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Summary: great movie
Review: I want to give this movie three words......I love it.
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Summary: If you know a parent who hasn't seen this, make 'em watch it
Review: This movie is excellent. I've seen it 5 or 6 times and every single time I do, it STILL moves me. It is about as inspirational a movie as you could ever find, but it does so in a much more subtle way than a "Rah, rah, go Hickory Hoosiers" sort of way. Because it's based on a true story, the caption on the box that it will "live in your memory forever" (or something like that) is dead right. If more moms and dads viewed THIS movie (and others like Billy Elliot) to have their impact on their children portrayed on screen for them--instead of watching most Hollywood and TV trash in which making fun of or talking down to your kids is the theme--I guarantee the influences of TV/Movies would be much more positive in our society than they are. This ain't Leave it Beaver or Brady Bunch CORN either, it's real stuff and it's natural! If you are a parent, or ever will be, watch this movie. If you know one, make them watch it too.
Rating: 
Summary: great
Review: My inital urge to watch this movie was because of Jake Gyllenhaal. However, i was very delighted by the story in October Sky. It's very inspirational and uplifting to see what kind of life Homer went through in his high school years. Ultimatly, he proved to everyone that he really could become a "rocket scientist" and accept many new barriers into life. Definatly a movie to see!
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Summary: Inpiring, Funny, Moving - A Perfect Film
Review: October Sky is the reason movies should be made. It's life-affirming, dream-affirming, and it cares about people and their struggles. As of this writing, the movie is four years old, yet is all the more poignant and moving in light of the recent tragedy which befell the Columbia space shuttle crew this year. The story follows four high schoolers obsessed with creating their very own rocket. You can't help but cringe as you watch them mixing volatile chemical compounds in an attempt to create rocket fuel. Following every failure and unplanned explosion, both their expertise and excitement grows. This is like a Rocky Balboa story only it follows the setbacks and triumphs of four geeks growing up in a poor West Virgina coal-mining town. And unlike Rocky, it's beautifully acted, filmed, and has a killer soundtrack. The movie does an excellent job of showing the hard, dangerous, exasperating yet priceless work of scientific discovery. The boys display curiosity and tenacity throughout. Hollywood typically displays scientists as villains but this movie makes them look heroic in a way that is entertaining. Chillingly, the movie ends with a short clip of a space shuttle lifting off into space. In light of recent events, it's hard to view this movie as mere entertainment. It opens a window onto the struggle to know, to pioneer, and to dream.
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Summary: October Sky
Review: This movie is definitely, withut a doubt, the best movie of 1999 in my opinion. Here's why: The acting is great, the music is well done and fits the era perfectly, and the story is uplifting and inspiring. This movie, however, is not a feel-good movie with a cliched story line and needless melodrama. This movie is about a boy who lives in the coal moning town of verginia, who on one fatefull night, watches Russia's satelitte, the Sputnik race across the October Sky. This inspires him to build rockets againt all odds, be it his father, a hardened coal miner, who refuses to let Homer build rockets on campany property, forcing them to walk 7 miles to snake root, or the fact that there wasn't very much information on rockets in coalwood. However, with the help of his freinds, this story became one of success despite great odds. I beleive that music is very important in a film or game, and this might just be the first review to note the music, witch is very very very well done by Mark Isham. Even four years after it's realise, the final credits still bring a tear to my eyes. "This one's gonna go for miles, Homer!" ~Quinten
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Summary: One of the best movies ever...
Review: If you're watching this, you don't really want to see me ramble about how good this movie is. There are scores of others here who will tell you exactly what they think of it. This is, in all respects, a brilliant movie. It's uplifting, but rarely melodramatic (and never outright manipulative). It maintains a bright pace and a youthful, adventurous outlook at all times, and nearly every character seems fully realized. Just look at the astounding array of 5-star votes. Then look at the 3 poor reviews. Then look at the dozens of full marks. Then click buy.
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Summary: I will never forget this film....
Review: This is the true story of Homer Hickam, who felt he was doomed to a life of coal-mining and football until in 1957 the Russian satellite Sputnik lit up the October sky one night. This inspired him to pursue a dream: to build a rocket and go into space one day. His father is a devoted coal-miner and doesn't approve of Homer's dream, but through the help of friends and his own will, Homer finally wins the National Science Fair for the ailing town of Coalwood. I was in 7th grade when I saw "October Sky" for the first time. After seeing it, I felt like running all the way up Mount Everest and hollering from the summit at the top of my lungs. Never before had a film made me feel so happy. Four years later, the film still never fails to lift my spirit. The story is so inspiring that one cannot help but stand up and cheer by the end. It sounds typical at first, but as the film progresses, the viewer is shown more and more of just how much determination is in Homer and his friends, to press on toward what they believe in, against so many different naysayers in the society--not the least of which is Homer's father. It's not a movie that purposefully tries to make its audience cry with sappy emotional clichés; it's a wonderful true story about a real person's struggle to live his own life. Some people might think of this film as a "feel-good movie" with a familiar and predictable plot, but "October Sky" is so much more than that. It's not melodrama where everyone exaggerates their emotions beyond credibility; all the actors are just so convincing and give stirring performances that make the film all the more powerful. The actors who play Homer's friends bring out lively personalities ranging from nerdy to slow-witted. Laura Dern plays Homer's young teacher Miss Riley, who never stops believing in him and offers to do whatever she can to help him achieve his dream. Chris Cooper plays Homer's tough-talking father, a man whose devotion to the mine eventually beings to bring him away from his family. Even Homer's mother, played by Natalie Canerday, gets a genuinely moving role as she lets out her feelings toward her husband, specifically in just two words: "Myrtle Beach". But Jake Gyllenhaal gives the best performance as Homer, a boy with such an honest look in his eyes, yet with a determination that never dies despite many hardships. His eyes speak louder than his words in the scene where he tells his father, "Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never going down there again. I want to go into space." This is a movie that will be engraved in my memory for many years to come. After seeing it, I told all my friends at school about it. I have shown this film to many friends and family members, and none were disappointed. Pop this film into the VCR or DVD player on a cold winter's night and let its beauty warm your soul.
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Summary: A True Story about Determination and Success!!!
Review: A very touching movie about hope, relationships, temporary failures and finally success based on a true story. Set in Coalwood, West Virginia, 1957, Homer Hickam Jr. (Jake Gyllenhaal) an unassuming, ordinary, small coal-mining town boy sets his mind and heart to pursue his dream of building a rocket after just watching the Soviet satellite "Sputnik" streak across the night sky. Despite various setbacks, discouragements and scorn even by his own father(Chris Cooper) and friends, Homer together with his 3 friends and with the help and support of his high school teacher (Laura Dern) managed to finally set his rocket into the sky and to go on to win the Science Award for his dying coal-mining town. It is indeed inspiring to see how much determination alone can achieve! A very good movie to watch with the family.
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Summary: One of the few movies that actually made me cry
Review: This is such a wonderful movie. It is about a high school boy named Homer Hickam Jr. His father wanted him to grow up to be a coal miner just like him. But Homer wanted to grow up to be a rocket scientist. My two favorite parts in this movie were when the boys were taking a railroad track apart and a train started coming. The other favorite part was when Mrs. Hickam was angry with her husband and threatened to divorce him and move to Myrtle Beach. And that is just what she did in the end. This is a funny movie touched with sadness. To make a long story short, Ms Riley, Homer's science teacher who was so helpful to him in his rocket projects got sick with Hodgkins Disease. She told the class that she had a boyfriend that she was visiting in England, but she didn't tell Homer until the middle of the movie. In the end Ms Riley lost her battle with Hodgkins Disease. This part had an emotional effect on me, because at the time we saw it, my school was grieving for a business teacher that died.
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Summary: THE best modern-made film ever set in 1957!
Review: "October Sky" is an inspirational story of a young high school student who tries to escape life below the ground in a coal-mining town in West Virginia. Seeing the Russian satellite "Sputnik" move across the sky one night, he's inspired to build rockets and create a dream and passion for himself. He, with the help of his three other friends, they launch rocket after rocket after so many unsucessful tries. Quinten, the brains of the group, figures out the sucess of the launch of these rockets. The publicity kicks in afterwards as the rockets being launched amaze the town people, and Homer goes on to Indianapolis to win the science fair and meet Dr. Werhner von Braun. Really touching when Homer's father realizes Homer's dream and launch the final rocket which is dubbed "Miss Riley" after their inspirational teacher. Amazement strikes the townspeople as they watch this rocket go high in the air. Just like Quinten says in amazement, "This one's going to go, Homer"
A realy beautiful sight is when the rocket is high in the air with this huge bright cloud in the background. A truly touching story and one you'll treasure forever! Great rock'n'roll music as well, too!
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