Details
Movie Description
Clint Eastwood teams up with some old friends to make SPACE COWBOYS, a rollicking motion picture that wraps action, comedy, and science fiction into one neat package. Eastwood plays Frank Corvin, a former air force pilot who was shunned from flying into space in 1958 after NASA was created. Forty years later, when a Russian satellite appears to be headed for a collision with Earth, Corvin finally gets his chance. He bribes his archrival Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) into letting his team go into space to repair the satellite, on the condition that they pass the physical. However, passing the physical isn't so easy for aging veterans Jerry O'Neil (Donald Sutherland), Tank Sullivan (James Garner), and Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), who, while still mentally sharp, aren't in the best of physical shape. Nonetheless, they manage to fill all the requirements. Ignoring the two cocky upstarts who have been sent along to back them up, the old-timers blast off and head straight for the satellite. But when they get there, the realization that the satellite is actually carrying six nuclear warheads changes the course of the mission, endangering the lives of the astronauts as well as the citizens of America. With exceptional special effects and a breezy tone, SPACE COWBOYS is one of Eastwood's most entertaining films to date.
Synopsis
A 60-year-old astronaut is sent on a mission to repair a broken satellite that threatens to cause a disaster on Earth if it falls from outer space. The only catch is that he insists that three of his friends, who were not originally selected in the astronaut training program, accompany him as his crew. This high-tech, high-action drama, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, mimics classic space favorites such as THE RIGHT STUFF while providing some of the chummy machismo of earlier Eastwood movies.
Film Notes
Theatrical release: August 4, 2000.
The film was shot on location in California; Houston, Texas; and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Industrial Light & Magic was responsible for the film's visual effects.
Clint Eastwood received a Golden Lion for career achievement at the 2000 Venice Film Festival, where he screened SPACE COWBOYS out of competition.
Industry Reviews
"...Four irresistible co-leads help it gallop along..." -- 3 out of 4 stars
USA Today - p.4E - Mike Clark
"...[It's a great pleasure] watching four great actors reclaim their prime..."
New York Times - p.E16 - A. O. Scott
"...The old-pro actors fly in a pleasing, ageless orbit all their own..."
Entertainment Weekly - p.59 - Lisa Schwarzbaum
"...[The film has] its own ticklish charm..."
Total Film - p.83 - Dan Jolin
"...The stuff in outer space is unexpected, the surprise waiting out there is genuine, and meanwhile, there's an abundance of charm and screen presence from the four veteran actors..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (08/04/2000)
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
All rights reserved.
