First Man (Post-release)

What did you think of First Man?

  • It was disappointing.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It was bad.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    18
Saw the film. It definitely wasn't a love letter to America and the only discussion of America was how the government was fed up with one PR crisis after another and a black man chanting about "whitey". Not cool.

The missions and landing were beautifully done, but I was surprised about how America was almost the villain in the film.

Wow. I guess it's just testament to how art is perceived differently. I thought the whole bit with with whitey on the moon was showing
them being horribly misguided, they looked shortsighted and foolish, and they were. And with JFK's speech at the end featured as the final word
in the film if there was any confusion.
Ed White's take on his kid taking interest in science and engineering, that it was making a difference. Armstrong passionate about seeing
things for the first time we should have noticed long ago. The historical footage of the French woman simply gushing about America.
That was may take, but it's art. Nobody sees the same thing I guess.
I'm 52 and quite aware to Hollywood's messaging system to favor certain views, my spider-sense is really strong on that, and I've noticed
injected bias a plenty both overt and subtle. I remember when Red Dawn came under attack for war mongering and potentially angering the Russians. LOL Wolverines!!!!
With that said, for me, I am certain this film did not paint America in any kind of bad light at all. I went with my wife and a friend that is really quick to call out evil America
messages since the eighties and he didn't trigger on anything. We all came away very positive about the film wondering simply more about Armstrong the man and when
we will go back to the moon. I don't think it was any different from Apollo 13 as far as America's portrayal.
 
I saw this movie last week and loved it. Not surprised its not a super smash at the box office. Its not a blockbuster type film at all. This is more of your typical Oscar contender type movie. Also just because its not some jingoistic, "America! **** yeah!" type movie, doesnt mean its anti America either. Of course it included things like Gil Scott Heron's Whitey on the Moon. Thats what was going on at the time. It made sense to include it.
 
I dont think being proud of ones country makes you jingoistic. The United States has a lot to be proud of. Seems given todays political climate, its like youre not allowed to be. And if you are, youre some kind of weirdo. Reminds me when they changed Supermans mantra to "truth, justice, and all that stuff" instead of saying "the American way", kinda sucks.
 
I saw this movie last week and loved it. Not surprised its not a super smash at the box office. Its not a blockbuster type film at all. This is more of your typical Oscar contender type movie. Also just because its not some jingoistic, "America! **** yeah!" type movie, doesnt mean its anti America either. Of course it included things like Gil Scott Heron's Whitey on the Moon. Thats what was going on at the time. It made sense to include it.

The moon landing was "America, **** yeah" at its core. You can't simply remove that and tell people that America didn't factor into many of the decisions these astronauts made.

Also, was it just me or did they paint Buzz Aldrin in a negative light? That guy from House of Cards is always a villain.
 
The moon landing was "America, **** yeah" at its core. You can't simply remove that and tell people that America didn't factor into many of the decisions these astronauts made.

Also, was it just me or did they paint Buzz Aldrin in a negative light? That guy from House of Cards is always a villain.

From my readings Aldrin at that time did have a bit of a reputation, Dr. Rendezvous was a nickname for his skill at orbital math.
I think that kind of mindset prevailed when so focused, a lot of colder logic. I seem to remember someone writing that you
didn't go up to him at a party or you would be getting an orbital mechanics lecture.

So I do not think that was made up of whole cloth.

On the America **** yeah aspect.. The film is patriotic for Americans to watch I think in the way that Armstrong was.
His quiet demeanor, deeds not words. And it was a helluva deed.
When he spoke it was after great thought.
They clearly depict the frustration at the Soviets always beating America at first,
we went to the moon because of the cold war as a driving force. Exploration was secondary.
The film is depicting history as it encompassed Armstrong .I don't think any
non-Americans would come away thinking well this is just propaganda. Unless
they believe in moon hoax crap or something weird.
 
Loved it. I was unaware that so much of the move was about his family but Ryan is amazing.

Ironically, I came home from the movie to find out about a friend's near death scare with his son. It is OK, but it made me realize that you never really recover from the death of a child.
 
That's amazing!
I can say on some of the space collector forums there was high praise for the suits.
One gripe was the helmet for the flying bedstead scene was ten years too early but not much else was nitpicked that's for sure.

Thanks, We made the space suits. (Global Effects Inc.)
As for the flying bedstead, During an early meeting, The costume designer questioned what helmet was worn for that, and whether or not you could see the face, as they might use a stunt man.
I said, "Well I know the helmet they used and..." before I could finish, she said, "This is not about who knows more, you know! I've done a lot of research!"....after a bit of silence, I continued, "I was not trying to point out who knew more, I was trying to answer your question,.... because, I know what helmet he wore, it had a smoked visor, so, no, with the visor down, you would not see it was a stunt double. Her reply, "Well, we might not use That helmet!" (I guess they didn't)

If anyone is going to be at the LA comic Con this weekend, and wants to see these suits, I'll be at the "Legion M" booth with a number of film costumes, from First Man, as well as Firefly, Mars Attacks, Dracula and some others.
Legion M is about fans supporting film, and along that theme, On Saturday (I think at 11am) I'll be giving a talk on how I got into the business and "There is no secret handshake" . I'll talk about my (37 plus year) career and how if you have the passion and the desire, there are many different ways to apply your skills in the film industry.
 
Certainly not a big hit but it's not doing badly as some thought..............


Production Budget: $59 million

Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $37,880,080 50.9%
+ Foreign: $36,600,000 49.1%
= Worldwide: $74,480,080
 
I'm jumping in late here with my film review that I prepared for my friends in a little film club I'm a part of. When I sent this out to them, I labelled it as "warning: 49 year old spoilers". Maybe others reading this thread who have not seen the film may appreciate my thoughts.

Review:

“First Man” is the story of Neil Armstrong and his eventual moon landing on Apollo 11 in 1969. We had a few hours to kill on our last day in Hawaii before our flight home and thought an air conditioned theater sounded like just the thing. It was projected in focus, too, for bonus points from me.

As you all know, I’m a pretty big history dweeb and of course I’m quite interested in the space race and the era depicted in this film. I’m also picky about movies based on true events being accurate and I can get pretty aggravated when they're not.

The movie tries to be very realistic and true to the facts. A lot of time is focused on his relationship with his wife, Jan. It’s not really trying to be a telling of the moon landing program itself, but as the title suggests, is a character study of Armstrong himself. The space and aviation scenes strive to be realistic and are often shown inside the cockpit only, and sometimes Neils point of view only. (This made my wife motion sick).

It is in the character of Armstrong himself that the movie somewhat fails. Neil Armstrong was an enigma. He was very private, very reserved and very serious. This is kind of the theme of the movie, and his wife Jan struggles throughout to connect with him emotionally. The movie strives to give the viewer some payoff and inserts a few moments in which we see glimpses of the real Neil behind his carefully maintained façade, but as someone who knows his history, I also know those particular moments did not happen that way. (Without spoilers: Bracelet and Quarantine scenes for those that see it themselves - more on that below)

In short, Neil Armstrong, in my opinion, is not a great subject for a biopic. He was such a closed book that it makes for a dry and often frustrating portrayal.

From a technical and interesting and exciting standpoint, the movie does quite well. A lot of complications that were overcome at the time and downplayed at the time are shown well. For those unfamiliar with the nitty-gritty of the space race, there are some interesting and suspenseful episodes. They are so well done that I, already knowing the outcome, was still on the edge of my seat. The movie makes the choice to not explain the physics too much, and that’s good, too. They use technically correct terms throughout, and most of it goes over most of the audience’s head, most of the time. It’s kind of like Star Trek – I don’t need to know what a neutrino beam is to understand the drama of a scene. The context provides as much info as is truly required: “This is a serious situation and they’re trying technical things to get out of it”. The Apollo 11 launch itself was worth the price of admission and sent chills down my spine.

It was very exciting and well done, but also left Neil Armstrong the man as much of a mystery as he ever was. I don’t know that it could have done anything else, for Neil Armstrong was a pretty unknowable person. The quarantine scene at the end, in which Jan visits him never happened, but perhaps it is the very point of the movie. We are shown what a unifying event the landing was, world wide, and then we are shown Neil - in isolation, unable to connect with even his wife. Upon reflection of its meaning, I decided that I like that scene and its symbolism, despite it not having literally happened. The point of the film seemed to be that Neil was too isolated to reach.

It's not much of a point though. Afterwords, I found myself wondering why they made the movie at all. By the same token, I asked myself why I personally saw it. I knew Neil was a closed book and would not have accepted a false portrayal due to my insistence on a factual telling, but still found myself aggravated by the accurate depiction of his closed nature. It just doesn't make for an engaging film.

I liked the film overall and will eventually buy it on BluRay when it's super cheap. I think I'll enjoy re-watching it for the space scenes.

Cheers,

K.
 
When I heard about this, I was excited but equally a little sceptical as to how they were going to tell the story in a way we hadn't heard before. I think they did that well. I get a little choked up about the whole space race anyway so I definitely got into the emotion of the film. I think the artistic license was taken in a smart way and from what I could tell, it was technically very accurate. I did wonder if it could confuse people who didn't know the history. For example, you could spend a good few minutes not cottoning on that they'd moved to a neighbourhood with the other astronauts. Also, while I didn't need them to plant the flag, skipping the night spent in the module before exploring the surface I think missed a dramatic opportunity. I really would have liked to have explored what that felt like. But I appreciated the minimalist style and it's focus on the wonder rather than the glory of it all.

I loved the cast and I've often thought about the film since I saw it at the weekend. I think the end foreshadowed the difficult years the Apollo astronauts had adjusting to life back on Earth. After that, they really were removed from everyone else. I would have perhaps liked to see some of the other characters outside the Armstrongs fleshed out a little more. I would have liked to compare and contrast their motivations for being in the programme with Armstrong. Overall, good bordering on great for me.
 
Just cleared $100 million.
I think that is far from a flop for sure.
I just can't find out if it will have a China release or not



Production Budget: $59 million
Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $44,716,075 44.6%
+ Foreign: $55,600,000 55.4%
= Worldwide: $100,316,075
 
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