Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

By calling Europa Report a speculative documentary, I mean to put it in the same style category of Discovery Channel et. al. efforts like "Supervolcano" and "Alien Contact." It invokes the feel of a National Geographic expedition documentary. Overall, a great effort for a fairly low budget film. The bad science issues are minor - most notable are the rotating arm of the spaceship with no counter rotation of the rest of the ship (Newton's third law anyone?) and the apparently full Earth gravity on Europa. The plot devices I consider flaws are unrealistic scenarios like: the problems encountered during the spacewalk, the lack of mission planning that threw such a huge wrench into the crew's plans after landing a mere 100 meters from their intended landing site, a lack of ANY redundant way to communicate with Mission Control, and a few questionable decisions by the crew. (I liken the extension of the surface walk to the classic 'space-explorer-takes-off-his-helmet-to-confirm-the-air-is-breathable' scene played out in SciFi movies from the 1950's right through "Prometheus"). Though the biggest 'suspension of disbelief' needs to be reserved for the possibility that we would send humans to Europa without first sending even a fraction of the robotic exploration we've sent to Mars. I think the movie could have mentioned a few more advanced robotic missions as prelude to the manned mission to help with the authenticity of the premise. While I agree with other reviewers that it's good to see a movie where scientists understand the importance of the data, I also applaud the movie for demonstrating the narrow-mindedness that scientists can show. Whether this was intentional or not, the movie showcases the scientists refusing to believe something other than what their earth-developed theories suggest is causing the chaos on the planet. Right up until the end of the movie, nobody is willing to step outside their own paradigm. It reminds me of the X-Files - no matter how much weirdness Scully encountered, she still thought Mulder was nuts! Overall, I enjoyed the movie enough to plan to purchase it when it comes out for sale. This was a perfect movie to watch on Amazon 'Before It's in Theaters' because of the documentary style. The movie is thoughtful and a bit thought-provoking and I'm grateful when such movies can cut through the summer blockbusters as well as this did. P.S. Don't let the disappointment of "Apollo 18" dissuade you from watching this movie. Though billed with the similar 'found footage' advertising, this film is far superior. Beyond that, "Europa Report" doesn't try to be a horror movie like the trailer slightly implies - though there are some tense scenes.