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From:Billy Bob Thornton , Virginia Madsen , Max Thieriot , Jasper Polish , Logan Polish , Warner Brothers , Michael Polish , Warner Home Video ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#8777 |
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 This is one of the worst films ever made!, 2008-11-16
The science of this film is completely flawed. From the rocket building, to the descent on land with nothing more than a parachute, surviving multiple orbits of the planet, breathing in space, remaining warm enough inside the cockpit, even down to the homemade space suit. NONE of this is even remotely plausible, and to further insult your intelligence, when the farmer lands he does so within a short drive back to his farm, all without any contact with his makeshift ground control. This film it is pure fiction. But even if you buy into the ultimate white man fantasy premise, the film is still horrible. Scene after scene plays out with predictable, sappy, emotionally charged energy, the acting is fair, but Billy Bob is completely unbelievable as the every day man farmer with his tooth veneers, drop dead stunning wife, and obvious plastic surgery. The script is a mess of schlock, one zinger "How about these flying saucers!" as the farmer's wife throws a plate across the room! As an audience member I felt manipulated by scene after scene desperately trying to get me to give a damn. Instead of crying I found myself laughing at the absurdity of the entire mess.
And for "family values", the message of this film, endanger your families financial well being, put you life on the line, spend hours away from them, just to live out your own unrealistic selfish dream. The farmer literally can barely feed his children and nearly loses all of his assets, including his farm and home, but he isn't going to give up for the sake of his pride. Not really a theme that I want to promote for children.
Even the farmer's house was a hollywood fantasy in that it was large, beautifully decorated, with wrap around porches. I grew up near farms and most farmers live very plainly as they work ALL DAY LONG! They don't have time to build rockets, or match Laura Ashley patterns with their drapes.
The only thing that makes this film worth anything, is the beautiful cinematography. Yes, the camera does capture the beauty of the American heartland, but THAT IS IT! The special effects are an insult to the art form.
Impractical and misleading movie, 2008-11-02
This movie is about a farmer's fantasy of going in space. This is like those movies in which one person has this obsession with something and whole world is against him. He manages despite the opposition. No matter how ridiculous and dangerous the idea, film writers want the hero to get his way.
This movie has several aspects which are not possible. For example, a rocket blasts off from a wooden barn. Twice. Both the times the rocket leaves flames and smoke behind. But the barn stands unaffected.
In a scene when an official threatens him, the hero asks 'Is it a threat?', the official says 'You are a threat'. I agree with the official's point of view. When first time the rocket fires, it moves through a barrage of journalists.
This kind of thinking that 'I know what I am doing, and it is safe' is not workable. Yes, he has a 350 acre farm and he is doing this experiment away from population. But what if his rocket explodes above a metropolitan area? Such kind of thinking takes care of only happy side, while NASA, which runs a professional organization, thinks about all possible failure scenarios. That is why NASA needs millions.
If the film director was trying to make a point that NASA is a waste of money, and space can be conquered by anyone who has a million dollar, an engineering degree, a large farm, then the director failed miserably in making that point.
I should definitely give credit for showing family unity; support from a wife to her husband's 'crazy idea'; small community support etc. All that makes this movie palpable if one is willing to keep aside pragmatism.
My kids did enjoy it a lot. There are no f words in this movie. Some s words, and some sob words. But other than that the film seems to be clean for family viewing.
 One of Billy Bob Thornton's best films since Sling Blade!!! A top "flight" family film!!!, 2008-09-06
This is a great film,it's about a family man who builds a rocket in his barn and actually gets it to work,yes NASA spends oodles of our tax payers dollars and this guy(Billy Bob)does the same thing for next to nothing using money he raised himself!!! A great family film!!! Kinda think of this film as Field of Dreams with rockets instead of a baseball field!!! One the best newer films i've seen in a long long time!!! There are a few nice extras on the disc too!!! The supporting cast is stellar too,Virginia Madsen,JK Simmons,Bruce Dern,Tim Blake Nelson, and a suprise unbilled appearence by Bruce Willis!also give great performances!!! They don't make many films like these anymore!!! Recommended!!! A+
1 of 1 customers found the following review helpful:
Good, Old-Fashioned Family Picture, Not Entirely Engaging Though , 2008-08-20
"The Astronaut Farmer" is a family picture with a simple, heartfelt message: Dreams will come true. The most unique thing about the film is, however, the dream itself the film's protagonist Charles Farmer (played by Billy Bob Thornton, wonderful as always) has - Charles, a former pilot who was once trained to be an astronaut at NASA, but was forced to retire before flying, builds a rocket on his own, spending ten years and every dollar his family could save.
Another unique part of the film is the film's time setting. Charles Farmer's handmade rocket may look very old-fashioned, but the film's story is set in modern-day, post-9/11 America. So FBI interferes when Farmer tries to buy rocket fuel (10,000 gallons), considering him dangerous to the country. Still overall tone of the film remains optimistic throughout. Mr. Farmer is under watch of the agents, but they are described with a low-key comic touch. Bruce Willis briefly shows up as an astronaut (reminding us of "Armageddon" in which Billy Bob Thornton also appears). This is one of the film's very amusing moments.
But you may not like some parts of the film. Reviewers have rightly pointed out that "The Astronaut Farmer" ignores so many technical details about going to the space, but I think our willing suspension of disbelief is tested by the attitudes of Mr. Farmer himself towards the people surrounding him, rather than by the overlong climax, its implausibility or scientific background.
I say this because I think there is another story, or version of the story said above, which directors the Polish Brothers should have considered. You might think Charles Farmer is in fact putting his family in danger, financially and even physically. In one scene some people are nearly killed, which justifies the government's action to stall his flight. If for all Billy Bob Thornton's fine acting I couldn't relate to him as much as the film wants us to, this should be the reason.
But the three children are corporative. The boy is ready to help his father all the time. His wife (Virginia Madsen) is naturally (and rightly) worried, but she understands. Charles is never given a real task that is more challenging than outwitting FBI, CIA and FAA. He doesn't really have to deal with the downside of his dream. "October Sky," which has a similar theme, at least suggests there is another side of chasing your dream by showing Chris Cooper's father figure and contrasting it with his boy's to show the convincing father-and-son conflict.
Or maybe I am taking this film too seriously. But perhaps I should take the matter seriously when happiness of the members of my family is at stake. Certainly this is a feel-good picture with a simple story. But maybe you will find things are not that simple as the film shows.
1 of 1 customers found the following review helpful:
never give up, 2008-06-17
this movie was very good, this movie send a good message about not giving up on what you believe. it was a charm. people should check it out.
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