Space Cowboys Film and Genre - Essay Example

Space Cowboys Clint Eastwood has worked his way out across a number of Hollywood flicks, which have literally been the foundation for this belief amongst the film critics around the world that the man is a serious actor, producer and director as well. He is an all rounder by all means and his talent is simply awesome and endless in the show business world. As Dirty Harry Callahan, his lips spat out one-liners as quickly as his gun discharged lead. Clint Eastwood has in addition been a secret service agent in In the Line of Fire, an investigative journalist in the flick True Crime, a somewhat considerate photographer’s character in The Bridges of Madison County, and last but not the least Clyde the orangutans best friend in Every Which Way But Loose/Every Which Way You Can. This film has been penned by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner of which Clint Eastwood has given superb direction. This is a pretty entertaining and one of the more rambunctious films that have been directed by Eastwood whereby they have clearly explored the idea with vitality and a sense of dynamism. The movie has put a very unique kind of spin on the formula that the longer one lives; the lesser is his worth with the passage of time. The story is set from the scene of 1958 in which pilots Frank Corvin played by Clint Eastwood himself and Hawk Hawkins, by Tommy Lee Jones are members of Team Daedalus, which is an elite Air Force group that is bent upon testing the high-altitude planes as well as dreaming of becoming the first American astronauts to do so. It is unfortunate to mention here that when this very dream does not see the light of the day, Frank starts blaming Bob Gerson, played by James Cromwell who is his commander for betraying him in the middle of the accomplishment of the dream mentioned above. After duration of four decades now, this same individual has become a NASA big shot who has got a huge problem up his sleeves. A huge Soviet satellite, which is named Ikon, has become dysfunctional and is threatening to fall out of orbit and then crash into the region of the earth. Indeed, it is true that similar in notion to the confusion surrounding the US space agency and its affiliates, this guidance system for the satellite is in more ways than one quite similar to that with one of Skylab that was initially put in place by Frank Corvin. There was a consistent push from NASA’s Mission Director Sara Holland, the character of which is played by Marcia Gay Harden which forces Bob Gerson to agree in recruiting his old opponent for the sake of repairs to the mission. Frank Corvin however sees this as very much a chance to travel in the outer space and thus insists upon the companionship of the old Daedalus team which also includes Hawk who is a widower as well as a joyride pilot; Jerry, played by Donald Sutherland, an astrophysicist and structural engineer who is now in the business of designing roller coasters as well as Tank, played by James Garner, being a navigator who by now has become a Baptist minister. The film shows that with the passage of time, elders start losing their respect amongst their younger partners, who start thinking in a totally different manner, where they do not want to seek advice from people who are older than them as well as listen to what their own generation and with that the coming technology and education brings with it. This is a cruel joke on the part of the society but it would not be wrong here to state that this happens in literally every society in the world of today and one must not fret much to the notion attached with the same. So instead of respecting these very pioneers of the space age for their tremendous knowledge as well as expertise and experience in the same field, the astronaut trainees as well as technicians thus present at NASA start to make a joke out of these poor souls and play a number of pranks and mischief on their elders and seniors in the 30-day training course. The Flight Director, played by William Devane gives the order to two of his best astronauts, namely Courtney B. Vance and Loren Dean to escort them on this very mission. However, the difference between the technologically stylish yet difficult team players and the characteristic Daedalus four was way too amazing and in a sense quite different. On more accounts than one, it was disguised that the latter groups knowledge was indeed quite out dated and obsolete because of the presence of newer technologies and techniques by the day and in the actual field this is what that actually matters in the field. The film shows that after a dramatic lift-off from earth, the repair mission starts becoming into a zone that is filled with a number of surprises. What this repair mission discerns at the Ikon satellite challenges the courage of the Daedalus four as well as their younger friends. In the end, the characters played by the elders start coming in the limelight and also begin to give a new meaning to the age-old and old-fashioned but not so obsolete ethic connected with virtues like self-sacrifice and the like. Space Cowboys has had a number of different notions attached with it but one that stands out from the rest is its ability to mark the different between the seniors present on the repair mission along with the learning astronauts who were bent upon cracking jokes of their seniors and also making fun of their falling short on having any sort of know how that was required with regards to technical expertise and knowledge of the day which these new scientists and astronauts knew very well. Clint Eastwood settled for making a big budget science animation movie in a year, which saw disasters and debacles in the form of films like Supernova, Mission to Mars and Battlefield Earth. This movie had undoubtedly the mission of being the most satisfying science fiction to date that has been made and adds to that under the direction of an old hand, Clint Eastwood. This would not be wrong here to state that the movie is not a piece of cinematic perfection by any means but it is consistent in the sense that it keeps the viewer feel engaged with the movie as well as makes him realize the different features which are quite likable, and irritable characters. However, one can easily comprehend and see for his own self a number of similarities between Space Cowboys and Armageddon, in terms of tone, manner as well as approach. It is true that during a long and prolific career of being an actor, producer, as well as a director, Clint Eastwood has had a wide array of variety in his work, which has scaled past many genres. The movie kicks off with the scenario depicted of 1958 where the four men of Team Daedalus are shown who are undergoing a touch experience at the hands of the Air Force. These men had firm will to reach the outer space one fine day as they used to pilot somewhat fake airplanes which literally broke speed barriers in the air as well as reached certain altitude limits that were generally not allowed to, of them courtesy the Air Force. The movie shows that the cravings of these men were put to sword by Bob Gerson, who apparently in the movie has been shown as their boss who literally ended this on-going business ever since NASA came into its own and it started its own day-to-day affairs. Thus NASA brought with it a number of problems for these four men who were crossing all boundaries and limits day in day out and there was no stopping them. Just the mention of these things, brings a sense and feeling of rush of blood in a viewer who starts feeling wacky and wild with excitement. The movie is pretty straight in suggesting that this team of four split up immediately ever since they heard the call from their boss Bob Gerson who created NASA and thus ended their hey days. These four men started their journey in four totally opposite directions and started their own corporate lives. It was only after a period of forty years that these men actually begin to meet again when on the orbit of the Russian communications satellite Ikon they meet up. The movie depicts that the satellite has a very short life at its disposal, just five weeks before it actually destroys itself. It will do so in the atmosphere. This makes the Russians realize that its loss will literally shatter their telecommunications infrastructure that is in place as well as start another civil war in the country and hence the region. Thus they get the idea that its destruction can just have a number of drastic effects on not only the economy of the country but also its infrastructure and peace, not to mention the livelihoods of a number of people in the country and more than their lives which required nothing more in the form of hunger, poverty and issues of the same intensity which can literally rock any society or country at any moment, notwithstanding its economic and fiscal situation. There have been efforts to equip the movie with some sorts of effects whereby the second half of the movie is full with effects and the like which would make a viewer feel more at ease with the use of technology and its actual interpretation in the language in which the movie is actually shot. The effects are not that cutting-edge and Star Wars kind of visuals but they are only made to make viewers feel that the action is looking pretty much apparent as if it is in space. Also, the screenplay has incorporated a lot of material, which has included secret cold war politics as well as a number of cover-ups, political infighting, melodrama and media manipulation, male bonding, and not to forget the actual beliefs attached with the movie itself that it was indeed a science fiction action/adventure. BIBLIOGRAPHY Smith, Paul Clint Eastwood: A Cultural Production UCL Press 2003 Frederic & Brussat, Mary Ann Space Cowboys Movie Review 2004 Author Unknown Clint Eastwood Filmography 2005 Herk, Aritha Van Leading the Parade American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 33, 2003 Author Unknown Space Cowboys URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186566/ 2005 Loftus, David Review Summary URL: http://www.allscifi.com/Topics/Info_5919.asp Word Count: 1,719 Read More