First and foremost, the nuclear exchange is entirely unrealistic, and poorly portrayed. There's talk about "EMP" and most the globe looks to be aflame as if a comet collided with Earth...as seen from the astronauts' point of view as they look out the I. S. S. Windows. EMP only factors in when thermonuclear explosions occur at extremely high altitudes, in space, more or less. There are all sorts of documented films of ground and air-burst nuclear explosions that the US and USSR blew off from the 1940s-early 1990s (thousands of tests in total, many if not all were filmed and documented). Did the cameras filming within 20 or so miles from the explosion end up fried from EMP? What about all the electronics nearby...the instruments gathering metrics from the explosions, for example? How about electronics in nearby towns and cities a few hundred miles away? Nope. The whole "EMP will wipe out everything electronic" is a simple-minded scientific misconception, mainly from films like "The Day After" from the early 1980s.
While some damage would surely be visible from space after a nuclear exchange...2/3rds of the globe would not look like a lava pit, inferno from hell nearly a day later. Busses and trams were running in Hiroshima just hours after "little man" was detonated over that city. Most the fires from a nuclear explosion get put out rather quickly after the hurricane-force winds from the blast wave pass through. Maybe someday one of these nuclear-apocalypse themed films will contain accurate portrayals of a nuclear exchange...so far that hasn't happened.
At any rate, if you can get past the scientific inaccuracies in I. S. S., it's not a terrible movie. Definitely better than a typical low-budget "B" movie...many "B" movies have subpar acting and terrible scripts. This one wasn't bad at all. Overall the script was decent, the interactions between the characters were believable, and the film was suspenseful throughout. It's not a 9 or 10 out of 10 Oscar-winning prospect, but it's entertaining and worth a rent.
While some damage would surely be visible from space after a nuclear exchange...2/3rds of the globe would not look like a lava pit, inferno from hell nearly a day later. Busses and trams were running in Hiroshima just hours after "little man" was detonated over that city. Most the fires from a nuclear explosion get put out rather quickly after the hurricane-force winds from the blast wave pass through. Maybe someday one of these nuclear-apocalypse themed films will contain accurate portrayals of a nuclear exchange...so far that hasn't happened.
At any rate, if you can get past the scientific inaccuracies in I. S. S., it's not a terrible movie. Definitely better than a typical low-budget "B" movie...many "B" movies have subpar acting and terrible scripts. This one wasn't bad at all. Overall the script was decent, the interactions between the characters were believable, and the film was suspenseful throughout. It's not a 9 or 10 out of 10 Oscar-winning prospect, but it's entertaining and worth a rent.