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October Sky (1999)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
19 February 1999 (USA) moreTagline:
Sometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky. morePlot:
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
3 wins & 11 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(29 articles)
Amy Adams Squares Up to ‘The Fighter’ (From FilmSchoolRejects. 30 June 2009, 9:09 PM, PDT)
Marvel Updates 'Iron Man 2,' 'Thor,' 'Captain America'
(From Cinematical. 8 June 2009, 10:32 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Superb film, based on real people and real events. moreUS TV Schedule:
| Sat. July 11 | 12:30 PM | AMC | |||
| Sun. July 12 | 9:00 AM | AMC |
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jake Gyllenhaal | ... | Homer Hickam | |
| Chris Cooper | ... | John Hickam | |
| Laura Dern | ... | Miss Riley | |
| Chris Owen | ... | Quentin | |
| William Lee Scott | ... | Roy Lee | |
| Chad Lindberg | ... | O'Dell | |
| Natalie Canerday | ... | Elsie Hickam | |
| Scott Miles | ... | Jim Hickam | |
| Randy Stripling | ... | Leon Bolden | |
| Chris Ellis | ... | Principal Turner | |
| Elya Baskin | ... | Ike Bykovsky | |
| Courtney Cole-Fendley | ... | Dorothy Platt (as Courtney Fendley) | |
| David Dwyer | ... | Jake Mosby | |
| Terry Loughlin | ... | Mr. Dantzler | |
| Kailie Hollister | ... | Valentine Carmina (as Kaili Hollister) |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG for language, brief teen sensuality and alcohol use, and for some thematic elements.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
108 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:II | Mexico:A | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:7 (re-rating) | Sweden:Btl (original rating) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Finland:SFilming Locations:
Fountain City Elementary School - 2910 Montbelle Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
The school exterior was actually two different schools - the football scene was shot in the soccer field of Gresham Middle School, Knoxville, Tennessee, and the other exterior scene, right before Homer and his friends are arrested, is the exterior of Fountain City Elementary school in Knoxville. The actual schools are directly across the street from each other. moreGoofs:
Factual errors: In the auditorium scene near the end of the movie, the U.S. flags are hung incorrectly. The blue field or union should always be displayed in the upper left corner no matter if hung vertically or horizontally. moreSoundtrack:
Let the Good Times Roll moreFAQ
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It was 1957 and Russia had just launched Sputnik. I was almost 12, and I remember my father pointing up into the October sky as we tried to catch a glimpse of the Earth's first artificial satellite orbiting overhead. Thus the title "October Sky". In West Virginia the son of a coal miner became intrigued with rockets and space travel and, in spite of his father's urgings that he accept his fate and become a coal miner too, eventually won the national science fair competition, and a college scholarship, ultimately became a key member of the space exploration team of NASA. A wonderful and inspiring story, and a superb film of that story.
Everyone was good in the film, but Chris Cooper as the miner boss and stubborn father was far and away the best in "October Sky." Although "rockets" is the theme, the film is primarily of the struggle of children trying to break out of the cycle and become more than just another coal miner. As an epilog we learn that all four of the "rocket boys" went to college, the father died of mining-related disease, the teacher of Hodgkins disease, and the whole town and mining operation was sold and shut down in the next decade.