Common Sense Media Review
By Emily Ashby
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Award-winning series makes film science entertaining.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Could You Survive the Movies?
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In COULD YOU SURVIVE THE MOVIES?, host Jake Roper puts the real science behind fantastical film plot devices like time travel, proton blasts, wormholes, and extraterrestrial life to the test. Working with fellow YouTube educators to create experiments that replicate famous scenes from the likes of Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, Roper helps explain the plausibility (or lack thereof) of some of films' most iconic and memorable moments.
Is It Any Good?
Roper and his collaborators do a lot with a relative little in this curious scripted series with costumed movie scene re-creations that are most fun for viewers who have seen the original films. Could You Survive the Movies? is exceedingly intriguing and educational, thanks in large part to its engaging host and crew.
One prominent and welcome factor in the show is its inclusion of female cast members in positions of STEM expertise. Roper usually takes center stage and does most of the scripted narration, but he shares the spotlight in movie scene remakes with his costars, including female collaborators with specialties in the sciences. Viewers who watch will learn how hard science supports or disproves those murky concepts that movies cash in on and likely will gain a greater appreciation for the imaginations that create some of the most iconic films and franchises.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how movie science blurs the line between fantasy and reality. As technology improves and it becomes more difficult to tell what's real and what isn't -- how does that change the impact of scary movies in particular?
How do the cast members create experiments that test fantastical concepts? What questions do they ask themselves before they begin? Who brings expertise to the process? How does curiosity help them arrive at an answer?
How has the internet made access to shows like Could You Survive the Movies? more accessible? In what ways does this accessibility encourage creativity through less-traditional series? How do you manage screen time limits when so much of our work and play is online?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 10, 2018
- Cast : Jake Roper
- Network : YouTube
- Genre : Educational
- Topics : STEM
- Character Strengths : Curiosity
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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