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Space Cowboys (2000)


Space Cowboys (2000)



6/10



Starring
Clint Eastwood
Tommy Lee Jones
Donald Sutherland
James Garner


Directed by Clint Eastwood


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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