Comments on: Virtuality VFX and the Good Ship Phaeton – UPDATED!

By: KM

KM — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:55:26 +0000

I know they were specifically not worked into the show- but any chance we could score some three-view eye-of-God shots? I mean, it is all mostly there, but I saw the master systems display on DVR again and was rather excited…

By: Robert Sloan

Robert Sloan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:02:29 +0000

I’m impressed. Now why make this pilot and then not let people see it. It was never even advertised as far as I know. I kept wondering what kind of system they were using to power the ship up to just below light speed. Finally they mentioned a nuclear pulse engine, and I knew they were dropping bombs out the back. They actually did serious experiments back in the fifties right after Sputnik to see if this could be done. It was called the Orion project. Why would they choose Epsilon Eridani as a destination?

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:01:44 +0000

I have to say I really enjoyed this, and I’m gutted it looks like not going to series. I’m curious as to how they planned to build a whole show out of just 12 people and limited sets, but I guess RDM et al had that all thought out.

By: Rick Sternbach

Rick Sternbach — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:39:19 +0000

Ah, Armageddon. The movie that had the “space madness” and the sulfurous asteroid-comet-thingie. Another waste of good film stock. Anyhow, I don’t know how many people have heard of this, but it might be a touch better than what we just saw last week:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i1a1890f91e4cda9a8bed70811c0344a7

At least I could buy the ship from the previous BBC effort.

By: dougdrexler

dougdrexler — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:24:51 +0000

I LOVED Armageddon!

By: Spongeyone

Spongeyone — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:16:23 +0000

First, I want to say that it looked great. Very well made.

However, the thing about using an imagined propulsion system (warp drive, etc) is that they can make sense in their own terms. The propulsion system here, on the other hand, is grounded in reality, which means it must be tested against the facts. The facts are that reaching a significant percentage of light speed via nuclear explosions is practically impossible, requiring millions of megaton-level bombs to achieve. A million megaton bombs couldn’t even get themselves to the velocity the ship is supposed to be traveling at. Getting to a significant fraction of light speed in 186 short bursts, on the other hand, would be absolutely fatal, thousands of times over.

This is a bit like the people who made Armageddon patting themselves on the back for the scientific realism in their movie.

By: Beta Capricus

Beta Capricus — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:13:00 +0000

I just loved the pilot; everything about it, from the ship itself to the crew interactions (very clever device, that reality show, otherwise they’d select only the most stable character types, and no conflict), to the general vibe of the show. I’m surprised to say, but I’d rather see this go to a series then Caprica. I’m a bit afraid it wont happen though, with the low ratings. Perhaps grassroot enthusiasm can save it. The physics were wrong at some points, but nothings perfect. I have to say, I find it a bit scary that there seems to be a trend these days to create stuff that looks realistic, but when it comes down to it still relies on plot-physics. Seems a bit like cheating to me. Still, Virtuality obviously has it’s heart on the right place, and I applaud any exposure for nuclear pulse propulsion, a personal fascination of mine. (Hope they won’t ruin it with an ep about a radiation leak )
Anyway, I have a question; The vibe of both the ship and the series reminds me a lot of the brilliant 2007 movie “Sunshine” (as well as its spiritual predecessors like 2001 & the American Solaris of course). I wonder, is that a coincidence or were you inspired by it?

By: Simon Matthew Coles

Simon Matthew Coles — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:07:50 +0000

Oh, I just saw Christopher L. Bennett’s post, but I’m afraid he has his physics wrong. Light speed is unchanged no matter what the receiver’s relative motion to the transmitter is. Time dilation would not affect the time it takes a signal to reach earth at lightspeed at all.

By: Simon Matthew Coles

Simon Matthew Coles — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:03:08 +0000

Again, I ask, how can the “Edge of Never” be broadcast from the ship if it is travelling further and further away from earth, the delay in the signal being received from the ship growing to hours, then days, weeks, ultimately years.

By: Landmines

Landmines — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:22:49 +0000

Wow — I never would have guessed the doctor’s office and the kid’s room were CG, impressive. I was quite impressed with Virtuality generally, it was easily one of the best pilots or new shows I’ve seen in the past couple of years. I’ve always liked the ’small-crew-trapped-on-a-spaceship’ genre.

The Phaeton is quite a looker in a hard(ish) SF kind of way. I love Trek etc but it was nice to see a spacecraft on TV that’s a bit closer to reality…come to think of it, it would’ve been cool to see something a little like it with a couple of warp nacelles on Enterprise (as a guest ship).