Space Cowboys
Encyclopedia
Space Cowboys is a 2000 science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...

 film directed by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

. Eastwood also stars in the film alongside Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....

, Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...

, and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

 as four older "ex-test pilots" who are sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite. The original music score was composed by Eastwood and Lennie Niehaus
Lennie Niehaus
Lennie Niehaus is an American alto saxophonist, arranger, and composer on the West Coast jazz scene. He has played with the Stan Kenton big band, and various other jazz bands on the West Coast of the U.S. Niehaus has arranged and composed for motion pictures, including several produced by Clint...

.

Plot

IKON, an obsolete Soviet communications satellite is about to fall out of orbit, and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 are instructed, for political reasons, to capture it, rather than allow it to crash. The onboard systems do not respond, but are so archaic that nobody at NASA understands them. They ask retired United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 pilot and electrical engineer Dr. Frank Corvin (Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

), who designed the original guidance systems from which the satellite has been copied, to help them, despite the longstanding animosity between the engineer and project director Bob Gerson (James Cromwell
James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...

).

A flashback (the very beginning of the movie) reveals that 40 years ago (ie, in 1958), Corvin's prospects as an astronaut had been dashed with the formation of NASA, a civilian agency. Corvin and his three-man team had been replaced by a chimp, which was a shrewd move calculated by Gerson.

Meanwhile, in the present, NASA engineer Sara Holland (Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...

) argues with project manager Gerson regarding conflicting political and engineering concerns over the decaying satellite.

Corvin, initially unwilling to work with Gerson, insists that there is not enough time to train anybody. He proposes to go himself, and he will not go without his old team, 'Team Dædalus': Jerry O'Neill (Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...

), a skirt-chasing and confident structural engineer who designs roller coasters since abandoning supersonic stealth aircraft
Supersonic aircraft
A supersonic aircraft is designed to exceed the speed of sound in at least some of its normal flight configurations.-Overview:The great majority of supersonic aircraft today are military or experimental aircraft...

; former Air Force pilot-turned crop duster and stubborn risk-taker William "Hawk" Hawkins (Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....

); and former navigator "Tank" Sullivan (Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

), who is now a family man and Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 minister. With no choice, the director agrees, intending to string Corvin along until younger astronauts are up to speed on the system.

The press soon learns of the situation and the four men become celebrities—even appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

. The publicity leads to the political head of NASA, the Vice President demanding that they be sent on the mission.

Competitive rivalry between the young astronauts and Team Dædalus continues, while Holland grows fond of Hawkins. During medical tests, Hawk is found to have terminal pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

, and has only about eight months left to live. Due to the urgent nature of the mission and since his illness would not impair his effectiveness on the mission, he is deemed flightworthy and put on the mission.

The mission goes ahead with two crews, old and new, flying the space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

. They capture the satellite, but discover that it is not what they thought it was. It is in fact armed with six nuclear missiles, a dangerous and still active relic of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 and a clear Soviet violation of the Outer Space Treaty
Outer Space Treaty
The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that forms the basis of international space law...

; the reason the Russians were so eager to repair it was that its return to Earth's atmosphere would cause it to launch the missiles. The team also learns that the system the satellite uses (from SkyLab
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...

) was stolen by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 from Gerson's personal files. The team decides to use the payload-assist rockets that the shuttle is carrying in order to push the satellite out of Earth orbit into deep space.

Ethan Glance (Loren Dean
Loren Dean
Loren Dean is an American actor. He has appeared onstage and in feature films.-Early life:Loren Dean Jovicic was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother worked as a family and marriage counselor and his father was in the clothing business. His parents divorced when he was a small child...

), one of the younger astronauts, follows Gerson's secret orders to try to move IKON into a stable orbit by himself. He connects the PAM rockets against Corvin's orders, accidentally activating the satellite, and is incapacitated in the process. It collides with the shuttle, causing extensive damage, and then prepares to launch its missiles. Roger Hines (Courtney B. Vance
Courtney B. Vance
Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...

), the shuttle pilot, is seriously injured in the collision, leaving the four senior astronauts to handle the crisis.

Corvin and Hawkins first deactivate the satellite. They then discover that there are not enough undamaged rockets to stabilize its now rapidly-deteriorating orbit. With time running out, they improvise, deciding to use the satellite's own missiles' rockets to push it away. There is only one hitch: somebody has to go along to manually launch the missiles at the right time to ensure they do not enter an Earth-bound trajectory. Hawk makes the choice to complete the suicide run, reasoning that he is the best pilot of the group and is dying anyway. He aims for the Moon, his lifelong ambition.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew on the shuttle are not out of danger. The shuttle's computers are not responding and most of the propulsion systems are damaged, with the only functional one leaking fuel. NASA controllers decide to have the crew bring the shuttle as low as possible, then abandon ship and let it crash into the Atlantic Ocean. Corvin performs a de-orbit burn successfully as the space shuttle rides the atmosphere, gaining heat and starting to break up. He makes it safely through, and flies to Florida, where he has Jerry see that the younger astronauts have safely parachuted out. Tank refuses to leave him on the shuttle, as does Jerry. Corvin, who trained to fly 'by the seat of his pants', eventually performs a perfect landing at the Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

, despite all the damage that the shuttle suffered, including a complete computer failure.

Corvin and his wife Barbara (Barbara Babcock) stand by a fountain at night, staring at the Moon, hoping that Hawk has made it there. The Moon's surface is shown, where Hawk's body is slouched against a rock in a sitting position, a trail of footprints leading from the crashed satellite, and the Earth reflected in his visor.

Cast

  • Clint Eastwood
    Clint Eastwood
    Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

     as Colonel Frank Corvin, Ph.D., USAF (Ret.)
  • Tommy Lee Jones
    Tommy Lee Jones
    Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....

     as Colonel William "Hawk" Hawkins, USAF (Ret.)
  • Donald Sutherland
    Donald Sutherland
    Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...

     as Captain Jerry O'Neill, USAF (Ret.)
  • James Garner
    James Garner
    James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

     as Captain & Reverend "Tank" Sullivan, USAF (Ret.)
  • James Cromwell
    James Cromwell
    James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...

     as Bob Gerson
  • Marcia Gay Harden
    Marcia Gay Harden
    Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...

     as Sara Holland
  • William Devane
    William Devane
    William Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...

     as Eugene "Gene" Davis
  • Loren Dean
    Loren Dean
    Loren Dean is an American actor. He has appeared onstage and in feature films.-Early life:Loren Dean Jovicic was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. His mother worked as a family and marriage counselor and his father was in the clothing business. His parents divorced when he was a small child...

     as Ethan Glance
  • Courtney B. Vance
    Courtney B. Vance
    Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...

     as Roger Hines
  • Rade Šerbedžija
    Rade Šerbedžija
    Rade Šerbedžija , occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions, is a Croatian actor, director and musician of Serb origin. He was one of the most popular Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s. He is now internationally known mainly for his supporting roles in...

     as General Vostow
  • Barbara Babcock
    Barbara Babcock
    Barbara Babcock is an American character actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981 and her role as Dorothy Jennings on Dr...

     as Mrs. Barbara Corvin
  • Blair Brown
    Blair Brown
    Bonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film, and television actress. She has had a number of high profile roles, including a Tony Award-winning turn in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, as well as a run as the title character in the television comedy-drama The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,...

     as Dr. Anne Caruthers
  • Jay Leno
    Jay Leno
    James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

     as Himself
  • Toby Stephens
    Toby Stephens
    Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...

     as Young Frank Corvin in 1958
  • Eli Craig
    Eli Craig
    Elijah M. "Eli" Craig is a Writer/Director, who started his Hollywood career with a few small acting jobs.His first full-length film as writer/director was the horror comedy movie Tucker & Dale vs Evil, which took three years to complete.-Family:He is Sally Field's younger son...

     as Young "Hawk" Hawkins in 1958
  • John Mallory Asher
    John Mallory Asher
    John Mallory Asher is an American actor, director, writer and cinematographer.He is perhaps best known for his performance as Gary, on the USA Networks' series spinoff of the movie Weird Science.-Biography:...

     as Young Jerry O'Neill in 1958
  • Matt McColm
    Matt McColm
    Matt McColm is an American actor and stuntman, and former model. He has modeled for Ralph Lauren early in his career. As an actor, he is best known for portraying Johnny Domino, the lead character in the 1997-1999 television series Night Man and Agent Thompson, the agent who kills Trinity at the...

     as Young "Tank" Sullivan in 1958
  • Billie Worley
    Billie Worley
    Billie Ray Worley is an American film and television actor. He played Patrick Quinn on the U.S. TV show Early Edition.-Filmography:Movies*Hear No Evil *I Love Trouble *Strange Days...

     as Young Bob Gerson in 1958
  • Jon Hamm as Young Pilot
  • Chris Wylde
    Chris Wylde
    Chris Wylde is the stage name of an American actor and comedian who was born on August 22, 1976 in Hackettstown, New Jersey as Christopher Scott Noll.-Early life:...

     as Jason the birthday boy

Production

Filming started in July 1999 and lasted three months. Scenes were filmed on location at the Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 Johnson Space Center and the Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,829 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 10,147...

 Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

. Interior shots of the flight simulator, shuttle, and mission control were filmed on sets at Warner Brothers.

Although the "young" portrayals of the characters in the flashback are made by different actors than those of their "older" counterparts, the voices are those of the "older" actors.

Reception

Space Cowboys was well received and holds a 79% rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

 the film has a 73 out of 100 indicating "Generally favorable reviews". The film received a moderately favorable review from Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

: "it's too secure within its traditional story structure to make much seem at risk — but with the structure come the traditional pleasures as well." The film grossed over $90 million in its United States release, more than Eastwood's two previous films—True Crime
True Crime (1999 film)
True Crime is a 1999 American mystery drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, and based on Andrew Klavan's 1997 novel of the same name. Eastwood also stars in the film as a journalist covering the execution of a death row inmate, only to discover that the convict may actually be innocent.-Plot:Steve...

and Absolute Power
Absolute Power (film)
Absolute Power is a 1997 American political thriller produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood as a thief who witnesses a murder. The screenplay by William Goldman is based on the 1996 novel of the same name written by David Baldacci...

—combined.
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