250. Spaceship Earth; movie review

SPACESHIP EARTH
Cert 12
115 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language

Eight people were sealed off from the outside world for two years to try to prove humans can live in a contained environment in space?
I can't believe the story of Biosphere 2 passed me by.
Actually, there is a lot more to Matt Wolf's Spaceship Earth than the one giant project which becomes its focal point.
After all, it began with a Svengali-type figure and a bunch of 60s free-thinkers who literally tried to change the world.
Several of the original gang contribute to the story which was prompted by John Allen - a charismatic character who enticed people to follow his dreams.
Allen has been compared to cult leaders such was his influence over those who literally went with him across the world.
They set up their own mini-society which created various projects in different countries as they sailed around on a ship they built from scratch.
They believed the environment was in peril, so developed progressively grander schemes of scientific exploration.
These were backed by billionaire philanthropist Ed Bass who also supported Biosphere 2.
Wolf explores those early days when idealism became linked with capitalism so the group could sustain themselves which pushing boundaries.
Then they alighted upon one of the most ambitious projects the scientific world had seen - to replicate the environment which could see man colonise space.
Biosphere 2 was greeted by excitement in some quarters of the scientific world and scepticism in others. Ditto the media.
Spaceship Earth allows the viewer to arrive at the own conclusion by presenting footage both inside and outside of the giant building which contained various smallscale replicas of life on earth.
It then reveals the scandals which dogged the project and offers reasons why it may have come to a premature end.
Bizarrely, one man at the centre of its demise was a young Steve Bannon - the man behind Donald Trump's 2016 election victory.
You really couldn't make it up.

Reasons to watch: Enthralling true story
Reasons to avoid: Overly long

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? In 1959, Edward Bass and his three brothers inherited $2.8 million each from oil tycoon uncle Sid Richardson. The brothers built their inheritance into multi-billion dollar fortunes with the help of investments on oil and pipelines.

The final word. Matt Wolf: "Everyone who was involved in this project has a different point of view about it and they’re all interesting, complicated people." Moveable Fest

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