October Sky

In October 1957, news of the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 reaches Homer Hickam in the mining community of Coalwood, West Virginia, who is inspired to build his own rockets despite the skepticism of his friends and family, especially his father; John Hickam, who strictly wanted Homer to work in the mines.

Homer teams up with math geek Quentin Wilson, who shares an interest in aerospace engineering; with the support of friends Roy Lee Cooke and Sherman O'Dell, and their science teacher Freida J. Riley, they construct small rockets. When one of their rockets lands near John's office and nearly injures some workers, John reprimands Homer not to build rockets on his property again. The boys hike to the edge of the coal company's property, where they succeed with the help of the townsfolk, including the mine's machine shop manager, Ike Bykovsky, who is punished by John for helping the boys and sent to work in the mine.

The rocket launches begin attracting townsfolk. However, the boys abandon rocketry after they are accused by the police of starting a wildfire with a stray rocket and are arrested. In a mining accident, John is injured and Bykovsky is killed, devastating Homer, who believed that it was his fault that Bykovsky died, however John later tells Homer that he offered Bykovsky a position in the machine shop but declined it because he was making more money in the mines. He drops out of high school to work in the mine and provide for his family while his father recovers.

Homer is inspired by Miss Riley to read a book on applied rocket science, learning to calculate the trajectory of a rocket. Using this, he and Quentin locate their missing rocket and prove it could not have caused the fire. The boys present their findings to Miss Riley and the school principal, Mr. Turner, who determines the cause was a flare from a nearby airfield. Homer tells his father he is returning to high school and no longer wants to work in the mine. The boys return to rocketry and win the school science fair. When the opportunity arises for one of them to participate in the National Science Fair in Indianapolis, they elect Homer. The miner's union goes on strike against the coal company. With the mines set to close and resenting his father's pressures, Homer storms out of the house, vowing never to return.

At the National Science Fair, Homer's display is well-received. Overnight, someone steals his machined rocket part model – the de Laval nozzle – and his autographed picture of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Homer makes an urgent phone call home to his mother Elsie, who implores John to end the strike so that Mr. Bolden, Bykovsky's replacement, can use the machine shop to build a replacement nozzle. John relents when Elsie, fed up with his lack of support for their son, threatens to leave him. With the town's support and replacement parts sent to Indianapolis, the boys win the top prize and Homer is bombarded with college scholarship offers. He also shakes hands with Dr. Wernher Von Braun himself, however Homer does not realize it was him until after Dr. Von Braun left.

He returns to Coalwood as a hero and visits Miss Riley, who is dying of Hodgkin lymphoma. Preparing for the launch of their largest rocket yet, Homer asks his father to come and tells him that Von Braun is brilliant but is not his hero—implying John is his true idol. At the launch of their rocket, named for Miss Riley, almost all of Coalwood turns out to watch, including John, who never came to any of Homer's previous launches. John is given the honor of pushing the launch button. The Miss Riley reaches an altitude of {{convert|30000|ft}} – higher than the summit of Mount Everest. As the town looks to the skies, John puts his hand on Homer's shoulder and smiles, showing Homer that he is proud of him.

An epilogue reveals the real-life outcomes of the main characters' lives, noting that Miss Riley died, the mine closed, and all four Rocket Boys went to college, going on to successful careers, with Homer working at NASA.

{{Cast listing|

• Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam
• Chris Cooper as John Hickam
• Chris Owen as Quentin Wilson
• Laura Dern as Miss Freida J. Riley
• William Lee Scott as Roy Lee Cooke
• Chad Lindberg as Sherman O'Dell
• Natalie Canerday as Elsie Hickam
• Scott Thomas as Jim Hickam
• Randy Stripling as Leon Bolden
• Chris Ellis as Principal Turner
• Elya Baskin as Ike Bykovsky
• Winston Link as Railroad engineer
• Andy Stahl as Jack Palmer
• Mark Jeffrey Miller as Vernon
• Don Henderson Baker as Jensen
• Kaili Hollister as Valentine Carmina

}}

Filming began on February 23, 1998, almost a year before the film's release. Although it takes place in West Virginia, Tennessee was the location of choice for filming in part because of the weather and area terrain. Film crews reconstructed the sites to look like the 1957 mining town setting the movie demanded. The weather in East Tennessee gave the filmmakers trouble and delayed the production of the film. Cast and crew recalled the major weather shifts and tornadoes in the area during the filming months, but Joe Johnston claimed, "Ultimately, the movie looks great because of it. It gave the film a much more interesting and varied look."{{cite web |last1=Kazek |first1=Kelly |date=July 23, 2014 |title='October Sky' actress Natalie Canerday on Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, film's legacy 15 years after debut |url=https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/october_sky_actress_natalie_ca.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014124404/https://www.al.com/entertainment/2014/07/october_sky_actress_natalie_ca.html |archive-date=October 14, 2019 |access-date=August 14, 2020 |website=al.com}} For the underground scenes, the crews also recreated a mine, with Johnston expressing that the mine took on a "villainous" appearance in the film, which felt ironic given its position as the town’s source of livelihood. More than 2,000 extras were used in the film. A small switching yard allowed the filmmakers and actors to film the scenes with the boys on the railroad and gave the freedom to do as they pleased, including the tearing apart of tracks. The locomotive used in the scene was Southern Railway 4501, re-lettered as Norfolk and Western No. 4501. Filming concluded on April 30, 1998.{{cite web|url=http://coalwoodwestvirginia.com/about_the_filming.htm|title=About the Filming|website=Coalwood West Virginia|publisher=NMT Web Designs, LLC|access-date=July 30, 2014|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714091514/http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/about_the_filming.htm|url-status=live}}

The film's star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was 17 years old during filming, the same age as Homer Hickam's character. In an interview in 2014, Natalie Canerday recalled that Gyllenhaal was tutored on set because he was still in school and taking advanced classes.

October Sky opened on February 19, 1999, in 1,495 theaters and had an opening weekend gross of $5,905,250. At its widest theater release, 1,702 theaters were showing the film. It had a total lifetime gross of $34,675,800 worldwide.

October Sky received generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% out of 74 critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.6/10. The critic's consensus states: "Rich in sweet sincerity, intelligence, and good old-fashioned inspirational drama, October Sky is a coming-of-age story with a heart to match its Hollywood craftsmanship."{{cite web |title=October Sky (1999) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/october_sky/ |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2021-01-01 |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605064500/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/october_sky |url-status=live }} Metacritic gave the film a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/october-sky/critic-reviews|title=October Sky|website=Metacritic|access-date=July 31, 2014|archive-date=September 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904011150/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/october-sky/critic-reviews|url-status=live}} Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.{{cite web |title=October Sky (1999) A |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date=2018-12-20 |work=CinemaScore}}

Many critics commended the film for its focus on family values and inspirational aspects, particularly the main character's relationship with his father and the actors' performances. Roger Ebert, who gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, recognized that the film "doesn't simplify the father into a bad guy or a tyrant. He understandably wants his son to follow in his footsteps, and one of the best elements of the movie is in breaking free, he is respecting his father. This movie has deep values."{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/october-sky-1999 |title=October Sky Review |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=February 19, 1999 |website=RogerEbert.com |access-date=July 30, 2014 |quote=Immensely entertaining and unabashedly inspirational. |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318080622/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/october-sky-1999 |url-status=live }}

James Wall of The Christian Century described the film's concentration on the father-son relationship as "at times painful to watch. There are no winners or losers when sons go their separate ways. October Sky does not illustrate good parenting; rather, it evokes the realization that since parents have only a limited vision of how to shape their children's future, the job requires a huge amount of love and a lot of divine assistance."{{cite journal |last1=Wall |first1=J.M. |date=1999 |title=Fathers and Sons |journal=The Christian Century |volume=116 |issue=10 |page=331 }} Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide claimed that the film's highlight was the acting of Gyllenhaal and Cooper.{{cite magazine |last=Schwarzbaum |first=Lisa |date=March 5, 1999 |title=Rocket Booster |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |issue=475 |url=https://ew.com/article/1999/03/05/october-sky-3/ }}{{cite web |last=McDonagh |first=Maitland |title=October Sky Review |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/october-sky/review/2030059770/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812213047/http://movies.tvguide.com/october-sky/133805 |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=July 31, 2014 |website=TV Guide}}

The Christian Science Monitor pointed out that some viewers may question "the movie's hero-worshiping treatment of Homer's role model, Wernher von Braun, who's depicted as an all-American icon with no acknowledgment of his earlier career in Nazi Germany."{{Cite web |last=Sterritt |first=David |date=February 19, 1999 |title='October Sky': almost out of this world |website=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0219/p15s1.html |access-date=December 24, 2022 |archive-date=December 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224050653/https://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0219/p15s1.html |url-status=live }} During World War II, Braun was a member of the Nazi party and the Allgemeine SS. In addition, the ballistic weapons that he developed for the Nazi regime were largely constructed by concentration camp prisoners who faced inhumane conditions, with many dying due to their brutal imprisonment.{{Cite web |last=Shira Teitel |first=Amy |date=May 3, 2013 |title=Wernher von Braun: History's most controversial figure? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/5/3/wernher-von-braun-historys-most-controversial-figure/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224050656/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/5/3/wernher-von-braun-historys-most-controversial-figure/ |archive-date=December 24, 2022 |access-date=December 24, 2022 |website=Al Jazeera}}

October Sky won three awards, including: the OCIC Award for Joe Johnston at the Ajijic International Film Festival 1999,{{cite web |title=Joe Johnston Biography |url=https://www.tribute.ca/people/biography/joe-johnston/2619/ |website=tribute.ca |access-date=7 November 2023}} the Critics' Choice Movie Awards for Best Family Film in 2000,{{cite web |title=The 5th Critics' Choice Movie Awards Winners and Nominees |url=http://www.bfca.org/ccawards/1999.php |website=Broadcast Film Critics Association |access-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720061146/http://www.bfca.org/ccawards/1999.php |archive-date=2012-07-20 |url-status=dead}} and the Humanitas Prize 1999 for Featured Film Category.{{cite web |last=Chang |first=Kay |date=July 9, 1999 |title='Sky' scribe Colick wins Humanitas Prize |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/sky-scribe-colick-wins-humanitas-prize-1117503872/ |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Variety}}

The film was praised for its portrayal of 1950s Appalachia despite several major and minor differences from the book on which it is based.

• Homer Hickam is the main character's name. In the book and in real life he was nicknamed "Sonny".{{cite web |title=Movies Rocket Boys |url=http://www.homerhickam.com/movies/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710130322/http://www.homerhickam.com/movies/ |archive-date=July 10, 2015 |access-date=August 21, 2018 |website=HomerHickam.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/real_vs_reel_author_homer_hick.html|title=Real vs. Reel: Author Homer Hickam talks differences in 'Rocket Boys' and film 'October Sky'|last1=Kazek|first1=Kelly|date=July 23, 2014|website=al.com|access-date=June 1, 2021|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215172741/https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/real_vs_reel_author_homer_hick.html|url-status=live}}
• Homer Hickam Jr.'s father was not named John. This was changed in an effort to keep the audience from being confused.{{cite web|url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/october_sky_does_decent_job_of.html#incart_related_stories|title='October Sky' does good job of telling Homer Hickam Jr.'s remarkable story|last1=Bonvillian|first1=Crystal|date=July 24, 2014|website=al.com|access-date=July 31, 2014|archive-date=July 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726075343/http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/october_sky_does_decent_job_of.html#incart_related_stories|url-status=live}}
• There were actually six "rocket boys" rather than the four in the movie. Some of the movie's representations of the characters are combinations of real-life boys. Their names were: Homer Hickam Jr., Quentin Wilson, Jimmy O'Dell Carroll, Roy Lee Cooke, Billy Rose, and Sherman Siers.
• The Rocket Boys did not steal railroad parts as in the film. However, they did attempt to grab a cast iron pipe under the tracks, and according to Homer's website, this almost got him killed.
• While the boys were accused of starting a fire, they were never detained. The police soon realized that their rockets could not have traveled over 3 miles and the boys were exonerated. Homer never had to prove their innocence, as his character did in the film.
• Homer never dropped out of school to work in the town's mine. However, he did work in the mine the following summer, as described in Hickam's book Sky of Stone.
• Homer never met Wernher von Braun - as it turns out, von Braun was looking for the Rocket Boys' exhibit when Homer was looking for him, and they missed each other.

There are two annual festivals in honor of the Rocket Boys and the film. One is held in West Virginia where the real-life events depicted in the book and film took place, and the other is in Tennessee where the movie was actually shot. The Rocket Boys often visit the festival in West Virginia, which is also called the "Rocket Boys Festival", while the festival in Tennessee focuses more on the filming locations. The Tennessee festival's site claims that the festival is "a celebration of our heritage."{{cite web|url=http://www.octoberskyfestivaltn.org/|title=October Sky Festival|website=October Sky Festival|access-date=July 28, 2014|archive-date=November 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108073331/http://www.octoberskyfestivaltn.org/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://coalwoodwestvirginia.com/october_sky_festival.htm|title=October Sky Festival|website=Coalwood West Virginia|publisher=NMT Web Designs, LLC|access-date=March 26, 2019|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812202840/http://coalwoodwestvirginia.com/october_sky_festival.htm|url-status=live}}

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, saw a screening of October Sky in 1999. In a subsequent conversation with the science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, Bezos commented that he had always wanted to start a space company. Stephenson urged him to do so. Bezos then started the private aerospace manufacturing and services company Blue Origin, and Stephenson became one of the company's early employees.{{cite book | last = Davenport | first = Christian | title = The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos | publisher = PublicAffairs, an imprint owned by Hachette Book Group | year = 2018 | isbn = 9781610398299}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3457/1|title=Reviews: Rocket Billionaires and The Space Barons|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=March 26, 2018|work=The Space Review|access-date=March 26, 2019|archive-date=April 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401144442/http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3457/1|url-status=live}}

The author of Rocket Boys claimed that the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Carbon Creek" was based on October Sky, and there are obvious references to the story in the episode.{{Cite web |date=2002-09-26 |title=The Trek Nation - Carbon Creek |url=https://www.trektoday.com/reviews/enterprise/carbon_creek.shtml |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=TrekToday.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cowling |first=Keith |date=November 25, 2017 |title=Rocket Boys, Vulcans, and Wandering Apollo Rockets |url=http://spaceref.com/exploration/rocket-boys-vulcans-and-wandering-apollo-rockets.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210702205823/http://spaceref.com/exploration/rocket-boys-vulcans-and-wandering-apollo-rockets.html |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=SpaceRef}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [http://www.homerhickam.com Homer Hickam's Official Website]
• [http://www.CoalwoodWestVirginia.com/ Information and Photos of Filming Locations]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130224034119/http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/galleries/2013/feb/18/east-tennessee-movie-making-october-sky-1999/ Photo gallery from the filming of October Sky in East Tennessee]
• {{IMDb title|0132477}}
• {{TCMDb title|443676}}
• [https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1999/OCTSY.php October Sky] at The Numbers

{{Homer Hickam}}

{{Joe Johnston}}

{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film}}

Category:1999 films

Category:1999 drama films

Category:1990s American films

Category:1990s biographical drama films

Category:1990s coming-of-age drama films

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:American biographical drama films

Category:American children's drama films

Category:American coming-of-age drama films

Category:American teen drama films

Category:Biographical films about scientists

Category:Cold War films

Category:Cultural depictions of engineers

Category:English-language biographical drama films

Category:Films about father–son relationships

Category:Films about technology

Category:Films based on biographies

Category:Films based on memoirs

Category:Films directed by Joe Johnston

Category:Films produced by Charles Gordon

Category:Films scored by Mark Isham

Category:Films set in 1957

Category:Films set in Appalachia

Category:Films set in mining communities

Category:Films shot in Tennessee

Category:Films set in West Virginia

Category:Universal Pictures films