NASA

Starring:Nasa
Studio: Madacy Records
Product Type: DVD

From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

Average customer rating:

Well made and entertaining
very well made..
Well done docu-drama
Great way to learn about History and watch great television at the same time.
wonderfully told history

From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition
Starring: Mason Adams , Jo Anderson , David Andrews , Ronny Cox , and Bryan Cranston
Manufacturer: HBO Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Science & Technology | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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For All Mankind - Criterion Collection
Band of Brothers

ASIN: B000A0GYD2
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Amazon.com essential video

Originally broadcast in April and May of 1998, the epic miniseries From the Earth to the Moon was HBO's most expensive production to date, with a budget of $68 million. Hosted by executive producer Tom Hanks, the miniseries tackles the daunting challenge of chronicling the entire history of NASA's Apollo space program from 1961 to 1972. For the most part, it's a rousing success. Some passages are flatly chronological, awkwardly wedging an abundance of factual detail into a routine dramatic structure. But each episode is devoted to a crucial aspect of the Apollo program. The cumulative effect is a deep and thorough appreciation of NASA's monumental achievement. With the help of a superlative cast, consistent writing, and a stable of talented directors, Hanks has shared his infectious enthusiasm for space exploration and the inspiring power of conquering the final frontier.

NASA's complete participation in the production lends to its total authenticity, right down to the use of NASA equipment, launch locations, and even spacecraft. The re-creation of the lunar landscape is almost as impressive as the real thing and is further enhanced by the use of helium balloons to lighten the actors playing moon-walking astronauts. (These and other backstage details are revealed in the "making of" featurette, along with a wealth of supplemental materials, on a bonus disc in the miniseries' DVD package.) With a fictional, Walter Cronkite-like TV reporter (Lane Smith) serving as the dramatic link for all 12 episodes, this ambitious production may not be a great work of art. But as a generous and definitive example of nonfiction drama, it's full of the same kind of awe, inspiration, and humanity that led to "one giant leap" in the all-too-short history of 20th-century space exploration. --Jeff Shannon

Description

DVD Features:
3D Animated Menus
Biographies:A Brief History of Famous Astronomers
Documentaries
Featurette:Behind-the-scenes featurette; Special effects featurette
Other:President John F. Kennedy's historic speech to Congress on May 25, 1961; Out of this Solar System - a glimpse at galaxies, black holes and stars outside our solar system; History of the Moon - the origin and evolution of the earth's moon; The Space Race - a timeline of the USA and USSR space programs
Theatrical Trailer:Six original promotional trailers for HBO: Emotion; Destination Moon; The Pitch; Rocket Science; Cowboys; Sure Hope I See You Again

Customer Reviews:

Well made and entertaining.......2007-07-08

This DVD collection is 5 stars. Tom Hanks made a pure blockbuster of the space race. Enjoyable for all the family.

very well made.........2007-07-07

However, I think this would have been more enjoyable without a bias towards the Americans which kinda makes it like a russia vs the US battle, which I suppose is really what pushed the Americans to achieve this feat to begin with.
Anyway, it's really inspiring and just amazing to watch this dvd and realise how the space program progressed and brought tons of technological advances. NASA should plan a mission to mars soon.. or another manned mission to the moon.

Well done docu-drama.......2007-07-07

Bought this for my 10-year old space enthusiast who sat down and watched all the way through it with the occassional forced break for sleep. A nice mix of historical footage and dramatical re-enactments that tells the story of the race to the moon in an interesting way that allows for the strengths, and some weaknesses, of the people who worked on the space program to be highlighted. Very enjoyable!

Great way to learn about History and watch great television at the same time........2007-07-06

This is one of the best made for TV Mini Series I have ever seen. I am a big fan of all mini series and this is the best. I love all the history you learn. This does so much better then any history class has ever done. I am a big history buff and this is what you need if you are one too. This is a great story with great special effects.

We can not stop watching them. I am glad I bought this and I can share it with my kids to come. This is what the space program is all about. To bad it doesn't seem like the space program these day has this much love for space.

Kyle

wonderfully told history .......2007-07-06

We first watched this entire series on netflix and fell in love with it. If you have any interest in the space program at all it will hold your interest and you will learn even more.

When Amazon ran this as a gold box special we bought 3 sets - one for us and one for each of our parents.

Average customer rating:

back to the future back in the day!
A wonderful classic
Quality Family Viewing
Flight of the Navigator
Remembering My Childhood

Flight of the Navigator
Starring: Joey Cramer , Paul Reubens , Veronica Cartwright , Cliff De Young , and Sarah Jessica Parker
Director: Randal Kleiser
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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*Batteries Not Included
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ASIN: B0001I562I
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Disney's 1986 Flight of the Navigator combines a strong ensemble cast and classic '80s soundtrack with dazzling special effects for a high-flying sci-fi adventure. While searching for his little brother in the woods, 12-year-old David Freeman (Joey Cramer) falls down a ravine and is knocked unconscious. After what seems like minutes, he returns home, only to discover that eight years have passed since he was declared missing and presumed dead. Even more mystifying is that David hasn't aged, nor can he account for the time lapse. Meanwhile, NASA officials stumble upon a futuristic spacecraft and are determined to assess what David knows about it by locking him in a top-secret lab for scanning and testing. His only chance of escape is in the spacecraft manned by Max, a wisecracking robot. Cramer gives an earnest performance, which overcomes an imperfect script, while enough one-liners and imaginative animation will keep families engaged. Watch for Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her first film appearances. Rated PG for language. (Ages 6 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Customer Reviews:

back to the future back in the day!.......2007-06-18

This is definetly a classic!! I showed my kids this & that became an instant movie to watch!

A wonderful classic.......2007-05-08

I love reminiscing about watching and enjoying this movie as a child. Viewing it now, I find a different and delightful humor that I hadn't conceived in my early years. Great fun for the whole family.

Quality Family Viewing.......2007-05-08

I recently bought this video to watch with my 5 year old son and he loved it. I remembered enjoying it when it came out, and my memories did not disappoint me. The story-line is rather simple, which make it fairly easy for children to follow, but remain interesting enough for adults to enjoy as well. Like the plot, the graphics and special effects won't bowl you over but are done well enough to tell the story. A great addition to the colection of young sc-fi lovers.

Flight of the Navigator.......2007-04-10

I have been looking for this movie for awhile and i am so glad to been able to purchase it. Wonderful family movie.

Remembering My Childhood.......2007-03-29

I grew up on "Flight of the Navigator." I wanted my own children to see it, but our local video store did not have it for rent. Amazon always has what I am looking for, so I ordered a copy. My kids absolutely love it! I recommend it for anyone looking for a good, clean, family film that everyone will enjoy. Thank you Amazon!

Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)

Average customer rating:

Apollo 13 is a gripping tale of moon travel
Review
Keep It Honest !
Can't say enough good about this movie!
well told technically accurate film

Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Bill Paxton , Kevin Bacon , Gary Sinise , and Ed Harris
Director: Ron Howard
Manufacturer: Universal Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition)
From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition
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ASIN: 0783219695
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Amazon.com essential video

NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, when the Apollo 13 crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton play (respectively) astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise in director Ron Howard's intense, painstakingly authentic docudrama. The Apollo 13 crew and Houston-based mission controllers race against time and heavy odds to return the damaged spacecraft safely to Earth from a distance of 205,500 miles. Using state-of-the-art special effects and ingenious filmmaking techniques, Howard and his stellar cast and crew build nail-biting tension while maintaining close fidelity to the facts. The result is a fitting tribute to the Apollo 13 mission and one of the biggest box-office hits of 1995. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Apollo 13 is a gripping tale of moon travel.......2007-05-19

I remember seeing this movie in the theater, and it was awesome. It still is, on DVD. The astronauts almost didn't make it back. One of the top ten movies ever made.

The extras are nice, if you have the time. Together they take at least a couple of hours.

Review.......2007-05-07

I had to replace my original Apollo 13 DVD which, after several successful playings, started to fail to "play back." Possibly, this failure was exacerbated by my attempted "fix" which was to clean the business side of the DVD with an (electronic grade) 99% alcohol cleaning solution.

At any rate, I am happy to have the new disk.

(Of the many [more than 100] DVDs I have, this is the only instance of media failure I have experienced.)

Keep It Honest !.......2007-04-29

Good movie of a great human adventure,well acted and professionally filmed.
Looks a bit stiff and un-imaginative in the developpement of the "story" but overall a very fine visualisation of this tragic-heroic piece of American history.

Can't say enough good about this movie!.......2007-04-12

There were a few "hollywood" inaccuracies that bothered me. For example, it was Meniere's disease, not an ear infection that plagued Al Shepard. Furthermore, it wasn't Menieres that kept him off Apollo 13. It was an administrative decision based on the need to give him and his rookie crew more time to train.

Other than those minor nitpicks, I REALLY enjoyed this film. I didn't obsess over the missed details, mind you. This is, after all, a hollywood adaptation of Jim Lovell's recounting. Facts are going to be skewed a bit here and there. As entertainment value goes, it was wonderful! Suspenseful, emotional and, all-in-all, pretty close to the reality of the situation.

As historical movies go, it actually wasn't too bad on accuracy. And what it lacked in accuracy, it more than made up for in sheer entertainment value.

Jim Lovell's cameo in the end was the icing on the cake.

well told technically accurate film.......2007-02-28

I first saw this film at the cinemas back in 1995 and have seen it countless times since then. I have always been a space enthusiast and remember reading books about astronauts and the Saturn V rocket as a kid. This film is probably the most technically accurate spaceflight film out there. I love how all the zero G scenes are real (filmed in KC-135 aircraft) and all of the switches,lights etc. in the Command module are 100% realistic. The Saturn V liftoff was incredible. This film is still as exciting to watch today as it was back when it came out.

The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Grown-up? You bet. (Inappropriate for kids? No.)
They were just men....or were they?
The Right Stuff is Real
Trivializing An American Adventure
Thinking of showing this movie to your classroom?

The Right Stuff (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Sam Shepard , Scott Glenn , Ed Harris , Dennis Quaid , and Fred Ward
Director: Philip Kaufman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Right Stuff

ASIN: B000092T6N
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Amazon.com

Philip Kaufman's intimate epic about the Mercury astronauts (based on Tom Wolfe's book) was one of the most ambitious and spectacularly exciting movies of the 1980s. It surprised almost everybody by not becoming a smash hit. By all rights, the film should have been every bit the success that Apollo 13 would later become; The Right Stuff is not only just as thrilling, but it is also a bigger and better movie. Combining history (both established and revisionist), grand mythmaking (and myth puncturing), adventure, melodrama, behind-the-scenes dish, spectacular visuals, and a down-to-earth sense of humor, The Right Stuff chronicles NASA's efforts to put a man in orbit. Such an achievement would be the first step toward President Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon, and, perhaps most important of all, would win a crucial public relations/morale victory over the Soviets, who had delivered a stunning blow to American pride by launching Sputnik, the first satellite. The movie contrasts the daring feats of the unsung test pilots--one of whom, Chuck Yeager, embodied more than anyone else the skill and spirit of Wolfe's title--against the heavily publicized (and sanitized) accomplishments of the Mercury astronauts. Through no fault of their own, the spacemen became prisoners of the heroic images the government created for them in order to capture the public's imagination. The casting is inspired; the film features Sam Shepard as the legendary Yeager, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Dennis Quaid as "Gordo" Cooper, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, Scott Wilson as Scott Crossfield, and Pamela Reed and Veronica Cartwright are superb in their thankless roles as astronauts' wives. --Jim Emerson

Description

Four Academy Awards(R)! Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard and a stellar cast give soaring life to the glory years of America's space program. From Tom Wolfe's best seller. Year: 1983 Director: Philip Kaufman Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid

Customer Reviews:

Grown-up? You bet. (Inappropriate for kids? No.).......2007-04-29

Any reviewer who insists that this movie contains content inappropriate for "students of any age" is exaggerating. "The Right Stuff" is rated PG. Any bright pre-adolescent would understand this film; certainly any high-school student would. It contains no sexual language that a 21st-century kid would not have already heard on American broadcast TV. In fact, the astronauts in the film talk like the 1960s "squares" they were, all too unwilling to use ugly language. They speak in metaphors and euphemisms, just as ordinary men of that era did.

"The Right Stuff" is patriotic, serious, wry, funny, observant, and utterly grown-up. It accurately depicts men and women confronting adult issues of ambition, celebrity, marriage, and brotherhood. What it is NOT...is a live-action movie with a cartoon mentality, like so many films deemed appropriate for school-age children by holier-than-thou "reviewers."

They were just men....or were they?.......2007-04-17

Scott Glenn, Ed Harris and Dennis Quaid are three wonderful reasons to watch this movie. Based on the book by Chuck Yeager, this movie depicts 1950's and 1960's mentality and eagerness to beat the Russians at the space race.

Sputnik scared the crud out of America, but we soon had our champions. The Mercury Seven!

The movie doesn't ooze with as much jealousy as was written in the book, but the focus of Yeager on his own accomplishments during this time really comes off as a "look at me" attempt. He was given a chance to be part of the Mercury Astronaut core and apparently turned it down. One of America's best pilots, one of its uniformed sons, denying his country's call at their most pivotal hour??? There's nothing heroic in that act.

There's plenty of heroism, however, in the storied accomplishments of the Mercury Seven. And to be fair, Yeager went on to accomplish quite alot in the field of Aviation. Either way, the story is one that is important to our nation's history. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the truth and the fiction of it.

The Right Stuff is Real.......2007-04-02

Through great casting and near-perfect screenwriting, this movie presents the transformation of the U.S. following WWII to a space exploring nation. The movie is based on a stellar book by Tom Wolfe, and the depictions of his pilots-cum-astronauts as they struggle to retain their pilot identities within the confines of training for these first probes into space ring true. Poignantly, their experiences are contrasted with those of perhaps the greatest test pilot of that generation, Chuck Yeager, who never became an astronaut.

Trivializing An American Adventure.......2007-03-19

Although the movie is entertaining and has a fine cast, it is flawed in many respects. The viewer who sees it will not really learn anything important about the evolution of Project Mercury. Firstly, the engineers who designed the Mercury spacecraft are presented as a bunch of Teutonic dictators indifferent to the wishes of the astronauts. In reality, Wernher von Braun's Germans were not involved in the design of the spacecraft, only its Redstone booster rocket. In reality, the astronauts worked closely with the spacecraft's manufacturer, McDonnnell Aircraft in its development. I believe that the engineers are no less heroes than than the astronauts and many sacrificed their families and even their lives as a result of overwork, yet that is completely ignored in this story. Secondly, the way Gus Grissom is portrayed is outrageous in that he is presented as some sort of screw-up causing the sinking of his spacecraft, Liberty Bell 7. The fact that, in reality, he was assigned to the first flights of both the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft (where he lost his life in the Apollo 1 fire) shows that the NASA people had the highest confidence in his abilities. They wouldn't keep someone in the program just so that it wouldn't look to the outside world that there were failures as was proven by the fact that Scott Carpenter was not assigned to another flight due to his relatively poor performance in Aurora 7. Finally, John and Annie Glenn are presented as some kind of victims of Vice President's Johnson's ire. No one did more for the space program than LBJ who was a bigger supporter than even President Kennedy was and the Glenn's were personally enriched as a result of the controversial Life magazine contract with the astronauts which Kennedy and Johnson supported. I don't believe LBJ was some sort of ogre for wanting a little media coverage and he probably wasn't aware of Annie Glenn's stutter. I would compare this film to Oliver Stone's "JFK" which is also an entertaining, but unrelated to the true story.
For someone actually interested in the TRUE story about America's space program, I would recommend the film "Apollo 13" and the series "From the Earth to the Moon".

Thinking of showing this movie to your classroom?.......2007-03-09

I'll save you the time....don't show it. Although this is a wonderful movie, it is inappropriate for students of any age due to sexually explicit language. There are also many words that, although not new to students by any stretch of the imagination, shouldn't be used in the classroom setting.

Average customer rating:

Great movie; HD didn't improve picture that much
A MUST OWN EXPERIENCE!
Pleasantly surprised
Not the greatest HD-DVD, but still good
i wont to go to the moon

Apollo 13 [HD DVD]
Starring: David Andrews , Kevin Bacon , Xander R. Berkeley , Geoffrey Blake , and Frank Cavestani
Director: Ron Howard
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000FA57NK
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Customer Reviews:

Great movie; HD didn't improve picture that much.......2007-04-07

This is a very good movie, but if you are thinking about double-dipping and buying it on HD DVD to replace your DVD, don't. Yes, it does look better, but not much better. If you don't have it, then buy it on HD DVD.

A MUST OWN EXPERIENCE!.......2007-03-31

To view and relive this cinematic retelling of the astronauts' odyssey in HD is purely a sight to behold. The space scenes make you feel like you're really out thre with them. A little grainy sometimes in scenes involving the families of the astronauts or other "non-space" stuff, but you have to remember that this film is actually quite old now, so I believe the transfer is as good as can be expected, with little to gripe about. I would have appreciated a Dolby True HD sound track, but the dolby digital plus does the trick for that sonic "oomph" you're looking for. All in all, the film itself excels at what it tries to do. A great film and great HD-DVD material.

Pleasantly surprised.......2007-02-18

I'm not a videophile, so don't expect any technical jargon.
Overall, this is a stellar HD DVD from Universal yet again.
Nice detail, particularly during the space sequences...the clarity is spectacular. Slight film grain, possibly intentional.
Overall, a must-have for fans of the film.

Note: contains ALL special features of the previous version, except the IMAX version.

Not the greatest HD-DVD, but still good.......2007-01-12

Apollo 13 is my first HD-DVD purchase (well it came free with my HD-E1), and I can say it is a HUGE improvement over DVD, HUGE...but after watching for a good 10mins, i noticed it could have been much better.

PICTURE QUALITY: 7/10

Picture Quality is AVERAGE all the way up to AMAZING, depending on the shots. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible by any means, it's just not what you consider DEMO material. There's alot of noise on the image ie. BG walls and white shirts, but maybe this was an intentional aesthetic choice by Ron Howard, who knows. On the good side, there are some amazing shots that TRUELY take your breath away, and you can just FEEL how 3-Dimensional the image is. It was moments like these that even WOWED my folks, who immediately noticed the difference on my Panasonic 50" plasma.

SOUND QUALITY: 7/10

On the sound front, it's not bad. Not as IMPACTFUL as my old DTS DVD, as it feels alot lower in volume and lacks that oooomph on the LFE front. But it's a still satisfying experience and far from terrible by any means. Overall, it's a very clean mix.

-zallapo

i wont to go to the moon.......2006-12-30

apollo 13 on hd dvd is so nuch batter the on dvd or for that on vsh for some of us may rember vhs it was good to have vhs but then cam dvd i think was good too and now hd dvd or the orther one blu-ray if you like sony i ony do for tv go hd so if you do not no which one to get go with hd you thabk ne later

Average customer rating:

Roving Mars [Blu-ray]
Starring: Robert Manning , George Butler , Paul Newman , Steve Squyres , and Dr. Charles Elachi
Director: George Butler
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000PY311Q
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Amazon.com

When you consider the odds against success, the achievements on glorious display in Roving Mars are almost miraculous. This excellent IMAX production follows the familiar IMAX format; at 40 minutes in length, it's not as wide-ranging as other documentaries might be, but in chronicling the design, launch, and successful landings of NASA's robotic Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, it offers an unprecedented level of visual splendor, highlighted by amazingly accurate computer-animated depictions of what really happened when the rovers arrived at their destination. Financed by Disney, and combining the talents of veteran IMAX director George Butler and top-ranking Hollywood producer Frank Marshall (best known for his frequent collaborations with Steven Spielberg), this celebration of science and technology begins with a raspy introduction narrated by Paul Newman (who had recently voiced the character of "Doc" in Disney/Pixar's Cars), then dives right into the formidable challenge of launching and landing the rovers on time and budget, with a looming deadline of optimal Mars/Earth orbital alignment occurring only once every 26 months.

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, we see highly skilled engineers addressing every challenge and every possible contingency, and project leader Steve Squyers serves as our informative host and enthusiastic populist for space exploration. After launching in June and July of 2003, the rovers traveled for seven months and 300 million miles to Mars, landing on the red planet in January 2004. Every aspect of the mission is covered in concise detail, and tension escalates as touch-down (achieved with the now-familiar "bouncing balloon" landing system) draws near. What's most remarkable, even to the crew at JPL, is that Spirit and Opportunity succeeded far beyond their mission expectations, becoming one of NASA's most triumphant achievements in interplanetary exploration. The photos, chemical analyses, and other data gathered on Mars were intended to prove the past existence of water on Mars (and hence the possibility of life), and in this and many other respects, Roving Mars stands as a breathtaking tribute to the men, women, and robots who've given us a greater understanding of the planetary system we call home. --Jeff Shannon

On the Disc
Roving Mars is accompanied by two excellent bonus features. First up is "Mars: Past, Present, and Future," a 25-minute "making of" featurette that provides additional educational detail about our closest planetary neighbor, along with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with key personnel at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Then comes the 50-minute featurette "Mars and Beyond," originally broadcast in 1957 as an episode of Walt Disney's popular Disneyland TV show. Typical of that series, it's a wildly imaginative, cleverly animated look at Mars and its significance in the history of mankind. Even after more than half a century, it's filled with scientific and speculative details that are sure to engage anyone's sense of wonder. --Jeff Shannon

Product description

Action. Drama. Anticipation. Exultation. Experience it all as you join the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity for an awe-inspiring journey to the surface of the mysterious red planet. Through the eyes of these two intrepid, death-defying rovers, and with NASA scientists and engineers at your side, you'll see Mars in a way no one ever has before. You'll feel what it is like to stand on the startling surface of the planet that's intrigued mankind for eons. And you'll uncover its ultimate mystery: Is there life on Mars? Roving Mars - it's the ride of a lifetime.

Average customer rating:

For Those Who Love Clint Eastwood
Good Actors
Chuck Yeager's Revenge...
Old codgers show the young-uns how its done!
space cowboys

Space Cowboys
Starring: John Mallory Asher , Barbara Babcock , Blair Brown , Eli Craig , and James Cromwell
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005ALS2
Release Date: 2001-04-17

Amazon.com

This slice of cornball Americana is so much fun you'll be tempted to stand up and salute. Director and costar Clint Eastwood manages to turn what might have been ludicrous into a jubilant tribute to age and experience, and Space Cowboys succeeds as two movies in one--a comedy about retired pilots given one last shot at glory and an Apollo 13-like thriller with all the requisite heroics. With a dream cast of Hollywood vets playing old farts described in tabloids as "The Ripe Stuff," the movie jumps from a 1958 prologue (establishing their lost bid for space travel) to 40-plus years later, when the retired Air Force aces (Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones) volunteer to rescue a falling Russian satellite that only Eastwood's character can repair.

It turns out that Russky bird is a cold war leftover equipped with live nuclear warheads, and Space Cowboys revs up to a rousing climax in which our heroes prove their mettle. But first the comedy: watching these codgers struggle to pass NASA's physical tests is a total hoot, with running gags about wrinkles, dentures, and oysters for sagging libidos. (Sutherland is the scene-stealer, but they're all having a blast.) Once in space, the movie gets down to business, and the visual-effects wizards at Industrial Light and Magic provide stunning vistas from Earth's orbit; a shot looking down at the boot of Italy is particularly beautiful. A subplot involving a weasely NASA administrator (James Cromwell) is rather perfunctory, but it hardly matters. Space Cowboys earns its wings, once again demonstrating Eastwood's comfort with any genre he chooses. --Jeff Shannon

Description

In 1958, the members of Team Daedalus, a group of top Air Force test pilots, were ready to serve their country as the first Americans in space but were pushed aside. Now, as a Russian satellite fails and is about to crash into earth, Team Daedalus is back in action in a rescue mission.

Customer Reviews:

For Those Who Love Clint Eastwood.......2007-04-14

This is a wonderful movie; interactions between the main characters (Frank Corvin, Hawk Hawkins, Tank, and Jerry) are great to watch!!

Good Actors.......2007-02-15

Nice job, I think the stars had fun doing this one. Nothing real special just a fun movie to watch.

Chuck Yeager's Revenge..........2006-11-04

This is a fun movie based on an interesting premise. Back in the 1950's it was the Air Force that assumed that they were going to lead the country into space. Air Force test pilots were pushing aircraft to the edges of space and preparing to become the first astronauts when space research was taken away from the Air Force and became the mission of the newly created civilian agency, NASA. This was a real shocker to most of the top pilots of the Air Force, and although many of them left the Air Force to join the fledgling NASA eventually making it in to space, many like Chuck Yeager, (the man who broke the sound barrier) stayed in the suddenly mundane Air Force. Yeager served in Vietnam, and led an Air Force Fighter Group in Europe in the 1970's, but never got closer to space than he was in the late 50's.

In this movie, Clint Eastwood plays Frank Corvin a Yeager-like member of a fictional Air Force project called Team Daedalus that was pushing at the limits of space in the late 50's, only to have the rug pulled out from under them when space research went to NASA. Tommy Lee Jones plays Hawk, the best pilot on the team, and James Garner and Donald Sutherland are supporting members of the team.

The movie starts very effectively as a blue-tinted flashback to the Muroc glory days of the Air Force sometime in 1958 with a portrayal of Team Daedalus' fall from grace. The theme music, written by Eastwood who also directed the movie, complements perfectly this nostalgic look at simpler and starker times.

Flashing forward to the present the film picks up the pace as we learn that the Russians have a huge communications satellite called Ikon that has a deteriorating orbit and will be plummeting to Earth in 70 days or so. The Russians are adamant that the satellite must be saved and the only way to do it is with the Space Shuttle. Unfortunately, the shuttle isn't big enough to retrieve the massive satellite to return it to Earth, so repairs will need to be made in orbit. Adding to the complexity of the project is that the guidance system is 1970's era technology and there is no one around that knows enough about it to fix it.

Surprisingly, it turns out that the guidance system is a copy of the guidance system that Eastwood's character Frank Corvin designed for SkyLab in the 1970's, and Corvin is still around, although retired. Suffice it to say that Corvin is lured out of retirement by the chance to go into space as long as he can take the other members of the old Team Daedalus with him.

Eastwood, Jones, Garner and Sutherland are hilarious as the cantankerous old veterans cramming to learn how to fly a crash Space Shuttle mission. And James Cromwell, one of Hollywood's great character actors of the last 20 years does a fantastic job of playing the oily project manager, Bob Gerson. Cromwell is the kind of guy that seemingly pops up in small roles in every movie you see, but never actually stars in one. Every era of Hollywood has actors like that, think of Sidney Greenstreet in the 30's and 40's, and without them movies wouldn't be what they are. That said, Cromwell is truly great in this movie in what he does best, a supporting role.

The rest of the movie is pretty standard: they go into space, things don't work out the way they were planned, there's a surprise or two, a disaster to be averted, and a "will they make it?" trip home. But the special effects are fantastic, everything outside of the shuttle was done with computer graphics with the actors faces plopped in behind their face shields, and it is absolutely convincing. Of course you hear the hiss of the propulsion units on the space suits and the roar of the maneuvering rockets in supposedly silent space, but physics has never been Hollywood's strong point.

And while the second half of the movie is pretty formulaic, it is well done. The first half of the movie is different enough to make the whole thing an interesting and entertaining whole.

Old codgers show the young-uns how its done!.......2006-03-26

Okay--it is a viable genre--the old codgers who come to save the day and don't use the new fangled computers that the young-uns are dependent on--etc. This is the top of that genre--Donald Sutherland displays why a younger woman would go for an older man--his aplomb, lack of shame and frank yet respectful worship of female beauty are hard to resist. Tommy Lee is hilarious, Clint is always Clint and James Garner rounds out the team.

Enjoyable and worth seeing.

space cowboys.......2006-02-26

This is one movie I will watch over and over. The actors are superb in their characters and the movie seems to be real. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Average customer rating:

Grown-up? You bet. (Inappropriate for kids? No.)
They were just men....or were they?
The Right Stuff is Real
Trivializing An American Adventure
Thinking of showing this movie to your classroom?

The Right Stuff
Starring: Sam Shepard , Scott Glenn , Ed Harris , Dennis Quaid , and Fred Ward
Director: Philip Kaufman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition
October Sky (Special Edition)
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The Right Stuff

ASIN: 0790731541
Release Date: 1997-06-25

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Grown-up? You bet. (Inappropriate for kids? No.).......2007-04-29

They were just men....or were they?.......2007-04-17

The Right Stuff is Real.......2007-04-02

Trivializing An American Adventure.......2007-03-19

Thinking of showing this movie to your classroom?.......2007-03-09

Apollo 13 (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Apollo 13 is a gripping tale of moon travel
Review
Keep It Honest !
Can't say enough good about this movie!
well told technically accurate film

Apollo 13 (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Bill Paxton , Kevin Bacon , Gary Sinise , and Ed Harris
Director: Ron Howard
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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ASIN: 0783225733
Release Date: 2006-08-22

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Customer Reviews:

Apollo 13 is a gripping tale of moon travel.......2007-05-19

Review.......2007-05-07

Keep It Honest !.......2007-04-29

Can't say enough good about this movie!.......2007-04-12

well told technically accurate film.......2007-02-28

Average customer rating:

The Dish
Fun and great history, too
"The Dish" leaves us feeling good
A sweet-natured movie, well acted and amusing
"The pictures....they came from US!"

The Dish
Starring: Sam Neill , Billy Mitchell (II) , Rosalind Hammond , Christopher-Robin Street , and Luke Keltie
Director: Rob Sitch
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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The Castle
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ASIN: B00005MKKS
Release Date: 2001-08-31

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The Dish, a good-natured and effortlessly funny Australian drama-comedy directed by Rob Sitch (The Castle), is filled with warm-hearted characters and has a factual hook that's irresistibly inspiring. This cumulative goodwill springs forth from the rural town of Parkes in New South Wales, where a 1,000-ton radio observatory dish is recruited to relay telemetry, voice, and television signals from the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969. To make sure the dish delivers Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" to 600 million eager viewers, site director Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill, at his gentle best) relies on a three-man crew consisting of an American NASA watchdog (Patrick Warburton, resembling a bearish Clark Kent), a sarcastic engineer (Kevin Harrington), and a lovestruck math whiz (Tom Long) who's pining for the sister of the dish's rather dimly overzealous security guard (Taylor Kane).

Numerous other supporting characters add color to the proceedings, and crises arise (albeit briefly) when power outage, signal loss, and windstorms threaten to spoil Parkes's proudest hour. It all rates a bit high on the cuteness meter, but The Dish is so smoothly amusing that you won't object to its eagerness to please. By focusing on the Aussie locals, the film reminds us that the moon landing was an occasion of global unity, and pride in all humanity is reflected in the wondrous smiles of Cliff, his crew, and the citizens of Parkes. That they played such a small but pivotal role in this historical milestone is just one of many joys to be discovered in this delightful little movie. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

The Dish.......2007-04-10

This is one of those movies I watch over and over again and with my family. I am an amateur astronomer so it interest me to watch how we came to first land on the Moon and perhaps from an inside view of how things were done. All the actors do a great job of telling this story.

Fun and great history, too.......2007-03-25

Saw this in the theater and enjoyed it again just as much on DVD. It's 1969 and the people of Honeysuckle Creek, Australia are very excited because their satellite dish will be used to transmit television images of the first moonwalk to the world. There are lots of wonderful characters, from the lovelorn engineer too shy to ask out the pretty local girl, the redfaced mayor with the space-obsessed son, the NASA by-the-book American who's been sent to oversee the Australians, and the calm bespectacled leader of the Dish's crew. When disaster strikes in the form of a power outage, the town's chance for fame and glory appears about to fade away. Can the intrepid engineers save the day? There's actual footage from the launch and moonwalks which are still riveting almost 40 years later.

"The Dish" leaves us feeling good.......2007-03-05

I orginally discovered "The Dish" when a neighbor brought this unknown movie over to watch with us one evening. I was interested in the subject matter having taught Astronomy at the college level and also spent considerable time in Australia. So, we put it in the DVD player, and an amazing thing happened: We really were taken back to 1969, and our surroundings, and the people we were with, were as real as life.

This movie title provides no evidence just how much you will take away from it. As an American, it gave me a taste of the pride and sense of accomplishment we all felt as Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. (Before "America Bashing" became popular, mostly among the members of our own media.) As a human being, it brought back that amazing day in July 1969 when we all broke the bonds of gravity and watched one of us walk on another planet (well, moon, actually...) for the first time in history.

The movie brings out all the small events, triumphs, and errors, that combine to make any great achievement possible. It tells the stories of the 'regular' people of Parkes, a small town in New South Wales, who, by doing their jobs, helped bring the images of the first steps on the moon to eyes all over the world.

It examined the most intriguing questions that needed be answered before we took the steps away from our Earthly home; like: "How do they go wizzz up there?" (Evidently remains unknown to this day!) Or, " Without the co-ordinates, how do we find the Moon?" (Answer; Look out the window!) And, "Is this mission really funded by the CIA?" (Answer: Not completely.)

From the NASA project manager who is terrified that he'll screw up his big opportunity, and the engineer who forgot to prime the fuel pump on the back-up generator, to the love struck mathematician who tries to ask the love of his life for a date and the mayor's 'radical' daughter who is convined that everything is a CIA/imperialist plot, the cast brings the characters to life and leaves the viewer with a real feeling of having been there sharing it all with them.

The sound track makes us feel like it really is 1969. The choice of music is perfect. You will really laugh, and there may be a few tears of pride and happiness as you watch the very believable cast bring 1969 small town Australia to life. One of the best movies I have ever seen. You'll watch it over and over.

A sweet-natured movie, well acted and amusing.......2007-01-14

Terms such as "charming," "sweet-natured," "gentle" and "good-spirited" may mean the kiss of death for some movies. It's also possible that the movie in question just might be worth watching because it is well-made, deals with a genuinely inspiring topic and features some classy actors. For me, The Dish falls in that category. The dish is a 1,000-ton radio telescope plunked down in a sheep pasture close to the New South Wales town of Parkes. It's purpose, as part of a NASA network, is to help track Apollo 11's voyage to the moon and to relay television pictures of Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to set foot there. Sam Neill as Cliff Buxton heads the team running the radio telescope. There's also Al Burnett (Patrick Warburton) as a NASA representative, Glenn Latham (Tom Lang) as a young and excruciatingly shy mathematician and computer whiz, and Mitch Mitchell (Kevin Harrington), who's job it is to see that all the mechanical functions work without a hitch.

We know Armstrong made it and we know television showed us his first steps. For those of us who were around, we also remember how amazing it all was. What we learn in this gentle comedy are the crises that happened. One morning, for instance, Cliff says, "Glenn, come here." "What?" Al Burnett looks at Glenn. "Every coordinate in this book has been changed," he says. "Yeah... I changed them," Glenn says. "Why?" "Because they were wrong." "Why were they wrong," Al asks. "Dunno," Glenn says. Latham steps in. "What about them were wrong," he asks Glenn. "Oh! Well," Glenn says, "the figures NASA gave us were for the northern hemisphere... and we're in the southern hemisphere? I can change them back but then you'd be pointing in the wrong dir..." "Glenn, it might be a good idea for you to tell us these things," Cliff says. "Oh, sure, I just didn't want to worry you... Cuppa tea, Al?"

There's the pride and enthusiasm that overtakes everyone living in Parkes, the visit from the U.S. ambassador and the Australian prime Minister that sends everyone into a tizzy, the near disaster that occurs when contact is lost with Apollo 11 and how an amusing appearance of imperturbability is maintained in public when everything from failed back-up generators, wiped-out computers and a gale promises one of the biggest let-downs -- no television broadcast -- for the entire world. For me, one of the reasons this movie works so well is because Parkes is an idealized small town where everyone knows each other, there are absolutely no secrets, and where the people have personalities which are calculated to be amusing but which aren't manipulated into becoming caricatures. Bob McIntyre (Roy Billing), the mayor of Parkes, is a fireplug of a guy who resembles Bob Hoskins. The technical aspects of what's happening may go over his head, but he's willing to give the benefit of the doubt to almost anyone. His relationship with his wife, May (Genevieve Mooy), is friendly, loving and pleasant to observe. We learn a little, and occasionally a lot, about the people of Parkes and we wind up liking them. This is comedy, but it's gentle stuff. When we smile at a person's puzzlement, dialogue or reaction it's because we appreciate the situation, not that we're enjoying our own superiority.

Sam Neil, smoking a pipe and wearing a sweater, provides the steady center of the movie. He does a fine job. The Dish is more or less based on a true story and we're told at the end that the radio telescope is still part of the NASA tracking network. The DVD transfer is first-rate. There are no significant extras.

"The pictures....they came from US!".......2007-01-08

I love this film because it showed "our" part in the first moon landing and because I visited The Dish, in Parkes, some years ago. The dish is 10,000 times more powerful than it was in 1969 and physically unchanged except for that big receiving box you see Mitch (Kevin Harrington)climbing down, that added by the Americans for the Voyager Neptune transmissions.

"The Dish" is an amiable and "folksy" account of the part a small town in N.S.W. played in the first moon landing. It has touches of romance as the awkward Glenn Latham (Tom Long) asks the local beauty, Janine (Eliza Szonert) on a first date; comedy when the Dish looses track of Apollo 11 and they fake a transmission for U.S. Ambassador Howard (John McMartin); drama in the way "we stuck to it" and caught Armstrong stepping onto the Moon, despite the winds that could have blown the 1000 tons of antenna down and killed the crew.
The use of actual locations helped to make the film more credible and it was fun to see the Australian idiom translated for the bemused American, Al (Patrick Warburton).
"You treat us like a pack of galahs!" ~ "That's a kind of parrot" Slang: pack of galahs... fool, idiot.

The Dish a nice feel good family film, by no means great cinema, but a joyous postcard of history. And for some people, The Dish may put you back in touch with that sense of childhood wonder, you though you may have lost and the time when any adventure was possible.

Let's hope that the dish or its successor is there in 2018 for the first words from the return to the moon.

"Well, Neil...it's still here!"

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