THE MEMORABLE MOVIE MISQUOTE:
“Houston, we have a problem”
Tom Hanks (as astronaut James Lovell) in the movie Apollo 13
This famous line from the 1995 movie Apollo 13 is spoken by Hanks, playing the role of astronaut James Lovell, when an oxygen tank on the space craft explodes. That explosion, on April 13, 1970, forced Apollo 13’s lunar landing mission to be scrubbed and the crew came close to being suffocated or frozen to death before they managed to land safely back on Earth four days later.
The movie line is close to what Lovell actually said, but it’s a misquote. What he actually said was, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
For more on the backstory about this quotation and the other famous quote from the movie Apollo 13 — “Failure is not an option” — see the post on my ThisDayinQuotes.com site at this link. |
THE UNMEMORABLE M.I.B. MOVIE VARIATION:
“Humor, We Have a Problem.”
Headline for a review of the 2019 movie Men in Black: International by Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2019
Morgenstern said (with little apparent sense of humor himself): “No need to huff and puff about the idiocy of ‘Men in Black: International.’ It is what it is, an industrial product recycled from the remnants of an exhausted franchise and aimed at a young audience that may not know or care what a joy the original was.” |
THE UNMEMORABLE NETFLIX REBOOT VARIATION:
“‘Lost in Space,’ we have a problem”
Headline for a 2018 review of Netflix’s reboot of the series Lost in Space by Matthew Gilbert on the Boston Globe website
Like other fans of the original Lost in Space series, Gilbert was dismayed by the new versions robot, saying he “resembles the fish-man in ‘The Shape of Water,’ but he’s got a headlight for a face, a digitally processed voice, and bluish metal outfitting. He’s sleek and shiny and boring.” Gilbert concluded: “And that’s the deal with the whole “Lost in Space” reboot: sleek, shiny, and boring.”
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THE UNHINGED ASTRONAUT APPLICATION:
“Houston, She’s Got Some Problems”
Headline for a story about former astronaut Lisa Nowak in Time magazine, February 2007, after Nowak was arrested for assault on a woman who was having an affair with a male astronaut Nowak was enamored with.
Nowak had driven 900 miles from Houston to Orlando, Florida, carrying a knife, a BB gun, pepper spray, latex gloves and rubber tubing — and wearing a diaper as she drove so she wouldn’t have to stop on the way.
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A CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT’S VARIATION:
“America, We Have a Problem...The status quo — our foreign policy, our economic health, our exceptionalism — is fraying before our very eyes.”
Headline for an April 2019 opinion piece by Conservative political pundit Robert W. Merry on RepublicanMatters.com website
In the piece, Merry notes that our country’s Social Security system is running out of money, America has looming debt crisis, illegal immigration is out of control, and the entire American geopolitical grand strategy, especially its policy with regard to Russia and Iran, is “unsustainable.” Naturally, most readers of RepublicanMatters.com believe liberal Democrats are to blame.
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A PRECOCIOUS LIBERAL PUNDIT’S VARIATION:
“America, We Have a Problem”
Headline for an opinion piece about President Donald Trump by Connecticut 8th Grade student Finnegan Courtney on his school’s scholastic newspaper website in March 2019
Courtney says: “We have a problem as a country. No, it isn’t overpopulation, it isn’t middle school mold issues, it isn’t lead in waters, it isn’t the New York Mets. It’s a problem with the President of the United States. Donald Trump is slowly, but surely ruining our country through no fault of the common folk but of himself.”
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THE OUTER SPACE TOILET VERSION:
“Houston, we have a problem. We are out of toilet paper.”
Cartoon by Justin Vestal published on the Gunaxin.com website in February 2010 |
THE OUT OF SPACE TRUCK VERSION:
“Houston, we may have a problem.”
Caption for a photo on the “Twisted Truckers” Facebook page, showing a big tractor-trailer rig stuck in a tunnel, somewhere in New York in 2018 |
