october sky

Charles Gordon

Marc Sternberg Written by Screenplay:

Lewis Colick

Book:

Homer Hickam Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

Chris Cooper

Laura Dern Music by Mark Isham Cinematography Fred Murphy Editing by Robert Dalva Distributed by Universal Studios Running time 108 min. 7]], 1998 Country United States Language English

October Sky is a 1999 film produced by Charles Gordon and directed by Joe Johnston, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper and Laura Dern. It is based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and eventually became a NASA scientist. Contents [hide] 1 Title 2 Plot 3 Cast 4 Differences from the memoir 5 Reception 6 References 7 External links //

Title

"October Sky" is an anagram of "Rocket Boys", the title of the book on which the movie is based. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik as it crossed the "October sky". Homer Hickam stated that in research done by Universal Pictures, women over 30 would not go to see a movie titled "Rocket Boys",[1] so Universal Pictures changed the title to be more inviting to a wider audience. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky in order to capitalize on interest in the movie.The movie takes place in the late 1950's after Sputnik is launched.

Plot

West Virginia, the coal mine is the town's largest employer and almost every male living there works, or will work, in the mines. John Hickam (Chris Cooper), the mine superintendent, loves his job—despite its headaches and inherent dangers—and hopes that his boys, Jim (Scott Thomas) and Homer (Jake Gyllenhaal), will one day join him working there. When it appears that Jim will receive a football scholarship to attend college, however, that leaves Homer to fulfill his father's dream, although the boys' mother, Elsie (Natalie Canerday), hopes for more for her son. It is not long before a prominent event gives him that chance.

As the townspeople gather outside one starry October night, they see the Soviet satellite Sputnik race across the sky. Filled with awe and a belief that this maybe his ticket out of Coalwood, Homer sets out to build rockets of his own and enter the science fair. Of course, most everyone thinks he is crazy, especially when he teams up with Quentin (Chris Owen), the school math geek who happens to know a thing or two about rocket science. With the aid of friends Roy Lee (William Lee Scott) and Odell (Chad Lindberg), however, the four begin experimenting with their new passion. With the help and encouragement of some local townsfolk and their science teacher, Miss Riley (Laura Dern), who hopes that Homer and his friends will enter their work in a science fair contest, the boys begin their tests, but quickly run into several obstacles. First, they do not really know what they are doing, their tests are initially