Space cowboys

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Movie
German title Space cowboys
Original title Space cowboys
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2000
length 126 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 6
Rod
Director Clint Eastwood
script Ken Kaufman ,
Howard Klausner
production Clint Eastwood,
Andrew Lazar
music Lennie Niehaus
camera Jack N. Green
cut Joel Cox
occupation

Space Cowboys is an American science fiction film from 2000. The lead role is played by Clint Eastwood , who also directed and was involved as a producer. For four older men (played by Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland , Tommy Lee Jones and James Garner ), pioneers of space technology, a dream comes true when they are finally allowed to fly into space. The film opened in German cinemas on May 10, 2001.

action

The top four United States Air Force pilots , Frank Corvin, William "Hawk" Hawkins, Tank Sullivan, and Jerry O'Neill are selected in 1958 to complete a space flight as Team Daedalus . But they don't make history, because NASA is replacing them with the chimpanzee Mary-Ann.

Forty years later, the Russian communications satellite Ikon leaves its orbit and threatens to enter the earth's atmosphere. Since his control system was developed at the time on the basis of construction plans for the US American space station Skylab , they turned to NASA. Nobody there is familiar with the controls anymore, so there is no other choice but to ask Corvin, the designer at the time, for help. He declares himself willing to do so on one condition: he and his former colleagues from Team Daedalus should fly into space themselves to repair the satellite. Bob Gerson, the NASA project manager in charge, has to grudgingly accept this condition. However, he combines this with the requirement that the astronaut aspirants he had retired at the time must pass all the fitness tests that NASA provides for astronauts. If they fail to do this, a crew of significantly younger astronauts should do the repairs.

In the days and weeks that followed, the reunited Daedalus team prepares for its task. This also includes passing all physical performance tests with a good deal of shrewdness. Based on the test results, however, Hawkins was diagnosed with malignant pancreatic cancer, which made a start seem impossible for him. The mission seems to fail for the four old warriors. In the end, though, for publicity reasons, Hawk is allowed to participate in the STS-200 mission despite his fatal illness .

After the start of the repair mission, it turns out that the Russian space agency has withheld essential details: The satellite is a relic from the Cold War , which is equipped with six nuclear missiles and programmed to target these missiles in the event of a deviation Firing in the US. After the collision of their space shuttle with the Russian missile due to incorrect mass data, everything initially seems to be lost. But then Hawkins succeeds in sending the satellite manually using a flight maneuver in the direction of the moon , which throws it out of orbit and no longer poses any risk to the earth. The catch is, however, that he himself has to fly to the moon with the satellite, otherwise it would not maintain the course. Hawkins willingly sacrifices himself for this purpose, as he would not have had much longer to live on earth because of his cancer. O'Neill and Corvin land the space shuttle at the Shuttle Landing Facility .

In the end sequence of the film, Hawkins can be seen sitting on the moon in the middle of a field of wreckage, leaning against a rock and looking towards the earth. He apparently managed to land the satellite on the moon. However, you cannot see his face, rather the earth, which he saved from a great catastrophe, is reflected in his helmet visor.

Age argument

The film cited, among other things, the recent space flight of space pioneer John Glenn in 1998 as publicly known, living proof of the possibility that old people can also successfully participate in space travel.

Awards (selection)

The film was in 2001 for the Oscar for Best Sound Editing nomination. He received three nominations for the Saturn Award : Clint Eastwood as both actor and director as well as best science fiction film .

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.

Reviews

“The idea of ​​recruiting heroes of retirees and subjecting them to physical stress tests, which in reality would not be able to pass them, is amusing and actually original. This is situational comedy that works. […] As funny as the basic assumption of the script is, the drafting lacks tightness, dramatic peaks and above all tension. "

- Flemming shock : Filmspiegel.de

“In space, of all places, the story becomes lengthy, which is hardly due to the special effects of Industrial Light & Magic . 'Space Cowboys' is not ' Apollo 13 '. Nevertheless: In the year of the crashed all-thrillers like ' Mission to Mars ', Clint Eastwood's mission is the most successful. "

- TV movie

"Less of a dramatic space adventure than a wistfully sentimental character study that celebrates the adventure of the elderly crew as the triumph of the individual in the modern world."

- Lexicon of international film

Others

The roller coaster seen in the film is the Viper in the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park ( Valencia , California ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Age rating for space cowboys . Youth Media Commission .
  2. ^ Criticism on Filmspiegel.de
  3. ↑ Critique of TV feature film
  4. ^ Space Cowboys in the Lexicon of International Films Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used

Web links