Space Cowboys (2000)

Touches You

An Exercise In Nonsense

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

SPACE COWBOYS is an astronaut picture with a simple premise: a quartet of old-timers are sent up into space to repair an old-fashioned satellite whose technology is so obsolete that they are the only ones who know how to fix it. Interest is piqued by the presence of Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and Jim Garner in the cast, and the addition of Eastwood himself as director. How could the film be bad with all that talent behind it? The answer lies in the script. This is an oddly uninvolving story that's never quite sure what it wants to be. There's plenty of humour and the natural camaraderie between the old-timers works well; it's great to see these guys on the screen again. The attempts at high drama and action don't work so well, however, and there's never a real sense of danger coming from the predicament. The dated CGI effects don't help much either. This is better than GRAVITY, although not by much; somehow Hollywood seem to struggle a bit with making convincing astronaut movies.

In 1958, 'Hawk' Hawkins crashes the test plane while recklessly breaking the altitude record almost killing himself and Frank Corvin. Manager Bob Gerson takes away the guys' space mission and replace them with a chimpanzee. In the present day, a Russian satellite is going off course. NASA would rather let it fall but the Russians want it fixed. Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) is the project manager eager to fix it for political reasons. The guidance system is ancient and is a copy of one written by Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood). He tells Gerson to send up Team Dædalus which is himself, Hawk (Tommy Lee Jones), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland) and Tank Sullivan (James Garner). There is something underhanded about the Russian having US tech during the Cold War and Gerson has no intention of letting the geezers into space.There are some old people jokes but the movie is not as jokey as one would expect. Surprisingly, the four guys don't get the "I'm too old for this s***" line. It's great to see these old guys together. I was hoping for snappier dialog and sharper exchanges. The comedy could be much better.The story is pretty preposterous. There are lots of things that struck me the wrong way. The action seems to be halfway between the realism of Apollo 13 and the wild action of a Michael Bay movie. It has some exciting CGI moments but it's always tinged with a good handful of manufactured fiction. Two human interaction scenes seem wrong to me. First, I don't understand why Hawk is the one who rides the rocket to the moon. It seems that he's the crazy reckless pilot that's needed to land the shuttle. Frank is much more reasonable to be sent to the moon. Second, I don't understand how Gerson isn't arrested for allowing technology to slip to the Russians. Quite frankly, he can't guarantee that he isn't actually a Russian agent. And I won't mention all the crazy space maneuvers.

I rarely leave a unfinished movie. but this sucked,just like the eastwood's heartbreak ridge.the story is too cheesy and thin.i mean if you watch the movie after half and hour it doesn't really matters because during that time nothing happens to affect the main story line.Their young selves are not shown in great deal so we know nothing about their friendship. Also how idiotically they all agree on this minute just waste of time and the movie didnot had to be that long ,this eastwood fully on autopilot . i am not even sure there was a proper screenplay, i think they just played it as they went on. all that i am old but i am good stuff.all that arrogant stuff. well i am pretty much over it. So i guess eastwood is dirty harry in all his movie.

What movie with Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones. James Garner, James Cromwell, Donald Sutherland, and Marcia Gay Harden wouldn't be worth a look. This one has it all, but mostly laughs. This Clint Eastwood produced and directed movie is great simply because the cast doesn't appear to take it seriously. They are just having fun. And special effects? They are better here than other movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact. If you like movies where people are considered outdated or replaceable and prove the experts wrong, then this is the one. I watch it and keep getting reminded about all those COBOL experts who were back making the big bucks just prior to the millennium change.