Search - October Sky (Special Edition) on DVD

The best family movie of the 90's

Steve Silver | Reston, Va. | 12/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There isn't a better family movie than October Sky. It was enjoyed by all three of my sons who range fron 10-18. My sons have asked to read the book. What better recommendation is there than that. The movie captures the Sputnik moment and helps kids of the 90's to understand their parents' generation better. But even more importantly, it lets kids understand that anyone can make a success of himself if he is focused and will try hard. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie the first, second, and third time I saw it, and so did my kids. The characers are terrific. The four heroes, the Rocket Boys, led by Homer Hickham spend weeks developing their rockets, scrounging material, and testing their science by trial and error. The movie provides some subplot relief with typical teenage problems including girls, parents, and being made fun of at school, but the movie, like the Rocket Boys, stays focused on the main event, launching a successful rocket and competing in the national science fair. Even though you feel you know the ending before the movie finishes, it keeps your attention because the characters are human and you can identify with them. If you are looking for a movie for you and your kids or parents to enjoy together, this is it. It may be one of the 10 best family movies of all time not just 90's."

Exceptional drama about four boys and their dream

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 01/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the Cold War brewing and the launch of Sputnik, paranoia captured America in its tight little grip. There were exceptions. A quartet of boys in a West Virginia coal mining town discovered their love of rocketry. Sputnik inspired them to develop their own rockets and launch them out in the wilderness. With the help and inspiration of a sympathetic teacher (Laura Dern), Homer (Jake Gyllenhaal) fights his tough father (Chris Cooper) who wants Homer to get his education and then become a coalminer just like him. Ultimately Homer achieves his dream but not before conflict, an arrest, lack of support and lack of funds try combine to try and undermine those dreams.

An intelligent and involving period drama, October Sky overcomes the pitfalls of dramas of this sort; Director Joe Johnston creates an involving, suspenseful story about a town with myopic vision and fears and a boy who dreams far beyond the reaches of the town to the stars. Gyllenhaal (The Day After Tomorrow) gives a stirring and confident performance as Homer. The entire cast particularly Chris Cooper and Laura Dern in major supporting roles add a sense of gritty reality to the film preventing it from degenerating into a "based on a true story" TV movie. Colick's screenplay doesn't take the easy way out here; he portrays Homer's father as an unsympathetic hard man who loves his sons but doesn't want them giving into pipedreams so he doesn't support them.

October Sky looks as clear as a perfect, cloudless moonlit night with rich blacks and nice color reproduction of the original theatrical film. There's some minor artifacting (this appears to be the same digital master used for the 1999 DVD release although it appears for the first time in the higher definition format of anamorphic widescreen) issues but, on the whole, the film looks particularly sharp and vivid. The 5.1 mix and DTS soundtracks both sound crisp and sharp with the edge going to the DTS soundtrack which tends to be fuller and with a wider dynamic range than the 5.1 mix. Both soundtracks use the surround speakers well particularly during the sequences when the boys are setting off their rockets.

Although this is the same digital master as last time, we go get some new special features that might make this worthwhile to fans of the film. There's a new documentary Aiming High: The Story of the Rocket Boys featuring interviews with Homer Hickam and his compatriots from West Virginia who inspired this story and Hickam to write his book. The documentary primarily focuses on Hickam and his leap from rocketry whiz to a position working for NASA. The original extras are also included. There's a Spotlight on Location featurette which, essentially, is a glorified promo for the film that showed on some of the cable channels. There's also production notes discussing the various people involved in the production from the actors to production crew. The theatrical trailer, which highlights the art of trailers in the way it summarizes the story but also why this film was a difficult sell for audiences, returns on this edition as well.

Homer Hickam does a great job separating fact from fiction in his commentary track. Surprisingly, the film remains accurate for the most part to Hickam's book and the few times it does divulge from reality it's usually for dramatic reasons and Hickam acknowledges that it does make dramatic sense. Although much of the action seems telescoped most of the action that occurs in the film (with a few exceptions) accurately portrays what occurred during the time frame of the film. Hickam notes those few exceptions and also gives the reasons the filmmakers decided to alter his story.

A marvelous story, October Sky features a number of strong performances. The new extras including Hickam's commentary track make this a worthwhile addition for fans of the movie. The better picture quality along with the new extra features will make this a worthwhile addition for fans of the film.
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