The Astronaut Farmer

I bought this. I watch it over and over.

The Astronaut Farmer was Fitting tribute to what a person can do with determination, skill and drive.

Great movie! The movie is about family, dreams, and a small town. But the technology is amazingly reasonable. Gregg Easterbrook, in "Big Dumb Rocket," (Newsweek, Feb. 5, 1987) reported on aerospace companies willing and able to build inexpensive rocket boosters with off-the-shelf parts (which would have undercut rationale for the Shuttle).And now we have a number of wealthy investors building private rockets and space ships. Many private firms tried the get government permission (and private funding) to launch rockets and space stations through the 1980s and 1990s.But apart from the policy and technology debate on space launches, the movie is wonderful as a story. Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon" tells the story of advertising as the major revenue source for private space exploration.Lets have a sequel with the grown son, a software multimillionaire, funding a private trip to Mars! ([...] and [...] )I enjoyed Astronaut Farmer when I first saw it a couple years ago, and enjoyed it even more seeing it again. A lot of the film is about family and small-town America. People in town know each other, and have from childhood. Mom and dad love each other land love their kids. But in this story, dad has an unusual project...First of all, there is nothing outlandish about the technology claims (though we see a few improbably events in the movie). Space rockets like the Saturn V were always far less expensive that the Space Shuttle. I would argue that it would have been less expensive to actually launch a 1970s-era rocket than to make a movie about it (for one thing, astronauts are paid much less than well-known actors).Now we have four or five private space companies developing and launching rockets and space planes. They have enough money to develop and test cutting-edge space technologies. In Astronaut Farmer, off-the-shelf parts from rocket junk-yards are gathered for a much less expensive and lower-tech space launch.Private space launches were possible thirty years ago. David Gump's book "Space Enterprise: Beyond NASA," published in 1990, surveyed opportunities for private-sector space operations decades ago. A space launch using 1970s technology in 2006 is still rocket science, that is, it is still complicated and requires significant scientific and rocketry know-how. But the biggest challenge would have been in finding, testing and assembling the parts.Viewers less interested in arguments over private vs. government space travel have a wonderful family movie to enjoy (though with a handful of swear words). The performances seemed to me to be just right. The movie was rarely modern and "edgy" which was fine with me.Maybe Astronaut Farmer could be compared with "The Spirit of St. Louis" with Jimmy Stewart, a similar movie featuring a private individual assembling improbably technology in a barn and surprising and inspiring the world with it.

Good movie

Excellent family movie!!! Definitely inspirational.

There are things that are so true in some movies. In this movie it’s when he’s being questioned by NASA and the government. “ he said, there are more laws telling us what we can’t do, than laws telling us what we can do. Good acting by all actors. This is a must see if you like movies that deal with space.

Great family movie night !

This is a great movie. I want to buy one because this is a story abt love and honor and keeping your word even when you're on the bottom of someone shoe. Because this is a great story that should be told. It didn't matter if it's a true ones or made up. It brings hope to the hearer and faith to the down trodden because it says you're not a alone as you may think.so DON'T give up.

Great movie! Really enjoyed The Astronault Farmer. The casting is excellent and the storyline believable.

これぞ、映画！！いいね、日常にロケットなんざ、すげーイケてる脚本だね。まいったな、しょーもない大作映画よりもはるかに受ける。久々にオモロイし、感動したし、ジーンと来た。きっと、見るべし！！劇中の子供たちが何ともかわいすぎるな。奥さんの演技もイイ。低予算でここまでできるとはな。低予算と言えば劇中のロケットコストは５０００万そこそこかい？50万ドル程度使ってたんじゃなかった？JAXAっていったい？だな。どうせ文科省の天下りがしこたま潜って甘い汁吸ってんだろうな。ダニどもが。馬鹿な国会議員の仕分け女にはテクノロジーわかんないしな。当分JAXAのダニどもは増え続けそうだな。誰か５０００万で有人宇宙ロケットでとばさね？そうすりゃ、馬鹿仕分け女でもわかるだろ。

the item was very accurate as well as a very fast shipping and delivery. I had no problems and highly recommend this seller

*some spoilers*I watched this at theater a few years back and enjoyed it. I watched it again on DVD recently and was surprised by the reaction it got considering how well it does work in spite of some hard critical opinions.Astronaut Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen) directed by the Polish Brothers was originally panned when released. Instead of looking at the whole thing as story about dreaming and loss of innocence, reviewers got sucked up into the vortex of technical correctness.Critics complained about mistakes in terms of the rocket. Why was more not shown of them building it? The fuel mixture was not correct. I would not know. I am not a rocket scientist. I do not care in the context of the picture. Could one person build such a device. Experts say to complicated. Dangerous. When pigs fly.Astronaut Farmer is not about space or rockets, fuel mix, thrust vectors, acceleration curves, descent trajectory, or entry apogee. It is a metaphor for those who dare to dreamer and take a chance and the rocket is the background.Is the idea of building of a rocket in your barn stretching things. Probably. Although note that in the real world at least 1 person has tried to follow the example of what Charles Farmer was doing in the picture. Farmer rails against the machine and loss of believing in the idea we can do anything we want if and believe in it and put enough effort in to make it happen.Standing in front of the ‘inquisition’, Farmer says, “We have laws to protect us from other laws.” We are being driven by a battle between legislation of common sense, and blind rule driven bureaucracy. Virginia Madsen in a commentary on the DVD (a nice set of side bars) relates that this it is a family story with heart and soul being told in the good way. The film makes you want to believe the rocket can work no matter how crazy it might seem. Charles Farmer does make it work but his initial failure is almost necessary. Projects are often built on failure learned with the end goal attained because of the near fatal first liftoff.There is electric chemistry between Madsen and Thornton. They light up the screen with their mutual support. (Again, DVD sidebar talks of tremendous respect for each other.) Thornton was a great casting choice, very much the guy next door you could like.Madsen is his pillar and counterpoint. She is behind Charlie but will let him know when she starts to see the rocket project falling apart.The projects negative impact on the family is highlighted is one of the films strong moments Madsen rages about the cost and how the project will hurt them as cost forces possible foreclosure on their home. She gives Charlie both barrels in anger and concern shouting “You want to see flying saucers…I’ll show you flying saucers....” and she smashes plates and saucers on the kitchen floor. Then, in that moment of anger she stops, pauses, and says with determined calmness how she has to clean up the mess. This shows Madsen's depth as an actress going from two opposite ends of emotion coming back to where she began in a short space of time and making you believe her.Was the film perfect no? Were there flaws in it? Yes. But as a believer of power of the creative dreamer, it was easy for me to connect with the message of the directors and the characters.The Polish Brothers were determined to make a more commercial film without surrendering to Hollywood. They wanted to tell the story their way with their material. They did. With good storytelling, that held firm to a viewpoint of what the brothers felt was right, Astronaut Farmer succeeded well for most of its ninety minutes.Enjoyable to watch.

Ein toller, bewegender Film über einen Vater, der mit seiner 5-köpfigen Familie auf einer Farm lebt und es sich als absoluter Weltraum-Junkie in den Kopf gesetzt hat, ohne fremde Hilfe in seiner Scheune eine eigene Rakete zu bauen, um mit dieser ins Weltall zu fliegen. Keiner weiß genau, ob der Schuss nicht nach hinten los geht. Nur "Farmer" ist sich 100%ig sicher. Als er sich jedoch in der Endphase seiner "Bastelei" 5.000 Liter Raketentreibstoff besorgt, werden bestimmte Behörden auf ihn aufmerksam, bewachen ihn rund um die Uhr und versuchen, alle Hebel in Bewegung zu setzen, den Raketenstart zu verhindern. Schließlich würden sie ziemlich blöd dastehen, wenn einfach mal so jemand ne Rakete bauen und damit in den Orbit fliegen würde. Ihm wird sogar vorgeworfen, er würde evtl. eine Massenvernichtungswaffe bauen^^ Farmer jedoch lässt sich von nichts und niemanden aufhalten und schließlich kommt der Tag des Raketen-Starts... Ob es ihm gelingt, seinen Traum zu verwirklichen, oder ob das ganze in einem tragischen Unfall endet, schaut ihr euch besser selber an ;)Hauptdarsteller Bruce Dern kannte ich bisher noch nicht. Dennoch hätte er kaum besser gecastet werden können! Je länger man den Film schaut, desto mehr wird einem bewusst, wie gut er in seine Rolle passt!! Virginia Madsen (mir bekannt aus "Firewall" & "Sideways") spielt Farmers warmherzige, sorgvolle und liebevolle Frau und auch der ältere Sohn und die beiden kleinen Töchter sind ideal besetzt worden!Ein rundum gelungener Film, der einen nicht vom Hocker reißt aber dennoch für kurzweilige Unterhaltung sorgt und der zumindest bei mir noch einige runden im BluRay Laufwerk drehen wird. Wo wir gerade bei der BluRay sind... Sowohl Bild als auch Ton sind wirklich gelungen. Wie bereits geschrieben... eine rundum gelungene Scheibe! ;)