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Summary: EXCELLENT FILM for kids & adults
Review: Wow. I've already seen this movie three times, and I quickly bought it on DVD when it came out."October Sky" is absolutely fantastic! Every time I've seen it, the tears of sadness and joy come streaming down my face!!! Every high school kid should be required to view it and learn that you should always dream your dreams and never give up! I can't say enough about the wonderful film, "October Sky," and the book "Rocket Boys" by Homer Hickham which was the inspiration for the film.
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Summary: Incredible!!
Review: When I sat down to watch October Sky, I wasn't very enthusiastic, expecting only a movie about some boys building rockets. In truth, this movie is so much more! Homer Hickam is from a small, West Virginia mining town, where he is only expected to work in the mines. In the shadow of a sports-star brother, he has no plans for the future - until he is inspired by the flight of the Sputnik rocket into space. Together with the help of friends and his teacher, Homer tries again and again to build a rocket, and he plans to enter a science fair for a college scholarship, but then things start to fall apart... This movie was SO good, a tear-jerker at times! My only complaint was that it was a bit slow getting started, but once it did, I loved it! A must see for all ages.
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Summary: October Sky is one of the best movies ever made in 1999!
Review: When this movie first came out I really wanted to see it in the theaters but I didn't get a chance to. But one night I rented it and my parents and I enjoyed every minute of it. I got a little disappointed that it didn't get nominated for an oscar. Oh, well it's still a good movie even though if it didn't get nominated. Laura Dern had an outstanding role and so did Jake Gyllenhaal. I own this movie at home now and I watch it all the time and never get tired of it. It's a good movie to own. I recommened it to all ages.
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Summary: A brilliant story about perseverance and glory
Review: "October Sky" is a superb show! It's 1957, and Homer Hickman is just a regular high school teen living in a small West Virginia town where his father is the manager of the coal mine that employs, well, everyone. As we meet Homer, he is working, not very successfully, to deal with the usual plagues of youth...how to get the the girl of your dreams, how to be noticed while walking in the shadow of a sports hero older brother, how to gain attention and respect from his father, and so on...just about then it is announced that the Soviets had launched Sputnik! The space age had arrived! The specter of Sputnik orbiting overhead has a profound influence on Homer...he is captivated by the idea of space and rocketry. He becomes the heart and soul of a group of four HS students who start to dabble in making model rockets of their own...much to his father's chagrin. You will sorrow with Homer and his friends in their setbacks, and revel with them in their successes. Laura Dern plays a pivotal role as a teacher who encourages the boys to continue their experiments. Before long the whole town in caught up in their launches. You'll love the way that Homer explains to the sherrif, in front of his class, why one of his rockets couldn't possibly have been responsible for starting a forest fire in the area...classic! If you haven't seen this show, watch it! It's well worth your time. As another reviewer aptly pointed out, this is a great film about teens...the teens look and act like teens. The players all do a great job! "October Sky" is definitely a top-notch 5-star offering for the whole family! Have a great day... Alan Holyoak
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: I saw October Sky in math class today due to mid-term exams and it was one of the greatest films I've ever seen. The whole storyline is totally original and is great for all audiences. The movie takes plave back in the 50's when Russia launched their satelite Sputnik into orbit. This gets some Americans upset and they start on about how America is behind track and falling behind. Anyways, a high school student named Homer and four friends set out and build their own rockets. they first start with minimal success but when changing the types of metal their rockets are going high in the air and are going great. homer's teacher reccomends that they enter the science fair. This they do. But before that they are blamed for a forest fire when a rocket landed. They prove fire marshalls wrong when they do the math (something Homer used to be bad at). They use trigonometry using the amount of time the rocket fell for and calculating that with other things. After that is cleared up they enter and win. They then move to nationals and win. This is a great film that all will enjoy. This is a must see video. Enjoy!
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Summary: The best movie I've seen in a long time!
Review: Stop what you are doing, go to the video store and pick up this movie! Want a good, wholesome film with a touching story? This is it. It pumped me up the same way Hoosier's did. Not many movies these days do that. I thought this movie would be total cheese until I watched it. Then as soon as I saw it at WalMart on DVD I bought it! A DEFINITE MUST SEE!
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Summary: Grandfather views with Grandsons
Review: I'm 61 and just saw October Sky with my 13 and 9 year old grandsons. All of us think it is teriffic! There are not many films that can span multi-generations. This is one of them. We will watch it again, and we are planning a trip over to Huntsville Ala. to tour the space center.
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Summary: Watch this movie with your kids and talk to them!
Review: October Sky is one of those rare movies which children and parents can enjoy together. Even more important, this movie brings up many issues which can lead to good discussions between parents and children: struggles with parental authority, sibling rivalry, peer pressure, political rivalry, perseverance against overwhelming odds, dealing with disappointment and more. Watch this movie and talk to your kids afterward! Chris Cooper and Jake Gyllenhaal portray well the struggle many of us have with our parents when our ideas about success don't match. October Sky shows that success not only comes with a lot of struggle, work and disappointment but also with a great deal of love, support and growth. The image of Homer Hickam descending into the mill, but looking up at the sky should serve to inspire any person who wants to try to live their dream -- whether it is to just get along with one's parents, or to visit the stars!
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Summary: The best. You have to see it.
Review: I love this movie. I have seen it about three or four times and always seem to find something new that I like about it. It was put together very well and the acting is wonderful. Some movies have good well known actors and bad acting, this has actors that aren't very well known and wonderful acting. If you haven't seen it you really need to go and see it.
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Summary: all this and model rockets too!
Review: Obviously, there is little to add to the previous reviews. Simply put, "October Sky" is a wonderful film. My brother rented it for us, since he had seen it in the theatres, whereas I hadn't heard of it. We were enthralled (so we naturally purchased a copy). My wife has read Hickam's autobiography _Rocket_Boys_ on which OS was based, and noted a few liberties taken, as usually becomes necessary for either dramatic effect or to fit the story coherently into a 120-minute or less format. (Most of the rocket boys not included in the film went into engineering, but the number of participants was no doubt reduced to maintain character definition without losing the audience, and to avoid making the group look uncomfortably dweebish to most non-techie viewers.) A few nitpicks (that do nothing to detract from the wonderful story): [1] The "deLaval" nozzle in the film looked more like a 15-degree cone (a convenient design used in the 1940s and '50s), but the Laval converging-diverging nozzle is more a more efficient "bell" shape. [2] Homer is of the mistaken impression that Dr Von Braun was responsible for the failed Vanguard launch in December 1957 (two months after Sputnik and one month after Sputnik 2). If the media were as uninformative in the '50s as today, such a false conclusion would be understandable. At any rate, Von Braun headed the Army Redstone arsenal and launched Explorer I in January 1958. The Navy was in charge of project Vanguard (the first of which orbited in March 1958). (Yeah, like anyone cares.) [3] A glimpse of the American flag during the Science Fair ceremonies showed the canton with a 50-star pattern, and in 1958 the U.S. still flew a 48-star flag. (This complaint is particularly petty, since almost all contemporary films featuring pre-1960 periods seem to have difficulty securing the appropriate banners.) But ignore my trivial criticisms. The sets were realistic, the musical score appropriate and inspiring, the characters believable, and the photography well executed. It's a great flick!
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