October Sky
Encyclopedia : O : OC : OCT : October Sky
October Sky is a 1999 movie based on the book Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky (note that "October Sky" is an anagram of "Rocket Boys"). The book was based on Hickam's real childhood though the writer admits to taking some creative liberties.
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, and Natalie Canerday. Noted photographer O. Winston Link has a cameo appearance as a railroad engineer.
Set in the U.S. state of West Virginia, the actual filming locations were Petros, Oliver Springs, Oak Ridge, Harriman, and Knoxville, Tennessee. The coal mine used in the film was an actual coal mine located in Petros which had closed. The steam locomotive (Southern Railway 4501) used in the film was a loan from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
Plot Summary
It tells of Hickam's experience with model rockets in his teens, in 1957, as he and his friends try to use rockets to escape the coal-mining life. Despite great disapproval from his father, Hickam enters the science fair and wins scholarships for colleges.
The film begins in October 1957 as residents of the small mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia gather to watch the Soviet satellite Sputnik pass overhead. The ability of America's Cold War adversary to launch a satellite into orbit over the United States has everybody talking.
The new interest in rockets infects Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal), a high school student and son of the mine foreman. Homer dreams of a better life for him and his family but his future options are limited. The only two avenues open to most sons of Coalwood miners is a life in the coal mines or an athletic scholarship that will allow them to have a free college education. Since Homer has no athletic talent, his future appears destined to the dreary and dangerous life as a miner.
Homer's interest in rockets is encouraged by his teacher, Miss Frieda Riley (Laura Dern). Homer's father John (Chris Cooper) however thinks that his son's interest in rockets is a waste of time and bans him from setting off any rockets on company property, which is essentially the entire town of Coalwood. Homer's mother Elsie (Natalie Canerday) also doesn't understand Homer's interest in rocketry but tries to act as an intermediary between the determined Homer and his proud father, who sees his son's determination to get away from Coalwood as a repudiation of his life's work in the mines.
With friends Quentin Wilson (Chris Owens), Roy Lee (William Lee Scott), and Sherman (Chad Lindberg), Homer sets up a rocket launch site dubbed "Cape Coalwood" eight miles outside of town. The boys set out to win the National Science Fair. A victory at the fair will allow the boys to receive academic scholarships and attend college escaping the poverty of their hometown.
Homer undergoes many hardships along the way. His father is badly injured in a mining accident and Homer must quit school to work in the mine to provide an income for the family. Homer blames himself when his friend Ike is killed in a mine accident. Homer and the other boys are falsely blamed for starting a forest fire with one of their rockets. Since the police force of Coalwood forbids him to fire off any more rockets, Homer throws a molotov cocktail at the blockhouse he built at Cape Coalwood, literally immolating his hopes and dreams.
Homer's father recovers and Homer is able to prove that his rockets didn't start the fire (which was in fact started by an aircraft flare). Homer is allowed to return to school and enters the science fair. He and the "Rocket Boys" from Coalwood win the contest and Homer receives a full scholarship to attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now more commonly known as Virginia Tech). He also meets his idol, Wernher von Braun (though he does not realize it at the time). Homer and his father reconcile and Homer dedicates his final rocket launch to his father.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.