First Man: Don't bother
 

I was looking forward to this movie, and it started out well, with a pretty cool sequence involving the X-15. But then it got really long, and really draggy, with way, way too many extreme close ups of Ryan Gosling. And all the action scenes, after the first, look alike.

Save your money, IMO.

I'm on the fence about it.

I agree, it got slow and did drag.

I think what they were after was snapshots of moments / days in a life.

I think about this often, especially with sci fi or fantasy stuff.

Like, do Jedi's take a dump?

How do they occupy their time when not Jedi'ng?

Does Vader eat?

This to me felt like being an observer at key moments in what was day to day life.

Like, was he really in the bathroom washing his hands when they told him, "yeah, you get to be first guy on the moon?"

Don't think I'd bother with it again though.

That's disappointing - I was hoping that was going to be a decent movie.

I read some bad reviews on it, thanks for the heads up. Will wait for Netflix.

Liquids through a straw.

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Saw it tonight with Ms Rocket. She liked it. I thought it dragged on.

It did cause me to read up Armstrong tonight.

It's not a bad movie.

It's different.

Yes it did drag and I found myself mentally going through the timeline, "we are still in the Gemini program, exactly how long is this movie".

The acting and dialog was first rate and kept me engaged.

It's not about the first man to set foot on the moon, but rather the man who was the first to set foot on the moon.

It's a biographical documentary is the best I can describe it.

It has action, tension, and some really raw emotional moments but they are only a part of the movie because they were part of his life experience.

Claire Foy, Mrs Armstrong, gave a strong performance.

If you go in expecting All The Right Stuff or Apollo 13 you'll be disappointed.

We find that Neil is not the stereotypical thrill junkie alpha male that Yeager, Aldrin, and some of the others have been portrayed to be.

He's a small mid western town brainiac nerd who can fly and he's got a couple of issues.

I think maybe I went into it expecting an action movie more along the lines of Apollo 13 (I like those) and not so much of a psychological study (I like those too, but want to know what I'm getting in advance). I already knew a decent amount about Armstrong and the space program, but I learned a bit more from the movie.

Agree Foy gave a first rate performance. She's a talent.

I thought it was just me.... Phew...

Was too much of a brooding Gosling staring in the distance (that's all he ever does in every movie I've seen him in). Should have been called "marital life of a strange astronaut"...I wish someone had told me it wasn't so much about landing on the moon but a psycho drama of about relationships.

Slow and drawn out... Apollo 13 made an actual failure seem like a success, this movie made mankind's greatest accomplishment feel like a failure... I was depressed after it, really...

Yawn.

Don't disagree.

But I think they key is this movie was not about mankind's greatest accomplishment.

And therein lies our disappointment.

So they took humankind's greatest adventure-journey and turned it into a chick flick?

Not even because it's almost a failed marriage story (gotta look it up now, wonder if Mrs armstrong stayed married to that sour puss)... My wife didn't enjoy it either. Said it was at times too slow, at others too stressful (we get it, rockets shake, every scene is filmed inside a clothes dryer).

Yeah, my disappointment was mostly that I excitedly took my kids to see the story of the first men on the moon (oldest just built the lego Saturn V) and one kid fell asleep, the other commented it wasn't a very good movie... I felt bad... I'm sure it'll be hailed by critics as a great psycho drama with insight on the astronauts's private lives... BTW they painted Buzz Aldrin as a complete dick, was he really ? Gotta look that up too...

Yup...

There are literally dozens of movies and documentaries about the Space Program/Space Race.

The obvious one is "The Right Stuff". But even this go to movie had quite a few errors, especially on the Happy Bottom riding club.

But have you kids watch the HBO series "From the earth to the Moon". There is a book by the same name, which is also a great read.

Sam Shepard and Deke Slayton's book "Moon Shot" was also great, but a bit more focused on their parts.

I found a documentary called "Uncensored" Apollo 12, on Amazon Prime. Not high quality, but it adds more information on 12, that is not widely known.

Main reason Armstrong and Aldrin were chosen for 11, Armstrong was cool under pressure and Aldrin was Mr. Fixit. Aldrin wrote the book on extra-vehicular activity. There was serious debate on Armstrong vs. Aldrin to be the first to actually walk on the moon.

And Buzz likes to say it was a tie, since they both LANDED on the moon at the same time.

Well, I wasn't gonna say that . . . but yeah.;)

There are so many excellent documentaries about Armstrong and Apollo 11 using actual footage and interviews (most are on YouTube for free). I have zero interest in Hollywood's dramatized/distorted interpretation of same.

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I’ll still go see it because I’m a big Ryan Gosling fan (especially Blade Runner 2049). It’ll be better because I’ll go in with low expectations...

They didn’t stay married. Read after the movie.

I also didn’t like the shaking. Is it really that bad? How could you see or operate anything?

I saw it tonight and really liked it. A different style movie, yes. Too many close ups, yes. Some great scenes all along the way. I would have preferred if it didn't focus on Neil's marriage as much as it did, but there was a lot to like.

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What's gray and comes in quarts?

From reading this thread, as I mentioned earlier, it is a movie about the personal life of Armstrong. There are a few people I would enjoy learning about their personal lives, if they are interesting. To see a married couple argue, nope. I don't care.

It followed Neil's career from flying the X15, through the Gemini program, to walking on the moon. The disconnect with his wife was only a side story.

There was no arguing.

In fact you came away with the impression that they were in truly in love and dedicated to each other.

The only real moment of tension between them was when he was leaving for the moon flight.

He was just going to leave without saying goodbye to his kids and she was ugh, oh hell to the no, you're going to say goodbye and if they ask if you are coming back you are going to answer them because there is a chance you won't and you are not leaving me holding that bag of feces so man up.

My eldest daughter bought me the Bluray for my birthday
 

Actually I thought it was great. A historical space movie from a different perspective.

I don't get the negative vibe. This had everything including some originality.

Yes no planting of the flag on the moon. I would have liked to have seen that...

But like no other movie on the subject they really conveyed the isolation the astronauts must have felt when they opened the hatch door.
Just imagine being alive at the right time and being one of the few who went there.

And the way the handled the Apollo 1 tragedy was really well done.
RIP

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I liked the movie. I don't think I will watch it over and over, but I was pleased.
gary

True... but they stayed married for 26 years after the moon landing....

It was a solid movie. If you watch and pay attention, you can see how everything Niel Armstrong did as an astronaut led up to his being chosen to pilot the first Lunar Lander. If anyone else had been piloting that lander but him, the landing would have been aborted. You see who he is, and then you see what he did. It isn't a movie about a guy coping with his emotional baggage. It is a movie about a guy who could put tremendous pressure aside and pull a rabbit out of a hat again and again. When the guys on the ground couldn't figure it out, he figured it out in his head, using nothing but logic and his wits, when failure meant certain death.

I didn't find it to be an incredibly touchy feelie movie, but I will say that it does in many ways reflect upon the difficulties that men in uniform have trying to live a dual life. Armstrong was dedicated to his family, but he gave an honest 100 plus % to Project Apollo. In a very clear way, this movie shows what kind of contribution a single man can make to a very large effort.

It's a solid movie, but it isn't in any way trying to make anyone into a heroic symbol of patriotism. Even so, you can see those elements if you look. A lot of people would rather see The Magnificent Seven than The Seven Samurai. TMS is a very popular movie, but TSS is the real deal and has a lot more depth. I don't think it would have been a better movie if Steve McQueen had played Armstrong instead of Gosling. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked it better if it was that kind of movie.