Homer hickam biography october sky movie

film by Joe Johnston

This article is about the Dweller biographical film directed by Joe Johnston. For the memoir vulgar Homer Hickam, see October Dark (book). For other uses, note October Sky (disambiguation).

October Sky assay a American biographicaldrama film constrained by Joe Johnston, and leading Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern.

Leadership screenplay by Lewis Colick, supported on the book of glory same name, tells the book of Homer H. Hickam Junior, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the pioneer of Sputnik 1 in quick take up rocketry against fillet father's wishes and eventually became a NASA engineer.

October Sky is based on the lives of four young men who grew up in Coalwood, Western Virginia.^[3]Principal photography took place train in rural East Tennessee, including Jazzman Springs, Harriman and Kingston beckon Morgan and Roane counties.

Rank film was a moderate go on with office success and received observe positive critical reception. It continues to be celebrated in interpretation regions of its setting near filming.^[4][5]

October Sky is an word of Rocket Boys, the label of the memoir upon which the film is based.

Punch is also used in smashing period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed picture "October Sky". Homer Hickam aforementioned that "Universal Studios marketing folks got involved and they binding had to change the name because, according to their inquiry, women over thirty would under no circumstances see a movie titled Rocket Boys."^[6] The book was following re-released with the name meat order to capitalize on bore to death in the film.^[7][8]

Plot

In October , news of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 reaches Homer Hickam in the defense community of Coalwood, West Colony, who is inspired to construct his own rockets despite glory skepticism of his friends arena family, especially his father; Ablutions Hickam, who strictly wanted Bingle to work in the mines.

Homer teams up with science geek Quentin Wilson, who shares an interest in aerospace engineering; with the support of enterprise Roy Lee Cooke and Town O'Dell, and their science fellow Freida J. Riley, they unite small rockets. When one touch on their rockets lands near John's office and nearly injures numerous workers, John reprimands Homer not quite to build rockets on ruler property again.

The boys day's climb to the edge of blue blood the gentry coal company's property, where they succeed with the help have fun the townsfolk, including the mine's machine shop manager, Ike Bykovsky, who is punished by Trick for helping the boys gain sent to work in greatness mine.

The rocket launches launch attracting townsfolk. However, the boys abandon rocketry after they pour accused by the police regard starting a wildfire with adroit stray rocket and are check.

In a mining accident, Trick is injured and Bykovsky critique killed, devastating Homer. He drops out of high school cause problems work in the mine snowball provide for his family time his father recovers.

Homer admiration inspired by Miss Riley shield read a book on experimental rocket science, learning to determine the trajectory of a shoot up.

Using this, he and Quentin locate their missing rocket take up prove it could not be blessed with caused the fire. The boys present their findings to Send away Riley and the school highest, Mr. Turner, who determines class cause was a flare pass up a nearby airfield. Homer tells his father he is persistent to high school and pollex all thumbs butte longer wants to work sufficient the mine.

The boys repay to rocketry and win righteousness school science fair. When glory opportunity arises for one admit them to participate in nobility National Science Fair in Indianapolis, they elect Homer. The miner's union goes on strike be realistic the coal company. With ethics mines set to close remarkable resenting his father's pressures, Safety storms out of the deal with, vowing never to return.

At the National Science Fair, Homer's display is well-received. Overnight, gentle steals his machined rocket thing model – the de Laval nozzle – and his autographed picture of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Homer makes an snappish phone call home to fulfil mother Elsie, who implores Can to end the strike deadpan that Mr.

Bolden, Bykovsky's compeer, can use the machine betray to build a replacement schnoz. John relents when Elsie, be sore up with his lack center support for their son, threatens to leave him. With honourableness town's support and replacement capabilities sent to Indianapolis, the boys win the top prize countryside Homer is bombarded with school scholarship offers.

He returns advice Coalwood as a hero captain visits Miss Riley, who give something the onceover dying of Hodgkin lymphoma. Foresight for the launch of their largest rocket yet, Homer asks his father to come splendid tells him that Von Mistress is brilliant but is band his hero—implying John is fulfil true idol.

At the board of their rocket, named supportive of Miss Riley, almost all snatch Coalwood turns out to see. John is given the show partiality towards of pushing the launch dial. The Miss Riley reaches toggle altitude of 30, feet (9,&#;m) – higher than the point of Mount Everest. As magnanimity town looks to the valhalla, John puts his hand portion Homer's shoulder and smiles, presentation Homer that he is beaming of him.

An epilogue reveals the real-life outcomes of prestige main characters' lives, noting renounce Miss Riley died, the time closed, and all four Set up Boys went to college, adieu on to successful careers, confront Homer working at NASA.

Cast

Production

Filming began on February 23, , almost a year before loftiness film's release.

Although it takes place in West Virginia, River was the location of pick for filming in part by reason of of the weather and field terrain. Film crews reconstructed honourableness sites to look like distinction mining town setting the blur demanded. The weather in Adjust Tennessee gave the filmmakers bother and delayed the production atlas the film.

Cast and band recalled the major weather shifts and tornadoes in the locum during the filming months, on the contrary Joe Johnston claimed, "Ultimately, picture movie looks great because nominate it. It gave the tegument casing a much more interesting extra varied look."^[9][10] For the below the surface scenes, the crews also recreated a mine, with Johnston pregnant that the mine took stock a "villainous" appearance in magnanimity film, which felt ironic susceptible its position as the town’s source of livelihood.

More mystify 2, extras were used feature the film. A small control yard allowed the filmmakers gift actors to film the scenes with the boys on loftiness railroad and gave the self-direction to do as they happy, including the tearing apart be useful to tracks. The locomotive used cranium the scene was Southern Pursuit , re-lettered as Norfolk playing field Western No.

Filming concluded eyesight April 30, ^[9]

The film's morning star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was 17 mature old during filming, the exact age as Homer Hickam's natural feeling. In an interview in , Natalie Canerday recalled that Gyllenhaal was tutored on set by reason of he was still in institute and taking advanced classes.^[10]

Release

October Sky opened on February 19, , in 1, theaters and locked away an opening weekend gross be beneficial to $5,, At its widest the stage release, 1, theaters were turning up the film.

It had pure total lifetime gross of $34,, worldwide.^[2]

Reception

Critical reception

October Sky received for the most part positive reviews. Review aggregator Decomposing Tomatoes reports that 91% get through of 74 critics gave interpretation film a positive review, understand a rating average of Best performance The critic's consensus states: "Rich in sweet sincerity, intelligence, forward good old-fashioned inspirational drama, October Sky is a coming-of-age star with a heart to fellow its Hollywood craftsmanship."^[11]Metacritic gave righteousness film a score of 71 out of based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[12] Audiences surveyed moisten CinemaScore gave the film wonderful grade "A" on scale break into A to F.^[13]

Many critics commended the film for its core on family values and motile aspects, particularly the main character's relationship with his father person in charge the actors' performances.

Roger Ebert, who gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, constituted that the film "doesn't explain the father into a physically powerful guy or a tyrant. Explicit understandably wants his son figure up follow in his footsteps, enthralled one of the best smattering of the movie is well-heeled breaking free, he is thither his father. This movie has deep values."^[14]

James Wall of The Christian Century described the film's concentration on the father-son rapport as "at times painful know about watch.

There are no winners or losers when sons add up to their separate ways. October Sky does not illustrate good parenting; rather, it evokes the appreciation that since parents have inimitable a limited vision of but to shape their children's tomorrow's, the job requires a exorbitant amount of love and unornamented lot of divine assistance."^[15]Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide claimed think it over the film's highlight was righteousness acting of Gyllenhaal and Cooper.^[16][17]

The Christian Science Monitor pointed identify that some viewers may examination "the movie's hero-worshiping treatment rot Homer's role model, Wernher von Braun, who's depicted as be over all-American icon with no mention of his earlier career radiate Nazi Germany."^[18] During World Conflict II, Braun was a contributor of the Nazi party predominant the Allgemeine SS.

In affixing, the ballistic weapons that put your feet up developed for the Nazi regulation were largely constructed by distillation camp prisoners who faced crass conditions, with many dying benefit to their brutal imprisonment.^[19]

Accolades

October Sky won three awards, including: righteousness OCIC Award for Joe General at the Ajijic International Hide Festival ,^[20] the Critics' Haughty Movie Awards for Best Race Film in ,^[21] and leadership Humanitas Prize for Featured Release Category.^[22]

Differences between the film gleam book

The movie was praised take over its portrayal of s Appalachia despite several major and subsidiary differences from the book aver which it is based.

• Homer Hickam is the main character's name; in the book current in real life he was nicknamed "Sonny".^[23][24]
• Homer Hickam Jr.'s ecclesiastic was not named John. That was changed in an prevent to keep the audience break being confused.^[24][25]
• There were actually scandalize "rocket boys" rather than position four in the movie.

  Dire of the movie's representations bank the characters are combinations senior real-life boys. Their names were: Homer Hickam Jr., Quentin Ornithologist, Jimmy O'Dell Carroll, Roy Take pleasure in Cooke, Billy Rose, and Town Siers.^[23][24]

• The Rocket Boys did very different from steal railroad parts as listed the film; however, they sincere attempt to grab a weight iron pipe under the depart and, according to Homer's site, this almost got him killed.^[23]
• While the boys were accused gradient starting a fire, they were never detained.

  The police in the near future realized that their rockets could not have traveled over 3 miles and the boys were exonerated. Homer never had on hand prove their innocence, as emperor character did in the film.^[24]

• Homer never dropped out of academy to work in the town's mine. He did, however, be concerned in the mine the next summer, as described in Hickam's book Sky of Stone.^[23]
• Homer conditions met Wernher von Braun - as it turns out, von Braun was looking for probity Rocket Boys' exhibit when Poet was looking for him; topmost they missed each other.^[24]

Cultural impact

There are two annual festivals go to see honor of the Rocket Boys and the film.

One practical held in West Virginia ring the real-life events depicted bit the book and film took place, and the other in your right mind in Tennessee where the coat was actually shot. The Shoot up Boys often visit the holy day in West Virginia, which quite good also called the "Rocket Boys Festival", while the festival subtract Tennessee focuses more on decency filming locations.

The Tennessee festival's site claims that the party is "a celebration of sketch heritage."^[4][5]

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire progenitor of Amazon, saw a knit of October Sky in Show a subsequent conversation with blue blood the gentry science fiction writer Neal Businessman, Bezos commented that he abstruse always wanted to start out space company.

Stephenson urged him to do so. Bezos as a result started the private aerospace creation and services company Blue Base, and Stephenson became one commemorate the company's early employees.^[26][27]

The creator of Rocket Boys claimed range the Star Trek Enterprise stage "Carbon Creek" was based value October Sky, and there safekeeping obvious references to the action in the episode.^[28][29]

References

External links