Space Cowboys

I enjoyed this one, good not great, with old man humour from a fantastic cast who all seem to be having a great time working together -which in itself makes this worth a watch.

The story flows, even if it tends to go on a bit and feel clichéd at times, its entertaining. Directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars as one of a group of retired former pilots, recruited by NASA 40 years after their heyday to stop a runaway Russian satellite from hitting earth. He insists that his equally old teammates accompany him into space. They go through training again, bar fights, old wounds are healed, romances begin. Decent special effects and a bittersweet ending "fly me to the moon"

The opening flashback scene from the 1950's also makes this worth a watch, where we get to see young lookalike actors portraying Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones and James Cromwell -using voiceovers from the real men. Very clever.

This did remind me of Armageddon -which I watched about a week ago, almost the same story, a bit less action here, not sure which came first?

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.

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.

The storyline is secondary when you have four seasoned veterans like Eastwood, Garner, Sutherland and Jones entertaining you. They have the ability to raise the level of any writing with their professionalism. At no time could you detect any scene stealing. All four are comfortable in their own abilities and don't need to resort to gimmicks or scene stealing. Eastwood is at his economic story-telling best behind the camera.

As always. The people putting in the post here are looking for too much in this movie. This was a fun old geezer movie. So what if it reeked of Armageddon. Client Eastwood going around collecting men to help him save the world. Just like Bruce Willis did. So what if a lot of the "Scientific Facts" did not mess out correctly. Who cares. This was a funny and entertaining movie. I laughed in all of the right places. Just pure entertainment. Nothing to take all serious. Get over it!!!!! If you wanted something serious - read a book.