Ryan Gosling’s First Man: Do we have a new blockbuster?
There have been a number of controversies and conspiracy theories about Apollo 11, the first spaceflight to the moon. Many believe it didn’t happen and in fact was faked with the help of the government, while many firmly believe it actually did take place. But really, truth or not, space is one of the best and much liked topics when it comes to the Sci-Fi genre.
There have been so many space movies before, and First Man is an addition to space movie galore which was released today. It is a biographical-drama film based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong written by James R. Hansen. This is the first ever movie adaptation of the book that follows Neil’s journey through the years that followed Apollo 11 and his life afterwards. The movie had its first premiere at Venice Film Festival. Both Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy were praised for their performance in the movie. Also, the moon landing sequence was extremely well made that people from NASA also didn’t hold back from appreciating it.
Homer Hickman, a former NASA engineer and trainer, in fact a very famous one, also watched a movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. You might know him from the movie ‘October Sky’ in which his early life and how he got into NASA is shown. His character was played in October Sky by Jake Gyllenhaal.
He reviewed the movie on his Facebook in following words,
“Linda and I saw First Man with some NASA Marshall Space Flight Center folks tonight. It is unlike any astronaut movie I’ve ever seen. The dramatic string that thrummed throughout to me is Neil’s inner isolation and the lingering grief he felt because of the loss of his daughter. This brought tears to my eyes.
It is a brave film in terms of cinematography, nearly every shot from either Neil’s point of view or as if we are watching through the eyes of someone only a few feet from him and at eye level. This worked for me but may not for others.
Sound is the heart of the movie and expertly accomplished. The groans, rattles, and sloshing inherent to being on top of a liquid-fueled rocket is perfect.
Overall, it is a film for the thinking, caring person and not for those who attend space movies for CGI thrills. Highly recommended. Please go if you can. – Homer Hickam
PS: The journalist who asked the “Why was raising the flag left out?” question clearly was ignorant of the moon landing timeline because nearly ALL of it was left out after Neil set foot on the moon. From there, every visual tied the story of Neil’s inability to find joy in life to those moments and showed that, sometimes, even walking on the moon can’t make up for great personal loss.”
His review kind of reveals that it is not just about Neil Armstrong’s life as an astronaut, but what turns his life took after Apollo 11 mission went successful, when he came back on the Earth.
Ryan Gosling also shared his thoughts. He clearly said that in the movie, even when he’s playing the role of Neil Armstrong and that too very impressively, he isn’t really ready to take such a giant leap as getting to the Moon in real life. His first impression was, ‘Fly me to the Moon? No thanks!’
In an interview at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Gosling said that if he were given the opportunity to blast off on a mission to the moon, he would pass. He said, “I had a great experience pretending to go there, and I’m happy with that.”
