posted 08-31-2018 12:30 AM               

Neil Armstrong biopic 'First Man' lifts off with over-the-moon reviews

"First Man," Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong docudrama starring Ryan Gosling as the late Apollo astronaut, has lifted off, soaring high on the praise from its world premiere.

"Damien Chazelle's film about Neil Armstrong's journey through the space program is a drama so revelatory in its realism that it shoots the moon," writes Owen Gleiberman for Variety. "The movie redefines what space travel is — the way it lives inside our imaginations — by capturing, for the first time, what the stakes really were."

"After seeing 'First Man,' it's doubtful you'll think about space flight, or Armstrong's historic walk, in quite the same way," says Gleiberman.

posted 08-31-2018 05:24 AM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...photo of the Flight Director Indicator.

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posted 08-31-2018 06:12 AM               

Neil Armstrong movie 'First Man' omits the American flag being planted on the moon, and star Ryan Gosling defended the decision: 'I don't think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero.'"

posted 08-31-2018 07:52 AM               

I think reviewer David Opie, writing for Digital Spy, summarized it best:

Some might wonder why Chazelle avoids showing that iconic moment when Armstrong planted the American flag. Sure, this could have been a deliberately anti-nationalist choice on the director's part, but it's far more likely that the flag was omitted to remind us that "First Man" is more about Armstrong's own personal journey than any space-faring adventures he took.

posted 08-31-2018 12:06 PM            

Quite obviously they are American astronauts, riding rockets with USA and Old Glory on the side, and with the Stars and Stripes on their suits etc. Would a five minute flag raising scene (including the difficulties it actually entailed, if I recall the flag wasn't exactly securely planted), have added anything to the Armstrong story?

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
Nobody could reasonably have objected to the depiction of the US flag on the Moon, but it might be reasonable to object to its absence.

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posted 08-31-2018 12:47 PM               

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Originally posted by Blackarrow:
Perhaps the ostensibly odd absence of the flag-raising ceremony will be clearer in context...

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posted 08-31-2018 01:47 PM               

There's an American flag on the rocket, an American flag on their spacesuits, and a specific American flag created for the moon. The "ceremony" putting up the flag was a big deal to us at the time. It wasn't some trivial afterthought.

posted 08-31-2018 02:20 PM            

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Originally posted by hlbjr:
I think Mr. Gosling's comments are the reason some are troubled.

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I don't think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero.

posted 08-31-2018 03:35 PM               

I doubt anyone here is looking to be outraged (or disappointed). As an American, I'm very proud of the accomplishment and I think Mr. Gosling's comments left a lot to be desired, not because he was trying to stir the pot, but he gave such clear short shrift to the American aspect of it. Without the actor's comments, there's no issue.

posted 08-31-2018 04:50 PM               

Chazelle's statement:

In "First Man" I show the American flag standing on the lunar surface, but the flag being physically planted into the surface is one of several moments of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA that I chose not to focus upon. To address the question of whether this was a political statement, the answer is no. My goal with this movie was to share with audiences the unseen, unknown aspects of America's mission to the moon — particularly Neil Armstrong's personal saga and what he may have been thinking and feeling during those famous few hours.

I wanted the primary focus in that scene to be on Neil's solitary moments on the moon — his point of view as he first exited the LEM, his time spent at Little West Crater, the memories that may have crossed his mind during his lunar EVA. This was a feat beyond imagination; it was truly a giant leap for mankind. This film is about one of the most extraordinary accomplishments not only in American history, but in human history. My hope is that by digging under the surface and humanizing the icon, we can better understand just how difficult, audacious and heroic this moment really was.

We've read a number of comments about the film today and specifically about the absence of the flag planting scene, made largely by people who haven't seen the movie. As we've seen it multiple times, we thought maybe we should weigh in.

This is a film that focuses on what you don't know about Neil Armstrong. It's a film that focuses on things you didn't see or may not remember about Neil's journey to the moon. The filmmakers spent years doing extensive research to get at the man behind the myth, to get at the story behind the story. It's a movie that gives you unique insight into the Armstrong family and fallen American Heroes like Elliot See and Ed White. It's a very personal movie about our dad's journey, seen through his eyes.

This story is human and it is universal. Of course, it celebrates an America achievement. It also celebrates an achievement "for all mankind," as it says on the plaque Neil and Buzz left on the moon. It is a story about an ordinary man who makes profound sacrifices and suffers through intense loss in order to achieve the impossible.

Although Neil didn't see himself that way, he was an American hero. He was also an engineer and a pilot, a father and a friend, a man who suffered privately through great tragedies with incredible grace. This is why, though there are numerous shots of the American flag on the moon, the filmmakers chose to focus on Neil looking back at the earth, his walk to Little West Crater, his unique, personal experience of completing this journey, a journey that has seen so many incredible highs and devastating lows.

In short, we do not feel this movie is anti-American in the slightest. Quite the opposite. But don't take our word for it. We'd encourage everyone to go see this remarkable film and see for themselves.

posted 08-31-2018 07:49 PM            

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Originally posted by David C:
Well there we are, it’s not absent. People just trying to pick a fight.

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I think, as Robert points out, that the fight-pickers are on other social media. On balance, I still think the flag-planting should have been shown, but I will reserve judgment on that until I see the film. I take the point that the flag is actually visible clearly, so what this boils down to is probably a rather unfortunate comment by Ryan Gosling. The response to that precipitated the statement by James Hansen and Neil Armstrong's sons, and if they are satisfied then who am I, or anyone else, to say otherwise?

posted 08-31-2018 10:25 PM            

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Originally posted by SpaceAholic:
...clearly an effort by the film maker to politicize his work.

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Originally posted by hlbjr:
...even good old Chuck Yeager has some interesting comments including "this is not the Neil I knew," and "more made up movie history."

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posted 09-01-2018 03:00 AM               

Of the many interviews, documents and records I am aware of, Neil Armstrong repeatedly emphasized the engineering and aerospace achievement the lunar program was, and went out of his way to say he was only a small part of a large team.

The actual flag planting was an historic and fantastic achievement but did not go as smoothly as planned. Buzz can be seen offering a salute to "Old Glory," while Capcom and Columbia talk business, the flag pole is crooked and was reported to have fallen over during LM liftoff, leaving the flag in the dirt.

There is no photograph of Neil Armstrong raising the flag on the moon to give any better detail, other than the two camera shots linked above, and only the photographs Neil took of Buzz.

posted 09-01-2018 09:44 AM               

The Apollo 11 episode ended with a still shot of the flag taken from the LM.

posted 09-01-2018 01:36 PM               

The reason there is a controversy is not because they left out the raising of the American flag. It is because of the reason it was left out. Not to tell the story of the Armstrong no one knew, not because there wasn’t enough running time. The reason was a conscious choice because the moon landing was considered an accomplishment of all of humanity, not of the United States of America.

posted 09-01-2018 02:11 PM               

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Originally posted by David C:
Hopefully we can all get back to eagerly anticipating viewing the film.

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posted 09-01-2018 03:25 PM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I don't believe you worked on the film...

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"I think this was widely regarded in the end as a human achievement and that’s how we chose to view it,” Gosling said, according to The Telegraph.

posted 09-01-2018 03:37 PM               

The second part of that quote, omitted from your citation was as follows — 

I also think Neil was extremely humble, as were many of these astronauts, and time and time again he deferred the focus from himself to the 400,000 people who made the mission possible.

He was reminding everyone that he was just the tip of the iceberg — and that's not just to be humble, that's also true.

So I don't think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero. From my interviews with his family and people that knew him, it was quite the opposite. And we wanted the film to reflect Neil.

posted 09-01-2018 04:02 PM               

Just because you disagree with my (and others) assessment does not mean that the view you disagree with contains an error in comprehension ... on the contrary, what you and others seem to fail to comprehend is that this movie is not being released in a vacuum.

Just as the release of "The Right Stuff" came during John Glenn’s Presidential campaign run (prompting outrage at the time that a Hollywood movie would be timed for release "intentionally" to help Glenn win the nomination), the release of "First Man" comes at a time when many Americans openly display disdain for the American flag and at a time when revisionist history is rampant.