Have any freepers seen the film? I am considering checking it out, I was a Space Nut when I was a kid, and remember watching the landing with my dad.
Have not seen it though all this space talk has me wanting to watch The Right Stuff again. That was a great movie that was unabashedly pro-American.
Saw it last night. I was hoping for more of an Apollo 13 or Right Stuff kind of experience but this was the dark side of the moon landing story. In A13 and RS there is a sense of triumph and victory, overcoming the odds but in First Man there is none of that. It’s dark, ponderous and a bit slow in spots with much focus given to Armstrong’s deceased daughter.
In spots this is a thrilling film that almost puts you in the capsule with the astronauts so you can experience the sense of fear and feelings of doom but there is never a moment where u want to jump up and say “heck ya”!
It’s a qualified miss for me.
It’s different from all the other astronaut films. If you were into the space program as a kid (as was I), then you’ll appreciate it. But it is not a big piece of entertainment and is really this internal story of how Armstrong dealt with it all.
It’s not a terribly exciting film and is more thoughtful and cerebral. The flag controversy is nothing - it was actually ginned up by rival studios to hurt its Oscar chances. This is the bookend companion to The Right Stuff which was big and boisterous and funny. That was flag waving and rightfully so.
I did not know about Gemini 8 so that was interesting. Corey Stoll as Buzz Aldrin gives the film a nicely needed jolt. First Man is a different take on a story that we thought we new. I was fine with it.
I would suggest spending your money to get the book. The movie takes a small snapshot in time, from Armstrong’s entry into NASA until Apollo 11, and does fairly well with it.
However, there is much more to his story. A Naval fighter pilot in the Korean War, a test pilot after leaving the Navy and before becoming one of the first two CIVILIAN astronauts. Not to mention his incredible body of work after leaving NASA.
I can understand not doing much with the pre- and post- NASA experience due to time constraints, but they could have done a few minutes at the beginning and an “afterword” crawl like so many fact-based movies do now.