended up being jump to the “hell” dimension, which many at the time went… “HUH?!” But the awesome “industrial-gothic” design of the S.S. Event Horizon, divided into three primary modules, was connected by a 2-kilometer-long access corridor known as The Neck. The Bridge and the Gravity Drive had sci-fi fans intrigued by all it’s panels filled with monitors, lighted buttons and toggle-switches galore.
Read ASC’s interview visual effects supervisor Richard Yuricich, ASC and visual effects producer Stuart McAra here and cinematographer Adrian Biddle, BSC here — featuring director Paul W.S. Anderson.
Designed to look like a cathedral to evoke a sense of religious dread, the corridors are octagonal, and the lighting is kept low to make the ship feel “alive” and predatory.
Paul W.S. Anderson film has since become a cult movie and there’s even a Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 – available now from IDW Dark.
Discover what happened to the original crew of the Event Horizon in this all-new cosmic horror graphic novel set in the universe of the terrifying cult-classic film!
This original comic series serves as an official prequel to the film! The Event Horizon was a revolutionary spaceship designed for one mission: faster-than-light travel with a top-secret, experimental gravity drive. But upon activating the device, the ship journeyed across the borders of Hell itself. In a nightmarish realm of torments beyond imagining, Captain Kilpack and the crew of the Event Horizon must resist all manner of demonic forces—including Paimon, the eyeless King of Hell, and their own descents into madness and bloodlust—if they’ve any chance of escaping back to their own world.
Abandon all hope and board the Event Horizon with multiple Eisner Award winner Christian Ward (writer of Batman: City of Madness, Two-Face) and powerhouse sci-fi artist Tristan Jones (Aliens: Defiance, Tales of the TMNT) in this unbelievable story of the true and final fate of the original Event Horizon crew.
WHICH BRINGS US TO ITS UNOFFICAL SEQUEL, ACCORDING TO FANS….
SUNSHINE
In Danny Boyle’s 2007 film Sunshine, the technology and spacecraft represent a blend of near-future industrial realism and high-concept scientific theory, developed with guidance from physicist Brian Cox.
The Icarus II is a massive vessel designed for a singular, suicide-mission-style objective: delivering a payload to reignite the dying Sun. Solar Shield: The most prominent feature is a one-mile wide refractory gold-leaf shield that protects the ship from intense solar radiation and heat. The Spine: A long, delicate central armature connects the shield to the living quarters and engines. In the film, this spine rotates slowly to provide a degree of stability. Living Quarters: Designed to feel claustrophobic and utilitarian, contrasting with the vastness of the exterior. The Payload: A massive stellar bomb roughly the size of Manhattan, constructed from dark matter and uranium.
The techy part is the Computer on The Icarus, an AI with a natural-language interface that communicates verbally with the crew. Its mainframe is kept in a coolant bath to prevent overheating and the Observation Deck, a room that allows the crew to view the Sun directly through attenuation filters.
EUROPA REPORT
This “found footage” style film focuses on plausible mission design and the scientific process involved in a private mission to find life on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.
The user interfaces (UIs) in the film are minimalist and data-heavy. Transparent displays and helmet Heads-Up Displays (HUDs). Instead of flashy animations, the screens show telemetry data, oxygen levels, and orbital mechanics. This “functional” design makes the technology feel like it was built by engineers, not graphic designers.
THE BLACK HOLE
We love this film! It saw two Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects and still one of our favorite sci-fi films ever.
The Black Hole combines gothic horror with sci-fi, centering on a massive spacecraft (the USS Cygnus) perched at the edge of a black hole, exploring the technological hubris of a scientist obsessed with entering it. The ship utilized powerful anti-gravity projectors (powered by a fictional element called Signium) that allow it to hover motionless on the edge of the black hole’s event horizon. Due to its immense size, the crew used a manually controlled, one-way tram system to travel between major sections like the docking bays and the control tower – a magnificent room filled with computer monitors.
The interior of the tower features one of the most elaborate sets in 1970s science fiction, designed to emphasize both the ship’s massive scale and its gothic atmosphere.
A dominant feature is a massive star map and holographic display used for mapping and studying the black hole, the former crew turned into mindless cyborgs. The tower is designed with multiple levels and catwalks, allowing Reinhardt and his primary sentry, Maximilian, to oversee operations from elevated positions.
We also loved V.I.N.CENT voiced by an uncredited Roddy McDowall. He was a robot aboard the U.S.S. Palomino. Great score too by composer John Barry.
AD ASTRA
Where do we start with this futuristic film that explores the vastness and silence of the solar system through a journey to Neptune, using realistic depictions of lunar bases and commercial space travel to reflect on a son’s search for his father.
This was a dream for space enthusiasts – A space elevator, an International Space Antenna, Mars underground base, Vesta IX and Lima Station and the Cepheus – the SpaceCom transport vessel travelling to outer space. It made us believe Space exploration and tourism was a common event.
SILENT RUNNING
Director Douglas Trumbull’s amazing film focuses on environmental tech in space, where a botanist maintains the last of Earth’s plant life in geodesic domes attached to a spacecraft after all plant life on Earth has gone extinct. Named the Valley Forge, Berkshire, and Sequoia, these several massive American Airlines Space Freighters were tasked with carrying Earth’s last botanical samples. They were great to look at and were based the geodesic design on the Climatron dome at the Missouri Botanical Garden. These freighters are approximately 2,500 feet long (nearly half a mile) while the filming miniature for the Valley Forge was a 26-foot-long masterpiece built over six months using parts from over 80 different model kits.
But it’s the three little robots – originally designated as Drones 1, 2, and 3—that are the heart of the film’s emotional journey. Freeman Lowell (played by Bruce Dern), re-programs the clunky, box-shaped service drones to give them distinct personalities and nicknames them after Donald Duck’s nephews, Dewey, Huey and Louie.
THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX
To start, this has to be the greatest example of pure marketing genius. To have kept it a secret, revealing it during the Superbowl eight years ago, followed by the surprise debut on Netflix immediately afterwards that Sunday night was unbelievable! We bow low on that drop!
https://www.netflix.com/title/80134431
Now to the tech stuff. The Cloverfield Station is a massive space station orbiting Earth in the year 2028. It is a modular, high-tech habitat designed to house the massive particle accelerator at its core. The Bridge/Cockpit features a mix of traditional physical controls and modern multi-functional displays.
The Shepard is the station’s primary experimental device, a particle accelerator described as being “one thousand times more powerful” than any on Earth.Its goal is to provide a sustainable, infinite energy source to save humanity. When finally successfully activated, the Shepard overloads and creates a “power curve” that rips the fabric of space-time. The device doesn’t just generate power; it causes the station to jump into a parallel universe and move to the opposite side of the sun. The firing of the Shepard shattered reality across multiple dimensions and timelines.
SATURN 3
The film is set at a remote base in the asteroid belt of Saturn, and crewed by 2 scientists, and was filled with futuristic gadgets featuring detailed props and computer consoles that serve as the “tech parts” of the station’s life support and research systems. The base was equipped with numerous wall-mounted consoles and interactive displays used for monitoring life support, research data, and internal security.
For we geeks living in the early 80’s this was the perfect movie – the evil robot Hector, spaceships and a space station… this was the ultimate Nerdvana
You can even watch the entire movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD_tyBy3I3Q
Contributed by Michelle McCue, Marc Butterfield and Melissa Thompson
