The First Man

[Rommie]

Saw it last night with the boyfriend- it's a biopic about the life of Neil Armstrong. Overall, knowing the audience here, I'd say to you all it's worth seeing and you will enjoy it. The shots of landing on the moon are incredible and make it worth seeing on the big screen, IMO.

I do think they could have used an editor though, as some of the earlier Gemini stuff had way too much detail that wasn't really needed, and it's rare to find a 2.5 hour movie that actually NEEDS to be that long. Bf also made the observation that they made Neil Armstrong come across as a bit of an asshole, and I don't think he was IRL from what I've read- rather, it sounds like his relationship with his wife was pretty strained (they divorced in the 90s) so obviously no one comes out of that looking awesome.

Overall though I'm liking this trend of space movies and hope it continues!

[Thumper]

My boss saw it and said it was "OK." Of course I'm going to see it. He said it didn't cover much if any of his life previous to NASA, like his time in California flying X-15's, or the death of his daughter. Two major life events that certainly shaped a bit of who he was. For me, as much detail on Gemini as possible is still not enough. Without Gemini, there would be no Apollo. As for being an @hole, he did have a different demeanor than many of the astronauts, he didn't come across as a hot shot fighter jock. And he and Buzz did have some disagreements during their training, but everything I'd read depicts them as polite professional discussions. And as for divorce, Being an astronaut in the 50's and 60's was really tough on marriages. Astronauts and wives that stayed together throughout their careers and after were the exception. I've seen interviews with Armstrong's first wife. She still speaks highly of him. It's more like they just grew apart rather than she left for because of bad behavior.

I just hope the whole thing is not too overly dramatized and exaggerated. For me it certainly doesn't need to be.

[Rommie]

He said it didn't cover much if any of his life previous to NASA, like his time in California flying X-15's, or the death of his daughter.

Wait, what? Are you sure he saw the right movie? They start off with him doing his X-15 stuff in California, then his daughter dying, and keep doing flashbacks to both during the entire film. To the point where bf and I agreed they were overstating the death of his daughter for Hollywood purposes (don't want to give away anything).

[geonuc]

Cool. I was just looking through the available movies showing at the local theater and saw this one. Wondered if it was any good.

[Rommie]

Well I mean Apollo 13 will always be #1 in my heart, but this was also pretty good and it was neat to see all the pre-Apollo stuff too.

[Thumper]

Hmmm, that's interesting. Maybe I mis understood him. The movie title is the same as Hansen's authorized biography. So I was hoping the movie followed along with the book somewhat and wasn't trying to be a Hollywood action thriller. Like I said, I'm definitely going to see it. As for Apollo 13, it was awesome, but also over stated in several areas to make it more dramatic and exciting.

As much as I'm sure the death of his daughter greatly affected the Armstrongs for the rest of their lives, he was such a private person that when he moved to Houston, many of his friends and colleagues didn't even know he'd lost a daughter for the longest time.

Unfortunately, we're heading out of town tomorrow for a week. I won't get to see it until probably November. However, I will be spending an entire day at the Kennedy Space Center!

[Thumper]

EDIT: I guess I should say there are spoilers below. Yes, this is history everything has already happened and the movie is almost out of theatres. But I know some may wait to see it on Netflix and such. I do talk specifically about many scenes including the final scene of the movie.
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I saw it last night, the culmination of "Space Week:" An all day visit to the Kennedy Space Center, followed by going to see Scott Kelly speak again, and finally this.

Let's see, regarding Gemini. Like I said, I could have used more detail because I'm a junkie. But this wasn't a movie based on the entire space program. I think they needed as much of the Gemini 8 mission as they did for a couple of reasons. First, they quickly tried to show the uncomfortableness of switching crews around. Neil and Ed had been training together as backups and were due to be on a Gemini mission together. Then they moved Dave Scott with him which made Neil uneasy, then Ed gets tapped for the first Apollo launch which will prep him to be the second man on the Moon. The crew shifts, usually orchestrated by Deke Slayton did cause some issues.

Second, the malfunction of their capsule came within seconds of killing them. It led to many changes in equipment, mission rules, and protocol. Many people believe the Apollo 1 fire actually saved the program. It might have died with Neil and Dave. They were out of contact with mission control at the time, as they were still building the worldwide communications network. Even as Neil was able to work the problem and saved their lives, he poured over the data wondering what else he could have done; did he do something wrong? He felt the mission was a failure because it did not meet all it's objectives. And he was focused to learn from it. That was the point they tried to hammer in the movie. He was singularly focused on objectives and goals. And he did everything possible to not let family, emotions, or anything else distract him. He was accused of distracted flying back at Edwards, he was never going to let that happen again.

As for being an A-hole, other than the rude comment to Ed in his back yard after Elliot's funeral (and who knows if that conversation actually took place), I don't think they showed him as an A-hole. I think they tried to show his focus and his detachment from emotions that sometimes came across as arrogance.

The Moon landing sequence was a little overly dramatic and didn't have to be. They seemed to show the LM constantly pitching and rolling, almost out of control. That didn't happen. Neil did take manual control to overfly the intended landing field that would have been too dangerous, and they did have the computer errors that had not occurred in sims. The landing radar lost its fix on the surface on several occasions. And he landed with about 12 seconds of fuel left. Isn't that enough? Also, it appeared that about 5 people were talking to him from the Mission Control as they tried to land. Only one person, the Cap Com on duty, also an astronaut, speaks to the crew while they are in space.

It was hard as they introduced characters, because I knew they were going to be dead before the movie was over. But the most emotional scene to me was the final scene. I don't know how they pulled it off but it was brilliant. Neil is still in quarantine and his wife is shown into a room to visit him behind glass. Not a word is spoken. He is arguably going to become the most famous person in the history of the Earth. Yet they are still just a man and a woman in a very strained marriage who still love each other. The space program chewed up lives, and marriages, and families. And it leaves even this huge fan wondering if it was worth it. That's saying something.

[SciFi Chick]

I plan to watch this when our house is fixed from the hurricane. We will set up our projector, get some snacks, and sit back in our house to watch it. Hopefully, this happens around or before Christmas.

[Thumper]

Then for goodness sake don't read any of my post!

[SciFi Chick]

Then for goodness sake don't read any of my post!

Don't worry. You gave an excellent spoiler warning. I won't have to stab you in the heart or anything.

[Thumper]

Anybody else seen it yet? I'm interested in more comments and opinions.

[Loresinger]

I plan to watch this when our house is fixed from the hurricane. We will set up our projector, get some snacks, and sit back in our house to watch it. Hopefully, this happens around or before Christmas.

Do you think it will be available "off screen" by then? I would like to see it but money for the theater is a little tight.

[Thumper]

I don't know the schedule for rental or streaming releases. They're starting to do weird things. Old movies that you might catch at anytime on free (full of commercials) TV will cost 3 bucks to rent on Netflix or Prime. We looked up a new climbing documentary The Kid and I want to see. They didn't even have a rental option. You had to buy it for 15 bucks from iTunes. Silly.

[geonuc]

Due to a string of circumstances, I haven't been to a theater in a while and unfortunately, First Man is no longer showing. But I intend to see Bohemian Rhapsody this week, maybe today.

[Thumper]

Did they Rock You?

[geonuc]

Did they Rock You?

They will, they will ... rock me. Later this week.

[Thumper]