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Comment by JohnBooty | Hacker News Reader

> I want those space opera and space ship and hard stuff.

Yeah. The "mainstreaming" of sci-fi has been kind of a mixed blessing. We got all the PEW PEW PEW lasers and blinking computer lights but none of the thought-provoking stuff.

God, I want some space opera. Doesn't even have to be "hard" sci-fi that aspires to realism (though it's a bonus)

I liked the first Star Trek reboot movie, but I saw STAR TREK EXTREME or STAR TREK BEYOND or whatever it's called a few weeks ago and it was just atrocious. Just mind-numbing, generic action. Reminded me of the Transformers movies. I love me some giant robot fights, but the Transformers movies are just a big visual mess to me.

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Highly recommend The Expanse, it's a fantastic space opera based on a great series of books. They also have overviews of the science involved in the show after each episode online.

Is there an overview that explains what the non-moving floaty glowy bits are that appear when a bullet punches through a ship?

Yes, there is.

The Expanse is fantastic. It and Legion are my two current top TV picks for the season.

> Yeah. The "mainstreaming" of sci-fi has been kind of a mixed blessing. We got all the PEW PEW PEW lasers and blinking computer lights but none of the thought-provoking stuff.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but then I also saw a couple of big Hollywood sci-fi movies this winter that were actually thought-provoking.

1. Arrival - adaptation of a really challenging short story. Drops most of the physics stuff, but keeps the linguistics, and the human element. Only adds a little action.

2. Passengers - lots of action, but centers around an ethical conundrum that will give you plenty to talk about afterwards.

Agree on the new Star Trek reboot. It really offers me nothing of what I like about Star Trek.

I think that Passengers could have been much more interesting if, especially in terms of sequence of events, it had followed Jennifer Lawrence's character.

To be honest, Arrival gives you little to think or talk about, other than the physics and metaphysics hollywood fucked up entirely by changing entire concepts the original story is based on. It creates a lot of structures with internal inconsistency that promote conversation only because some people will perceive them one way, some another, while in fact neither are understanding that it's just not consistent and both of them are wrong.

I want to see an action movie where Picard just negotiates for half-off lobster deals. Need some memorable characters like Q appearing and maybe Tasha gets reincarnated for a hot second.

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