October Sky (1999)

Regisseur:

Joe Johnston

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Homer H. Hickam Jr. (book)
Lewis Colick (screenplay)

Premierendatum:

19. Februar 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Drama | Familienfilm

Werbezeile:

Sometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky.

Plot:

The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.

Plot Keywords:

Month In Title | Space Satellite | Based On History | Aerospace Film | Space Race

Filmpreise:

3 wins & 11 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Superb film, based on real people and real events.

Besetzung

Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Homer Hickam
Chris Cooper	...	John Hickam
Laura Dern	...	Miss Riley
Chris Owen	...	Quentin
William Lee Scott	...	Roy Lee
Chad Lindberg	...	O'Dell
Natalie Canerday	...	Elsie Hickam
Scott Miles	...	Jim Hickam
Randy Stripling	...	Leon Bolden
Chris Ellis	...	Principal Turner
Elya Baskin	...	Ike Bykovsky
Courtney Cole-Fendley	...	Dorothy Platt (as Courtney Fendley)
David Dwyer	...	Jake Mosby
Terry Loughlin	...	Mr. Dantzler
Kailie Hollister	...	Valentine Carmina (as Kaili Hollister)

Alternativ:

Rocket Boys (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, brief teen sensuality and alcohol use, and for some thematic elements.

Länge:

108 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (DeLuxe)

Seitenverhältnis:

2.35 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Altersfreigabe:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:II | Mexico:A | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:7 (re-rating) | Sweden:Btl (original rating) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Finland:S

Drehorte:

Fountain City Elementary School - 2910 Montbelle Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Firma:

Universal Pictures

Dies und das:

Elsie claims that she'll move to Myrtle Beach after she leaves John. This was where the real Elsie moved after Homer Hickam Sr. (John) died of Black Lung Disease, and still currently resides.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: At the end of the movie when they show the space shuttle launch, the first shot shows a launch stack with a white painted external tank. The second shot shows a later, unpainted rust colored tank.

Dialogzitate:

John: Elsie, I don't have the power to settle this strike.
Elsie: The bosses listen to you. They'll do what you tell them.
John: I'm not gonna crawl on my belly infront of those miserable union rats.
Elsie: Is that what this is about? Is this about your pride?
John: It's about what's best for Coalwood. If this mine doesn't produce, then the town dies. Think the union gives a damn about that? They're nothin' but a bunch of greedy sons of bitches...
Elsie: Shut up. Just shut up.
[John is silent]
Elsie: Homer once said you love the mine more than your own family. I stook up for you because I didn't want to believe it. Homer has gotten alot of help from the people in this town. They've helped him build his rockets. They've watched him fly 'em. But not you. You never showed up, not even once. I'm not asking you to believe in it, but he's your son, for God's sake. And I am asking you to help him. If you don't, I'll leave you. I'll do whatever it takes to get away from here. I will work, if that's what it takes. I'll live in a tree to get away from you. Don't think I won't.
John: Where would you go?
Elsie: [a beat] Myrtle Beach.
[...]

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in My Big Break (2008)

Soundtrack:

That'll Be the Day

Superb film, based on real people and real events.

It was 1957 and Russia had just launched Sputnik. I was almost 12, and I remember my father pointing up into the October sky as we tried to catch a glimpse of the Earth's first artificial satellite orbiting overhead. Thus the title "October Sky". In West Virginia the son of a coal miner became intrigued with rockets and space travel and, in spite of his father's urgings that he accept his fate and become a coal miner too, eventually won the national science fair competition, and a college scholarship, ultimately became a key member of the space exploration team of NASA. A wonderful and inspiring story, and a superb film of that story.

Everyone was good in the film, but Chris Cooper as the miner boss and stubborn father was far and away the best in "October Sky." Although "rockets" is the theme, the film is primarily of the struggle of children trying to break out of the cycle and become more than just another coal miner. As an epilog we learn that all four of the "rocket boys" went to college, the father died of mining-related disease, the teacher of Hodgkins disease, and the whole town and mining operation was sold and shut down in the next decade.