Gravity Gets Fact-Checked By Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson

Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity has a spectacular weekend, posting an estimated $55 million to win the weekend box office and break some surprising records in the process. By most everyone’s accounts, it was a huge win for a brilliant movie. But not everyone was so easily impressed.

Noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, for example, caught Cuaron’s space-walk thriller and left with a few very specific complaints. Using the identifiable hash tag “Mysteries of #Gravity,” the scientist talked to his 1.4 million followers about the various issues he had with Cuaron’s film. It’s really hard to argue with just about everything that he brings up. I kind of feel bad that Tyson’s incredible wealth of knowledge took him out of the experience of Cuaron’s wild ride, but given his position, I totally understand. Here are a few of my favorite Tweets Tyson posted in response to Gravity:

See more
See more
See more
See more
See more
See more
See more
See more

Now, does that mean Tyson hated the film? Absolutely not. In fact, a Tweet he posted days earlier might have predicted how he’d respond to that question:

See more

I’m trying to put myself in Tyson’s shoes. If Hollywood ever got around to making a movie about film criticism of entertainment journalism, I’m sure I’d take to Twitter and nitpick the hell out of it. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. In fact, if Charlie Kaufman ever gets around to completing Frank Or Francis, I just might get the chance. Until then, we can just sit back and enjoy Tyson’s informative, entertaining Twitter feed, which gives us yet another interesting way to look at Cuaron’s fantastic film.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.