Know that when celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson weighs in on the bad science commonly found in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, he's not trying to spoil anyone's fun. He's just a nerd and I think we can all respect that. There's nothing shameful about having a lot of scientific knowledge, and pointing out the physics and astronomy errors in the film can only, one hopes, encourage the filmmakers to be more precise next time. Case in point: Tyson infamously complained to director James Cameron that, in "Titanic" he got the night sky wrong. Tyson knew what the constellations looked like in the North Atlantic on that fateful April night in 1912, and suggested that Cameron, using digital trickery, remake the sky to match. Cameron, also reluctantly, obliged.

However, when it comes to most space movies, Tyson has a lot to complain about. Audiences have accepted that most science fiction spacecraft, for example, are equipped with "artificial gravity", even though there is no such thing. A physicist would point out that the ship needs to roll sideways to keep its occupants stuck to the floor. And, of course, any science student could tell you that there is no sound in space, and that starship engines growling, incendiary explosions, and spectacular explosions would actually be silent.

However, there are a few films that would strain anyone's credulity. Michael Bay's 1998 thriller Armageddon, for example, is about a team of oil drillers and astronauts who fly to an incoming comet to blow it up. On 2024 episode of The Jess Cagle Show Tyson pointed out several reasons why blowing up a potentially deadly comet is a bad idea. In fact, he once felt that Armageddon was the most brazenly unscientific sci-fi movie ever made.

But Armageddon was recently replaced by an even dumber movie. Tyson has some harsh words for Roland Emmerich's 2022 mega-dude Moonfall.

"Moonfall" is about a pair of astronauts (Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson) who in 2011 were on an accidental space mission when Wilson's character witnessed a swarm of alien spacecraft. No one believed him, and he lost his career. A decade from now, Barry and Wilson are contacted by a wild conspiracy theorist (John Bradley), who claims that the moon itself is a massive, man-made superstructure and that there is an entire alien civilization inside. He also noticed that the Moon was falling out of its orbit and would begin to pass closer and closer to Earth.

As the Moon does just that, Earth's weather systems are messed up. Eventually it passes so close that the Moon's gravity begins to lift humans off the Earth's surface. The three protagonists fly to the moon ... and find aliens lurking inside. The film is pleasantly silly and overblown, like many Roland Emmerich films.

On social media, Tyson said Armageddon "broke more laws of physics (per minute) than any other movie in the universe." That honor, he said, once belonged to Disney's 1979 "Black Hole." Unfortunately, Moonfall came along and blew them both out of the water. "I thought so." to "I saw Moonfall," he said to Jess Cagle, before breaking into a snicker. He described the film, exasperated, this way:

"It was a pandemic movie (...) - you know, Halle Berry - and the moon is approaching the Earth, and they found out that it's hollow. And there is a moon made of rocks that live in it. And the Apollo missions I was supposed to visit and feed the creature on the moon.

Tyson doesn't even bother to delve into the myriad reasons why the physics in Moonfall are flawed. Many of these may seem obvious to viewers. The moon falling to Earth, for example, won't let you do painful car jumps.

*Editor's Note: This plot summary is not entirely accurate.

In his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Tyson noted that occasionally Hollywood gets it right. He may have hated that the sky in Titanic was inaccurate, but he felt that if a resourceful scientist and engineer got involved, then fewer people would drown. He wished Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack was more like Matt Damon's Dr. Watney from Ridley Scott's 2015 film The Martian. Tyson loves The Martian because it actually explores the real physics and practical concerns of space travel. Tyson even explained the scientific accuracies of "The Martian" in video essay for Slate.

Indeed, Tyson announced video on his own channel, StarTalkwhere he ranks science fiction films based on their accuracy (or lack thereof), broad concepts, and even philosophy. He ranks The Black Hole as one of the more significant films he's seen, just because it was so bad. He saw the movie in college and was offended that no research was done when it was written. But he also loved The Matrix, despite the impracticality of using the human brain as a power source. Tyson also positively cited films such as Contact, Interstellar, "Gravity", "Arrival," "The Silent Land," and even "The Deep," which he said was the most accurate portrayal of an alien yet. Why, after all, would an alien be a biped?

But know that Tyson also listed Robert Zemeckis' Time Travel Thriller 'Back to the Future' as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time ... just because it's fun and well written. Yes, the science of time travel and how causality doesn't work like it does in a Zemeckis movie can be faked, but Tyson can have fun at the movies. He is no ordinary stick in the mud. He is just trying to get readers to read more physics books.