Space Cowboys was
one of those movies I looked forward to seeing back in 2000. I couldn’t resist
the trailer, which promised a ride where four men who missed their chance to go
to space finally get their shot.
I had seen Armageddon (1998) and loved it, and this felt like a new
version of that—except with older guys destined to make it to space no matter
what. When I finally watched it, I was impressed by the movie’s intensity.
Unlike Armageddon, where most of the drama happens on the asteroid, here
the drama unfolds long before they even get launched into space. The lies of
the crew, and all the needed attention moving from one character to another, to
make the movie stick out in your mind was masterfully done. To the point that,
if the characters never made the flight, the movie was still worth watching.
The movie’s plot
doesn’t pretend to have the same urgency as Armageddon, where the world
was at stake if the team failed. Here, the American government is simply trying
to help the Russians fix their communication satellite.
The plot is straightforward and, at times, predictable. The satellite in
question is old, and the new engineers can’t figure it out. So, they decide to
bring in the man who designed the original guidance system to help solve the
problem.
That man and his crew are what make this movie enjoyable. Clint Eastwood and
Tommy Lee Jones lead the charge with fantastic performances, and Donald
Sutherland throws in some occasional laughs.
The story begins
in 1958, with two U.S. Air Force pilots and aspiring astronauts, William
"Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones) and Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood),
testing a modified X-plane. Hawk decides to break a height record, causing the
plane to crash. Their commanding officer reassigns them, and with the Air Force
no longer in charge of space flight—now handled by NASA—Frank’s team of four
misses their chance to go to space.
Fast forward to
the present, and there’s a problem with a Russian communication satellite
that’s decaying fast. The only solution is to go up and fix it. With time
running out, Frank suggests sending his old four-man crew, who never got their
shot at space.
The movie did well financially at the box office and was well-received by critics. Watching it now, it’s still one hell of a good drama.
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