First Man (Film)

***First Man*** is a 2018 American biographical science-fiction drama film directed by Damien Chazelle and written by Josh Singer. Based on the 2005 book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, the film stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Ciarán Hinds, Christopher Abbott, Patrick Fugit, and Lukas Haas, and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969. Steven Spielberg serves as an executive producer. It world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 12, 2018, by Universal Pictures.

## Plot

Hoping to reach the moon by the end of the decade, NASA plans a series of extremely dangerous, unprecedented missions in the early 1960s. Engineer Neil Armstrong joins the space program, spending years in training and risking his life during test flights. On July 16, 1969, the nation and world watch in wonder as Armstrong and fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins embark on the historic Apollo 11 spaceflight.

## Why It Rocks

1. Like *Gravity*, the movie has beautiful cinematography and is extremely realistic and convincing.
2. As to be expected, given that the film was scored by Justin Hurwitz, who also provided the music for La La Land.
	* After a very low key score for most of the film, the moon landing itself is given the full bombastic, heroic music it deserves.
	* The "docking waltz" between Gemini 8 and the Agena. Also something of a homage to *2001: A Space Odyssey*.
	* "Crater", the track used at the end of the film when Neil drops the bracelet on the Moon utilises Karen's motif and combines it with the theremin used for the other Moon music in a heartbreaking way.
3. For various scenes, including those of the moon launch and the mission itself, the VFX team used actual NASA archival footage (including some that has never been released before). Then team then filled in the missing details on each side of the footage to make it fit the widescreen resolution of the film. This was done so that, when people saw these scenes, they would match their memories of the footage from the actual mission.
4. The opening with Neil flying an X-15 to the edge of the atmosphere, including a red glow as friction builds outside and the plane nearly bouncing off into space.
	* Even if you know it's coming, watching Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee broil to death in the Apollo 1 cockpit is a deeply disturbing experience, yet pretty entertaining.
	* Gemini 8 spinning out of control is very intense.
5. At the end of the film, Armstrong and Aldrin are in quarantine and they watch news reports detailing the audience that saw them walk on the moon. They also learn that someone left a note on the grave of John F. Kennedy, the man who made their mission possible: "Mr. President, the Eagle has landed."
	* A meta-example, it's estimated that 600 million people watched the moon landing live, roughly one in six people on the planet.
6. An extremely macabre one: when the Gemini astronauts are returning from their mission, a reporter quotes a poem about them having "slipped the surly bonds of Earth." That line is probably better known nowadays from Ronald Reagan quoting it in a speech about the astronauts killed in the Challenger disaster.
7. While it's not meant to be funny, after they open the LEM door Neil and Buzz stare out for a moment, then look at each other with look that says "Whelp.... Here goes". For what is wildly considered one of the most momentous achievements in the human history, it's a bit of an underwhelming reaction.
8. The ending of the film. After a tense goodbye before the launch, Neil and Janet reunite and touch fingertips through the glass of the quarantine bay.

## Bad Qualties

1. There are some factual errors the movie that included, but not limited too:
	1. During Armstrong's 1961 flight in an X-15, the rocket plane begins "ballooning" (i.e., bouncing off the top of the atmosphere). The view out the window shows a carpet of clouds just below the wings. But Armstrong was at 120,000 feet, about twice the altitude at which even the highest clouds form.
	2. The cockpit, instrument panels and switches of both Gemini 8 and the Lunar Module are grimy and even rusted. But all early spacecraft were pristine, single-use ships that had never been flown before.
2. The infamous controversy involving the US flag on the moon being omitted.
3. The runtime can be considered too long at 141 minutes.

## Reception

*First Man* received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, who praise, particularly regarding the direction, Gosling and Foy's performances, musical score, and the Moon landing sequence, although its choice to not depict the planting of the U.S. flag on the lunar surface led critics and politicians from both major American political parties to debate the film's stance on patriotism. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 438 reviews, with an average rating of 8.05/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "*First Man* uses a personal focus to fuel a look back at a pivotal moment in human history – and takes audiences on a soaring dramatic journey along the way.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84/100, based on 56 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Neil Armstrong's sons, Rick and Mark, have praised the movie for its near spot-on portrayal of their father in the film. They had also supervised the screenwriters to ensure they got most of the pointers right in the movie.

### Box office

*First Man* opened up at #3 on its opening weekend making a domestic gross of $5,783,310. The total domestic gross was $44,936,545. In foreign territories, it made $60,760,870. Overall, First Man grossed $105,697,415 against its $70 million budget, making it a box office disappointment. Deadline Hollywood stated that the under-performance was less a matter of any controversy involving the American flag and more to do with the 141 minute runtime and the film's focus on drama, although Forbes speculated the backlash played a factor.

## Videos

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## External Links

* Template:IMDb
* Template:Rotten Tomatoes