Author Topic: First Man Premiere  (Read 40322 times)

Offline Gliderflyer

Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #80 on: 10/02/2018 12:39 am »
First Man exclusive clip from IGN -“Agena Spin”.



Looks like they are borrowing sound clips directly from The Right Stuff. Compare 2:04 in the Agena clip to 0:07 in the NF-104A clip.


I tried it at home

Offline Star One

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #81 on: 10/02/2018 06:23 am »
If you are going to borrow, borrow from the best.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #82 on: 10/05/2018 02:42 pm »
This "First Man" "B-Roll" shows behind the scenes looks at the production.  A lot of full scale sets, X-15 and Gemini on motion bases, etc..  Looks like retro-Hollywood, pre-CGI era, Kubrick style!  I like that they filmed the astronaut walk-out scene at the real O&C Building, using the real doorway, etc.  Then there's a big Saturn V model, but with the wrong paint scheme (sigh), though I've seen the correct paint scheme shown in an actual movie preview clip.


 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 10/06/2018 09:14 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #83 on: 10/07/2018 01:28 pm »
I'm going to skip the flag debate until I've seen the movie.

I just hope the film is worthy of the courageous, self-effacing, superb pilot and engineer that I believe Armstrong really was.

There were a lot of events -- technical, medical, personal etc. -- that led to Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins being selected for the crew of Apollo 11. Too many to go into here.

But, by fate or design, I can't think of any better representative than Armstrong to be the first human to walk on another world.

                                                                   Some are born great
                                                                 Some achieve greatness
                                                       And some have greatness thrust upon them.
It is worth it. It’s very melancholy, and dives deep into the tragedies that led to Neil being picked.

It’s a very intimate film, delving deep into Neil’s soul. Not so much about Apollo. Very good.
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Offline Archibald

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #85 on: 10/11/2018 07:00 am »
Geez, this Agena scene was scary...
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Offline Ben the Space Brit

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #86 on: 10/11/2018 03:12 pm »
Imagine what it must have been like for the crew! A spacecraft in vacuum should not experience spins!
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Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #87 on: 10/12/2018 09:38 am »
Review: Note - may contain some spoilers...

I saw the film this evening on a rather large screen. I absolutely loved about half of the movie's content but had real problems with how the director chose to shoot a fair bit of the rest of it. I'm not the film's director, it scarcely needs saying - he did it the way he wanted to do it - but I would have done certain sequences quite differently!

The Gemini 8 emergency sequence was terrific. The disorienting, shaky-cam was the right choice and genuinely terrifying. But why do it the same way again for the Apollo 11 landing?! The music for the Apollo 11 landing was a little too loud and quirky for my taste. The LM cabin seemed almost completely dark. Far too much shaky-cam and really, really extreme closeups gave me virtually claustrophobic and nauseous experiences over and over. This conspired to make space travel seem like an unpleasant, almost dystopian experience to be avoided at all costs. How could the audience leave the theater thinking Space Exploration was an amazing thing to do after seeing this movie?! How?!

Nearly all the actors playing historical figures were well cast, except I thought Jason Clarke who played Ed White: he simply didn't look right. They needed a more handsome, almost square jawed athletic looking man - which Ed White was and Jason Clarke isn't. And the scenes around home, barbecues, the NASA offices and funerals etcetera... Why all the shaky-cam, as if they were 'found footage' shot on grainy (yes; grainy) 16mm movie cameras? I'm sorry: I know that many people these days have short attention spans and need to be kept a little off-balance to keep paying attention... But not even Michael Bay or Marvel Super Hero films use this much vertiginous shaky-cam. Please, don't let Director Damien Chazelle near an historic aviation or Space movie again... Unless you want to make a sequence like the Gemini 8 one - then you're good to go.

I would be interested to see if anyone else had a similar viewing experience to me. I give the movie 6/10 though it could have been a 9 out of 10. Claire Foy and Ryan Gosling did well, the Gemini 8 sequence was very good and the Moonwalk sequence once out of the hatch was delightfully serene and still after the previous shakin-all-over...

...But then the very final scene is weaving the camera around drunkenly once more for what should have been an intimate, alone scene between the two primary characters. Sigh...
« Last Edit: 10/12/2018 11:20 am by MATTBLAK »
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Offline WBY1984

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #88 on: 10/12/2018 10:04 pm »
I've just come back from seeing it. Very interesting movie, not perfect, but very good.
First off, the things I didn't like: I think it's too melancholic in places. I get that the movie is trying to get into Armstrongs head, and that means creating a movie very different in tone to the usual hollywood depictions of Apollo. However, in trying to create a character whose behaviour is largely guided by grief, he's rather starved of complexity. As much as the death of a daughter would have profound effects on anyone, to tie everything into that one event is reductionist.

Also starved of complexity is Buzz Aldrin. It is well known that he was a difficult personality, but here he comes off as too much of a jerk. The movie isn't about him so any examination of why he was often a difficult person can't be done in detail, but even a hint that he had his own inner demons would make him more sympathetic.

The movie has some technical accuracy problems, most of which don't bother me much, except for the appearance of the spacecraft, especially the interiors, which appear very weathered even prior to use. Switches are scuffed. Plastic is oxidized. Interior panels look like they've been smeared with oily rags. I think they were trying to create the impression of breakable, mechanical, nuts and bolts machines, as opposed to the starship enterprise. They succeeded in this aim through multiple other means, so the weathering makes no logical sense.

The good: The acting is great all round, especially Gosling and Foy. The depuction of flight is visceral and raw.
The soundtrack works well and is very different to what is often seen in space movies.
The direction in this movie is really superb. Where we're used to rockets depicted in movies, here the director chooses to focus on the point of view of the astronauts. Extreme close-ups of peoples faces really rams it home that this is a movie about humans, not hardware. Showing spaceflight in this manner is interesting and new.
I loved how the film changes between grainy 16mm all the way up to imax according to what fits best for the scene. So cool.

I think I'll go see it again :)

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #89 on: 10/12/2018 10:36 pm »
I'd forgotten to mention how beaten up and scuffed the interior of the Gemini looked - you're quite right, about that. However, I definitely think the extreme closeups while a good tool in some scenes were overused - especially in ordinary scenes where the actors were just in rooms talking to each other. And the film graininess and constantly moving camera was too distracting on a huge screen. Thank god the director chose to keep the lunar EVA portrayal serene and still; just like the Moon really is.
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Online catdlr

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #90 on: 10/13/2018 02:59 am »
Historic NASA Mission Hits the Big Screen

NASA
Published on Oct 12, 2018

The cast and crew of Universal’s feature film First Man reflect on the story of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 moon landing, one of NASA’s most notable figures and one of the agency's crowning achievements. They also note their visits to NASA and working with the agency's staff in the production of the film. NASA provided our historical expertise, footage and imagery, plus allowed for filming access at our facilities.

Film footage provided courtesy of Universal Pictures.



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Offline Bubbinski

Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #91 on: 10/13/2018 04:21 am »
Just got back from the District, seeing First Man in a 2D ATMOS theater.

GO SEE IT.

The best movie I have ever watched.

The flight scenes make the movie.

Excellent job.
I'll even excitedly look forward to "flags and footprints" and suborbital missions. Just fly...somewhere.

Online catdlr

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #92 on: 10/13/2018 05:08 am »
Review: 'First Man,' starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, thrills, moves and perplexes

Review
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Offline 1

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #93 on: 10/13/2018 06:19 am »
I took my parents to go see it this afternoon, as they too have a peripheral interest in spaceflight. The only thing I told them beforehand was that it was a story about Neil rather than a story about the moon landing effort itself.

spoiler zone:

I also made no mention of the flag raising nonsense; and of course, my parents didn't even notice the "missing" scene. Which is good, because a) telling them would only have served to distract them from the story, and b) there were plenty of American flags present in other scenes, most notably the one Neil's kid raised at their home. That was a far more appropriate scene to include in my opinion; and there were also a few beautiful panoramic shots on the moon that included the lander as well as the already-raised flag. Truly, much ado about absolutely nothing. I do wish a couple seconds had been spared to show the "we came in peace for all mankind" dedication plaque though.

I agree with the posters above regarding shaky-cam; although the only time it really bothered me was during Armstrong's various flights as Hollywood apparently felt the need to highlight the danger as much as possible (if not flat out exaggerate it) by shaking the camera as much as possible. There were times when the camera was shaking so much I might as well have just closed my eyes and listened to the audio.

Regarding the depictions of other people, many of them do feel a bit one-dimensional (like Aldrin), but I'm not sure if that could have been avoided. The overall pacing of the movie felt good to me, and since it clocks in at over two hours, there's not much room to add time developing other people (yes, yes, everyone on this site would probably love to see a lord-of-the-rings-esque 12 hour saga, but think of the poor average joe).

It would have been helpful if Armstrong were still alive to give his input regarding how he was portrayed. At times, I wanted to criticize Gosling's performance for seeming too cold, and criticize the script for making it appear as if Neil cares/cared only for Karen and less so for his other kids, but I just don't know how much of that is actually accurate. My first instinct is to always suspect Hollywood of being Hollywood and cranking the drama up to 11, but it seems the Armstrong family is pleased with how the film turned out; so perhaps it's not too far off from reality. Foy's performance was excellent and very believable regardless.

Overall, it was an afternoon well spent. Flawed in places, but the parents and I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. My biggest disappointment was the theater turnout. True, it was early afternoon on a school day, but there were probably only 8 or 9 people in the entire theater. On release day.

I really hope it picks up over the weekend. Recommend everyone on here go see it.
« Last Edit: 10/13/2018 06:27 am by 1 »

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #94 on: 10/13/2018 10:07 am »
Review: 'First Man,' starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, thrills, moves and perplexes

Review
That review is excellent. Justin Chang is a professional reviewer and I am not; but he picked up on many of the same notes I did. I was slightly harsher in my criticism of some of the same things he outlines - the jittery camera work and unnerving editing etc. His is so far the most accurate and honest of the many reviews I've read the last two days. And he rightly praises those things about the film certainly worth praising. There's a lot to like.
« Last Edit: 10/13/2018 10:08 am by MATTBLAK »
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Offline TaurusLittrow

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #95 on: 10/13/2018 01:21 pm »
Saw "First Man" yesterday. Overall, I'd give the film a thumbs up, but I don't think it captured the complete Neil Armstrong including his wry sense of humor. Of course, his sons are apparently happy with the portrayal so who am I to say.

The film's director mentioned the influence of the Orpheus myth on the overarching theme in the movie (submerging the pain of loss to achieve great endeavors) so I see why the death of Armstrong's daughter is pivotal in the movie.

It would be interesting to determine if Armstrong left any personal mementos at West crater as shown in the movie. Other astronauts like Cernan and Duke did so. 

Offline Newton_V

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #96 on: 10/13/2018 01:34 pm »
My employer rented out a local theater and gave everybody up to 4 tickets, or more if needed.  Should be fun.

I highly recommend watching "In the Shadow of the Moon" if you haven't seen it.  Saw the premiere at the NSS years ago.

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #97 on: 10/13/2018 07:23 pm »
I just came from the movie theater, and I didn't like it. I agree a lot with what MATTBLAK and WBY1984 said. It had too much closeups and shaky cam, in addition to way too much melancholy. I love space flight, but this movie made me almost like it less. There were some good scenes, but in total this was not a movie for me at all.

Note, I know very little about Armstrongs life, and I didn't know about his daughter (which hit me hard since I've also lost my daughter), but was he really constantly this depressed?
For me he came across as a robot who could had been programmed with sadness as his only emotion. He hardly had a smile through the entire movie, and the highest level of enthusiasm shown about space flight was that he thought some aspects of orbital mechanics were "neat".
Since I don't know much about him I can't compare to what he was really like, but if he was this closed off and sad all the time, then wow....

Online Thorny

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #98 on: 10/13/2018 08:45 pm »
Just got back from seeing First Man.

I'd give it about a 6/10. Way too much 'astronaut point of view' for my taste. Staring at shaky control consoles gets really old about half-way through the movie. I understand that's what the director was going for (making the movie about the man, not about the missions), but I thought he should have remembered that the vast majority in the audience won't have any idea what the heck is happening, and he didn't do a very good job of providing that background. ("Okay, Armstrong saved the day by doing... something, I don't know...")

I wouldn't expect Buzz Aldrin to have very kind words for this movie. He comes off as a real jerk. But at least we didn't get the whiny "I should get to go out first" Aldrin as depicted in "From the Earth to the Moon."

Gosling did well with what he had to work with, but a mannequin could have performed most of his scenes. Foy was excellent.

The usual nitpicks, of course. My biggest nitpick is the depiction of Apollo 11 launching at what seems like five minutes after daybreak on a dim, cloudy morning, instead of 9:30am on a bright, sunny July morning.

Offline rocketguy101

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Re: First Man Premiere
« Reply #99 on: 10/13/2018 09:54 pm »
Amy Tietel's review pretty much sums up my feelings after watching the movie yesterday...
except I disagree with her about how great the sets were.  Like others have pointed out, the cockpits of the capsules looked like 50 year old used spacecraft.

David

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