October Sky

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Average customer rating: One of the Best! Great family movie. From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA Great Movie This movie is one of the ten best of all time.

October Sky (Special Edition) Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston Manufacturer: Universal Studios ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Coming of Age | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video General | Family Life | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Fathers & Sons | Family Life | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns All Universal Studios Titles | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video Drama | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video DVDs Under $10 | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video Similar Items: Rocket Boys Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) Moonlight Mile Mr. Holland's Opus The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) ASIN: B0006FYOTC Release Date: 2005-01-25

Amazon.com

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Runing Time 108 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best!.......2007-06-21

Excellent feel good story about a group of boys who overcome their circumstances to achieve their dreams in a small coal mining town. Based on a true story!

Great family movie........2007-06-11

Great family movie. It's a story about kids getting inspired to learn something that changes their lives. It doesn't rely on violence or romance, just a good story. My brothers and I built lots of rockets when we were kids, so that probably helps.

If you think kids shouldn't build model rockets because it is too dangerous and they might get interested in building one, don't buy the movie.

From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA.......2007-06-04

A simple and effective film about what life is all about, responding to challenges. It took a lot of gall for Homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son, to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate. It took also three different challenges for Homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future. The challenge of the first ever man-made artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a Soviet satellite, a milestone in human history, a turning point that Homer and his friends could not miss, did not want to miss. Then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds. Finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack, even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity, and even then Homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams. But there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough. Homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need. If he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship, because his friends gave him precedence, his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate, thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes. It is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road. But the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man, like mining or football. The working class fate that was so present in those 1950s and 1960s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father. If the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day, the working class fate I am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap. Here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think. This might have been the fourth challenge Homer had to face: the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Great Movie.......2007-05-13

A favorite movie - great storie about believing in your dreams and not giving up.

This movie is one of the ten best of all time........2007-05-12

This movie is a real movie, not the made-up stuff they sell in theaters. Based on a true story, it just works like magic. The characters are totally believable, and at the end, it shows the space shuttle. So it really is about Homer Hickam, currently a NASA engineer, 98%, and the current space program, 2%. The year it's set in is 1957, 50 years ago, and starts with Sputnik going overhead. Anyone who likes space stories, especially real ones, will love this movie.

Average customer rating: One of the Best! Great family movie. From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA Great Movie This movie is one of the ten best of all time.

October Sky Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston Manufacturer: Universal Studios ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Coming of Age | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video General | Family Life | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Fathers & Sons | Family Life | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video 10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns All Universal Studios Titles | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video Drama | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video Kids & Family | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video DVDs Under $10 | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video General | Drama | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video Family Life | Drama | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video Period Piece | Drama | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video Similar Items: Rocket Boys Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) Moonlight Mile Mr. Holland's Opus The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) ASIN: B00000IQVL Release Date: 1999-07-27

Amazon.com

Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best!.......2007-06-21

Excellent feel good story about a group of boys who overcome their circumstances to achieve their dreams in a small coal mining town. Based on a true story!

Great family movie........2007-06-11

Great family movie. It's a story about kids getting inspired to learn something that changes their lives. It doesn't rely on violence or romance, just a good story. My brothers and I built lots of rockets when we were kids, so that probably helps.

If you think kids shouldn't build model rockets because it is too dangerous and they might get interested in building one, don't buy the movie.

From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA.......2007-06-04

A simple and effective film about what life is all about, responding to challenges. It took a lot of gall for Homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son, to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate. It took also three different challenges for Homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future. The challenge of the first ever man-made artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a Soviet satellite, a milestone in human history, a turning point that Homer and his friends could not miss, did not want to miss. Then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds. Finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack, even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity, and even then Homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams. But there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough. Homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need. If he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship, because his friends gave him precedence, his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate, thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes. It is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road. But the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man, like mining or football. The working class fate that was so present in those 1950s and 1960s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father. If the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day, the working class fate I am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap. Here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think. This might have been the fourth challenge Homer had to face: the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Great Movie.......2007-05-13

A favorite movie - great storie about believing in your dreams and not giving up.

This movie is one of the ten best of all time........2007-05-12

This movie is a real movie, not the made-up stuff they sell in theaters. Based on a true story, it just works like magic. The characters are totally believable, and at the end, it shows the space shuttle. So it really is about Homer Hickam, currently a NASA engineer, 98%, and the current space program, 2%. The year it's set in is 1957, 50 years ago, and starts with Sputnik going overhead. Anyone who likes space stories, especially real ones, will love this movie.

Average customer rating: One of the Best! Great family movie. From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA Great Movie This movie is one of the ten best of all time.

October Sky [Region 2] Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Similar Items: Rocket Boys Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) Moonlight Mile Mr. Holland's Opus The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) ASIN: B00004YVUY

Amazon.com

Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best!.......2007-06-21

Excellent feel good story about a group of boys who overcome their circumstances to achieve their dreams in a small coal mining town. Based on a true story!

Great family movie........2007-06-11

Great family movie. It's a story about kids getting inspired to learn something that changes their lives. It doesn't rely on violence or romance, just a good story. My brothers and I built lots of rockets when we were kids, so that probably helps.

If you think kids shouldn't build model rockets because it is too dangerous and they might get interested in building one, don't buy the movie.

From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA.......2007-06-04

A simple and effective film about what life is all about, responding to challenges. It took a lot of gall for Homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son, to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate. It took also three different challenges for Homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future. The challenge of the first ever man-made artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a Soviet satellite, a milestone in human history, a turning point that Homer and his friends could not miss, did not want to miss. Then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds. Finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack, even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity, and even then Homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams. But there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough. Homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need. If he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship, because his friends gave him precedence, his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate, thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes. It is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road. But the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man, like mining or football. The working class fate that was so present in those 1950s and 1960s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father. If the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day, the working class fate I am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap. Here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think. This might have been the fourth challenge Homer had to face: the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Great Movie.......2007-05-13

A favorite movie - great storie about believing in your dreams and not giving up.

This movie is one of the ten best of all time........2007-05-12

This movie is a real movie, not the made-up stuff they sell in theaters. Based on a true story, it just works like magic. The characters are totally believable, and at the end, it shows the space shuttle. So it really is about Homer Hickam, currently a NASA engineer, 98%, and the current space program, 2%. The year it's set in is 1957, 50 years ago, and starts with Sputnik going overhead. Anyone who likes space stories, especially real ones, will love this movie.

Average customer rating: One of the Best! Great family movie. From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA Great Movie This movie is one of the ten best of all time.

October Sky [Region 2] Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Similar Items: Rocket Boys Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) Moonlight Mile Mr. Holland's Opus The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) ASIN: B00004T8TU

Amazon.com

Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best!.......2007-06-21

Excellent feel good story about a group of boys who overcome their circumstances to achieve their dreams in a small coal mining town. Based on a true story!

Great family movie........2007-06-11

Great family movie. It's a story about kids getting inspired to learn something that changes their lives. It doesn't rely on violence or romance, just a good story. My brothers and I built lots of rockets when we were kids, so that probably helps.

If you think kids shouldn't build model rockets because it is too dangerous and they might get interested in building one, don't buy the movie.

From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA.......2007-06-04

A simple and effective film about what life is all about, responding to challenges. It took a lot of gall for Homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son, to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate. It took also three different challenges for Homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future. The challenge of the first ever man-made artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a Soviet satellite, a milestone in human history, a turning point that Homer and his friends could not miss, did not want to miss. Then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds. Finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack, even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity, and even then Homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams. But there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough. Homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need. If he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship, because his friends gave him precedence, his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate, thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes. It is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road. But the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man, like mining or football. The working class fate that was so present in those 1950s and 1960s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father. If the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day, the working class fate I am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap. Here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think. This might have been the fourth challenge Homer had to face: the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Great Movie.......2007-05-13

A favorite movie - great storie about believing in your dreams and not giving up.

This movie is one of the ten best of all time........2007-05-12

This movie is a real movie, not the made-up stuff they sell in theaters. Based on a true story, it just works like magic. The characters are totally believable, and at the end, it shows the space shuttle. So it really is about Homer Hickam, currently a NASA engineer, 98%, and the current space program, 2%. The year it's set in is 1957, 50 years ago, and starts with Sputnik going overhead. Anyone who likes space stories, especially real ones, will love this movie.

Average customer rating:

October Sky/Field of Dreams Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston , and Phil Alden Robinson Manufacturer: Universal Studios ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Robinson, Phil Alden | ( R ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns All Universal Studios Titles | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video Drama | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video ASIN: B0000EMYC4 Release Date: 2003-12-16

Average customer rating: One of the Best! Great family movie. From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA Great Movie This movie is one of the ten best of all time.

October Sky [Region 2] Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal , Chris Cooper , Laura Dern , Chris Owen , and William Lee Scott Director: Joe Johnston ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Baskin, Elya | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Canerday, Natalie | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Cooper, Chris | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Dern, Laura | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Ellis, Chris | ( E ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Loughlin, Terry | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Owen, Chris | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Scott, William Lee | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video Johnston, Joe | ( J ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns ( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video Similar Items: Rocket Boys Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) Moonlight Mile Mr. Holland's Opus The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition) ASIN: B0000501VP

Amazon.com

Based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr., October Sky emerged as one of the most delightful sleepers of 1999--a small miracle of good ol' fashioned movie-making in the cynical, often numbingly trendy Hollywood of the late 20th century. Hickam's true story begins in 1957 with Russia's historic launch of the Sputnik satellite, and while Homer (played with smart idealism by Jake Gyllenhaal) sees Sputnik as his cue to pursue a fascination with rocketry, his father (Chris Cooper) epitomizes the admirable yet sternly stubborn working-man's ethic of the West Virginia coal miner, casting fear and disdain on Homer's pursuit of science while urging his "errant" son to carry on the family business--a spirit-killing profession that Homer has no intention of joining.

As directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this wonderful movie is occasionally guilty of overstating its case and sacrificing subtlety for predictable melodrama. But more often the film's tone is just right, and the spirit of adventure and invention is infectiously conveyed through Gyllenhaal and his well-cast fellow rocketeers, whose many failures gradually lead to triumph on their makeshift backwoods launching pad. Capturing time and place with impeccable detail and superbly developed characters (including Laura Dern as an inspiring schoolteacher), October Sky is a family film for the ages, encouraging the highest potential of the human spirit while giving viewers a clear view of a bygone era when "the final frontier" beckoned to the explorer in all of us. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best!.......2007-06-21

Excellent feel good story about a group of boys who overcome their circumstances to achieve their dreams in a small coal mining town. Based on a true story!

Great family movie........2007-06-11

Great family movie. It's a story about kids getting inspired to learn something that changes their lives. It doesn't rely on violence or romance, just a good story. My brothers and I built lots of rockets when we were kids, so that probably helps.

If you think kids shouldn't build model rockets because it is too dangerous and they might get interested in building one, don't buy the movie.

From Western Virginia coal mines to NASA.......2007-06-04

A simple and effective film about what life is all about, responding to challenges. It took a lot of gall for Homer and his friends to be able to grow into manhood without falling in the trap of a prefabricated future that runs from father to son, to be a miner in the local mine and never get out of that fate. It took also three different challenges for Homer and his friends to conquer a personal and free future. The challenge of the first ever man-made artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, a Soviet satellite, a milestone in human history, a turning point that Homer and his friends could not miss, did not want to miss. Then the challenge of science and applied mechanics to calculate and to devise a rocket from scratch or rather from what they could gather in books and order in their minds. Finally the challenge of a world that resists and refuses and tries to force you back into the pack, even with an untimely accident that forces you to get back into the pack for plain survival necessity, and even then Homer proved he had the guts to accept the challenge that was blocking for a while his own plans and dreams. But there is another side of the story that the film does not emphasize enough. Homer is the carrier of the project but he is also the carrier of the inspiration he and his friends need. If he is the one who is going to get the university scholarship, because his friends gave him precedence, his friends will also be able to get on their own roads and tracks and step out of the mining fate, thanks to the energy his inspiring example sets in front of their eyes. It is hard at times not to follow the example of the one who is like a beacon on a difficult road. But the film is also effective to show how the father resisted this dream because for him science was not the fabric of a true man, like mining or football. The working class fate that was so present in those 1950s and 1960s and still is present in some areas is too often enforced by the traditional thinking of the father. If the mother does not have the courage to speak up one day, the working class fate I am speaking of becomes a tremendous trap. Here too the film is effective and it should make some parents think. This might have been the fourth challenge Homer had to face: the challenge of taking a road that was not the one pointed at and programmed by his own father.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Great Movie.......2007-05-13

A favorite movie - great storie about believing in your dreams and not giving up.

This movie is one of the ten best of all time........2007-05-12

This movie is a real movie, not the made-up stuff they sell in theaters. Based on a true story, it just works like magic. The characters are totally believable, and at the end, it shows the space shuttle. So it really is about Homer Hickam, currently a NASA engineer, 98%, and the current space program, 2%. The year it's set in is 1957, 50 years ago, and starts with Sputnik going overhead. Anyone who likes space stories, especially real ones, will love this movie.

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