OCTOBER SKY [1999 / 2017] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
Based on An Extraordinary True Story!
Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern star in ‘OCTOBER SKY,’ a touching and inspirational drama that's based on a true story. Working in the coal mines was an inescapable way of life in the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia in 1957. When high schooler Homer H. Hickam, Jr. [Jake Gyllenhaal] sees the Sputnik satellite in the night sky, he dares to break free of the mines and reach for the stars. With the support of his teacher Miss Freida J. Riley [Laura Dern] and three friends, Homer Hickam, Jr. sets out on an inspiring quest to build his own rocket. Overcoming a poor education, a tough father John Hickam [Chris Cooper] and a series of misfires, Homer H. Hickam, Jr. turns his dreams into reality in this incredible true story of hope, determination and triumph.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1999 Ajijic International Film Festival: Win: OCIC Award for Joe Johnston. 1999 Casting Society of America: Nominated: Artios Award for Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama for Nancy Foy and Jo Doster (location). 1999 Humanitas Prize: Win: Feature Film Category for Lewis Colick. 1999 Teen Choice Awards: Nominated: Film – Choice Drama. Nominated: Film – Breakout Performance for Jake Gyllenhaal. Nominated: Film – Choice Sleazebag for Chris Cooper. 1999 YoungStar Awards: Nominated: Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film for Jake Gyllenhaal. Nominated: Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film for Chris Owen. 2000 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. 2000 American Cinema Foundation: Win: E Pluribus Unum Award for Feature Film. 2000 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Win: Critics Choice Award for Best Family Film. 2000 Motion Picture Sound Editors: Nominated: Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing for Dialogue & ADR for Elizabeth Kenton (supervising dialogue/adr editor), Howell Gibbens (supervising sound editor) and Stephanie Flack (dialogue editor). 2000 Writers Guild of America: Nominated: WGA Award (Screen) for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for Lewis Colick. 2000 Young Artist Awards: Nominated: Best Performance in a Feature Film in a Leading Young Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal. Nominated: Best Family Feature Film in a Drama.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘OCTOBER SKY’ is an anagram of “Rocket Boys,” the title of the 1998 novel upon which the film is based upon. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the October Sky. Homer Hickam Jr. stated that "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys." The book was later re-released with the name in order to capitalize on interest in the film. Most of the film was shot in rural East Tennessee, including Oliver Springs, Harriman and Kingston in Morgan and Roane County of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The train used in the scene was the former Southern Railway 4501 re-lettered as Norfolk and Western 4501. Filming concluded on the 30th April, 1998.
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, Natalie Canerday, Scott Thomas, Randy Stripling, Chris Ellis, Elya Baskin, Courtney Cole-Fendley, David Dwyer, Terry Loughlin, Kaili Hollister, David Copeland, Don Henderson Baker, Tom Kagy, Donald Thorne, Justin Whitsett, Larry Rue, Neva Howell, Terry Nienhuis, Brady Coleman, Rick Forrester, Terrence Gibney, Douglas Swander, Keeli Hale Kimbro, Mark Jeffrey Miller, Blaque Fowler, Don Tilley, Rockford Davis, John Bennes, Jonathan Fawbush, Larry Black, Frank Schuler, Tommy Smeltzer, Charles Lawlor, Tom Turbiville, Ida Ginn, Richard Lumpkin, Mark W. Johnson, Don Taylor, Don G. Campbell, Liz Byler, Bradford Ryan Lund, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Dave Hager, Ray Elder, Andy Stahl, Joe Digaetano. Thomas Taylor, David Ducey, Jenny Patterson, O. Winston Link, Wren Barnes (uncredited), Ryder Davis (uncredited), Brian Edward Keith (uncredited) and Shawn Lindsay (uncredited)
Director: Joe Johnston
Producers: Charles Gordon, Larry J. Franco, Marc Sternberg and Peter Cramer
Screenplay: Homer H. Hickam Jr. (book) and Lewis Colick (screenplay)
Composer: Mark Isham
Cinematography: Fred Murphy A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p [Color by Deluxe]
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Spanish: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround Audio
French: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French
Running Time: 107 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘OCTOBER SKY’ [1999] is one of those definite potential sleeper types of film that is immensely entertaining and unabashedly inspirational fact-based drama about a mining-town teenager who leads his buddies through experiments with homemade rockets during the late 1950s. In the real world, Homer H. Hickam Jr. grew up to be a NASA engineer and the author of "Rocket Boys," the acclaimed memoir that inspired Lewis Colick's screenplay. Thanks to the efforts of a strong cast and the simplicity of director Joe Johnston's storytelling, ‘OCTOBER SKY’ is persuasive and compelling in equal measures.
The year is 1957. As Sputnik parts the October sky over a humble West Virginia coal mining town, one idealistic teen Homer H. Hickam, Jr. hatches visions of sending his own rockets into space and a mere flight of fancy on the way to a preordained mining career? Not if this decent young man can win the science fair . . . and a ticket out of his hum drum and no hope life.
‘OCTOBER SKY’ is based on the true story of how young Homer Hickam, Jr. and three fellow classmates beat the odds and inspired a myopic community to believe that dreams are worth chasing. It's stand-up-and-cheer fun. And it revisits an era when creativity, a thirst for knowledge and innocent boyhood exploration filled after-school hours, before youngsters were not influenced by VCRs, MTV, and other modern marvels with names abbreviated to match today’s youngsters shrinking attention spans.
‘OCTOBER SKY’ emphasises inspired aspirations and rocket science. But equally central to the story is Homer H. Hickam, Jr.and his strained and often adversarial relationship with his coal miner dad, a chiselled company man with a noble streak that seems committed to everyone but his son. The elder John Homer Hickam, is set on seeing his son Homer H. Hickam, Jr. to blindly follow in his coal dust-covered footsteps and vocally opposes his Homer H. Hickam, Jr. total desire to pursue rocketry as anything more than a hobby.
The main crux of the film comes when the battles commence, with Homer H. Hickam, Jr. wants to be a scientist and his father cannot and will not understand this situation. It's like Homer H. Hickam, Jr. saying he wants to be a Martian and so they constantly bump heads, and Homer H. Hickam, Jr. getting more and more frustrated because his father cannot see he has a dream that far outweighs the option of working down a dirty mine and ended with a shorter life span.
There is no greater foe than Homer H. Hickam, Jr. father, John Homer Hickam [Chris Cooper], the mine foreman who expects the lad to follow in his footsteps. Much of the film's drama stems from the conflict between father and son. Chris Cooper, as usual, is excellent as a man who truly wants the best for his family but cannot understand the passion that drives the boy. The mine has been his life and the source of sustenance for his family. For John Homer to turn away from it, especially for something as silly as rockets, seems like a rejection of the father and all he has worked for.
Young actor Jake Gyllenhaal is utterly natural as Homer H. Hickam, Jr., a young boy caught in a dream that perhaps even he cannot completely explain. You can believe he grew up in a place like Coalwood, West Virginia, which the filmmakers convincingly recreated in rural Tennessee. One look at the town and you can feel the coal dust pressing down upon your very soul, darkening your outlook and snuffing out your ambition. The character of John Homer Hickam, Homer H. Hickam, Jr.’s stern father, is finely etched and complemented by an outstanding performance from Chris Cooper, who adds depth and pathos to what could have otherwise been a very typical stereotype character. The strained and fiery relationship between father and son provides the core of the story, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper work well together, making their scenes believable, and making the eventual heart-warming outcome believable while avoiding the ever-present threat of over-sentimentality.
The film never manages to transcend the formulaic elements inherent to its genre: resistance followed by hope giving way to disaster and then the rebirth of possibility, with a last-minute snag threatening everything, a tear-jerking moment and then final reconciliation and victory. But there is a reason why filmmakers keep going back to this type of scenario formula. When executed correctly, it has proven a total heart-warming crowd-pleaser. ‘OCTOBER SKY’ may lack the glamour and star-power of many a box-office bonanza, but the film's down-to-earth home grittiness is precisely what may make it hit home with audiences emotionally and it success’s gloriously and I loved the film when I first viewed and it still resonates with me after viewing it via this glorious Blu-ray disc.
What I liked about the ending of the film, is finding out what really happened to the real life characters later on in life from the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia, and at the end of the film we get the following information, which is as follows: The “Rocket Boys” all graduated from college. Quentin is a chemical engineer in the oil industry. Roy lee is an automobile dealer and retired banker. O’Dell is a rancher and owner of an insurance company. Elsie Hickam retired to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 1979, Miss Freida J. Riley died of Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 31. John Home Hickam died of black lung disease in 1976. In 1965, the town of Coalwood, West Virginia was sold off and the mine was closed forever. Homer H. Hickam Jr. became a NASA engineer, training astronauts for Space Shuttle missions.
OCTOBER SKY MUSIC TRACK LISTING
NINE POUND HAMMER IS TOO HEAVY (Written by Charlie Monroe) [Performed by The Monroe Brothers]
MY PRAYER (Written by Georges Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy) [Performed by The Platters]
JAILHOUSE ROCK (Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) [Performed by Elvis Presley]
RED & BLACK (Written by O'dell Willis, William T. Purdy and Carl D. Beck) [Performed by the Central High School Band, Knoxville, Tennessee]
ON WISCONSIN (Written by O'dell Willis, William T. Purdy and Carl D. Beck) [Performed by the Central High School Band, Knoxville, Tennessee]
THAT’LL BE THE DAY (Written by Norman Petty, Jerry Allison and Buddy Holly) [Performed by Buddy Holly & The Crickets]
YAKETY YAK (Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) [Performed by The Coasters]
SEARCHIN’ (Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) [Performed by The Coasters]
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES (Written by Jerome Kern, Otto A. Harbach) [Performed by The Platters]
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL (Written by Leonard Lee and Shirley Goodman) [Performed by Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee]
ONLY YOU (And You Alone) (Written by Buck Ram) [Performed by The Platters]
AIN’T THAT A SHAME (Written by Fats Domino and David Bartholomew) [Performed by Fats Domino]
SPEEDO (Written by Esther Navarro) [Performed by The Cadillacs]
WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE (Written by Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy) [Performed by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers]
IT’S ALL IN THE GAME (Written by Carl Sigman and Charles Dawes) [Performed by Tommy Edwards]
Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal Pictures presents ‘OCTOBER SKY’ in a wonderful 2.35:1 aspect ratio and delivers phenomenal 1080p stunning transfer is rich detail in sharpness and colours that saturate this film with dark hues and settle smooth pallets only increase the satisfaction of your viewing experience. Universal Pictures does a wonderful job on this transfer and I have no complaints. Dark lush tones enrich the environment of this film with a dramatic feel with no scratches or hiccups during my viewing experience. Colours are very consistent throughout the film and if there was any small damage at all, it would be very unnoticeable. Universal Studios have not disappoint with their exclusive release from this very highly recommend this film.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures brings us ‘OCTOBER SKY’ with a stunning 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience that befits this brilliant film. The audio dialogue is very crisp and clear with no clicks or pops to be heard throughout the 108 minute length of this film. The sounds of rockets launching mixed in with the music by Mark Isham only adds to one of the best visual and audio experiences, plus whenever you get a terrific thunder storm, your rear speakers really makes you feel there is lightning going on outside the home and you really feel the amazing sound resonate with your body and feels totally realistic. The transition of high sounds mixed in with dialogue never had me reach for my remote to adjust the volume and gave a balanced experience throughout the film. Universal Studios hits another home run with this Blu-ray release.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: AIMING HIGH: The Story of the Rocket Boys [2004] [480i] [1.37:1] [31:39] This special documentary is hosted by Homer H. Hickam Jr. and shot in what's left of Coalwood, West Virginia, the town was sold off after the mine was completely shut down. We get to see Homer H. Hickham Jr. chatting with most of the other “Rocket Boys” for reminiscences and "where are they now?" type information. The school principal depicted in the film gets to retract his original killjoy persona. The “Rocket Boys” inspirational teacher is lovingly eulogised, and the life-changing influence of a college education is well and truly lauded. The best footage comes from the vintage personal home-movies of young Homer H. Hickam Jr. and his friends firing off their rockets, as well as families, plus we get interspersed clips from the film. Homer H. Hickam Jr. also informs us that if they tried to build the same rockets today, it would cost around $25,000. At the end of this documentary, it informs us that through the success of Homer H. Hickam Jr.’s book “Rocket Boys” and the film ‘OCTOBER SKY,’ the former mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia, is beginning to see new life. This is really good stuff, very well spoken narration, and a terrific companion to the brilliant film. Contributions included Homer H. Hickham Jr., Jimmy “O’Dell” Carroll, Willy “Billy” Rose, Roy Lee Cooke, Red Carroll and Robert L. Turner.
Special Feature: Spotlight on Location: ‘OCTOBER SKY’ [1999] [480i] [1.37:1] [10:30] With this special documentary, it concentrates on the Year 1957 when the Soviets launched their Sputnik satellite into space. Where a young student Homer H. Hickham Jr. from a small village in Coalwood, West Virginia, gets fascinated and is totally inspired by the progress of technology, especially by his teacher Miss Riley and decides to get to know everything about all the technical details on missiles and rockets and their propulsion. This is definitely like an extended promotional film, which includes some of the cast and crew, with interview snippets interspersed with some rare behind-the-scenes footage and some extract clips from the film. Contributions include Homer H. Hickam Jr., Joe Johnston [Director], Charles Gordon [Producer], Jake Gyllenhaal [Homer H. Hickam Jr.], Laura Dern [Miss Riley] and Chris Cooper [John Hickam].
Theatrical Trailer [1999] [1080i] [1.37:1] [2:19] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘OCTOBER SKY.’ What a shame it was not presented in its original film aspect ratio, but despite this, it is still a brilliant presentation of a totally brilliant film.
Audio Commentary with Homer H. Hickam Jr.: Here we are introduced to Homer H. Hickam Jr. and informs us that he wrote the book “Rocket Boys,” which of course was based on the film ‘OCTOBER SKY’ which Homer really loved and especially the opening shots of the Coalview mine and especially with the miners coming out of the lift and said that people were very sceptical about viewing the film, but when they saw the miners they got very emotional and tried to hide their tears, and to a great extent this film is dedicated to especially those miners we see in the film, which a lot of them were retired miners from the Coalview mine and were happy to participate and a great honour to be in the film. Although Homer H. Hickam Jr. did not know anything about the actor Jake Gyllenhaal and was very glad he was chosen to play the part of Homer H. Hickam Jr., even though he had no choice in the matter. Although in the film they make out Homer H. Hickam Jr. is very interested in the Sputnik satellite, but Homer tells us he was interested in other things as well at the time, but when he finally saw the Sputnik fly over them in the night sky, it really captured his imagination and the scene you see in the film is pretty accurate, but informs us that at the times he nearly didn’t see the satellite fly over in the night sky, as he was very near sighted, as he wore very thick glasses. Homer H. Hickam Jr. talks about the strict principal in his school who heard about the “Rocket Boys” and accused them of being bomb makers and nearly confiscated their first rocket, but also tells us that he was desperate to get his scholarship and eventually wanted to work at NASA, but also praised his teacher Miss Freida J. Riley who gave all the “Rocket Boys” great encouragement. Because with their early attempts at the rockets, they hadn’t figured out how to make the rocket go straight up into the sky, whereas their early attempts were very haphazard like in the film, where they were flying off in all different directions and that scene around the 32 minutes mark, where the ex-pilot gives them the clue on how to build a proper rocket, especially having to have the rocket made by very expensive metal, and because they had no money, Jimmy “O’Dell” Carroll started to think up schemes to make the money required to buy the special metal and Homer tells us that Jimmy “O’Dell” Carroll was always thinking up money making schemes that most of the time were a failure, but the one successful money making scheme we see in the film where they digging up the different parts of the old railway tracks, really worked and made lots of Dollars. When you see the steam train appear and where in the film they think it is going to crash, which I think is the funniest part of the film, but for some unknown reason this particular scene was shot 20 times until the director felt he had secured the shot he wanted. When we get to around the 39 minutes part of the film, where they all come to see the rocket launch, and where we see the ignition system up close, well this was built specially for the film by the special effects person, as in the real event scenario Homer H. Hickam Jr. informs us that it was a very basic launch mechanism and Home wished they had that special ignition set up when they actually did the rocket launch for real. When we see the actor Jake as Homer celebrating his birthday and open’s the large envelope with the signed autographed photo of Werner Von Braun, we find out that his actual Mum wrote to Werner Von Braun personally to ask for the signed photograph for his young son Homer. Also when you see his Mum throw the phone out of the house, this actually happened, because his Mum hated the mine and wanted her husband to quite the mines and retire to Myrtle Beach. When you see the actor Jake go down the mine, this actually happened to Homer who actually did some work down the mine in the school holidays. When you see the actress Mum show her injured actor husband the carbon crystals, these were the real ones that Homer H. Hickam Jr.’s Mum had kept all those years ago, who his real dad actually found down the mines, which were nearly like real diamonds, and told his real wife that he wished they had been real diamonds. When actor Jake Gyllenhaal is in the classroom after being accused of starting the forest fire with one of their rockets, and you see Jake show the stubborn belligerent principal the complicated equation on the blackboard proving it was not their rocket that started the forest fire, but Homer H. Hickam Jr. points out that this specific equation was pointed out later on was wrong, but forgives the anomaly, as it made for a good scene in the film. When Homer has his nozzle stolen at the Science Fair and you see the character Leon Bolden [Randy Stripling] offers to make a brand new nozzle, well Homer tells us that they actually had several master machinists who helped Homer H. Hickam Jr. in real life to make different parts for all of the rockets. When you see the actor Jake Gyllenhaal demonstrates how the nozzle works at the Science Fair, what words the actor Jake Gyllenhaal speaks is straight out of the “Rocket Boys” book and Jake had to learn the complicated wording 100% perfect. When you see the final firing of the largest rocket so far, named “Miss Riley,” which in fact was not called that with the real last rocket, but Homer H. Hickam Jr. wished in real life he had named that particular rocket after his inspirational teacher, and when we see the rocket fire into the stratosphere, Homer reckons it flew to an altitude of 31,000 feet, and after that event Homer finally got to go and work at NASA at the age of 38. When you view all of the personal home-movies at the end of the film, these were kept by Homer H. Hickam Jr.’s Mum and Homer is very proud to see them included in the Hollywood film. Homer also informs us that the town of Coalwood is now slowly coming back to life, especially because of the massive success his book “Rocket Boys,” which has generated a great deal of interest in Coalwood due to tourists flocking from around the world to see where the film was made, especially viewing all of the locations, especially the homes, so now they have established the Coalwood Restoration Committee to promote Colawood, and now Homer is very proud of where he grew up. So as the credits appear on the screen, Homer says, “This is Homer H. Hickam Jr., and I hope you have enjoyed my audio commentary, and comments, and I hope you enjoyed the film, and glad there is a lot of interest in the “Rocket Boys” book, and there are two more books coming out about Coalwood and about life there and I hope we can keep the miracle going.” Which I whole heartedly agree with Homer H. Hickam Jr., and a fitting tribute to a brilliant and fantastic audio commentary and one that should not be missed, and to me it would be a great honour to actually meet Homer H. Hickam Jr. in person and shake his hand to thank him for writing his book that inspired the absolutely brilliant and fantastic film ‘OCTOBER SKY.’
Finally, ‘OCTOBER SKY’ is a totally moving, and inspirational story that offers superb performances and drama that earns its emotional moments and deserved awards. ‘OCTOBER SKY’ is also one of my all-time favourite film of all time. I am a sucker for dramas with true life characters, especially those that are based on true events. Performances in this film all around were totally phenomenal, as well as awesome and they couldn’t have done any better with the casting, as it is totally perfect. Any heartfelt film with a touching story gets my award every time. As without doubt I cannot praise Universal Pictures enough for their release of this film, which I have been waiting nearly a decade for this Blu-ray release, as previously I originally had it on an inferior DVD release. This film is truly one of a kind and I am glad to now own this Blu-ray version in my collection. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
