Movies

First Man (2018)

I was disappointed. Frankly, this is not a good movie. It was more like a fifth grader's book report: here's this, here's that, with little linkage, poor context, and cardboard portrayals. The problems started with the first second of the film, with a loud bang, and then visuals which left most people with no idea what they were looking at. Those of us familiar with the U.S. programs reaching toward space realized that we were inside an X-15 rocket plane, being carried aloft under the wing of a modified B-52. Only a minute fraction of an audience would realize that. At a minimum, the movie makers should have put a momentary blurb on the screen saying what this was.

Another very annoying aspect of the film was in depicting every flight as having so much violent vibration that the instrument panels would be just a blur. This is ridiculous. If it were true, the flight vehicles would be inoperable and occupants would suffer brain injuries. Then there was the unrealistic depiction of events. The movie depicted launch events as casual, where the astronaut would lie there just contemplating things. In reality, astronauts were very busy with systems checks and almost incessant conversations with the control center.

The Apollo 11 trip and landing, the central event to the film, was handled well, providing a real sense of events, unlike other portrayals in the film. But then it bogged down in contrived sentimentality and prolonged contemplation, when in reality the astronaut on the moon would have been very busy trying to fit in all the tasks required of this short period on the lunar surface.

This was supposedly a film about Neil Armstrong. However, we came away from it with little insight into the complex individual, thanks to a rather stereotypical character treatment.

Unfortunately, space films of late have been severely flawed affairs, dominated by "artistic" liberties which displace the realities of science, technology, and human factors. Stanley Kubrick set the standard in 1968; yet despite all the homage, his guidance is being ignored.

Back to the main page