Do you really need ME to tell YOU this?

Rating: 9/10 (21 September 2000)

Well...um...where to start?
Tom Hanks, looking like he was shooting for a three-peat, three years in a row being nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, didn't get it. Did he deserve it? If Mel Gibson had only waited a year before releasing "Braveheart", he would have been a lock. Also, this is, above all, an ensemble picture. But you don't need me to tell YOU that, you already KNOW that. Right? So...next.
The special effects. If you don't already know, many of the zero-gravity shots in this flick were accomplished by constructing a set of the space capsule inside what's known as the "Vomit Comet", a modified jet aircraft designed to simulate weightlessness for astronaut training. What it does is simple: it flies up to a high altitude very fast, then gradually turns earthward at just enough speed to make whatever is inside of the jet "float" off the ground, thus creating a weightless effect. Not too impressive, right? Except the actors, directors and other crew members made between 500 and 600 individual flights on the "Vomit Comet" to get all the required shots. But you already know THAT. Don't you?
The story. It's kinda like watching "Titanic." You KNOW the boat sinks, you just wanna see how it's DONE. Same here. Ron Howard, director extraordinaire, tightens the story and ratchets up the tension so we are prepared to either bawl our eyes out or stand up and cheer at the end...and either way would be equally as satisfying.
But you don't need ME to tell YOU this...do you?