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Subscribe to RSSThe movie trailer for "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" remixes the Apollo 11 moon mission to add aliens. It's definitely fun stuff — the only problem is, some folks just might actually take it seriously.
The teaser for the movie, which is due to premiere next July, blends live-action clips of spacesuit-clad actors, archival footage from the Apollo era and tons of computer-generated graphics to produce an alternate history for the Apollo 11 landing. The result reflects some classic minor mistellings of the tale, such as the timing for the delivery of Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step" line. And there are fresh embellishments, like ... oh, yes, the giant alien spacecraft sitting just a few minutes' walk from the lunar module.
Of course that's a clear signal that this is Hollywood fantasy rather than documentary reality. It's as harmless as the idea that three flies could have hitched a ride with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the movie "Fly Me to the Moon." For me, the more serious misstep comes when the moviemakers reshuffle Walter Cronkite's commentary to make it sound as if there really was a 21-minute communication blackout while the astronauts were exploring the moon.
Cronkite was actually referring to a loss of signal while the astronauts were going around the far side of the moon in their command module, well before the landing. The moviemakers spliced in the archival footage to make it sound as if the astronauts were "dark on the rock" during their X-files investigation. Even though that's totally fictional, it still might leave the audience with the impression that Armstrong and Aldrin were occasionally out of communication while on the surface ... which they weren't.
I can just imagine the 21-minute gap becoming part of the "Ruins on the Moon" myth. Maybe it would have been better to have an actor playing Cronkite, or some other fictional commentator. Or am I taking this way too seriously?
Rob Pearlman delves deeply into the mismatch between fact and fiction on his CollectSpace website. Watch the trailer, check out his article, and then feel free to weigh in with your own view of this latest moon hoax.
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I think you are right on Alan. People already have enough misinformation and ignorance about what happen in July '69. People who are already entrenched in conspiracy theory are going to look at the Cronkite stuff just like you suggest in the article.
In any event, it looks life a fun movie, I'll definitely go see it. I love alternative history style fiction.
Hahaha, the best part of any article is the replies.
I'm SO amazed at how people will pull out the word 'conspiracy' when faced with anything outside their comfort zone.
But, if you don't have the intelligence or desire to actually read some real information and open your eyes to the horrors (hidden or otherwise) that are happening in the world right now, at least close your mouth and let the rest of us do the thinking unobstructedly.
Aliens? Probably not yet. Moon landing fake? We'll never know. World slavery using the monetary system? They've got you and you don't even know it. And who here has read about the 9/11 cover-ups and isn't shocked that it's still being covered up? Or is it too difficult to believe that the leaders who brought us nuclear arms and world pollution are not really on our side?
Maybe the ignorance is not so funny after all...
and i'm so amazed at how every conspiracy nut thinks that they are somehow smarter than everyone else. Yet every time one of their ridiculous conspiracy theories gets debunked they refuse to listen.
Your ignorance is hilarious by the way.
BMan, I do have the intelligence and the desire to read real information. Beyond that I even took the time to read the garbage you wrote in your comment. You use the word "probably" when referencing aliens so you clearly have no clue one way or the other. You say we'll never know if the moon landing was a fake but if you think about it there actually is a way for us Earthlings to fact check the moon landings, and it's fairly simple... All one would need to do is look at the moon with enough magnification. Scan the sea of Tranquility and if you find the landing sites you will have your answer. As for the "world slavery" thing, your assertion that "they have you and you don't even know it" is laughable. So do they have YOU BMAN? do you not know it? If they do not have you then how can you assert that they have everyone else? What about bums on the street? militia men in the hills? third world villages and tribal cultures that don't participate in the "monetary system"? Frankly your conspiracy is full of holes. Fact of the matter is that we are not slaves as we have the choice to not participate in that system. Sure you could say that what would befall a person who disconnects from the system would leave them destitute and perhaps in jail but there are ways to avoid such outcomes. They may in fact try to enslave you but a smart person can avoid that. And I have my own thoughts about 9/11 cover ups but I'm not going to get into that in this forum. This comment is already very long and most people are sick of hearing about the events of 9/11. One last thing, "world pollution" was not brought to us by "leaders". If you could call it "world pollution" it was in fact brought to us by manufacturing. And manufacturing on that scale only happened because us "slaves" wanted the goods. The reality of things is not so funny, and there are nefarious people out there. But there are beautiful things in this life that some would take for granted. Open your eyes to the whole world, not just the horrors, hidden or otherwise. And I encourage everyone to open the mouth and be heard, otherwise people like BMan here will be the only ones talking and that my friends is a truly scary thought.
Are there not mirrors/reflectors that were placed on the moon during moon landings in order to aim laser beamns to measure the distance (as well as how much the moon is receading from the earth) of the moon from the earth?
Great point PirateC! I had almost forgotten about that. Yet more proof that we have indeed landed on the Moon.
Yeah, Mythbusters did an episode about it and debunked the whole fake-moon-landing conspiracy for good and all. It's good stuff.
I do remember that day well, and no I would have to disagree! This is Hollywood at it's finest.
I have more faith in people recognizing truth from fantasy.....well maybe a little bit. Looks like it's going
to be good in any case! We'll just have to see now won't we.
Awww... your link about the ruins on the moon didn't have this gem:
http://www.enterprisemission.com/images/tower-w.jpg
From Hoagland's famous (or should I say, infamous?) lecture on the possibility of lunar architecture. Silly stuff, sure, but good for a laugh! I actually watched his lecture at Ohio State University (I think it was Ohio, I may be wrong...) and he laid out some compelling evidence, until you read the objections at Bad Astronomy and elsewhere
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/12/17/hoagland-lose/
Still, if you're going to link to conspiracy theories about ruins on the moon, you might as well go for the gold!
There are still people who believe the earth is flat. Ya just can't cure stupid.
Man, don't we have enough conspiracy theorist garbage to deal with already? I find this very annoying and I am disappointed in Spielberg on this one. I really hope that it starts with a major disclaimer.
You want them to disclaim that the movie about giant sentient robots isn't factual? Seriously? If anyone is so stupid that they need a disclaimer to tell them not to take transformers as a history lesson they are probably to stupid to understand what a disclaimer is.
Spielberg is executive producer. If you want to be disappointed with anyone it should be Bay. Spielberg is basically just the guy with the money and a few ideas if Bay wants them. Seriously we all know that Spielberg is pushy but Bay is no push over.
It's one thing to take an historical event and make up a sci-fi or sci-fantasy alternate reality for said event -- quite another to remake the historical event in order to fit your sci-fi alternate reality. The former is fun (and a well-used trope of sci-fi)...the latter is cheap and disingenuous.
Forrest Gump anyone? Granted, not sci-fi, but still took historical footage and altered it to fit the story. If people are really so gullible, maybe the problem isn't with the filmmakers... Agree with the commenter who said "[y]ou want them to disclaim that the movie about giant sentient robots isn't factual?" Come on people. There are more important things to be concerned about than this LOL!
As alternative history, it may be entertaining, but I'm a bit disappointent that Mr. Spielberg has stooped to toy-box fantasy. "Course, in my day, toyboxes contained Legos and Erector-Sets. I will always think the best "We-are-not-Alone" movie came from the mind of Stanley Kubric, decades before CGI and Industrial Light & Magic.
I don't know - I may be the only one but it doesn't really both me. The fact is Transformers is a piece of fiction, a fantasy story about things that have not actually happened.
Look up 'fantasy' or 'fiction' in any dictionary and you see the words imagination, invented, fanciful, etc.... The fact is it's just a story and if they want to re-write the moon landing to fit their alternate universe so be it. Personally I think it's a brilliant plot device and I'm rather curious to see the outcome :)
But maybe that's just me, maybe I don't take things seriously enough - I know the truth and anyone else out there who has bothered to educate themselves about the moon landing will too. Transformers is just a piece of fiction and there really is no reason to put a limit on imagination...
I think most folks would agree with you Sherie Beth. But the problem isn't the fiction, at least for me the problem is the use of the reality within the fiction. For those of us that educate ourselves it's really not going to matter, but the problem is the people that don't educate themselves, the people that don't know what Cronkite said and when he said it. They may walk away from this movie realizing that it's pure fiction but they may think that the part with Walter Cronkite is just a real clip with no change to the circumstance of the moon landing. In any case, you and I and most folks will realize the difference and just go and enjoy the movie. And inevitably we will have to argue with people who think there was a radio blackout after the astronauts landed on the moon.
If people see this movie and interpret anything they see as evidence of anything, the failing is not of the movie. The failing is of the educational system.
Say what you will about the educational system, but I think the failing falls on the individual.
What is the problem people this is Sci-fi who cares of movie companies use real live footage and scamble it to fit the storyline of the movie, its called enterainment, Movies have been doing this for years. Take the movie Contact for instance, I ma sure there are many others as well, Forest Gump for example.
What is the problem, it sounds like people just want something to complain about. Transformers that word should be key to knowing anything in the movie it entertainment. If people take the cut and paste real footage as fact then they need to get to the library and study some history books.
Stupid can be fixed with education it just takes work to get off the couch and go look it up.
Alan, so you're worried that folks will think there were robots from another world on the Moon? Really? It is a movie! Were you worried that folks were going to think Forrest Gump met the president(s) and mooned LBJ when showing the "million dollar wound"?
Slightly OT and to Mob Barley about pollution and not being brought to us by leaders, but really to us by ourselves because of our "wants"; that's a bit of a limited view because our wants are directly controlled by the advertising of the manufacturer. We’re sold the grand illusion via advertising and then we go out to buy that “want” in the belief that it is a “need”. Money controls governments, so the money buys lax environmental laws so that the goods can be made, and then advertised can create our “wants” to be come “needs”. Do you believe that folks are sold a polluted world or are they sold an object with built in obsolesce?
Good question there Derek, and you make a good point. But, I personally do not let advertising control what I want. I gave people more credit than maybe they deserve. I have taken classes on advertising so I know a little about it, I know there are many subtle ways advertisers can influence what folks want. Some are not so subtle. And advertising does work the way you suggest a large percentage of the time. I suppose how I phrased it made it seem like a limited view. But I believe people can wake up from the brainwashing of advertising. Growing up I watched obscene amounts of TV and disliked books greatly. I never had cable and only saw what the major networks wanted me to see. I was very average. A "C" student across the board. But when the government switched to digital broadcast I was "set free" in a way. You see, I had a big problem with the government forcing that change on people, and they do it in other areas of our lives as well (I'm just using the TV thing as an example).
Anyway, I stopped watching television altogether rather than getting the digital converter box and all that. I still have a TV but I only use it for DVDs and the occasional zombie video game. My entertainment largely comes from books nowadays as I completely missed out on them while growing up. The point I'm trying to get at here is that most people don't realize that they are being brainwashed or inundated to the point of apathy with all that advertising. Advertisers pay for our entertainment so that we will pay for their goods and services. Some people are aware of the cycle and some aren't. So, I guess the best way to phrase what I think about pollution is that it's brought to the world by greed. Pollution is brought on by everyone who "wants" whether it's a leader, a "slave", an average guy or gal, or what have you. I can only speak for my experience, the local American experience but I think it's safe to say that we all crave a "better" life. Better is subjective, and many American's idea of a "better" life is just an easier life. And for the most part, money makes life easier. Every man, woman, and child on the planets is a polluter but I tend to point the big finger at major corporations. Money is the great polluter, but I still haven't figured out a way to make the world work without it, when I do I'll let y'all know. lol
Apologies for such a long, off-topic response.
Anyone with even a fleeting knowledge of the Apollo program knows that Apollo 11 landed on the Sea of Tranquility, chosen for its flatness and lack of mountains, while the movie shows Apollo 15 type mountainous moonscape. Also, the entire Apollo 11 moonwalk barely lasted twenty minutes, with no "signal black-out" at all. Unfortunately, we live in an age of scientific and historical illiterates. Even a black congresswoman from my state, Sheila Jackson Lee, asked JPL technicians if the mars rovers could photograph the flag left on Mars by the astronauts! That is true, you can google it.
wow!
that quote is from this website, http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=981
She served on the House Science Committee and the subcommittee that oversee space policy!! I knew the politicians generally don't understand the science like people that do the actual research but come on! Holy Cow!!
I think this looks interesting and I'm not into Transformers at all. As for the consipiracy theorists and the ignorant people, well, they get whatever they deserve for being lazy and just plain stupid. I think I'll watch and enjoy this just like the writers and producers plan.
I am sure there will be people who will believe this movie. Hey, there are still people who believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Even after W. Bush sheepishly announced on TV they found no WMDs, his voter base continued to believe there were such WMD in Iraq. People need to trust less and ask a lot more questions. Kind of sub-set of conspiracy theorists called idiots.
We did find chemical weapons and facilities that were capable of producing more, just not on the scale that Bush (and the think tanks, military advisers and cabinet members) had predicted.
Here's an article about found chemical munitions: (Sorry its from Fox news, I know the label turns a lot of people blue in the face).
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120137,00.html
Here's another from MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4997808/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/
And another
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=26861
And yet another:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300530.html
So, obviously weapons were found, but no evidence of advanced or recent manufacturing were determined from these examples. Most of them were inert leftovers from the 80's and Iraq's war with Iran, but he lied to UN inspectors about having destroyed them all, obviously. But still, your assertion that Bush admitted finding no wmd's in Iraq is not entirely correct. They just never found the smoking gun, so-to-speak. Just a bunch of left over rubbish (still dangerous though, absolutely).
But ask anyone in the military about it and they'll tell you there was surveillance evidence that suggested that prior to the war a ton of WMD components were hastily shipped out of the country (My brother served and has some information on it, but he's not at hand presently to lend his expertise on the matter).
Oh, and lets not forget all that yellow-cake uranium Saddam supposedly didn't have.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/