In the movie Don't Look Up (2021), China, India, and Russia joined forces to destroy the comet, but their base in Russia blew up before they could launch their rockets.
Or was it just an unfortunate accident?
Is it maybe recognizable from the explosion scene?
The movie's symbolism suggests the US -- acting in the interests of the BASH corporation -- blew up the Russian base.
The comet represents climate change, and blowing up the Russian base represents Trump pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement at the behest of the American fossil fuel industry, thus undermining the work of other countries to solve the problem.
Probably yes.
The whole point in Don't Look Up is that the diverting/destroying the comet is difficult, but likely possible, and we don't do it anyway.
It doesn't really make sense that the writers would subvert that with a random technical error that causes an explosion. That would make sense in Greenland, or 2012, or The Martian, but that's not really the point of this movie.
But given the political themes of the movie, and the fact that the US wanted the resources on the comet, this is likely a subtle allusion to what happens to other countries who don't fall in line.
BASH's only goal was to make a profit, even by sacrificing the entire planet and every single one of its inhabitants. The U.S. first launched nuclear warheads at the comet, but BASH's CEO turned the mission around to "harvest the comet's minerals" and "create jobs for the economy." He then revealed a ridiculous, un-peer-reviewed mission to split the comet into splinters and guide them back into the ocean. However, when BASH and the American president cut other nations from the rights to own some of the minerals, they attempted to launch their own mission, as shown in the screenplay by Adam McKay:
Dr. Oglethorpe picks up a call.
DR. OGLETHORPE: Hey, good afternoon, Adam. What do I owe the pleasure of this call?
His face falls.
DR. OGLETHORPE (CONT'D): What time?
Quick cut to VT: HELICOPTER FOOTAGE OF A GIANT CLOUD OVER A RUSSIAN BASE.
DR. OGLETHORPE (CONT'D): Well uh...well, thank you for calling.
He hangs up. A grim look on his face. The rest of the team continues to work. Kate looks up and walks over.
KATE: What? What?
Randall walks up.
DR. OGLETHORPE: Orlean and BASH cut Russia, India, and China out of the rights for the minerals. So they tried their own joint deflection mission. But approximately 40 minutes ago a massive explosion was detected at the Russian’s Baikonur launch complex. It looks like the mission failed.
The bustling office goes quiet.
RANDALL: That’s it?
KATE Wait, what do you mean “that’s it?” Teddy?
DR. OGLETHORPE: There’s still the BASH mission. It’s all we have now.
Randall walks away from Kate and Dr. Oglethorpe.
RANDALL: F*CK!!!!!
(Emphasis mine)
In other words, after the U.S./BASH kicked other countries out of the "mineral rights," the other countries prepared a deflection mission, but their entire base of operations just...blew up. What are the chances that the base of a planet-saving mission would just explode entirely? Either the rocket scientists/engineers were not any better at their jobs than the politicians in the movie, or...someone sabotaged the mission. And the most important part of the quote provided above is "[t]here’s still the BASH mission. It’s all we have now." In other words, there is no one else left who can destroy the comet or take portions of it for themselves, and BASH is the only company left that can save the planet and take minerals. We know that BASH would try to make the most profit even if it means killing everyone (except the most rich, of course), and they were most likely willing to eliminate all competition, even if it meant the certain destruction of our planet.
So yes, there is evidence to suggest that BASH and the U.S. was probably responsible for the destruction of the Russian base.
Or I could be misreading the script, and the writers were just suggesting that the authorities of the other countries were acting just as stupidly as those in the U.S., and managed to screw up their own mission entirely.
From what I’ve read there were changes to the plot -This is wild speculation on my part but perhaps “originally” BASH ,maybe with the blessing of the US blew up the Russian launch-Just seems that plot element was a removed piece that belonged . But it also seems though they may have decided to leave that part ambiguous . Maybe I’m reading too much into this but when Oglethorpe delivered the news of the failed Russia/China/India attempt at 1:45 of the movie it just seems the mannerisms and dialog hints that there was more to it than “just” the fact that the earth was likely going to be destroyed.
If I recall correctly, references to the joint China/Russia/India mission at least implied flirtation with disaster, so when it happened, (1) it's really no surprise, and (2) it was not malice, but simply an accident waiting to happen.
The base blew up on its own, so to speak. Just like the complete failure of the US' attempt to blow up the comet was due to major malfunctions, so too was Russia's attempt. No country or organization was behind that failure, as the money to be made from the comet was based on disabling the comet and breaking it into chunks, where it could be safely harvested after it came to Earth. Blowing up Russia's rockets wouldn't have benefitted anyone.
I don't think USA/Bash blew it up. Right after the BASH mission failed, China's president texted directly Orlean that the comet was still intact. Would he have done that if they were responsible for such an infamous and villainous move?
