The Top 10 Best Movie Astronauts
5. Major Roy McBride – Ad Astra
Movie astronauts usually come with their fair share of “daddy issues,” but Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) got it worse than most. An acclaimed astronaut in his own right, Major McBride still lives in the shadow of his father, the great Commander H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones). That shadow begins to flicker though as the Commander’s pride and joy, project Lima, begins to malfunction while orbiting Neptune. Normally, this might not be a big deal, but Project Lima is unleashing power surges that are threatening the Earth. Not only that, but it seems that someone might actually be alive aboard Lima, and Major McBride is dispatched to find out what in the hell is going on. The trip is far from easy and includes 79 days in which Roy has no contact with any other human. Ad Astra reveals the stress that comes with being an astronaut, and Roy McBride shows an otherworldly sense of cool under that pressure.
4. Dr. Ryan Stone – Gravity
A couple of space-horror movies managed to make appearances on this list of movie astronauts, but for my money, Gravity is the scariest film on here. Seeing it for the first time made me feel like I was having an hour and a half-long panic attack as Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) tries to get back to Earth after debris damages her shuttle. Sure, it sounds like quite an adventure, but the thing is that space is a really big place and there is nothing out there to stop you from moving once you start heading in a direction. In other words, if you miss your target by even half an inch, you’re going to float on forever… Or at least until your air runs out. Keeping that in mind, Dr. Stone has to launch herself from one piece of debris to another as she tries to make it to a working space station before her own air runs out. Gravity is an edge-of-your-seat thriller, earning Dr. Ryan Stone a respectable spot among the rest of these movie astronauts.
3. Ellen Ripley – Alien
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is easily one of the most badass characters to ever grace the silver screen, but is she an astronaut? Well, if you haven’t guessed by now, here’s a clue: she totally is. When audiences first meet Ripley, she’s a warrant officer aboard the commercial space tug, the Nostromo. However, her peaceful life of towing busted-up spaceships is ruined when “The Company” orders the Nostromo to investigate a distress signal from a moon. What happens next is cinematic history as one of the most terrifying aliens of all time tears through the crew. Fortunately, Ripley isn’t just there to flip gender roles as an empowering icon. She knows the Nostromo inside and out and puts her engineering know-how to the test as she takes on the dreaded Xenomorph. Will she survive? Since there are a few sequels, it’s safe to assume she does. That just goes to show that Ripley is one of the greatest movie astronauts of all time!
2. Joseph Cooper- Interstellar
Alright, alright, alright… We got a Matthew McConaughey character among the best movie astronauts of all time. Interstellar received praise for how scientifically accurate it was to the point that famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson didn’t even try to ruin it for everyone. That’s because Christopher Nolan worked with theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize Laureate, Kip Thorne, as his scientific consultant on the script. That easily makes Interstellar one of the brainiest movies on this list, which automatically would have earned a spot for McConaughey’s Joseph Cooper. However, the lackadaisical Texas thespian put in a heck of a performance as a former NASA pilot tasked with saving all of humanity. Cooper sees some incredible things as he searches to find a new world to serve as a home for his children before the Earth becomes uninhabitable. Luckily, he’s got one of the best movie robots of all time helping him out.
1. Mark Watney – The Martian
Hollywood has given audiences a lot of movie astronauts over the years, but clearly, the greatest of all time is Mark Watney (Matt Damon). During a “run of the mill” mission to Mars, a severe dust storm forces the team of astronauts to scrub their mission and leave the planet. During all the chaos, Mark Watney gets left behind with a busted radio. It isn’t until after the crew is already on their way back to Earth that they discover Watney is alive and trapped on Mars with only 30 days worth of supplies. You’d think it would be a quick turnaround and pick him back up, but NASA doesn’t work like that! Instead, they have to figure out the fastest way to get a ship with enough fuel to make a roundtrip back to him. Watney is left alone on the surface of Mars while scientists on Earth put on their thinking caps. No one thought Mark would survive long enough to be rescued, but after 543 days on Mars, he makes his way back home and to the top of this list of movie astronauts!
Honorable Mention: Jayotis Kerleen Bear- Armageddon
Bear (Michael Clarke Duncan) might not have been a pilot or an engineer, but he had a bigger heart than that of those other movie astronauts. He didn’t choose the space life, it chose him. When the world called for heroes to help stop an asteroid from destroying the planet, Bear answered. When the plan fell apart, Bear stayed on mission. When the audience needed comic relief, Bear delivered a one-liner. NASA might not consider Bear flight material, but we’re going to need movie astronauts like him up there fighting the good fight for truth, justice, and popcorn. Bless you, Bear. Bless you and your congenitally big heart.
Dishonorable Mention: Roman Pearce and Tej Parker – F9
Once upon a time, there was the phrase “jumped the shark.” It was a reference to a specific Happy Days episode in which Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark while water skiing. It was the episode that killed Happy Days. Thanks to F9, Tyrese Gibson, and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, I’m going to start a petition to change the phrase to “launched the car.” Why? Because F9 LAUNCHES A PONTIAC FIERO INTO SPACE!