73
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- There are some frustrating gaps, but only because Wolf has so much to cram in. The second round of biospherians are completely erased, while the sudden appearance of Steve Bannon (yes, that Steve Bannon) poses more questions than it answers. Yet even those dead-ends cannot overcome the fascinating story of compromised idealism and hardheaded optimism that underlies it all.
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzA documentary as inspiring as it is flat-out bizarre.
- 88Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadaySuffice it to say that, in addition to celebrating the energy, enterprise and idealism of America’s postwar generation, Spaceship Earth provides a sobering primer in how some dreams die, and others are strangled mercilessly in their cribs.
- 80CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryWhat Spaceship Earth makes clear is that before booking a ticket, the devil is in the details.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreHere is THE must-see documentary for a world living under quarantine. Spaceship Earth is about can-do cooperation, art and science coalescing, about “learning by doing” and recognizing that “small groups of people are the engines of change.”
- 75IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichSpaceship Earth touches down as a grounded and even clinical analysis of our natural skepticism towards dreamers — of how our hope can sour into hostility as soon as it loses an iota of its shine.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThe film offers a refuge of idealism and intellectuality in an age that’s actively hostile to both of those qualities.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSan Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAfter watching Spaceship Earth, which was completed before the coronavirus pandemic, one can’t help but think about the current experiment conducted by Biosphere 1. As smog clears across urban landscapes due to stay-at-home orders, the vision — and the warnings — laid out by Biosphere 2 remain relevant.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeLike the structure at its centre, Spaceship Earth is a smart concept that never really takes off.
- 50The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergLike the project itself, Spaceship Earth winds up caught in the gulf between rigor and showmanship. As entertaining as it can be, it is also disappointingly deferential to its subjects — the work of a filmmaker in thrall to characters who have welcomed him inside the bubble.