[SOT] Movies

I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.

Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't
_bad_, as such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

[No, I haven't seen the obvious one. I think it conflicted
with SWMBO's shows]

Are there any good films about the Soviet program?




--
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http://www.marryanamerican.ca
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James Nicoll wrote:
I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.

Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't
_bad_, as such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

An interesting old one, if you can manage to get hold of it, is called
"Countdown", released in 1968. It's entirely fictional, but is based on
a genuine hypothetical plan at the time to land on the Moon using a
Gemini mated with a LM descent stage.

-Mark Martin

James Nicoll ) writes:
I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.

Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't
_bad_, as such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

[No, I haven't seen the obvious one. I think it conflicted
with SWMBO's shows]

Are there any good films about the Soviet program?

Theres the never made 13th part to From The Earth To The Moon... g

Sorry, I don't know of any.

In space movies, though, theres Marooned, which is out on dvd,
about a Skylab type mission being unable to de-orbit. Very good,
done from the Martin Caidin novel, the first version therof, was
about a Mercury that couldn't de-orbit, with a prototype Gemini
being the rescue craft.

Apollo 13, and the aforementioned FTETTM, of course.

Andre

--
" I'm a man... But, I can change... If I have to... I guess. "
The Man Prayer, Red Green.

In article ,
Andre Lieven wrote:

James Nicoll ) writes:
I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.

Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't
_bad_, as such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

[No, I haven't seen the obvious one. I think it conflicted
with SWMBO's shows]

Are there any good films about the Soviet program?

Theres the never made 13th part to From The Earth To The Moon... g

Sorry, I don't know of any.

In space movies, though, theres Marooned, which is out on dvd,
about a Skylab type mission being unable to de-orbit. Very good,
done from the Martin Caidin novel, the first version therof, was
about a Mercury that couldn't de-orbit, with a prototype Gemini
being the rescue craft.

Apollo 13, and the aforementioned FTETTM, of course.

I just thought of another: _The Dish_.

I expect the problem for film makers is to find a dramatic
way to present the various programs. While obviously there have been
some extremely dramatic* moments in space flight, many of them were
of short duration and difficult to hang a 2 hr 15 minute story off of.

There's one obvious movie they haven't made (or if they did,
I missed it): the Challenger investigation. The moment with Feynman
and the rubber in the cold water glass seems ideal for a visual medium.
Plus it would be pitched as a remake of an old and successful movie [2],
thus avoiding any accusations of originality.

There's also the If Only catagory of film, showing the space
programs that never were. I know there's at least one retro space
program movies either just about to come out or recently released,
although I can't recall the title.

James Nicoll


* I am going to invent two catagories of dramtic he visceral and
intellectual. Movies usually go for the visceral thrill, so hoping
for a ripping tale about the first images from Voyager is probably
not in the cards. Unless a car chase and a shoot out could be fit in
somehow?

On the other hand: _The Dish_.

2: The one where the plane was brought down with coffee.
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.marryanamerican.ca
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll

On 2005-01-10 16:11:23 +0000, (Andre Lieven) said:


James Nicoll ) writes:
I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.
Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't _bad_, as
such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

[No, I haven't seen the obvious one. I think it conflicted
with SWMBO's shows]

Are there any good films about the Soviet program?


There's 'Out of the Present' - movie about Mir I think, made in space.
Features an actual Soyuz landing! Everyone rolling it upright! Why do
they always end up on their sides?

It's around 1991, at the breakup of the USSR. Quite interesting and i
got the DVD. Cost me 99p!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123211

Ste

James Nicoll wrote:
.........

2: The one where the plane was brought down with coffee.

"Fate is the Hunter," 1964, with Glen Ford, based on the book by
Ernest K. Gann.

In article ,
William R. Frensley wrote:
James Nicoll wrote:
........

2: The one where the plane was brought down with coffee.

"Fate is the Hunter," 1964, with Glen Ford, based on the book by
Ernest K. Gann.



Thanks! That is the one where they use a recreation at the
end, right?

One thing that really struck me about both _The Right Stuff_ [1]
and _Apollo 13_ is how, uh, flimsy and clunky the equipement looks.
Especially TRS, where I am amazed there were ever people who routinely
climbed into what look like flying death traps. Kudos, of course, because
without those people we wouldn't have the current non-death traps.

James Nicoll

1: Another thing that struck me is that for no reason I can defend, I
find modern aircraft a lot uglier than WWII planes. I freely admit
"not falling out of the air" and "doing their job better" are much
better metrics than "pretty".
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.marryanamerican.ca
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll

The alternate history one is _Man Conquers Space_, based
on the 1952 Colliers articles.
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.marryanamerican.ca
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll

In message , James Nicoll
writes
In article ,
Andre Lieven wrote:

James Nicoll ) writes:
I noticed while cleaning that I had a copy of _The Right Stuff_
which I had never seen.

Pocket Review: should have picked a focus, guys. It wasn't
_bad_, as such, but it wandered.

I followed it up with _Apollo 13_, which I have seen loads of times.

Now, because I am obsessive, I want to see more films based on
the various space programs. Any that people here would recommend?

[No, I haven't seen the obvious one. I think it conflicted
with SWMBO's shows]

Are there any good films about the Soviet program?

There's one obvious movie they haven't made (or if they did,
I missed it): the Challenger investigation.

There's a TVM called "Challenger", which ends with the first few seconds
of the launch.
There's something called "Apollo 11" which is regularly shown on the
Sci-Fi Channel here, but I've never seen it.

Jonathan Silverlight wrote:

There's a TVM called "Challenger", which ends with the first few
seconds
of the launch.
There's something called "Apollo 11" which is regularly shown on the
Sci-Fi Channel here, but I've never seen it.

Another that was made for TV in 1974 (and I suppose is impossible to
locate) is "Houston, We've Got A Problem". It was a cheesy melodrama of
all the NASA people & their families during the Apollo 13 emergency.
-Mark Martin