General / Off-Topic First Man - Neil Armstrong movie

Vasea Azure

Vasea Azure
I finally was able to watch the new biopic about Neil Artmstrong, as a massive fan of this type of films I went with high expectations and very excited. One of my all time favorite movies are Apollo 13 and older The Right Stuff (1983).
I noticed that the First Man has very mixed reception from "best movie ever" to "very bad movie" so I tried to stay away from any reviews at time.
First the good - the sound effects, camera work were very good in my opinion, movie did not rely on "epic" cgi effects and was trying to show how claustrophobic, crumbled and dangerous space vehicles were.
Full success here.
Also the performance of Claire Foy who plays Neils wife was convincing and enjoyable.
Saldy for me the acting of Ryan Gosling (Neil) and other astronauts was absolutely underwhelming. Really not getting all the praise around his role in here. The guy looked genuinely disinterested most of the time even.
And I find the overall pacing of the movie to be little disjointed and the tone to be way to dark and depressing.
I do understand what the director was going for and how much Neil had to sacrifice but still this was not very well executed in my opinion.
As a story about important step in NASA space program I think that The Right Stuff from 1983 does way better job and overall I recommend it over the First Man anytime.
I`m very curious how you guys received this biopic.
 
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Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Jenner
Interesting take. I have not seen this yet but I was wanting to. I'm very interested in these types of movies as well and have see The Right Stuff multiple times over the years. I'm a bit disappointed that maybe this movie isnt all that awesome after all but I may still check it out.
 

Mo Ronik

Mo Ronik
I was sitting and then standing in the observation seating at Cape Kennedy when Apollo 11 lifted off. I can still remember the sound wave shock when it hit my chest. I was in the 6th grade and I stood there with tears running down my cheeks. Dunno why....
 

ethelred

ethelred
Apropos of nothing, this is my favourite picture of Neil, taken (by Buzz) just after he'd gotten back into the lander after walking on the moon the first time.

4c0u94V.jpg


I've not seen First Man, but I would hope it captures some of the essence of this guy in the picture.
 

Vasco Sapien

Vasco Sapien
jasonbarron said:
I heard the movie skipped the part where Neil planted the flag, so I skipped the movie.
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In a joint statement Neil Armstrong's sons Rick and Mark, along with the author of First Man James R. Hansen, said: “This story is human and it is universal.
"Of course, it celebrates an America achievement. It also celebrates an achievement ‘for all mankind'.


“The filmmakers chose to focus on Neil looking back at the earth, his walk to Little West Crater, his unique, personal experience of completing this journey, a journey that has seen so many incredible highs and devastating lows.”


Damien Chazelle, who worked with Gosling previously on La La Land, said: “In ‘First Man’ I show the American flag standing on the lunar surface, but the flag being physically planted into the surface is one of several moments of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA that I chose not to focus upon.”


“To address the question of whether this was a political statement, the answer is no.


"My goal with this movie was to share with audiences the unseen, unknown aspects of America’s mission to the moon — particularly Neil Armstrong’s personal saga and what he may have been thinking and feeling during those famous few hours.”
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https://www.express.co.uk/entertain...ersy-response-chazelle-gosling-neil-armstrong
 

Deleted member 110222

D
ethelred said:
Apropos of nothing, this is my favourite picture of Neil, taken (by Buzz) just after he'd gotten back into the lander after walking on the moon the first time.



I've not seen First Man, but I would hope it captures some of the essence of this guy in the picture.
Click to expand...

It's never occurred to me until now, but that is likely the most travelled portrait of all human history.
 

jasonbarron

jasonbarron

Vasco Sapien

Vasco Sapien
jasonbarron said:
The director, nor Armstrong's children, were there, so I don't really care what they think. And Armstrong didn't fly himself to the moon on a magic carpet, nor did "all of mankind" chip in to foot the bill. Neil was part of an American program, funded by American tax payers. Marginalizing the achievement of America is both laughable and contemptible.
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Everyone knows that the USA landed on the moon, i posted that link just to give you some perspective as to why that particular moment from the moon landing was not shown in this movie.
You have made it a political issue and for that reason you are going to boycott a movie which is more about celebrating the man than the nation.
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Jenner
jasonbarron said:
The director, nor Armstrong's children, were there, so I don't really care what they think. And Armstrong didn't fly himself to the moon on a magic carpet, nor did "all of mankind" chip in to foot the bill. Neil was part of an American program, funded by American tax payers. Marginalizing the achievement of America is both laughable and contemptible.
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The Saturn V that took us to the moon was the brainchild of an ex- rocket scientist (von Braun) and the whole program was largely in response to Soviet advances in space exploration that were more advanced than us at the time. Canadian engineers worked on the LEM's legs. So yeah - it was an American program but it did not exist in a vacuum.

To me the lack of a flag planting scene isn't a deal breaker. I don't think it's marginalizing the achievement of the United States. To think that the US did it totally and completely alone with the rest of the world not being involved at all is inaccurate.
 
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Banger_uk

Banger_uk
And why only celebrate two Astronauts, wasn't there a third which doesn't seem to get a mention in Any Celebrations.or was he a non important part of the mission

micheal Collins
 
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Vasco Sapien

Vasco Sapien
Jenner said:
The Saturn V that took us to the moon was the brainchild of an ex- rocket scientist (von Braun) and the whole program was largely in response to Soviet advances in space exploration that were more advanced than us at the time. Canadian engineers worked on the LEM's legs. So yeah - it was an American program but it did not exist in a vacuum.

To me the lack of a flag planting scene isn't a deal breaker. I don't think it's marginalizing the achievement of the United States. To think that the US did it totally and completely alone with the rest of the world not being involved at all is inaccurate.
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Exactly, the science that sent that rocket to the moon was in the making for centuries and came from all over the world. Any scientific achievement is a shared accomplishment of mankind because it all builds on what came before.
 

Zoltah-Talion

Zoltah-Talion
Stigbob said:
They need to send a mission to sand off Tricky y's signature as that makes the whole thing seem iffy.
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LOL, but I think we need to let history be. Isn't it authoritarian states that go in for editing the past? Not really 'land of the free' style, is it? [EDIT - in any case I'd be more concerned about where Wernher von Braun used to do his work.]

On the subject of films about the Apollo program, I can recommend the awesome Moonwalk One.

And I just read this review of a very interesting film which hasn't been released yet.
 
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