Clint Eastwood teams up with some old friends to make SPACE COWBOYS, a rollicking motion picture that wraps action, comedy, and science fiction into one neat package. Eastwood plays Frank Corvin, a former air force pilot who was shunned from flying into space in 1958 after NASA was created. Forty years later, when a Russian satellite appears to be headed for a collision with Earth, Corvin finally gets his chance. He bribes his archrival Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) into letting his team go into space to repair the satellite, on the condition that they pass the physical. However, passing the physical isn't so easy for aging veterans Jerry O'Neil (Donald Sutherland), Tank Sullivan (James Garner), and Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), who, while still mentally sharp, aren't in the best of physical shape. Nonetheless, they manage to fill all the requirements. Ignoring the two cocky upstarts who have been sent along to back them up, the old-timers blast off and head straight for the satellite. But when they get there, the realization that the satellite is actually carrying six nuclear warheads changes the course of the mission, endangering the lives of the astronauts as well as the citizens of America. With exceptional special effects and a breezy tone, SPACE COWBOYS is one of Eastwood's most entertaining films to date.
A 60-year-old astronaut is sent on a mission to repair a broken satellite that threatens to cause a disaster on Earth if it falls from outer space. The only catch is that he insists that three of his friends, who were not originally selected in the astronaut training program, accompany him as his crew. This high-tech, high-action drama, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, mimics classic space favorites such as THE RIGHT STUFF while providing some of the chummy machismo of earlier Eastwood movies.
Theatrical release: August 4, 2000.
The film was shot on location in California; Houston, Texas; and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Industrial Light & Magic was responsible for the film's visual effects.
Clint Eastwood received a Golden Lion for career achievement at the 2000 Venice Film Festival, where he screened SPACE COWBOYS out of competition.
Blu-ray Disc Features:
Blue BD Case
Widescreen - 2.40
Audio:
Dolby Digital Surround Sound 5.1 - English, French (Quebec)
Dolby Digital Surround Sound 2.0 - Latin Spanish
Subtitles - English SDH, English, French, Spanish - Optional
Closed Captioned - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1. Theatrical Trailer
Featurettes - 1. "Back at the Ranch: On Location with Cast, Crew and NASA Consultants"
2. "The Effects: Meet Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Owens and His Collaborators"
3. "Up Close with the Editor: A Conversation with Joel Fox"
4. "Tonight on Leno: Expanded Version of THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO Sequence"
Stars
Clint Eastwood: American actor/director, THE GOOD, THE BAD.../UNFORGIVEN
Tommy Lee Jones: American Actor
Donald Sutherland: Canadian Actor
James Garner: American actor, MURPHY'S ROMANCE
James Cromwell: American actor, BABE/L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
Loren Dean: Supporting Actor
Courtney B. Vance: Supporting Actor/Male
William Devane: American Actor
Marcia Gay Harden: Oscar winning american actress, POLLOCK
Director
Clint Eastwood: American actor/director, THE GOOD, THE BAD.../UNFORGIVEN
Producer
Andrew Lazar: Producer
Clint Eastwood: American actor/director, THE GOOD, THE BAD.../UNFORGIVEN
Screenwriter
Ken Kaufman:
Howard Klausner: SPACE COWBOYS
Composer
Lennie Niehaus:
Editor
Joel Cox: Editor, MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Director of Photography
Jack N. Green: Director of Photography, SERENITY (2005)
Executive Producer
Tom Rooker: SPACE COWBOYS
Production Designer
Henry Bumstead: Production Designer, MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Costume Designer
Ann Culotta: Costume Designer, SPACE COWBOYS (2000)
Review 1:
"...Four irresistible co-leads help it gallop along..." -- 3 out of 4 stars
Source: USA Today
p.4E 08/04/2000
Review 2:
"...[It's a great pleasure] watching four great actors reclaim their prime..."
Source: New York Times
p.E16 08/04/2000
Review 3:
"...The old-pro actors fly in a pleasing, ageless orbit all their own..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.59 09/01/2000
Review 4:
"...[The film has] its own ticklish charm..."
Source: Total Film
p.83 10/01/2000
Review 5:
"...The stuff in outer space is unexpected, the surprise waiting out there is genuine, and meanwhile, there's an abundance of charm and screen presence from the four veteran actors..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.31 08/04/2000