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8 Movies About Totally Unqualified People Going to Space
Who doesn't love a good space travel movie? The bravery, the adventure, the sheer caliber of intellect and fitness that is required to be a cinematic astronaut — it's inspiring to all of us earthlings watching from our theater seats. However, now that space travel is becoming more normalized with Blue Origin flights full of celebrities and elites, like Katy Perry, William Shatner, and Jeff Bezos himself, it got me thinking: there have been so many movies that feature space travelers that you wouldn't want to send to the grocery store let alone space — characters that are so unqualified for space travel that you wonder how they ever made it off the launch pad.So, here are 9 movies where the wrong people go to space—and somehow, it works. 1. Armageddon (1998) - YouTube www.youtube.com This is the textbook example of unqualified people going to space unironically. Upon the news that an asteroid the size of Texas is on a collision course with Earth, NASA recruits Bruce Willis and his crew of deep-core oil drillers, which includes a very tearful Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi with a death wish, and Michael Clarke Duncan in tiger stripe bikini undies. The biggest questions audiences had after watching the film: Wouldn't it have been easier to train astronauts to drill than it would have to train drillers to be astronauts? Yeah, but then you wouldn't have the movie. 2. Space Cowboys (2000) - YouTube www.youtube.com Now, no one is saying that a crew of septuagenarians can't fly into space — but what I am saying is that I think I pulled a calf muscle because I sat up too fast and I'm not even 40. Space Cowboys features retired test pilots, played by Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner, who are called to go into space because they're the only ones who are old enough to understand the dated technology used on a Soviet satellite. 3. RocketMan (1997) - YouTube www.youtube.com Now you listen to me...if you've never seen RocketMan, you need to stop what you're doing and watch it right now. Harland Williams is absolutely hilarious in this flick as he plays NASA software programmer Fred Z. Randall, who basically gets chosen to fly to Mars when a model of the Pilgrim 1 Mars lander fractures the original astronaut's skull. And because Randall is so brilliant and knows the ship's computer navigation system, he gets to go. Why not just get another astronaut? Who knows, but I promise...you won't care. 4. Spaceman (2024) - YouTube www.youtube.com Okay, you probably thought Spaceman made the list just because it stars Adam Sandler—and in the timeline we live in, the rule is if the Sandman is playing an astronaut, he must be unqualified by default. Serious role or not, it’s the law.But you'd be wrong. Sandler can do drama, we know this, and he does a great job playing Jakub, an astronaut who goes on a solo research mission. The reason he's unqualified has more to do with the emotional baggage he brings with him on the ship — his fear that the relationship between him and his wife, played by Carey Mulligan, is disintegrating. (Thank the stars for that cosmic alien spider who comes to help him, huh?) 5. The Cat from Outer Space (1978) - YouTube www.youtube.com Cats. Are. Unqualified. Space Travelers. I refuse to explain myself. 6. Planet 51 (2009) - YouTube www.youtube.com Enlisting the twist on the whole "alien invasion" thing, NASA astronaut Chuck, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, lands on a planet unknowingly inhabited by green extraterrestrials and, of course, chaos ensues. Why is Chuck unqualified for space travel? Because of what I just said...he landed on a planet unknowingly inhabited by green extraterrestrials. You're NASA, Chuck! You don't have any tools onboard to tell you you're landing in someone's backyard as they're grilling up burgers? Come on. 7. Space Chimps (2008) - YouTube www.youtube.com If you thought Space Chimps was going to get the same treatment as that alien cat movie, think again! Chimps are so incredibly qualified for space travel — and the chimps in this movie are qualified — except for one. Even though he's the grandson of the first chimpanzee in space, Ham III is a circus performer who gets added to the crew for media attention. 8. Interstellar (2014) - YouTube www.youtube.com Don't come for me! I know Matthew McConaughey's character, Cooper, was a NASA test pilot earlier in his life, but come on. Coop's been out of the game for a long while, spending his post-NASA time farming and raising his kids. Are we to believe that any ol' retired astronaut can hop on a shuttle and blast off into a wormhole near Saturn to make sure the human race lives after Earth's blight wipes them all out?Well, joke's on me because he actually pulls it off. Which space travel movies do you think should be on this list?
Who doesn't love a good space travel movie? The bravery, the adventure, the sheer caliber of intellect and fitness that is required to be a cinematic astronaut — it's inspiring to all of us earthlings watching from our theater seats.
However, now that space travel is becoming more normalized with Blue Origin flights full of celebrities and elites, like Katy Perry, William Shatner, and Jeff Bezos himself, it got me thinking: there have been so many movies that feature space travelers that you wouldn't want to send to the grocery store let alone space — characters that are so unqualified for space travel that you wonder how they ever made it off the launch pad.
So, here are 9 movies where the wrong people go to space—and somehow, it works.
1. Armageddon (1998)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
This is the textbook example of unqualified people going to space unironically. Upon the news that an asteroid the size of Texas is on a collision course with Earth, NASA recruits Bruce Willis and his crew of deep-core oil drillers, which includes a very tearful Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi with a death wish, and Michael Clarke Duncan in tiger stripe bikini undies. The biggest questions audiences had after watching the film: Wouldn't it have been easier to train astronauts to drill than it would have to train drillers to be astronauts? Yeah, but then you wouldn't have the movie.
2. Space Cowboys (2000)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Now, no one is saying that a crew of septuagenarians can't fly into space — but what I am saying is that I think I pulled a calf muscle because I sat up too fast and I'm not even 40. Space Cowboys features retired test pilots, played by Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner, who are called to go into space because they're the only ones who are old enough to understand the dated technology used on a Soviet satellite.
3. RocketMan (1997)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Now you listen to me...if you've never seen RocketMan, you need to stop what you're doing and watch it right now. Harland Williams is absolutely hilarious in this flick as he plays NASA software programmer Fred Z. Randall, who basically gets chosen to fly to Mars when a model of the Pilgrim 1 Mars lander fractures the original astronaut's skull. And because Randall is so brilliant and knows the ship's computer navigation system, he gets to go. Why not just get another astronaut? Who knows, but I promise...you won't care.
4. Spaceman (2024)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Okay, you probably thought Spaceman made the list just because it stars Adam Sandler—and in the timeline we live in, the rule is if the Sandman is playing an astronaut, he must be unqualified by default. Serious role or not, it’s the law.
But you'd be wrong.
Sandler can do drama, we know this, and he does a great job playing Jakub, an astronaut who goes on a solo research mission. The reason he's unqualified has more to do with the emotional baggage he brings with him on the ship — his fear that the relationship between him and his wife, played by Carey Mulligan, is disintegrating. (Thank the stars for that cosmic alien spider who comes to help him, huh?)
5. The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Cats. Are. Unqualified. Space Travelers. I refuse to explain myself.
6. Planet 51 (2009)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Enlisting the twist on the whole "alien invasion" thing, NASA astronaut Chuck, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, lands on a planet unknowingly inhabited by green extraterrestrials and, of course, chaos ensues. Why is Chuck unqualified for space travel? Because of what I just said...he landed on a planet unknowingly inhabited by green extraterrestrials. You're NASA, Chuck! You don't have any tools onboard to tell you you're landing in someone's backyard as they're grilling up burgers? Come on.
7. Space Chimps (2008)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
If you thought Space Chimps was going to get the same treatment as that alien cat movie, think again! Chimps are so incredibly qualified for space travel — and the chimps in this movie are qualified — except for one. Even though he's the grandson of the first chimpanzee in space, Ham III is a circus performer who gets added to the crew for media attention.
8. Interstellar (2014)
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Don't come for me! I know Matthew McConaughey's character, Cooper, was a NASA test pilot earlier in his life, but come on. Coop's been out of the game for a long while, spending his post-NASA time farming and raising his kids. Are we to believe that any ol' retired astronaut can hop on a shuttle and blast off into a wormhole near Saturn to make sure the human race lives after Earth's blight wipes them all out?
Well, joke's on me because he actually pulls it off.
Which space travel movies do you think should be on this list?
