Overall Rating Awesome: 17.86% Worth A Look: 32.14% Average: 26.19% Pretty Bad: 17.86% Total Crap: 5.95% 8 reviews, 36 user ratings

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Space Cowboys

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by Cochise

"The realism of this film has to be seen to be believed."

“Space Cowboys” is one of the most awesome SF films I have seen in many years. And it’s not awesome because it is over-the-top SF, but because it is so well grounded in reality.

If you haven’t read the blurb on the back of the DVD, or seen any previews (as was in my case) I found the title misleading. Actually, I expected to see a movie like "Battle Beyond the Stars,” a B-grade SF flick that has camp things like a spaceship with breasts. And, the title" Space Cowboys" made me think of George Peppard's character named cowboy in "Battle Beyond the Stars." However, I was totally surprised that “Space Cowboys” was nothing like “Battle Beyond the Stars.”

“Space Cowboys” is realistic because the director had consultants from NASA advising him on all aspects of the space sequences. In fact, we learn from the documentaries on the DVD that an astronaut who saw the film said that it seemed real. And that must be why I thought the space sequences were like watching a very very clear telecast of a real mission. (We also learn that the space suits were an exact copy of the NASA ones, they were made of the same material, and some of the parts were interchangeable - not working like the real ones, of course, but they would fit.) Also, pilots will really enjoy the film because of the piloting sequences.

The DVD, even though it lacks a director’s commentary has brilliant documentaries.

The full version of the Jay Leno sequence is especially good. Leno adlibs the interview part (as he does in reality). In one documentary, Leno said that he just treated the actors as if they were real astronauts and interviewed them accordingly, and that after a while the audience was able to believe it.

There are a lot of other interesting little tidbits on the DVD documentaries. For example, we learn that there is a close up of a digital Clint Eastwood outside the shuttle (he is in a space suit so all we see is his face.)

The sound is excellent and, if you have a surround sound system, you will enjoy the take off of the shuttle. The sound coming through the subwoofer shakes the room.

I was disappointed with the DVD Rom content only because the feature on the space mission didn’t work as the site is still under construction. I assume this will be finished soon.

I think you will love this film. See it.

del.icio.us

link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=4350&reviewer=228
originally posted: 05/06/01 23:13:20

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User Comments

1/03/10 Jeff Wilder Nothing new. But fun and likable. 4 stars

1/27/09 Shaun Wallner Interesting Movie! 4 stars

5/27/08 PAUL SHORTT ITS HEROES MAY BE OLD, BUT THE FILM FEELS DELIGHTFULLY FRESH 3 stars

9/28/07 mr.mike OK effort from The Man. 4 stars

1/08/04 A F Oh man! Damn old people! I'm going to take a nap. 2 stars

9/01/03 John Bale Veteran screen stars prove their worth in saving the planet. Amusing Sci Fi Drama. 4 stars

4/05/03 R.W. Welch Not bad for a bunch of old guys; pretty well constructed. 4 stars

1/04/03 Jack Sommersby One of Eastwood's worst. The pits. 1 stars

7/09/02 Danielle Ophelia Lightweight, though nowhere near fluff. The ending is almost MORBID. 4 stars

1/08/02 Andrew Carden Reminds You Of How An All-Star Cast Can Fail So Quickly. 1 stars

10/10/01 Butterbean IEastwood and Jones together, wow! And they picked a perfect guy to play the young Eastwood 4 stars

9/02/01 radium Nice acting, nice dialogs, nice sound fx 5 stars

8/01/01 hoppilong this script needs a triple dose of viagra. The relationships are all shallow. 2 stars

7/02/01 Phil M. Afficianado Erik the Movieman has connected...like the Daedalus honing in on Icon. Great fun. 4 stars

6/21/01 J Here is one movie that I mainly agree with Cochise on. 5 stars

5/02/01 Monday Morning You young punks can eat our tattered boxers...this is a great adventure flick for guys. 5 stars

5/01/01 The Bomb 69 funny stuff, not great but good 4 stars

11/09/00 Patti Boring, boring, boring, stupid, and boring 1 stars

10/22/00 Anthony This film was really good 5 stars

10/21/00 Tank Merging special effects and characterisation Eastwood shows it can work. 4 stars

10/20/00 Viking Not a great film but still fun to watch 4 stars

9/08/00 Jed Funny & Suspenseful! One of the years best! 5 stars

8/27/00 Joe Smaltz Very good, had well done special effects, but did not substitute them for content. 5 stars

8/21/00 ClintEastwoodIsCreepy This movie was *so* boring 1 stars

8/18/00 Narf Outstanding first 90 min, then things move along to swiftly to a blase denoument. 4 stars

8/14/00 KoHawk Predictable, boring, somewhat funny. Anti climactic. 3 stars

8/09/00 Poetcdh Entertaining, good chemistry between actors 5 stars

8/09/00 PJ Movie kicked ass! For all you ignorant's that say its for old people, I feel sorry for you 5 stars

8/09/00 Manda It had it's moments. Wait for it on video 3 stars

8/08/00 Captain Highcrime "Armageddon" for the "Murder She Wrote" crowd. 4 stars

8/08/00 extar-bags Good all around. Funny, yet serious. 4 stars

8/07/00 The Rock It was stupid,repetitive, and cliched 1 stars

8/07/00 Jim Kidd I cant say anything but that this movie rocks 5 stars

8/06/00 chuck Entertaining, funny 4 stars

8/05/00 Rue the Whirl It's a Russian doomsday machine! 3 stars

8/04/00 TimmyToday Blast off to boredom and beyond. 2 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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will be deleted at our discretion. So don't bother posting 'em. Thanks!

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USA 04-Aug-2000 UK N/A Australia 05-Oct-2000 (PG)

Directed by Clint Eastwood Written by Ken Kaufman Howard Klausner Cast Clint Eastwood Tommy Lee Jones Donald Sutherland James Garner Loren Dean James Cromwell

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