While Neil deGrasse Tyson admits that the new droid in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is “waaaaay cuter” than R2-D2, he points out that the smooth metal spherical ball would have “skidded uncontrollably on sand.”
The famed astrophysicist is known for offering his observations and critiques of scientific movies. He did the same for the record-breaking new “Star Wars” movie in a series of tweets on Monday.
My promised observations of @StarWars Episode VII #TheForceAwakens follows (with only mild spoiler alerts).
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
While not all of Tyson’s tweets were specifically scientific critiques — the Stormtroopers, he said, “still run as though they’re carrying a full load of poop in their diapers” — Tyson made clear that when it came to the facts, he was mostly unimpressed.
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens the TIE fighters made exactly the same sound in the vacuum of space as in planetary atmospheres
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens, the energy in a Star is enough to destroy ten-thousand planets, not just a few here & there.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens, apparently Wookiees don’t age, or they age much slower than human actors do.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
Unashamed of inanity, #TheForceAwakens repeats the Millennium Falcon boast of completing the Kessel Run in “under 12 parsecs”
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
( A Parsec is an obscure unit of distance in Astrophysics, equal to 3.26 Light Years. Neither has anything to do with time. )
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
But before you conclude that Tyson was trying to destroy the fun with his facts, he did give the movie some scientific approval.
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens, the starry skies were unfamiliar. As they should be, a long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
As for the diet of the movie’s heroine, a scavenger named Rey, Tyson seemed to approve.
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens, the lead character snacks on what includes Romanescu Broccoli, nature’s only fractal food.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
Never seen Romanescu Broccoli? Fractal Earth food befitting a tale of long ago and far, far away. pic.twitter.com/NZDkWpeqOB
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
Tyson has a long history of fact-checking Hollywood movies — from “Gravity,” “Star Trek” and “Armageddon” to “Titanic” and even “Pitch Perfect.” Recently, he took to Twitter to tackle what “Back to the Future II” got right and wrong in its predictions about Oct. 21, 2015.
While Tyson’s tweets about the latest “Star Wars” may have been in good fun, they rubbed many fans the wrong way.
.@neiltyson @StarWars I think most of us understand that the “science” in “science-fiction” has air quotes.
— Loren (@rescuethecows) December 21, 2015
@neiltyson @starwars Oh really? And what happens when you suck all the fun from a science fiction movie? 
— Uri Goldstein (@urig) December 21, 2015
@neiltyson damn party pooper! Just enjoy a movie. Yeesh! #StarWarsTheForceAwakens
— Darth Devyn (@StormTrooper114) December 21, 2015
In trouble, you are, Mr. Tyson. Say you’re sorry, you must.
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