It’s my party and I’ll blog what I want to! For my birthday week, I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my favorite movies about science.
Here are some of my favorite movies in no particular order:
- Back to the Future (1985) – This script is textbook perfection. I love how this script explores the idea, “If you met your parents back in high school, would you be friends?” All the plants (from Uncle Joey’s attraction to prison life to Marty (portrayed by Michael J. Fox) playing rock ‘n roll guitar at the prom) have great payouts. The science in the film was understandable and became part of our pop culture.
- Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) – This movie is based on a true story of Lorenzo Odone who suffered from adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) a rare genetic disorder that breaksdown the fatty myelin coating on nerve cells in the brain. My favorite scene is when Augusto Odone (portrayed by Nick Nolte) — who isn’t a scientist — figures out the kind of oil that his son, Lorenzo, needs to survive.
- Extraordinary Measures (2010) – I found this movie fascinating because it was about the development of new drugs through clinical drug trials; something that I would think would be difficult to make visually interesting. I was so taken by the true story of John Crowley who raised over $100 million to fund research to find a drug to treat his two children who suffered from a neuromuscular disorder called Pompe disease.
- Dante’s Peak (1997) – While in college, I was interested in how much of the science used in the movie was actually true. It was the first time that I learned about the job of a science consultant. Unfortunately, it would take me a few years to figure out how much I loved science, storytelling and screenwriting.
- Twister (1996) – When I had the chance to tour the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, OK, I was just as excited to meet severe weather experts as I was to see “Dorothy” (the barrel full of sensors released into an on coming tornado in the movie) on display from the movie.
(To be continued…Part 2 coming next week!) What are some of your favorite science movies?
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