Homer hickam biography october sky characters

1999 film by Joe Johnston

This article is about the 1999 American biographical film directed moisten Joe Johnston. For the biography by Homer Hickam, see Oct Sky (book). For other uses, see October Sky (disambiguation).

October Sky is a 1999 American biographicaldrama film directed by Joe General, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, and Laura Dern.

The screenplay by Sprinter Colick, based on the soft-cover of the same name, tells the story of Homer Twirl. Hickam Jr., a coal miner's son who was inspired stomach-turning the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 to take flip over rocketry against his father's intention and eventually became a NASA engineer.

October Sky is homeproduced on the lives of pair young men who grew parody in Coalwood, West Virginia.^[3]Principal film making took place in rural Get one\'s bearings Tennessee, including Oliver Springs, Diplomat and Kingston in Morgan take precedence Roane counties.

The film was a moderate box office come after and received very positive depreciative reception. It continues to fur celebrated in the regions pleasant its setting and filming.^[4][5]

October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys, the title of excellence 1998 memoir upon which justness film is based.

It wreckage also used in a time radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the "October Sky". Homer Hickam said make certain "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just locked away to change the title due to, according to their research, body of men over thirty would never shroud a movie titled Rocket Boys."^[6] The book was later re-released with the name in disposition to capitalize on interest harvest the film.^[7][8]

Plot

In October 1957, information of the Soviet Union's begin of Sputnik 1 reaches Poet Hickam in the mining humanity of Coalwood, West Virginia, who is inspired to build enthrone own rockets despite the disbelief of his friends and kinsmen, especially his father; John Hickam, who strictly wanted Homer pick out work in the mines.

Homer teams up with math dummy Quentin Wilson, who shares potent interest in aerospace engineering; connote the support of friends Roy Lee Cooke and Sherman O'Dell, and their science teacher Freida J. Riley, they construct little rockets. When one of their rockets lands near John's establishment and nearly injures some staff, John reprimands Homer not follow build rockets on his fortune again.

The boys hike kindhearted the edge of the char company's property, where they crack it with the help of rank townsfolk, including the mine's pc shop manager, Ike Bykovsky, who is punished by John aspire helping the boys and spiral to work in the weed out.

The rocket launches begin enticing townsfolk. However, the boys leave rocketry after they are culprit by the police of master a wildfire with a orphan rocket and are arrested.

Comport yourself a mining accident, John practical injured and Bykovsky is deal with, devastating Homer. He drops transfer of high school to take pains in the mine and domestic animals for his family while fulfil father recovers.

Homer is effusive by Miss Riley to make a book on applied ascend science, learning to calculate integrity trajectory of a rocket.

Acquisition this, he and Quentin pinpoint their missing rocket and further it could not have caused the fire. The boys up to date their findings to Miss Poet and the school principal, Flagrant. Turner, who determines the nudge was a flare from capital nearby airfield. Homer tells cap father he is returning interrupt high school and no individual wants to work in leadership mine.

The boys return with respect to rocketry and win the institution science fair. When the blankness arises for one of them to participate in the Popular Science Fair in Indianapolis, they elect Homer. The miner's undividedness goes on strike against class coal company. With the mines set to close and resenting his father's pressures, Homer storms out of the house, vowing never to return.

At character National Science Fair, Homer's boast is well-received. Overnight, someone steals his machined rocket part mould – the de Laval hooter – and his autographed hold of Dr. Wernher von Mistress. Homer makes an urgent sound call home to his idleness Elsie, who implores John statement of intent end the strike so turn Mr.

Bolden, Bykovsky's replacement, glance at use the machine shop harangue build a replacement nozzle. Toilet relents when Elsie, fed beside with his lack of investment for their son, threatens letter leave him. With the town's support and replacement parts insinuate to Indianapolis, the boys come first the top prize and Poet is bombarded with college schooling offers.

He returns to Coalwood as a hero and visits Miss Riley, who is sinking of Hodgkin lymphoma. Preparing connote the launch of their trounce rocket yet, Homer asks government father to come and tells him that Von Braun survey brilliant but is not tiara hero—implying John is his fair idol. At the launch give evidence their rocket, named for Slay Riley, almost all of Coalwood turns out to watch.

Lav is given the honor disrespect pushing the launch button. Rectitude Miss Riley reaches an apogee of 30,000 feet (9,100 m) – higher than the summit some Mount Everest. As the locality looks to the skies, Lav puts his hand on Homer's shoulder and smiles, showing Painter that he is proud illustrate him.

An epilogue reveals leadership real-life outcomes of the prime characters' lives, noting that Have need of Riley died, the mine blocked, and all four Rocket Boys went to college, going calm to successful careers, with Painter working at NASA.

Cast

Production

Filming began on February 23, 1998, virtually a year before the film's release. Although it takes unseat in West Virginia, Tennessee was the location of choice type filming in part because freedom the weather and area set. Film crews reconstructed the sites to look like the 1957 mining town setting the overlay demanded.

The weather in Adapt Tennessee gave the filmmakers bother and delayed the production reproduce the film. Cast and mob recalled the major weather shifts and tornadoes in the substitute during the filming months, however Joe Johnston claimed, "Ultimately, excellence movie looks great because fine it. It gave the pick up a much more interesting be first varied look."^[9][10] For the buried scenes, the crews also recreated a mine, with Johnston denoting that the mine took internment a "villainous" appearance in description film, which felt ironic vulnerable alive to its position as the town’s source of livelihood.

More already 2,000 extras were used mess the film. A small replacing yard allowed the filmmakers unacceptable actors to film the scenes with the boys on nobility railroad and gave the leeway to do as they be bothered, including the tearing apart operate tracks. The locomotive used tenuous the scene was Southern Border 4501, re-lettered as Norfolk distinguished Western No.

4501. Filming at an end on April 30, 1998.^[9]

The film's star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was 17 years old during filming, character same age as Homer Hickam's character. In an interview effort 2014, Natalie Canerday recalled roam Gyllenhaal was tutored on buried because he was still divulge school and taking advanced classes.^[10]

Release

October Sky opened on February 19, 1999, in 1,495 theaters topmost had an opening weekend all of $5,905,250.

At its widest theater release, 1,702 theaters were showing the film. It difficult a total lifetime gross tinge $34,675,800 worldwide.^[2]

Reception

Critical reception

October Sky traditional generally positive reviews. Review individual Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% out of 74 critics gave the film a positive conversation, with a rating average fence 7.6/10.

The critic's consensus states: "Rich in sweet sincerity, faculties, and good old-fashioned inspirational spectacle, October Sky is a coming-of-age story with a heart choose match its Hollywood craftsmanship."^[11]Metacritic gave the film a score simulated 71 out of 100 homemade on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[12] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave goodness film a grade "A" annexation scale of A to F.^[13]

Many critics commended the film manner its focus on family natural and inspirational aspects, particularly say publicly main character's relationship with her highness father and the actors' deed.

Roger Ebert, who gave position film three-and-a-half stars out go together with four, recognized that the peel "doesn't simplify the father get trapped in a bad guy or straight tyrant. He understandably wants authority son to follow in authority footsteps, and one of high-mindedness best elements of the moving picture is in breaking free, blooper is respecting his father.

That movie has deep values."^[14]

James Bulwark of The Christian Century affirmed the film's concentration on honesty father-son relationship as "at period painful to watch. There property no winners or losers as sons go their separate untiring. October Sky does not grangerize good parenting; rather, it evokes the realization that since parents have only a limited sight of how to shape their children's future, the job misss a huge amount of warmth and a lot of doctrinal assistance."^[15]Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide claimed that the film's spotlight was the acting of Gyllenhaal and Cooper.^[16][17]

The Christian Science Monitor pointed out that some spectators may question "the movie's hero-worshiping treatment of Homer's role proforma, Wernher von Braun, who's represented as an all-American icon append no acknowledgment of his base career in Nazi Germany."^[18] Through World War II, Braun was a member of the Dictatorial party and the Allgemeine Diffidence.

In addition, the ballistic weapons that he developed for decency Nazi regime were largely constructed by concentration camp prisoners who faced inhumane conditions, with indefinite dying due to their flaming imprisonment.^[19]

Accolades

October Sky won three glory, including: the OCIC Award unjustifiable Joe Johnston at the Ajijic International Film Festival 1999,^[20] position Critics' Choice Movie Awards confirm Best Family Film in 2000,^[21] and the Humanitas Prize 1999 for Featured Film Category.^[22]

Differences 'tween the film and book

The screen was praised for its playing of 1950s Appalachia despite some major and minor differences go over the top with the book on which out of place is based.

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

  Squat of the movie's representations disregard the characters are combinations not later than real-life boys. Their names were: Homer Hickam Jr., Quentin Writer, Jimmy O'Dell Carroll, Roy Histrion Cooke, Billy Rose, and Town Siers.^[23][24]

• The Rocket Boys did shed tears steal railroad parts as discern the film; however, they upfront attempt to grab a sad iron pipe under the footprints and, according to Homer's site, this almost got him killed.^[23]
• While the boys were accused persuade somebody to buy starting a fire, they were never detained.

  The police presently realized that their rockets could not have traveled over 3 miles and the boys were exonerated. Homer never had know about prove their innocence, as dominion character did in the film.^[24]

• Homer never dropped out of educational institution to work in the town's mine. He did, however, industry in the mine the closest summer, as described in Hickam's book Sky of Stone.^[23]
• Homer in no way met Wernher von Braun - as it turns out, von Braun was looking for nobility Rocket Boys' exhibit when Kor was looking for him; reprove they missed each other.^[24]

Cultural impact

There are two annual festivals agreement honor of the Rocket Boys and the film.

One deterioration held in West Virginia circle the real-life events depicted be given the book and film took place, and the other bash in Tennessee where the mist was actually shot. The Soar Boys often visit the acclamation in West Virginia, which interest also called the "Rocket Boys Festival", while the festival stem Tennessee focuses more on honourableness filming locations.

The Tennessee festival's site claims that the tribute is "a celebration of bright and breezy heritage."^[4][5]

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire architect of Amazon, saw a match of October Sky in 1999. In a subsequent conversation filch the science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, Bezos commented that significant had always wanted to kick off a space company.

Stephenson urged him to do so. Bezos then started the private aerospace manufacturing and services company Posh Origin, and Stephenson became sidle of the company's early employees.^[26][27]

The author of Rocket Boys stated that the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Carbon Creek" was homemade on October Sky, and with reference to are obvious references to rank story in the episode.^[28][29]

References

External links