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SPACE
COWBOYS review by C.J. Henderson
Review: SPACE COWBOYS is a good, old-fashioned movie. Since its four principal players are all major stars, each gets an introduction which sets his character. Of course, sometimes stars just show up, take the money, and run. Not here. Everyone turns on the talent full blast, including its impressive second string of notables: Marcia Gay Harden ("Miller's Crossing"), William Devane ("Rolling Thunder"), James Cromwell ("Babe") and a host of others. The story top notch. The four old timers provide plenty of fun as they stagger through their physical testing. Then comes the mission and things really heat up, which one automatically expects. After all, if you were thinking Hollywood gets four actors of this caliber together to make a film about a routine space flight, you don't know Hollywood too well. Of course there are unexpected developments that endanger the entire crew and give the movie a slam-bang finish. That's what we're paying for ¯ right? It must be
noted that the plot moves at lightning speed, sometimes jumping
too quickly over details viewers might like to see more of, and
more than once leaving development points up to the audience's imagination.
On the other hand the story never gets bogged down or leaves the
audience confused. And, unlike the 89 minute "X-Men," of which all
of the same can be Interestingly, the special effects do not dominate the screen. This is not to say that Industrial Light & Magic skimped on the dazzle. There are Earth-views in the film unlike any seen before by movie audiences. Simply put, there is no way mere pretty pictures can compete with Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones on the screen when they have a good story to tell. Not wanting to give too much of the good stuff away (after all, you're paying out that $5.00 to $9.50 to be entertained, not to confirm that I know what I'm talking about), let me wrap up by telling you that this one is fun for the whole family. The language is family-friendly, sex is hinted at, but it's all appropriate and not vulgar, the effects are tremendous but not over-powering, as if any amount of spaceships and star fields could distract an audience from this cast when they have a good story with which to work. The screening audience gave applauds at the end that was enthusiastic and well-deserved. There used to be an understood rule that any movie released before July 15th was one the studios had faith in. Anything released after that was simply being dumped on the public to make what money it could. I was never quite sure about that rule. But, whether it was ever valid or not, SPACE COWBOYS knocks it out the window. This is not only a great movie, but it's the best film any of its stars have made in years. Intelligent, exciting, and filmed with an appropriate sense of grandeur, this one deserves high marks OFFICIAL
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Synopsis:
The film starts with a true scenario, proposing that the bravest,
fastest, smartest pilots alive in '58 were the men of Team Daedalus
(Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Garner).
America's space program was in the hands of the United Space Air
Force, which was determined to create a rocket powered ship that
could leave and return under its own power. On the verge of success,
the Air Force was forced to stop their research. A new agency named
NASA would be taking over. The brave pilots who had been risking
their lives for their country were replaced by chimpanzees. More
than forty years later fate gives them another chance. A Russian
satellite suffers a systems failure that the Russians insist will
cause a total communications blackout in their country. To make
a long story short, there is only one man who understands the satellite's
operating system: Frank Corvin (Eastwood). Thus Frank and his buddies
finally get their shot at going into space -- 40 years late, perhaps,
but they get it. Or at least, they'll get it if they earn it.