EXCLUSIVE: Pop astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reveals which popular sci-fi films got the science right – and which got it horribly wrong

Pop astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has revealed which classic sci-fi movies are scientifically accurate – and which ones completely miss the mark. 

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the celebrated astrophysicist called the 2015 film The Martian ‘believable.’

‘The science is balls-on accurate,’ Tyson said of the Ridley Scott film starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. ‘It’s a sci-fi movie where science itself was a character in it. 

‘The main character figures out how to stay alive for 400 days on Mars using science!’

But of the classic, heart-wrenching film Armageddon, Tyson said while it was ‘entertaining,’ it ‘violated more laws of physics per minute than any movie I had ever seen.’

Tyson told DailyMail.com that 2015 film The Martian and 1998 movie Deep Impact were the most scientifically accurate films

Tyson he said 1998’s Armageddon ‘violated more laws of physics per minute than any movie I had ever seen’ until he saw the 2022 movie Moonfall

Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, followed astronauts on their space mission to stop an asteroid from colliding with earth. 

And while Tyson said it was the least scientifically accurate movie he’s ever seen, there was one film that took the cake, in his opinion. 

That was the 2022 movie Moonfall, starring Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson.

‘The moon was hollow and there’s a moon creature? Sorry, I can’t go there,’ Tyson said of Moonfall. 

However, he gushed over The Martian and the 2011 novel of the same name on which it was based.

‘The author [Drew Goddard] was an engineer-turned-novelist. He did all the calculations so the science is accurate.

‘The movie is directed by Ridley Scott and has major actors. It’s a sci-fi movie where science itself was a character in it. You had them caring about the science!’ 

Tyson, a prolific book author and former director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, has appeared as a guest on The Big Bang Theory and hosted Cosmos: A Space Odyssey, which won a Critics Choice award for best TV reality show.

Tyson said another movie which is scientifically accurate in Deep Impact, starring Elijah Wood and Morgan Freeman.

The 1998 movie follows a team of astronauts who attempt to land on a comet and lay explosives to stop it from barreling into earth.  

‘Deep Impact had good physics in it and had NASA advisors and of course Carl Sagan’s [book] Contact,’ he said. 

Tyson revealed he’s most impressed by director Christopher Nolan – director of Oppenheimer (pictured on set) Inception and Interstellar

Tyson admitted seeing blockbuster Oppenheimer over the summer right before Barbie – the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer

Tyson revealed he’s most impressed by director Christopher Nolan – director of Inception and Interstellar – and admitted seeing his blockbuster Oppenheimer over the summer right before Barbie – the phenomenon known as Barbenheimer. 

‘You got to love where Nolan goes with his films. He plays with time and space,’ Tyson said. 

‘He did Oppenheimer – I did Barbieheimer and saw both movies on the same day!’

Tyson made a suggestion for the order in which you should see the contrasting movies. 

‘You got to see Barbie second because it cleanses your system afterwards.’

‘I like directors whose portfolio of options are broad because then you can be much more creative than if you just stick in one genre. So check out [Nolan’s] movies – all of them!’

The scientist hosts live talks where he says he offers topics to the audience and they pick a subject to discuss.

‘The talk is about what they pick!’ he said. ‘One is the search for life in the universe, another one is called Cosmic Collisions, which is everything that goes bump in the night including asteroid strikes on earth, colliding galaxies and colliding black holes.

‘I’m a servant of people’s curiosity. I’m not trying to ram anything down people’s throat.’