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 & 8 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:

Space will never be the same

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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

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

In the film, the four astronauts appear together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). To promote the film, they all appeared together on the same show.

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Goofs

In the first spacewalk scene, we see the two main characters clearly floating over Sicily and Italy. In the very next shot, a large display shows the courses the shuttle will take on every orbit. None of these orbits show the shuttle coming anywhere near the Mediterranean.

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Quotes

Frank Corvin: Clock's ticking, Bob. And I'm only getting older.

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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

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.220 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Patricia
Written by Dámaso Pérez Prado
Performed by Dámaso Pérez Prado
(Courtesy RCA Records)

User Reviews

Actors Take Center Stage

This was a pretty enjoyable tale of "The Ripe Stuff," four old geezers going up into space to help save a project they had a hand in years ago. It's pretty long at 130 minutes but the four diverse characters help keep your interest. Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner are quite a foursome. Add Marcia Gay Harden to the mix, along with Loren Dean, Courtney Vance and James Cromwell and you have a fabulous cast.

This is a drama but one in which there is a fair amount of comedy and some romance. There are some Hollywood clichés (a suspect boss, arguing pals going back-and-forth all the time, a weak minister, etc.) but they aren't as blatant as usual.

The storytelling is pretty good but the real show here is not the story but that group of veteran actors. One joke was overplayed: Sutherland and the size of genitals. Not real classy stuff but, overall, the movie is fine. Definitely a rental, at the least.