Space Cowboys (2000)

When a retired engineer is called upon to rescue a failing satellite, he insists that his equally old teammates accompany him into space.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Ken Kaufman, Howard Klausner

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Frank Corvin
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Hawk Hawkins
Donald Sutherland	...	Jerry O'Neill
James Garner	...	Tank Sullivan
James Cromwell	...	Bob Gerson
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Sara Holland
William Devane	...	Eugene Davis
Loren Dean	...	Ethan Glance
Courtney B. Vance	...	Roger Hines
Barbara Babcock	...	Barbara Corvin
Rade Serbedzija	...	General Vostov (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Blair Brown	...	Dr. Anne Caruthers
Jay Leno	...	Jay Leno
Nils Allen Stewart	...	Tiny
Deborah Jolly	...	Cocktail Waitress

Storyline

When a Russian satellite orbiting the Earth starts to veer off course. It seems like the guidance system in the satellite is of American origin. It's important to try and fix it before it comes into the atmosphere. The NASA man, Bob Gerson tries to find out who designed it and discovers that it was designed by Frank Corvin, an Air Force pilot who 40 years ago was part of the team who was originally suppose to go to space but when NASA was formed and Gerson's influence they were dropped. Gerson asks Frank to help but Frank still holds a grudge. But after some prodding he agrees but only if he and his team can go there so he can fix it. Gerson reluctantly agrees so Frank recruits his former team members, Tank Sullivan, Jerry O'Neill and Hawk Hawkins to join him. After some strenuous tests, they're cleared. And they go up with two other astronauts and check out the satellite and discover that they weren't told the whole truth.

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Plot Keywords:

space shuttle | old age | satellite | astronaut | rear nudity | 

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Taglines:

Boys will be boys.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Space Cowboys

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,093,776, 6 August 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$90,464,773

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$128,884,132

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clipsal Films, Mad Chance, Malpaso Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Asshole Centering Module" is a closed-circuit video system used during ground-based Shuttle astronaut training. It displays a view of the astronaut's posterior so they can remember the position they are in when using the Waste Collection System.

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Goofs

The shuttle uses a standard Earth atmosphere of 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen at 14.7 psi. The space suits use a pure oxygen atmosphere at about 3.5 psi to make the suits less rigid and easier to move around in. Before the astronauts can exit the shuttle in their space suits, they must spend several hours to purge the Nitrogen from their bloodstreams ("pre-breathing") as the suit pressure is gradually reduced and the oxygen content is slowly increased, otherwise the rapid pressure reduction would cause gas bubbles in their bloodstreams ("the bends"). The astronauts could not have entered and then re-exited the shuttle as quickly as shown in the film, since they skipped this vital safety step.

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Quotes

Eugene 'Gene' Davis: Morning, Hawk.
Col. William 'Hawk' Hawkins: Good morning.
Eugene 'Gene' Davis: What happened to your eye?
Col. William 'Hawk' Hawkins: l fell in the shower. Tell maintenance to put some no-slip adhesives on that slippery floor.
Eugene 'Gene' Davis: How's it going, Frank?
Frank Corvin: Fine, fine.
Eugene 'Gene' Davis: Whats with the eye? Slip in the shower?
Frank Corvin: How would you know that?
Eugene 'Gene' Davis: l think I'll have a chat with the janitor.

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow logos are static and in a grayish tone on a black background, rather than being animated and in full color.

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Alternate Versions

In some television versions, Tank's recitation of Alan Shepard's prayer "Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up" is replaced by "Dear Lord, please don't let me screw up".

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Greatest Astronaut Movies (2013)

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Soundtracks

Hit the Road, Jack
Written by Percy Mayfield
Performed by Joshua Redman

User Reviews

Enjoyable movie

While much of the film is predictable (except for a couple of surprises) and and almost certainly implausible, the movie was enjoyable because of the camradarie between the characters and the theme of redemption. How often does someone get a second chance and then also make good on it? The sets and special effects were very convincing and Eastwood seems to be good at both the artistic and technical aspects of directing. There's great chemistry between the stars as well. All in all, a very enjoyable movie, 8/10.