Rocket's Red Glare

This started out as a good movie, a boy and his class, with the help of his Grandfather are restoring a Redstone Rocket and its capsule in honor of his father, a dead Astronaut. Of course, there was never a MR-10 flight planned on a Redstone, the canceled Mercury 10 was an Atlas flight with Shepard. But there are a few surplus parts around to make the assembly of the rocket as a museum piece believable. But the rescue of a badly damaged Shuttle with a little black box by a 16 year old boy in an old Mercury capsule loses credibility real fast.

They should have left it on the farm and taught people about the Mercury program, something that is often forgot after Apollo. This was too much like Spacecamp. But without the cute robot. Make that annoying robot.

Let's just say that cable channels designed specifically for "kids" or "family" obviously don't have the first clue as to what either want. Case in point the Fox Family Network and their film, "Rocket's Red Glare." I guess that to whoever it mattered that a story about a boy traveling to space to save astronaunts sounded like a great idea.

But did anyone happen to read the script before they shot it? I'm 16, the target age for this network, and this film was SO VERY DUMB! It insults the intelligence of everyone - including my ten-year old sister. At the crucial point in the film, when the boy hands the astronauts something to save the day, the lead kid, played by Ryan Merrimen, opens the hatch of the capsule; my sister, all of 10, says, "you can't open those hatches in space - it'll never close and the kid will burn up during re-entry!"

She's 10 and she new more than the writer and director.

Anyway, this was pathetic. Not only dumb, but also the acting was bad. Not very good anyway you cut it.

I have a dream...Its full of technical flaws and Saccharin Emotions.

Yah okay....Well good dream -- schmaltz acting/dialogue/drama.

If you've not seen the movie - bow out now - because I am going to discuss the riveting plot! (The plot seemed to have more rivets the rocket!)

This is the story of a kid who has a "fire" inside of him to honour his father, by restoring an old "Red Stone" rocket, (which the picked up for a mere $80,000 at their local junk yard, and a extra "Mercury 10 Capsule" --(never launched) that was part of a museum exhibit.

The kid Todd, and his friend propose building a launchable rocket out of the left over space junk from the Mercury Program as part of their school science project? Are you buying this? Heck their teacher said -- "It's a go!"

The plot is very predictable. They accomplish with just a handful of high school students, in a few weeks, what trained NASA technicians couldn't do in 3 years. Yeah that's believable. NOT!

Even more unbelievable is the predictable plot. They test fire the rocket (umm where's the water?) which they have restored (gee it still looks like painted plywood to me!)

Boom! In drop the Feds! "We're shutting you down! Why if you even want to paint it you have to follow these rules we have a court order!" - Oh yeah that's gonna stop em!

Well they sit all broken hearted until, wait are you following the predictable plot? Oh yeah -- well the Space Shuttle Endeavour gets into trouble - and Nasa can't turn the other Space Shuttles around for 30 days. And the Commies, er I mean Russians - well they don't have anything. SOOOO. TADA! Guess what brilliant idea the script writers come up with? Come on come on take a guess? You'll get it right! What's the most predictable course of action? Of course the Plywood Rocket they just restored! (shhh don't tell anyone its just fake plywood!) SOOO the crate up the Plywood (err rocket - yes its plywood that vaguely looks like a rocket!) and off to Vandenburg AFB.

Well Gus (Played by Robert Wagner - the ONLY actor who was NOT a no name!) decides that it burns burns burns, that ring of fire. (No wait that was Jonny Cash!) SO Gus said well the only guy for the job is Todd. SO despite all odds, and throwing out every scrap of knowledge you know about Space Vehicle Launches (like clean rooms, water pouring into the Rocket lift off Area), etc etc.

WOO HOO -- Todd goes on the flakiest ride of his life. To rescue the space shuttle endeavour. Now I don't know about you, but I have actually seen a Mercury capsule - the inside is NOT much bigger then a telephone booth, on a good day. Why this was spacious and roomy! My my....Oh yeah - its PLYWOOD not the real thing!

Any way, Todd saves the day, sees his long dead Dad, and then automatically lowers the hatch (hey wait a minute - the hatch on the Mercury had to be sealed from the outside, so how did Todd accomplish this?) Oh yeah plywood - I keep forgetting!)

Comes back to earth a hero..

Very very predictable plot -- not a bad family movie, if you can forgive the plywood and technical flaws. 2 reels out of 5.

Wayno

This looked like being a good movie about the dreams of a young boy and the relationship he has with his Grandfather. Unfortunately a disaster happens towards the end, in terms of story. When the vehicle for the drama (the rocket) becomes the focus with a crazy finale.

This resulting madness totally destroys any good ground work that was laid in the first part of the film.

My advice, watch it, and when people in suits show up in black cars, accidentally wonder off and imagine your own cool ending.

Nothing I can write about this film (and I use that term loosely) can accurately describe how awful it is.

The other user comments were right, although I feel that if I spend that much effort writing about this film I will regret, not only the time I wasted watching it, but even more time on this internet site.

The acting, the story, and the direction were pathetic. I suppose (and I'm not in the film industry), but those things fall on the director's head. Especially since he wrote the script.

What kind of message did this film send? Grandfather's unite, sacrifice your gransons b/c we're too old, frail, and afraid to do things for ourselves!

Bad, bad filmmaking.