What are the Best Sci-Fi Movies About Interstellar Travel?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around recommendations for science fiction movies that depict interstellar travel, exploring various perspectives on the realism and representation of such journeys in film. Participants share their opinions on specific movies and the challenges of accurately portraying interstellar travel concepts.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks recommendations for sci-fi movies about mankind's first interstellar voyage, excluding 'Interstellar'.
  • Another participant suggests 'Contact' as an enjoyable film but expresses disappointment in its lack of focus on starship travel.
  • A participant critiques 'Interstellar' for its portrayal of wormholes and gravitational effects, arguing that it overlooks realistic implications of such phenomena.
  • Concerns are raised about the depiction of interstellar travel in films, noting that many skip or compress the travel time, as seen in 'Avatar'.
  • A detailed explanation is provided regarding the time it would take to reach Proxima Centauri with a spacecraft capable of 1 g acceleration, highlighting the discrepancy between onboard and Earth timeframes.
  • Challenges related to fuel requirements for realistic interstellar travel are discussed, with suggestions for methods such as hydrogen fusion ramjet engines, Casimir drives, and electromagnetic drives.
  • Another participant mentions that 'Farscape' and 'Star Trek: Voyager' are better at explaining scientific concepts related to space travel.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on specific films and their portrayals of interstellar travel, indicating that multiple competing views remain regarding the effectiveness and realism of these representations.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight limitations in the depiction of interstellar travel in films, including assumptions about travel time, fuel sources, and the scientific accuracy of concepts like wormholes and warp drives.

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After doing my own research I would like to know if anyone can recommend a good Sci-Fi movies on mankind's first interstellar voyage, besides the movie 'Interstellar', which I have seen?
 
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Greg Bernhardt said:
I haven't seen it in awhile, but I remember enjoying Contact with Jodie Foster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_US_film)
I found it a bit disappointing. I was thinking more along the lines of starship travel, like Event Horizon but with less horror..
 
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I found the movie Interstellar to be unwatchable. A worm hole is two black holes, one at either end, that are connected. Black holes have a mass that exceeds 3 solar masses. If you placed a 3+ solar mass object right next to the planet Saturn (as in the movie) you would disrupt the entire solar system. Yet they completely ignore the gravitational effects of the worm hole in the movie.

The problem with depicting realistic interstellar travel in movies is that it takes years. Most movies that I've seen either skip or compress interstellar travel. Such as the movie Avatar. They show the main character waking up after an unknown amount of time traveling to this exo-moon, but they do not show the actual travel or even describe how interstellar travel was made possible. Another device used by movies for interstellar travel is warp drive. While warp drive is mathematically possible, the amount of energy required is literally astronomical. Considering the amount of energy required to create a warp "bubble," that mode of transportation would not fall into the category of "realistic" interstellar travel.

Assuming we had a spacecraft engine that could produce 1 g (9.8 m/s2) of continuous thrust, it would take 3 years, 6 months, 15 days, 11 hours, and 36 minutes from the perspective of those on board the spacecraft to reach the nearest star Proxima Centauri 4.24 light years away. With 1 g constant acceleration to the halfway point, and 1 g constant deceleration afterwards, the spacecraft would achieve 94.95% the speed of light at the halfway point before slowing down. From Earth's perspective, the same trip to Proxima Centauri would take 5 years, 10 months, 13 days, 8 hours, and 11 minutes.

While the method of interstellar travel described above is "realistic," it falls seriously short in one category - fuel. Even if the engines were 100% efficient, we could not bring along enough fuel to make the journey at that speed. Even using antimatter as a fuel source. So some method for collecting or manufacturing fuel along the way must be devised in order to be "realistic."

The three most realistic methods for interstellar travel that I have read about is:
  • A hydrogen fusion ramjet engine. By the time the spacecraft left the solar system it would be traveling at such a speed that even the extremely rarefied hydrogen in interstellar space would be a viable source of fuel.
  • A Casimir drive. A drive that uses the Casimir Effect to generate thrust, and therefore would not require any fuel.
  • An electromagnetic drive. The EmDrive uses microwaves as a means of thrust. Such a drive could be nuclear powered, and therefore provide long periods of continuous thrust.
 
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I think farscape and startrek voyager are much better in trying to explain scientific concepts
 

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