First Man [Blu-ray]

Product Description

Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for the riveting story behind the first manned mission to the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the decade leading to the historic Apollo 11 flight. A visceral and intimate account told from Armstrong's perspective, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the triumphs and the cost—on Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and the nation itself—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.

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Top Reviews

I was deceived. First Man is a sneak attack on human greatness.
by Rblan (2 out of 5 stars)
October 15, 2018

That we humans could fly a man to the surface of the moon and return him safely to earth only 56 years after the Wright brother's first airplane flight of 12 seconds and 120 feet is nothing short of positive proof that we humans are magnificent beings.

This movie, First Man, is dedicated to proving the opposite. How? It turns ancient tragedy on its head, presenting a great man, Neil Armstrong, as an insipidly ordinary man with a 'heroic flaw': emotional impassivity. To what end? To make the postmodern point that the concept of courage in the face of great dangers, known and unknown, is merely another 'narrative', a story told in order to deceive you into believing that astronauts are spectacular examples of human excellence, when actually they are the playthings of the powerful, no more than emotionally repressed drones whose apparent conquest of fear is simply an inability to feel anything.

Why do the filmmakers spend so much boring footage on Armstrong's domestic problems rather than showing us more of the many struggles to master a dangerous and difficult technology from the point of view of the men who were expected to pilot it? That's an easy one. The more we see of Armstrong's helpless withdrawal from his wife and children in the face of the demands of marriage and fatherhood, the less heroic he becomes. The test-pilot and training sequences linger lovingly on all the pain and failure. Did the astronauts ever master the three-axis spin challenge? Sure, but do we see it here? No, instead we are treated to these great men vomiting their guts out into toilets in an inexplicably filthy NASA restroom. Why? It undercuts their greatness. If all you knew of the early U.S. space program was what you see here, you would have to think it was a relentless sequence of disasters punctuated by a occasional unremarkable -- and barely remarked -- step forward, until, as if by some inexplicable miracle, Apollo 11 reaches the moon.

So you were expecting a story to lift the human spirit? Listen to the score. You'll hear a few moments of apologetically uplifting music to accompany the lunar landing and that's it. For the rest, the music is appropriate to the funereal mood director Damien Chazelle obviously worked so hard to maintain. And the cinematography, which one would expect to be unabashedly romanticist for a subject like this, also spills the postmodern beans -- Chazelle blends film noir lighting and an over-saturated-kodacolor documentary look, a sarcastic appropriation of harsh realism and 1960's kitsch. Nice touch.

My problem with First Man is not that it is poorly made. Given the theme the filmmakers chose to present, their presentation is a big success. My problem is with the theme the filmmakers chose to present. Let me summarize it in words: Man is not a heroic being of sovereign will and glorious aspiration, but only the plaything of the natural and social forces that control his destiny. If you share this premise, this film will dispel any fears you had that great human achievements are a threat to your world view.

I went to see this movie because it promised me the opportunity to experience the look, sound and feeling of human greatness. I was deceived. First Man is a sneak attack on human greatness.
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Tough movie to watch
by Tony007 (1 out of 5 stars)
November 7, 2018

I dont normally do movie reviews but i was so disappointing with this one i had to. There really has not been a big movie about Apollo 11 and i hate the thought this will be it. The story is slow but the biggest problem is with the director and cinematographer. All this movie is shot free hand so its jumping around like the blair witch project on crack. To make matters even worse they used really long lens so all the shots are basically real close ups of actors faces, when you combine framing like that with a wildly jerking camera it makes this unwatchable. The story had some good moments but was over all slow and not very in depth. For the best info and entertainment on Apollo i suggest HBO's from the earth to the moon which is incalculably better than this film.
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Technically correct for the most part but appallingly off on Armstrong's character...
by Thomas Moody (2 out of 5 stars)
October 20, 2018

This movie was an egregious mis-representation of Neil Armstrong's personality and character. I'm personally shocked that it made it to theaters in this form...this film makes him out to be this abhorrently dry, cold and detached human being when he was none of these things. The most laughable part of this film is "Armstrong" finding it incapable of speaking to his own children prior to the Apollo 11 launch when in fact his wife and children were actually at KSC on a yacht watching the liftoff after speaking with him many times leading up to the launch. Mis-representations like these just totally ruined the film for me.

People, please read the volume First Man by James Hansen that this movie is based on before watching to get the true picture of Armstrong's character...this movie unnecessarily decapitates it and destroys an otherwise fine depiction of NASA's race to the moon.
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Don't waste your time or money
by Amazon Customer (1 out of 5 stars)
January 9, 2019

This movie was awful. It is not about the mission. It is about Neil Armstrong, but it is the most unsympathetic portrayal I have seen. The writing and acting did not make the characters believable or sympathetic. My husband is a huge fan of Apollo and all involved, and was very disappointed
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Great movie. Highly recommended.
by e666z (5 out of 5 stars)
October 15, 2018

I just saw this movie in theaters and was very impressed. The visual effects were so phenomenal that I felt that I was experiencing the X-15 flight, Gemini and Apollo with Neil Armstrong. I also think the film effectively portrays the challenges that Neil Armstrong (and his wife Janet) faced at home. I feel I must emphasize that the film made me proud to be an American and made me proud of the historic American achievement of being the first to walk on the moon. Despite what you may have heard, the film shows many scenes with the American flag including many other forms of American symbology, which is one of many things I admire about the film. In particular, the film indeed shows the American Flag on the moon. The movie, however, did not show the actual planting of the American flag on the moon, which is understandably mentioned by many intellectually honest critics whom have seen the movie. Sure, it would have been ideal if the flag planting was clearly depicted in the movie. Nonetheless, I don't think this setback should overshadow the many other patriotic scenes well depicted in the film, not to mention the other great aspects of the film. I look forward to buying the movie as soon as it becomes available.
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4 1/2 stars for an intimate character study and an exhilarating "leap for mankind."
by M. Oleson,Top Contributor: Game of Thrones (5 out of 5 stars)
October 15, 2018

Theater review. Possible spoilers. Ah space. The final frontier. We can't get enough. One of the first movies ever made was a French film called "Le Voyage dans la Lune" by Georges Melies in 1902. Since then we've seen an untold number of science fiction films and dozens of non-fiction accounts of space travel. This latest adventure comes from Oscar winning ("La La Land") director and nominee for writing ("Whiplash"), Damien Chazelle. Based on James R. Hansen's book, the movie dives deep into the inner workings of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling from the aforementioned "La La Land.") The opening scene provides a clue for what is to come.

We find Armstrong struggling with an X-15 supersonic jet - remember Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) in "The Right Stuff" in an early X jet - as it hits Mach III and bounces off the stratosphere. The camera focuses on Armstrong's face as he flips switches and pushes buttons while hanging on to the stick. His face is moving all over the screen. The aircraft shudders, moans and groans, sounding like it could come apart at any time. And we get the feeling that we are in the seat next to Armstrong. Granted, I saw this movie in a theater equipped with the latest Dolby technology and I suggest you do the same if you want the same effect.

As a counter, Chazelle takes us to a completely opposite quiet, which is Neil Armstrong. An early loss of a child almost isolates him from his family. His wife Janet (Clair Foy) and 2 boys beg for attention. But it is almost like Neil doesn't want to get too close, knowing that his future as a test pilot/aeronautical engineer and probable astronaut has dire risks. Other than Ed White's (Jason Clarke) wife, Pat (Olivia Hamilton and Chazelle's actual wife), Janet is the only woman who has much of a role in the film. Foy is magnificent as the constant caretaker of the home while trying to get Neil to become...well... more grounded.

Rather than a movie suggesting hijinks of the boys-will-be-boys variety, only Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) shows much humor throughout the movie. Neil's stoic presence rubs off on the others and they mostly follow his all business attitude. More than one disaster hits the Gemini and Apollo crews but none more harrowing than the fire in a test of the Apollo 1 capsule which killed Gus Grissom (Shea Whigham), White and Roger Chaffee (Cory Michael Smith). White and Armstrong were best friends.

The best scenes are in the final act as Apollo 11 takes off for the Moon. The Saturn 5's huge rockets thrust the 3 men (Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins played by Lukas Haas) into space eventually landing on the Moon July 20, 1969.

This video trip is so life-like you might want to take some Dramamine. The travel from the Earth's atmosphere to Space in this era isn't like you see in futuristic films where everything is quiet except for beeps that open doors. Like the opening scenes of the X-15, everything shakes and bakes. Everything is mechanical and rattles. Loud. In a mark of cinematic genius, the actual landing of Voyager is played out in what feels like real time. Finally the loud sound of the doors opening inside the craft give way to total silence. Totally cool as is the film. Chazelle manages to balance an intimate character study with a first person account of what must have been a mind boggling "leap for mankind."
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A historical hack job
by Piano music lover (1 out of 5 stars)
January 23, 2019

I roll my eyes at the other 1-star reviews about this being anti-American or anything of the sort. Geez, c'mon people, that's not helpful. The truth is much simpler than that: it's just a very bad movie.

I am rather familiar with the history, having read everything I can get, including some really great stuff on the technology development of the space program, e.g., Digital Apollo. I'm just baffled about the events they chose to portray in this film vs the events they left out, and even the events they portray are just a jumbled mess, often with little to no dialog, but just shots of Ryan Gosling looking forlorn and taciturn.

Don't waste your time or money on this unfortunate flick. But please, don'l fall for some reviewers anti-America / anti-NASA / anti-everything claptrap, either: "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence."
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A hack job of the Apollo missions and Niel Armstrong
by Ford Davies (1 out of 5 stars)
January 18, 2019

This movie took one of America's greatest achievements and made it banal and sad. The assassination of Niel Armstrong's character was a terrible thing to watch. I'm sorry I spent money on this film.
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Great concept poorly executed
by Mark (2 out of 5 stars)
October 23, 2018

With such as amazing point in history, this movie could have been an epic. Instead it was a wasted opportunity. This could have been an amazing historical event movie but they decided to make it a joyless drama. Ryan Gosling had no charisma at all and was not entertaining to watch. I kept hoping to skip his scenes so that the story could progress. The movie was dour in mood instead of a celebration of human accomplishment. I feel the need to go back and watch Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff.
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A bad, bad movie.
by R. Wise,Top Contributor: Star Wars (2 out of 5 stars)
October 23, 2018

I read the book when it was first published. I re-read it again two weeks before I went to see the film. I've seen and read all of the interviews of people who knew Neil Armstrong as a person, friend and colleague. When the movie ended I felt incredibly disappointed and let down. It's poorly written and the writer and director should be ashamed of theIr efforts. The film doesn't do proper justice to Armstrong the person and his legacy. There were too many inaccuracies in the film. Many sequence of events are misaligned. The support characters in the movie are not accurately portrayed. I'm so sad to say that this is one bad movie. Once again Hollywood screws the pooch.

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