# Movies engineers like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093 "2017-05-20T17:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/61 "2017-05-31T22:51:18Z")
Airframe The Bridge on the River Kwai Bridge to Terabithia Source Code Torque Failure to Launch I’ll be here all the week ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/62 "2017-06-01T03:08:36Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > I think it’s the sudden change in character of the mission Commander that hacked me off the worst. They had done so _VERY_ well with her, then some pissant in Hollywood decides we need an ‘emotional moment’ from an ‘empowered woman’ and so they _shit_ all over her character AND the power and dignity she’d brought to the role. A truly empowered woman would’ve stuck to her duty - and allowed her crew to do theirs. If they needed a ‘drama’ moment, they could have done something like cut to tears in her eyes as her crew reels the castaway in. Or about a hundred other posssiblities. Indeed…though, personally, I never really got a good sense of “command presence” from Chastain’s Lewis to begin with. It’s a type of role _other_ actresses have pulled off just fine, over the years, just not her. Well, I might also be biased, in that Jessica Chastain just, personally, gives me the _creeps_. Like a CGI character flailing in the Uncanny Valley, or Ray Liotta. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/63 "2017-06-01T19:11:55Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Indeed…though, personally, I never really got a good sense of “command presence” from Chastain’s Lewis to begin with. It’s a type of role _other_ actresses have pulled off just fine, over the years, just not her. Oh, sure, she’s no Janeway, but then real commanding officers I’ve known aren’t, either. No Kirks, no Rikers, nor Janeways, etc. either. Even the ‘Picards’ are damned few and far between. What she did was take a look at the options, take a look at her responsibilities, including to her living crew, make a decision, and then enable her crew to carry it out. Then, she kept her crew mentally healthy and focused during a _long_ and very arduous mission; made sure the ship was maintained, rations were managed, and a thousand other small tasks that must be handled. I’d happily serve under or with her (movie) commander any time. Until they gave her the lobotomy. > [@](#): > > Well, I might also be biased, in that Jessica Chastain just, personally, gives me the _creeps_. Like a CGI character flailing in the Uncanny Valley, or Ray Liotta. There, we differ. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/64 "2017-06-02T05:10:00Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Oh, sure, she’s no Janeway, but then real commanding officers I’ve known aren’t, either. No Kirks, no Rikers, nor Janeways, etc. either. Even the ‘Picards’ are damned few and far between. For my part, I will, completely cheerfully, note that she’s also no Jonathan Archer. That was not an insult—in fact, at least one reviewer I can think of has made a compelling case that Archer would have _benefited_ from a lobotomy. 😃 Be that as it may, [effective administrator](http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Gorgak) or not, it also doesn’t make for particularly compelling cinema. _Especially_ if the CO in question decides to strap on her Barbarella boots and start playing space cowboy. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/65 "2017-06-02T12:55:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _The Great Train Robbery > Silver Streak > The General_ And a new version of [Murder on the Orient Express](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWJlkHN7rc). ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/66 "2017-06-02T15:36:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > For my part, I will, completely cheerfully, note that she’s also no Jonathan Archer. That was not an insult—in fact, at least one reviewer I can think of has made a compelling case that Archer would have _benefited_ from a lobotomy. 😃 > > Be that as it may, [effective administrator](http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Gorgak) or not, it also doesn’t make for particularly compelling cinema. _Especially_ if the CO in question decides to strap on her Barbarella boots and start playing space cowboy. No, not compelling - unless you’re appreciative of well-crafted (as opposed to ‘dramatic’) cinema. And frankly, that’s where I thought they were going with her character - I was looking at her and thinking “damn, they got THAT one right!” and then they went all Space-Ranger with her and ruined it. I’m not sure which jerked me out of the movie harder - that, or the glove-thruster. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/67 "2017-06-02T21:01:06Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > No, not compelling - unless you’re appreciative of well-crafted (as opposed to ‘dramatic’) cinema. Oh, I’m _plenty_ appreciative of dry, well-crafted cinema, friend. It’s probably just that I’m not used to a character _that_ dry moving around without her bandages or Tana Leaf fluid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093.md?page=3)