Hard Vacuum

Hard Vacuum is a well-known historical drama film serial focused on the waning days of the Golden Age of Space Colonization as well as the Interplanetary Wars, produced in the early days of the 26th century. The series focuses on the crew of the fictional gas freighter Quixote, who become involved with major historical figures and events of the era over a period of two decades.

Famed for its historical accuracy, Hard Vacuum is an example of the New Realism school of film, which strives for maximum authenticity and seeks to use as many practical props, actors, stunts, and special effects as possible as opposed to the now-ubiquitous, perfectly realistic computer-generated imagery. While far from the first resurgence of practical effects in history, it is the most recent, and Hard Vacuum is known as one of the most ambitious productions of the movement as well as one of the most expensive film productions in history. The most noted example of the production's commitment to realism was the construction of over a dozen replicas of 22nd-century spacecraft, complete with analogous systems such as nuclear thermal rockets on the "hero ships". For scenes involving space combat, the craft were mostly remote-piloted to avoid injury to the cast and crew. Several of these facsimiles were partially damaged or destroyed during the filming of battle scenes. The series was mostly filmed on-location in the Sol system, though several off-system sites were used to depict now "lost" locations such as pre-terraforming Mars, and the volumes of space traffic in Earth's orbital space made the filming of battle scenes non-feasible.

Although its sets and props are noted as being highly authentic, the series still takes several historical liberties with its characters and events. At the time, many saw Hard Vacuum as a parallel to the then-ongoing Insurrection, and its sympathetic portrayal of several Koslovic figures was criticized by some. The series continues to be well-known decades after its launch, and it has spawned various offshoots.