Space Cowboys(2000)
Warner Bros. Aug 4, 2000 | Wide
When retired engineer Frank Corvin is called upon to rescue a failing satellite, he insists that his equally old teammates accompany him into space.
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- Tue Jun 2
- Wed Jun 3
- Thu Jun 4
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Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- In 1958, two U.S. Air Force pilots and aspiring astronauts, William "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones) and Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), are testing a modified Bell X-2 when Hawk decides to break a height record. The plane stalls and they are forced to eject, narrowly missing a Boeing B-50 Superfortress flying with navigator "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner). On the ground, Frank punches Hawk for taking unnecessary risks and jeopardizing his career, but their fight is broken up by flight engineer Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland). Their boss, Bob Gerson (James Cromwell), chastises Hawk, before taking them to a press conference, where he announces that the newly created NASA, rather than the USAF, will be conducting space flight tests (A chimp is selected to be the first American in outer space). This means the end of their space dreams, including that of going to the moon.In the present day, NASA is tasked to prevent a Soviet communications satellite, IKON, from decaying out of orbit and crashing to Earth (its guidance systems are dead and the satellite is on course to crash in 35-40 days). Mission director is Sara Holland (Marcia Gay Harden). Flight Director Eugene "Gene" Davis (William Devane). For some reason the Soviets (led by General Vostov (Rade Serbedzija)) don't want this satellite to enter the atmosphere, and the White House has mandated NASA to provide all assistance possible. The satellite's archaic electronics are based on those of Skylab that Frank had developed. Bob, now a project manager at NASA, requests Frank's help (He sends Sara to being Frank to NASA). Frank tells Sara to capture the satellite in the space shuttle and bring it home, but it is too big for that. Frank says that the issue cannot be fixed from Earth. Frank still despises Bob, but agrees provided he has the help of "Team Daedalus" including Hawk, Tank, and Jerry. Frank talks to Jerry, who is designing roller coasters for a living. Tank, who is a priest now.. and finally Hawk, who is giving dangerous joy rides to teenagers (on their birthday) in his single engine three winged plane.. Hawk was difficult to convince, but eventually signs up.. Gene forces Frank to accept taking 2 of NASA's astronauts on the mission (Ethan and Roger), else he wont allow it..Bob plans to have younger astronauts shadow the four, so as to replace them before launch. Frank's team goes through physicals, eye tests (Jerry is blind as a bat, but memorizes the card and passes), blood tests and so on.. They have to be in good physical shape too. Frank and Hawk bet to see who passes out first on the G simulator. Sara has a crush on Hawk. Hawk is training to be the pilot of the shuttle. He had a tendency to switch off autopilot and take manual control, and his instincts push the nose of the shuttle too high up to put it into a stall.. Hawk insists that the shuttle will not stall. The old and young teams soon work together, with the older astronauts showing off skills learned without the aid of a computer. Ethan is supposed to learn the guidance system repair from Frank, but when Frank refuses to cooperate, Ethan lets lose that Frank and his men may not be flying to space after all. Frank confronts Bob.When the press learn of Frank's team, the Vice President convinces Bob that they must be part of the mission for publicity. Bob reveals to Frank that Hawk has cancer. Frank refuses to go without Hawk. Bob agrees to fly Hawk with the cancer. The Space Shuttle Daedalus finds the satellite. It is not a communication satellite but in fact houses six nuclear missiles, relics from the Cold War and a violation of the Outer Space Treaty. Frank discovers that the satellite control system was stolen from Bob's files by the KGB, and that the satellite's computers will launch the missiles at predetermined targets if it falls out of orbit or goes offline. NASA and the crew plan to use the payload-assist rockets to push the satellite into deep space. However, one of the younger astronauts, Ethan Glance (Loren Dean), acting under Bob's original orders, tries to put the satellite into stable orbit himself. He sets off a chain reaction: the satellite collides with the shuttle, damaging most of the shuttle's computer systems and engines, destroying the solar panels on the satellite, and sending it into a faster decaying orbit, while Ethan is knocked out and dragged along with the satellite.While Tank and Jerry tend to the other young astronaut Roger Hines (Courtney B. Vance), who suffered a concussion on the impact, Frank and Hawk space walk to the satellite in time to activate a booster rocket and slow the orbit's decay. As they see to Ethan, they realize that the only option is to have someone ride on the satellite as they fire the missiles' engines so that it escapes into deep space. Hawk, who was recently widowed and who has eight months to live from pancreatic cancer, sacrifices himself, hoping that he will be able to land on the Moon to fulfill his life's dream.Frank, Tank, and Jerry now plan to bring the shuttle down over water since landing it would be difficult, but the shuttle comes in too fast (without any automatic systems whatsoever, as they were all damaged in the accident with the Russian bird. Only one working engine). After safely bailing out Ethan and Roger, Tank and Jerry stay with Frank regardless of the risk. Frank recalls a maneuver Hawk had used before, purposely stalling the shuttle to drop its speed quickly and allowing him to land the shuttle safely.The film ends with the Frank Sinatra song "Fly Me to the Moon", zooming in on the surface of the Moon showing that Hawk had indeed landed there before he died.
Storyline
- When a Russian satellite orbiting the Earth starts to veer off course, it seems like the guidance system in the satellite is of American origin. It's important to try and fix it before it comes into the atmosphere. NASA leader Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) tries to find out who designed it and discovers that it was Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), an Air Force pilot who, forty years ago, was part of a team who was originally supposed to go to space, but when NASA was formed, and under Bob's influence, they were dropped. Bob asks Frank to help, but he still holds a grudge. But after some prodding, he agrees but only if he and his team can go there so he can fix it. Bob reluctantly agrees, so Frank recruits his former teammates, "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland), and "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), to join him. After some strenuous tests, they're cleared. And they go up with two other astronauts, check out the satellite, and discover that they weren't told the whole truth. — rcs0411@yahoo.com In 1958, four hot shot test pilots seem certain to be the first men to go up into space. However, the back-stabbing leader of their organization, Bob Gerson (James Cromwell), disbands them to prevent their involvement in the then-forming NASA, and labels them as non-team players. Flash forward to the present, they are now living a docile life. Electrical engineer Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood) has a pleasant retired life in a desert home with his wife, Barbara (Barbara Babcock). Pilot "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), who had a penchant for pushing the test planes to their limits, is now a daredevil crop duster. Navigator "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner) is a Baptist minister. Designer Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland) is a womanizing roller coaster designer. Their former boss, Eugene Davis (William Devane), is now a mission leader at NASA and still as despicable as in his younger days. It is here that the main story begins. It seems that an old Russian communications satellite is about to crash back into the Earth's atmosphere and somehow American technology designed by Frank has ended up as the guiding system. Of course, because of the old technology, only the original team can save the day. As Bob makes many learning statements about the satellite to Russian General Vostov (Rade Serbedzija), who is working with the Americans, to save the day, you know there is something much more nefarious about the satellite. After some struggles to get the team to pass their physicals in less than thirty days, they, with two young counterparts, are launched on the space shuttle to fix the satellite. Ethan Glance (Loren Dean) has somehow been coerced to be in on the subterfuge involving Bob, and in an unexplained action, he tries to make connections on the satellite that causes the whole mission to become a disaster and creates the greatest action sequences in the film. — John Sacksteder
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