One of my favorite movies so I was super excited to see you guys were watching this one. Just an all around uplifting, entertaining movie with a bunch of great takeaways. It's different for me seeing you guys react to a movie rather than a TV show, but I'm glad you mostly liked and appreciated it.

Nice pic, Tim! I saw this way back in the day when I still had my video store. Always liked any film to do with the Space Race and this one is an underrated gem. Good call! I loved Leon's passing reference to the Red Tails. They were an all-black fighter squadron in the air corps during World War II that came from The Tuskegee Airmen. Their story got made into a movie in 1995. When my choice comes around again, I'll probably pick it

Good movie🩷🩷🩷

Nice! I watched this many times when I was younger. My brother and I would occasionally launch model rockets in the field next to our house.

Also don't know if you noticed during the reaction, but they named the last rocket Miss Riley, which was a nice touch.

Great reaction guys. Glad you both enjoyed this one. I was probably 12 or 13 when I first saw this movie on VHS, and in my experience it's one of those films that gets better with age/subsequent viewings. Jake Gyllenhaal had been in movies before this, but October Sky was the one that really kickstarted his career. Despite critical acclaim, it didn't do very well theatrically, only making about $35 million against a $25 million budget. The book it's based on was was called Rocket Boys and released only a year earlier. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys, the change of title being because the studio was worried women over 30 wouldn't be interested in seeing a film called Rocket Boys. I think Joe Johnston (same guy who designed the Millennium Falcon BTW) did a great job capturing the the themes of the story, even if and in some cases because of a few creative/historical liberties. A scene pair I'm particularly fond of is at the beginning how Homer seems barely interested in seeing Sputnik, but that brief glimpse of it streaking across the sky was enough to inspire his interest in rocketry. Then later on seeing it again, only this time it's more like watching his dreams fly away while he descends into proverbial hell. Gyllenhaal clearly had a talent for acting from a young age, but Chris Cooper was also a big standout in this movie. John(Homer Sr.) is in some ways very much what you'd expect from a middle aged dad of the 50s; emotionally reserved and only able to connect with a narrow list of things he understands as having a place in a man's life. Coal mining, football, blue collar America, providing for his family, looking out for his team at work. Nothing wrong with any of that, it's just all he knows, and as such he can't grasp Homer's interest in what he views as a waste of time. Yet despite that, we never once see him threaten anyone but Roy Lee's stepfather, or see any indication that he's a bad father or husband, just somewhat detached. He clearly cares about his family, but he has a hard time expressing it beyond little gestures like giving Homer the leftover concrete or that little smile of admiration when Elsie blackmailed him into helping get a replacement nozzle. Like you said in the discussion, he connected so much of his identity to the job he does that he can't accept the town is dying, and when Homer rejects coal mining as a career, he can't help but see it as Homer rejecting him. In the scene near the end where Homer it telling him how alike they actually are, John is almost leaning away from him as he gives his monologue, like a fighter on the back foot. He'd been so used to communicating with his sons in a certain way; praising them when they do well, admonishing them when they don't, laying down the law and expecting "yes sir" in return, and getting into shouting matches when they can't see eye to eye. Yet for the first time Homer is really opening up and connecting with his father man to man, letting him know that just because he doesn't want to do the same job as him it doesn't mean he's not proud to have him as a father, and John just doesn't know how to process it in the moment. Obviously, it did get through to him in the end. Now all that said, while it's effective for the drama of the movie, it's also entirely fictional. Homer Hickam Sr. was supportive of his son from the start in real life. I do understand what Josh means by saying the movie has a bit of a "Hallmark" streak, but the way I see it, so much of the movies we see are either violent or depressing or superhero slop, every once in a while a small, wholesome, feel good story is needed as a palate cleanser. If you can pair that with a memorable soundtrack and a great cast, you have a winner in my book.

Good film choice.

Ah! I love October sky. Good book too

I watched this movie when I was in elementary school. I remember really liking it. I think I'll cue this reacting up for this weekend 👍