Posted on 10/13/2018 6:49:16 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater
So I took the family to see "First Man" today. The movie took a lot of heat from virtue-signaling types, but I suspected the criticisms were unfounded. I was nearly totally correct. Like, 98%.
First of all, I'm not super well-read on the space program as compared to some uber-nerds who I'm sure populate this forum who could run rings around me in general knowledge regarding this era of our history. I have, however, been interested in the space program for a long time and even got to meet Alan Shepard at a book signing at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, once. I've seen all the key films and documentaries, and I (read?) the audio book "Rocket Men" which was quite exhaustive in its content and research. Now that my bona fides (or lack thereof) are established...
Ryan Gosling is great. When I saw he was cast as Neil Armstrong in the first trailer for this film, I thought that was some fantastic casting. He's nearly always quiet, stoic, and thoughtful in his roles which fits everything I've read about Armstrong. I don't know anything about the real Janet Armstrong, but Claire Foy did a fine job playing his supportive-but-perpetually-worried wife. While he's not in many scenes, Corey Stoll (Marvel fans will recognize him as the bad guy in the first "Ant-Man") plays Buzz Aldrin as a bit of a loudmouth who rubs people around him the wrong way, which, again, based on what I've read, seems to fit well. The other most recurring role outside the Armstrong clan is their friend, neighbor, and fellow astronaut Ed White played by Jason Clarke who is very good in that role, too, if a bit generic in his "overall good guy" portrayal, but I'm sure the real Ed White was a good dude.
The film is heavily reliant on sound. That's not to say it doesn't look fantastic, because it does. There's an added film grain look that almost makes it look like a new-ish 1960s film. But the sound punishes you. That doesn't mean it's overly loud, it just uses sound a lot to put us right there. As Armstrong streaks through the stratosphere in his X-15 in the opening scene of the film, the shaking and rattling of the aircraft combined with Armstrong's rapid breathing elevates the heart rate. When the Gemini 8 rocket lifts off and we're strapped into the tight capsule with Armstrong and Scott, the harsh creaking and slamming and whining of their spacecraft as it roars off the launchpad puts us in a spot we've never really been in any other film. These guys are just there for the ride until they hit orbit and it feels like a very, very dangerous trip. The close-ups of the rivets holding the panels together were especially effective shots communicating to us just how rickety these things are given the stresses they're supposed to endure.
The tone of the film, in juxtaposition to the intense sound and beautiful shots, is quiet, sad, almost funereal. Armstrong's daughter Karen died of cancer at a very young age. Numerous friends of his die though the course of the space program. Each loss impacts the stoic Armstrong by further driving him to stoicism. My wife commented that he would be a very difficult man to live with, and, indeed, Neil and Janet Armstrong divorced in 1994 after 38 years of marriage. You can see the seeds of that sad end in this film.
Now on to the political side of it all.
There is something of a montage scene after the Apollo 1 fire. Some hippies outside the Cape Canaveral facility doing a bongo circle poetry slam with this black guy lamenting in prose how he don't got nuffin but "whitey is on the moon." There are contemporary interviews of young Baby Boomers whining that space program money could be spent to solve all of our society's ills instead of being wasted on exploration. My favorite is the bongo circle types brandishing signs with pictures/names of the dead astronauts, asking if the sacrifice is worth it--like people like that give a damn about dead people and definitely aren't using their bodies to try to advance their political ideals. Perish the thought. Post-Apollo 11, there is montage footage of the celebrations around the country (I'm a little spotty on this scene since that's when I had to take my son to the bathroom). As I walked out of the theater, I heard a French woman proclaiming how she knew the Americans would do it because they don't fail. Overall, I though the movie showed both sides fairly dispassionately, but the latter set of scenes was clearly more exciting b/c real people really cared about the achievement. During the poetry slam scene, all I could think was "Who here knows who this guy is? Who here knows who Neil Armstrong is?" Case closed as far as I'm concerned.
Finally, the moon landing itself. Great scene, meticulously accurate. When they finally open up the LEM, the camera looks down through the hatch and the effect of that shot makes the moon feel like a completely alien place these guys are about to set foot on. It's a feeling I've never felt before in any other film/show/documentary. There is something of a montage scene as Armstrong and Aldrin do their thing, but the overall scene is played from a very personal perspective with respect to Armstrong. Could the filmmakers have worked them putting up the flag in a quick cut as part of the montage? Yes, I think so. Would it have detracted from the film? No, I don't think so. Do I think the film is an insult to patriotic Americans and ruined as a result? Hell no.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. It went the opposite direction of the NASA press release side a la "The Right Stuff." This was far more personal and felt realistic. These weren't invincible Supermen doing the impossible with a smile and a wink. These were human beings fully committed to doing an extremely dangerous job, and they paid a personal price for it.
Bottom Line: ignore the virtue-signalers. This is a great film and well worth your time.
“didnt think she was overdone at all.”
Completely fabricated.
Utter trash.
What is?
The part where she goes and says they’re boys making balsa wood models.
Purely made up.
Yeah, they didn’t have a film crew following the actual Janet Armstrong around, so there were some writers involved in some scenes to convey certain feelings and emotions felt by the actual people at the actual time being portrayed in the film. That’s how films tend to work.
That’s how fake films that make things up work.
Bad PR all the way around.
I saw the movie today. Great. There were American Flags all over, INCLUDING THE ONE ON THE MOON WHERE YOU SEE ARMSTRONG SALUTING.
This is a very patriotic movie. If you see one movie at the theater this is the one. The large rockets, the spectacle of the landing... Cant imagine how this would come anywhere close at home.
Also, Folks, THIS IS A SPIELBERG MOVIE. THE QUALITY IS SEEN IN EVERY SINGLE SHOT.
Bottom line, Golsing should have kept his trap shut, as he really spoiled the movies intent. Id say its actually more about Armstrong then it is about the landing itself. I wont spoil it for you, but Armstrong was a loner, and this movie takes you there and why. Death affected him much more than it did they other guys.
The movie makes you want to go out and read every thing you can about the man. I agree with others posting. Armstrong was the perfect guy.
Keep in mind, that they cram the pre Gemini, Gemini and Apollo missions in around 90 minutes. Youre attention is held thru out.
Also, Armstrongs wife is played by Claire Foy. This actress I think is British. She played Queen Elizabeth on the Crown Series? And shes in the Girl With the DragonTattoo? Now an American wife.
Id say, she slips in nicely as the next Dame of the British Movie and Theater. In fact, shes amazing....
I know there are a lot of stubborn people on this forum, Im one of them. You make your mind up, and you dont budge. In the case of First Man, I can only say we have been Hoodwinked. This is a very very very Patiotic movie. There are American Flags all over the place, and theyre exposed at the right time. You have no doubt that this is us against the Russians.
Also, like now, you see these DO NOTHING Senators and the Left trying to kill the program when the going got tough.
WHen you think of what they did, it just blows your mind. To do this now would be a 10,000 times easier.
Armstrong died in 2012 and Im now ashamed that more wssnt done to honor him, but Obama was president. That tells you right there.
Its late, and Im typing in bed. Please excuse all my typos...
Did you see the movie? If not, I can understand. Your comments are not accurate. She plays a minor roll in this, and the later scenes where she confronts an ever growing detached Armstrong are really compelling.
Claire Foy is an amazing Actress. British I think. I was listening to see if shed crack, and youd pick up on her British accent. She didnt. I guess you can thank the over dubbing, and countless retakes of the dialogue.
Never the less, I learned a lot about Armstrong the wife and the kids. I would love to hear about his two boys. What are the doing, what do they recall about the Dad.
An Amzing movie. Best movie Ive see all year. So Star is Born, now that, to quote a fine gentleman, was TRASH.
I am glad you enjoyed it. I still won’t be going. Gosling destroyed any idea I would have had of seeing it. I am stubborn, I guess. And, why not an American to play an American hero? They chose someone who doesn’t respect America’s achievements.
I imagine the film will be a massive success and probably win Oscars. That is fine.
Like I said from the beginning. The PR was bad all the way around.
This is first and foremost, and American Story. If there is ANY criticism its because you found yourself wanting to know more.
They take the politics out of it, except for Kennedy setting the goal, and then depicting the Do Nothing Cowards in the Senate and the Left who were against this program.
I dont know if youve ever gone to a movie alone, but I would strongly recommend that this is the one to go to, alone. If youre not working, go to a matinee. Get your popcorn and perch yourself in a nice high seat in the middle.
This is great cinematography. I say Star is Born. It sucks Wet Dog Fur compared to this. Youll also see the previews of Clints new movie coming out, The Mule.
In short, Im stubborn too. I was NOT going to see the movie, but thanks to the person who posted his Vanity, I went, and I am happy I did.
Gosling, does an excellent job depicting Armstrong.
Armstrong was a loner, and youll see in the movie probably why.
Gosling, seems to think Armstrong transcended politics, patriotism, Americanism etc. I dont think so. In his own way, he was deeply American, but I admit you dont get the idea from seeing this.
The Astronauts, all of them were highly ambitious competitive men. Armstrong was on the verge of being grounded when he applied with NASA. And as youd think, he was scorned because he was a civillian.
I will say something else. Whatever Spielberg touches is quality. Every scene, every seconds is perfection. This is an entertaining movie at several levels.
The wife. A lot of criticism here about her from people who didnt see the movie. Unfounded.
You get the idea that Armstrong was first and foremost, the breadwinner. He was essentially jobless or about to be,when he decided to apply with NASA in the Space Progam.
The movie gives you the impression, that her was a deeply private man, who expected to have a long quiet life with his wife, she too. Not only does he get into the program, due to events beyond his control, he ends up leading the mission.
May count, there were 5Astronaut deaths. the movie covers that. It says nothing about the Russians once the Americans are engaged with them on this race. I suspect the Russians lost dozens if not more.
I grade movie on a 1 to 4. 1 is a dud. 2 can be acceptable,,but one youll not go to see again. Id give Star is Born a 2. A 3 is entertaining, and worth the price of admission, and you might tell your friends to go. Clint eastwoods Movie almost all start as a 3, then many go to a 4.
A 4, is entertaining, but it sticks with you afterwards, and for days to come. The fact that Im compelled to write about my feelings tells you that its a great movie. The Founder, about the founder of McDonalds Ray Kroc is a 4. I didnt see it at the theater. Wish I did.
Forgive me to all of you out there, who have made a decision NOT to see this, but I must tell you that youre missing a great experience.
Many movie theaters in the past few years have improved the seating, the sound and the visual spectacle. The idea of waiting to see it on Netflix might be fine for some, but I love seeing first run movies at the theater.
I cant wait for Clints new one, The Mule. Why The Mule because from the trailer, I think he plays a Mule, ie a person who brings illegal drugs into the country. I am NOT going to wait for Netflix.
BTW, nice review. REad my posts on this movie, and tell me if you agree with me. A lot of people on this forum are going to miss a real experience. This is a movie that MUST be seen at the theater.
The movie was less about country and patriotism as it was the individual efforts of the men in the astronaut program - self sacrifice and the awesome conquest of something no one thought possible.
It was clearly an awesome visual when they actually got to the moon and opened the door to the LEM. Visually striking, and you could hear a pin drop in the movie theater.
Yeah, I think folks are really missing out due to faux-outrage and virtue-signaling. I’m seeing it all over Twitter and Facebook, too. People who have clearly not seen the film, but can describe it FAR better than you and I somehow. It’s crazy, but it’s their loss. I just hate to see quality work go unrewarded, and this film is quality work.
I even dropped Gosling a note on Twitter to thank him for doing this movie. I thought he was fantastic, and it probably never would’ve been made if he and Chazelle hadn’t decided to join the team.
Im going to see it again. Ive been going to the movies with a friend. We started last month. Let see, she had never seen Smokey and the Bandit. It was playing in honor of Burt. Of course, the movie with todays standards was lame.
Then we went to see A Star Is Born. Both of us liked Lady Gaga, but what a downer movie. No one would ever see this a second time. Plus 2 hours and 15 minutes of a stupid story. A Star Is Born is a vehicle for a female singer, that ordinarily 1/2 the public would not know about, ie Judy Garland, and Barbar Streisand.
Anyway, thanks to the posting here, I went to see the movie MYSELF and loved it. I mean, I loved it.... and cant wait to see it again with my friend.
We have some great people on this forum, but we have some out right stubborn ones, who will not admit theyre wrong, or even check something out.
But in all fairness, you must admit... the PR on this was terrible. Gosling should have kept his mouth shut. The flag is shown on the moon, and Armstrong salutes it...Its plain as day. They decided NOT to show him hammering the flag into the ground. I think in retrospect Speilberg should have.
But there were a lot of things cut out of the movie. I mean 90 minutes to show the entire Pre Gemini, Gemini and Apollo missions?
Just came from seeing “First Man” on the super-duper senior matinee rate. Glad I did it then, so I can’t whine quite as much about the price.
As others have noted here, what they presented was historically accurate, but left out large pieces of the narrative that would have better explained things. For instance, no mention was given to the Gemini 8 docking problem, nor the fact that, after the Apollo test flight burned up, why it happened and that a redesign was required, which backed things up some.
As to Armstrong himself, it would have been nice to mention that he was a Naval pilot in the Korean War, or all the things he did AFTER Apollo 11. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he appeared in NASA in 1961 and did nothing after the moon flight. And even the moon flight seemed like a Kubrickian fantasy. It was “one small step...”, mourning his dead child, then blast off from the moon.
One more thing about the “global” effort and affect of the moon landing. Earlier in the movie, when the USSR beat us into space, beat us to the first EVA and a few other space firsts, there was a pronounced notation of the “Space Race” between the two countries. Yet, when the US pounded the USSR on the most important race, no kudos to NASA and the American spirit that had done it. Well, save for a replay of the JFK speech from the early 1960s, and that was shown on TV while the Apollo 11 team were in isolation after their return!
All in all, I could have waited for it to show up on cable and watch it on my big screen TV. The visuals would be close and the audio would have been, too.
The PR was bad, but mostly due to screeching overreaction. They said they didn’t show the flag planting scene. Then Chazelle clarified and said that the flag was there. That told me that they put it there (since it really was there), they just didn’t film an explicit scene of them planting it.
Not having seen the film, I didn’t know if that was a good choice or a bad choice or a necessary or unnecessary one, so I figured I’d check it out and make up my own mind. Oh, man, is THAT the wrong answer, apparently. I saw people all over social media immediately jumping to the conclusion that the flag was completely deleted and wouldn’t be seen at all. Amazingly, people are STILL saying that—people who haven’t even seen it. It boggles my mind.
As I said in my review, they could’ve had a real quick shot of Armstrong and Aldrin unfolding the flag or whatever during the short montage scene after they leave the LEM, but it didn’t ruin the film or turn it into some kind of anti-Amerian travesty by default. The notion that it did—made by people who haven’t even seen the film—is, frankly, insulting.
I don’t like being told what to think, I don’t care if it’s a liberal trying to do it or if it’s a conservative. I’ll make up my own mind, thanks very much, and this is one of those cases where I’m very glad I did.
The film is about Neil Armstrong joining NASA and his time there leading up to the Apollo 11 landing. Everything else you mention as a detriment is superfluous. Who wants to go see a movie about Neil Armstrong and have everything grind to a halt for technical explanations about Gemini docking problems and 100% oxygen environments and the flammability of Velcro?
Armstrong and Aldrin were on the Moon for 2.5 hours. You wanted them to show every minute of that? “Oh he mourned the dead child...” Yes, that was the emotional core of the entire film, so it was very important to show, and I thought it was heartbreaking and beautiful.
The film made it very clear we were racing against the Soviets, and we were losing. After Apollo 11, the world was in celebration of the U.S. beating the Soviets. What more did you want?
Excellent points. How about the hundred flags that everyone was waving in Mission Control:
In summary, I think the film willingly limited the American flag in the film. They did this for the international audience. In hindsite I think they should have included the flag ceremony on the moon as its still there. Maybe they can in the DVD version of movie. All in all a very pro American film!!
So just saw this film tonight as a guest of a friend.
Summary: I loved the movie. It was a study of a man (men) who was (were) brave in the face of the unknown (space exploration).
It was exciting on the level of Apollo 13, yet more a study of an individuals (Neil Armstrongs) experience in the space program of the 1960s.
It was suspenseful and dramatic, and in that sense fulfilled all of the prerequisites for entertainment. Ryan Gosling did a great job not being Ryan Gosling, making you feel that he was someone else (Neil Armstrong).
There was drama and intrigue and bravery making this great for the big screen.
Its all done well, but at the point where we all know the denouement begins, One small step for man... I seriously wondered where the flag was? It was missing. But then I remembered the controversy surrounding this movie and the flag. However, what followed in the movie was a great, IMO, tribute to the US regarding our contribution to space exploration.
I told my husband he had to see this movie on the big screen. Its one of those big action films that cant be replicated at home. Seriously, the flag controversy is a non-issue. Take it from someone who notices these things.
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