Good Night Oppy

source: Good Night Oppy

What a well told story about the rover program on Mars and the people who made it happen. Just enough science to satisfy those who like such details. Always a supporter and fan of space exploration this added to all the photos that have been published from these missions. The way Spirit and Opportunity exceeded their expected lives and the bond so many had with these high tech bucket of bolts and wires was fun to watch. It is the visionary people who advance human kind. A diverse team was a pleasure to see. The man from Ghana impressed me in how he saw and interpreted various aspects. This is the true "To infinity and beyond" story.

After seeing all these positive reviews and watching this film, I had to assume the positive reviews must mostly fake. The script writing is very mediocre. While watching you can sometimes predict what will be said next. It actually the simplest and easiest script writing there is. Lots of cliches are being utilized. The Mars rover is listening to Rock'n'Roll (B-52's Roam) while being on the ground. Whoever did this documentary was a 80s/90s movie fan, and has basically copied the basic principles of old school documentary filming. Which is not a bad thing per se, but putting zero effort to do something special or different, and forgetting that it's 2022 already. The people being portrayed are being shown as quite nerdy. The mars rover is being excessively anthropomorphized where it gets ridiculous. There is lots of redundant interviews, talks and footages that not provide excitement. I also found the choice of music inappropriate. I couldn't connect with this documentary. I was watching it with friends, and everybody stopped watching it actually after the first 10 minutes. I had to watch it again at home to see what these positive reviews were about.

While it was great to see (and keep company with) the brilliant scientists and engineers responsible for NASA's massive achievement, this movie is a gargantuan disappointment and wasted opportunity. There is no room for the viewer to form their own attachments to the twin robots; the documentary does it all for you in smothering, sentimental fashion, relentlessly anthropomorphizing Oppy and Spirit from the first moments. The dreadful, cloying, music similarly sucks the remaining air out of the movie; with every corny overused musical cue, we are instructed what to feel moment by moment. They may as well have depicted the bots with those horrid Disney animations (not the old ones, of course), with oversized eyes gushing tears and winks. Grateful for the little I learned and some of the inspiring footage on display, but the movie is badly in need of substance. Isn't space exploration wonderful enough a topic without bathing it in the cheap sentiment??

I expected a typical documentary about rovers to mars but what i watched was not only the documentary about rovers to mars but a also an emotional roller coaster that took me from nail biting to wiping tears away to wanting to work at JPL. The rover became a child to those who were in direct contact from start to finish. I can see how you would get emotional during the lift off, as if seeing your child head off to college but knowing you'll never see them again, to the moment they entered mars orbit and for 6 minutes holding your breath waiting to see if you've succeeded or failed. Thank you JPL team for helping me understand what actually goes into a mission of this magnitude. It somehow changed the way i view things here. Now when i look up at the night sky and see mars, i find myself saying Good Night Oppy.

I have given this documentary a 9 - i have not yet read other reviews but I will after this. I really enjoyed this original/actual and compelling story of these two Mara Rovers built to last 90 days but fed back info for up to 15 years. Its daft perhaps to think anyone could be emotionally attached to an inanimate object made by man - but you know what? They weren't inanimate at all - they really were the children of their creators and the emotion the team back on earth had for them was also felt by me - a simple viewer in UK. The comparisons made between these machines and people made the real life connection between man and machine seem very very real (and it was!) Excellent - thank you.

I watch all space exploration shows through my Dad's eyes. He was born in 1899, was in the second class of electrical engineers at Penn State, worked over 40 years at General Electric) and he never tired of the "New". He died in 1987, having watched every launch, every landing, and heard every word. He set his alarm to wake up and watch landings, even if on at 3:00 AM. The shuttle was a fascination. Nothing was boring. Perhaps because he worked for General Electric (very involved with space programs) ? But his engineering background just lit him up. I have read a lot of reviews for this film, and realize how jaded folks can be today. We are so used to new accomplishments, the new stuff is boring? I am not finished with this movie yet, but when I watched Oppy roll onto the surface of Mars, I teared up. Proud of human accomplishment. Anticipating what is coming. Wishing I could go to Mars so I can channel the sites and sounds through my senses to my dad. (Yes I am fascinated by Quantam Physics!). We should all watch these accomplishments and be amazed what we can do without fighting with each other.

The story of the rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, sent to Mars many years ago. Many people alive today have forgotten those days when these robots blasted off into space to explore a different planet to try and discover whether it ever had life and more important to support life as we know it, water. The year was 2004. Many interesting discoveries were made and eventually probably proof of past flowing water, which could have supported life. Spirit lasted 6 years before it failed but Opportunity carried on for many more years, 15 in all. Not bad for a life span of 90 days for which these crafts were made to last. What was disappointing is that one wasn't sure whether the scenes on screen were of real Mars photography or simulations, or both. It probably comprised both mixed together, which unfortunately makes many conspiracy theorists believe that we never have been to Mars.

Greetings again from the darkness. "Check out the brain on Brad!" There may or may not have been a 'Brad' on the NASA team we follow in Ryan White's documentary, however Samuel L Jackson's famous line from PULP FICTION certainly holds true for the rest of the team that helped execute the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. A brief overview outlines the attempts to gain approval, followed by the design and planning and testing to ensure the window for launch was met. See, the launch was scheduled according to a planetary alignment that only occurs every 26 months. A late arrival would have been costly, and possibly ended the program before it really started. The mission was to send a rover to Mars and have it procure samples from around the red planet in hopes of finding evidence of water, which would likely mean proof of past life. We see some of the design stage as the engineers note the human characteristics, though most movie fans will immediately notice physical similarities to WALL-E. The team created two "twin" robotic rovers named "Spirit" and "Opportunity". The expectation was that each would have a 90-day lifespan and send scientifically significant data back. The race was on to meet the launch date in 2003, and the two rovers were launched three weeks apart - and to different areas of the planet. After the 6-and-a-half-month flight time to travel 300 million miles, the two rovers were successfully landed, which only kicked off some of the challenges back on Earth in mission control. It's here, and with the numerous interviews of team members, that we really get a sense of the emotions running through these folks who had invested so much time and energy into making the mission a reality. Computer engineered reenactments (stunning work from Industrial Light & Magic) help us visualize what happened on Mars, while the archival footage from inside the NASA control room conveys the palpable tension as they helplessly wait for the next signal to arrive. Although Mr. White's documentary centers on scientific achievement, much of the focus lands on the human element. We are there to witness first the relief, and then the jubilation as that first signal from Mars is received. Scientists, designers, engineers, and drivers all experience the rollercoaster of emotions driven by the intense camaraderie and teamwork involved. Should you ever doubt whether the smartest people on the planet experience human emotions, you need only look at the faces as daily 'wake-up songs' are played, including "Roam" by the B-52s, "SOS" by Abba, "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf. Additionally, after the 90-day window has closed, the annual "cocktail napkin" records each team members prediction about rover survival over the coming year. Emotions and accomplishments go hand in hand for these NASA types, as do the challenges presented by harsh winters and dust storms that put west Texas to shame. It's remarkable that Spirit lasted more than 7 years, and Oppy (the "lucky rover") went for 15, before finally being shut down while Billie Holiday sang "I'll be Seeing You." Wisely, director White ends on a high not with the 2020 launch of the new rover, Perseverance. What an inspiring trip this is. Opens in US theaters on November 4, 2022 and on Prime Video November 23.

I've known its 14 years of duty, and how its mission and live had ended on Mars. But seeing it on a docu-film like this broke my heart. :( Her 92-day tenure and overcoming it, serving for 14 years... just wow! And at the end, saying goodbye to her breaks our hearts. It kinda has the soul of Wall-E, so if you're familiar with the Pixar-type of storytelling, you'll love this film. Unarguably one of the best productions of Amazon Prime Video of 2022! If you're a space enthusiast and curious about Mars, you should definitely see this film. Maybe one day, they'll make her story an animation film, who knows... :)