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And that.we generally like. He crashes his.Rocket Ship. Dollars that could've been used to buy some gum (my mouth regrets the choice).You see - the set-up to The Astronaut Farmer presents us with this "I'm a dreamer, even thought my dreams are far-fetched" feel. A long time back, my family was sitting around the living room tuned into the good ol' directv contemplating between The Astronaut Farmer and Flyboys. Yeah well that's the story-line of The Astronaut Farmer. Not his chevy, not his motorcycle.
The man crashes his.Rocket.
Or at least I do.
And then He and his son build him another rocket.within what seems to be a week's time.Do you remember the part in Lord of the Rings when Bilbo tells Gandalf that he feels stretched.
Absolutely unfortunately we chose The Astronaut Farmer and spent the next few days questioning the waste of three good dollars.
AND HE LIVES.
You don't expect the movie to be painstakingly realistic.
But.C'mon.
Like butter scraped across too much bread.
It's a whole lot of nothing stretched across a near 2 hour movie.
Disney (or Disney-esque, I'm not sure of the studio) movie with Billy Bob Thornton as a failed astronaut who is building his own rocket on a farm in the Midwest, with the intention of launching it. Wouldn't normally watch this one, but I was stuck on a plane on the tarmac with a weather delay for a couple hours and wasn't allowed to turn on my own computer. Entertaining enough as long as you don't think about how unlikely it all is. Normally would be 1-star, but decent acting from BBT and Virginia Madsen help elevate it to maybe even a 2-star movie.
But apart from the policy and technology debate on space launches, the movie is wonderful as a story. They have enough money to develop and test cutting-edge space technologies. Mom and dad love each other land love their kids. And now we have a number of wealthy investors building private rockets and space ships. But the technology is amazingly reasonable.
5, 1987) reported on aerospace companies willing and able to build inexpensive rocket boosters with off-the-shelf parts (which would have undercut rationale for the Shuttle). A space launch using 1970s technology in 2006 is still rocket science, that is, it is still complicated and requires significant scientific and rocketry know-how. The movie is about family, dreams, and a small town. Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon" tells the story of advertising as the major revenue source for private space exploration.
But in this story, dad has an unusual project.First of all, there is nothing outlandish about the technology claims (though we see a few improbably events in the movie). David Gump's book "Space Enterprise: Beyond NASA," published in 1990, surveyed opportunities for private-sector space operations decades ago. Many private firms tried the get government permission (and private funding) to launch rockets and space stations through the 1980s and 1990s. Lets have a sequel with the grown son, a software multimillionaire, funding a private trip to Mars. government space travel have a wonderful family movie to enjoy (though with a handful of swear words).
Great movie. Space rockets like the Saturn V were always far less expensive that the Space Shuttle. I would argue that it would have been less expensive to actually launch a 1970s-era rocket than to make a movie about it (for one thing, astronauts are paid much less than well-known actors).Now we have four or five private space companies developing and launching rockets and space planes. In Astronaut Farmer, off-the-shelf parts from rocket junk-yards are gathered for a much less expensive and lower-tech space launch.Private space launches were possible thirty years ago. A lot of the film is about family and small-town America. The performances seemed to me to be just right. Gregg Easterbrook, in "Big Dumb Rocket," (Newsweek, Feb.
The movie was rarely modern and "edgy" which was fine with me.Maybe Astronaut Farmer could be compared with "The Spirit of St. (http://www.reason.com/news/show/30912.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/science/space/25tier.html._r=2&ref=science&oref=slogin )I enjoyed Astronaut Farmer when I first saw it a couple years ago, and enjoyed it even more seeing it again. People in town know each other, and have from childhood. But the biggest challenge would have been in finding, testing and assembling the parts.Viewers less interested in arguments over private vs. Louis" with Jimmy Stewart, a similar movie featuring a private individual assembling improbably technology in a barn and surprising and inspiring the world with it.
Loved this movie, especially the little ones and how they interacted with the adults. Great Movie for young children. Have a dream and follow it. Inspiring feel good movie. Would love to have had this around when I was young.
I agree with the other reviewers. This might be okay for kids but for an adult, even one with a young heart, it stretches credulity. Bottom line, it's an okay rental when you need to zone out.
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