# A Rose in the Mud, or Accurate Science in the middle of a Bad Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670 "2001-09-25T12:35:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hekcorps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/87869e/32.png) [@Hekcorps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hekcorps)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670/21 "2001-10-01T19:25:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caracticus Potts \* > \*\*I went into Armageddon expecting mindless brain-candy. But the stretchs were just too much even for _my_ suspension of disbelief. Aside from the fact that a bunch of yahoo oil-riggers would make demands of the government before helping them (you’re going to die if you don’t help them, so what’s with the demands?), they made the same mind-numbing mistake which “Deep Impact” made. They approached the bloody asteroid from behind!! It’s a “one chance to save the world” mission and they take the single most dangerous route to get to the thing? Aside from the time they waste by flying around behind it and overtaking it, why not just swing around in front of it and gradually slow down to a nice soft landing? > > And I don’t think I’d spend my last moments before The End of the World running around the barn with an American Flag. \*\* That whole movie was one big plothole. You don’t have to suspend your disbelief, you have to fire your disbelief, then kill it and put the body in a bag and bury it in a shallow grave by the railroad tracks. _whock_ The asteroid is targer than any other in our solar system (true). _whock_ Earth will be hit by an asteroid in 18 days and it takes months to prepare a shuttle mission! _whock_ The refuelling station explodes! _whock_ One of the shuttles crashes! _whock_ We landed in the wrong spot! _whock_ This is the worst possible spot to dig! _whock_ We lost a vital part after 10 feet! _whock_ We have 8 hours to dig 800 feet and it took us 2 hours to do 57 feet!!! And more and more and more VERY BAD THINGS keep happening, and the audience is supposed to believe that they can succeed? What’s worst, they DO succeed. Pretty horrid movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670/22 "2001-10-01T19:52:06Z")
Okay, now I’ve got it sorted out. John Carradine was in a film called **The Wizard of Mars** , a weird sort of sf-Wizard of Oz blend that has no giany amoeba in it. It was releasecx on video as “Horrors of the Red PLanet” to lure in the unsuspecting. There were no Russian scenes. [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0059920](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0059920) The sf movie that used scenes from a bad Russian movie (“Planet of Storms”) was **Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women** , which had Mamie Van Doren as the US star. Peter Bogdanovich, of all people, helped cobble this Corman effort together. But it has no scenes with John Carradine. And just because it has John Carradine doesn’t mean it’s bad. He was in **Grapes of Wrath** , you know. There are a few of his other triumphs listed at the IMDB, but you’ve got to wade through a lot of stuff like “Invasion of the Astro-Zombies” to get to them. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670/23 "2001-10-01T20:58:38Z")
“Conquest of Space,” from the Fities, is no Robot Monster, but it is forgotten and generally scorned. But behind the melodramatic Oedipus-style plot it does have some nice model work with Fifties Werner Von Braun Mars expedition spacecraft, including assembled-in-orbit booster, winged Mars landing vehicle, and return-to-earth rocket. Plus a wheel-type Space Station, a nice Space Taxi and some good weightless shots. ---
**Author:** ![Caracticus\_Potts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@Caracticus\_Potts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caracticus_Potts)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670/24 "2001-10-01T21:34:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hekcorps \* > \*\*You don’t have to suspend your disbelief, you have to fire your disbelief, then kill it and put the body in a bag and bury it in a shallow grave by the railroad tracks. > \*\* I like that. I think you’ve just created an entirely new category for “bad” films. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-in-the-mud-or-accurate-science-in-the-middle-of-a-bad-movie/83670.md?page=1)