to me that was really the most irritating part of this movie. it's so obviously written by and for babyboomers. and then especially those of them who think a young boy/girl-friend will make them look young, instead of pathetic.
this may be a sf- movie, but it could just as well have been a western or a comedy, for the only point they seemed to want to make was: look at what we oldies can still do.
just to be clear: i have absolutly nothing against old people, i just don't like double standard. and i've met far to much babyboomer who want both respect from the young for their grey hairs(even though when they were still young they hardly had any respect for the elderly at all), but also lose al dignity trying to look young. if you want respect purely based on your ripe age , you shouldn't at the same time deny that age at every opportunity.
without this the movie would still be way to predictable to my taste. when you hear that one of the team members has cancer, you already know he's going to die in space in some heroic effort to save the other astronauts. and when they make so much fuss about landing on manual control, it's obvious that's the way the shuttle is going to land. and of course the russian sattellite will turn out to be much more dangerous then expected.
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c-huddleston
18 years ago
I'm surprised you bothered to watch it, then, really.
And your comments about double standards apply to some young people too, in a different way. Want to look older to gain respect but don't want to die of old age at 25. My father-in-law is 79 and still tries to charm women: not for any purpose other than to be charming (he's way past anything else).
The movie was never intended to be anything other than entertaining. Brain candy. Accept it for that and there's no problem.
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clytamnestra
18 years ago
why i watched it? to see if it would be better or worse then expected (though i have to admit i wasn't expecting much). i try not to judge any movie i haven't watched myself. i also rarely walk out on a movie midway, perhaps the second half will be better.
i never claimed young people can't have double standards as well(by the way:i really hate the whole youth-worship thing nowadays(1)). nor do i have any problem with old men being charming to women of whatever age (my only problem is when such a man seriously thinks he's still wildly atractive to girls half his age).
well. i think that without the old-cowboy thing this movie would suck and with it the movie sucks even more. and i usually like old cowboys ('unforgiven', 'the shootist')having one last fight.
(1)=that's my whole problem here. old people being so obsessed with being/feeling young that they lose their dignity and self-respect. nothing wrong with being 'young at heart',but it should not be taken to extreme.
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arcturus6
18 years ago
What in heaven's name is your problem? This movie was intended to be basically comedy with some serious moments for substance! Maybe you should stay home and have some more pablum.
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Unicorn-9
18 years ago
"to me that was really the most irritating part of this movie. it's so obviously written by and for babyboomers. and then especially those of them who think a young boy/girl-friend will make them look young, instead of pathetic."
Right. Because it's impossible that a woman in her 30s/40s would want anything to do with a man in his 60s or 70s... who just happens to still be fit enough to qualify as an astronaut.
Do you really think there aren't women in their 30s who'd shag Donald Sutherland or Tommy Lee Jones if they got the chance? It's not like they're falling apart, senile and smell of wee... they've still got a good few years left on them.
"without this the movie would still be way to predictable to my taste."
I think that's a fair comment, but again the plot isn't meant to be taken very seriously.
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