It's one big hit for Moon hero
ARMSTRONG'S A WINNER
FIRST MAN (12A)
THIS spectacular Neil Armstrong biopic is one of those rare films that absolutely demands to be seen on the big screen.
Experience it in IMAX, and then you will be squeezed into a cramped capsule cockpit between Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they embark on their historic voyage.
Space exploration operates at the cutting edge of technology but stunning sound design and photography reminds us of how precarious these early missions were.
We can hear the rivets rattle and feel the rumble as the rocket fuel catches fire.
La La Land director Damien Chazelle makes the 1969 moon landing the finale of his film, yet his opening is just as spectacular.
We begin 140,000ft above the Mojave desert. It’s 1961, and Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) is testing a high-altitude plane.
As the curvature of the earth wobbles into view, the numbers on his altimeter start whirring up.
“You’re ballooning off the atmosphere,” says a worried voice over the radio. We hear Armstrong’s breathing intensify as he wrestles the aircraft back under control.
Armstrong was a brilliant engineer but this spectacular film suggests his superpower was an ability to think clearly in moments of unimaginable stress.
Death looms large in the story. The film takes us through the long build-up to the moon landing, the test flights, the crashes and the cabin fire that killed the three astronauts of Apollo One in 1967.
But it’s the passing of his daughter that is the turning point.
Karen died of a brain tumour in 1962 at the age of three, and there is a suggestion her father dealt with the tragedy by shutting off his emotions.
Perhaps only the coldest of fishes could have saved the troubled 1966 Gemini 8 mission, which is recreated in the film’s most memorable sequence.
We see a faulty thruster send the orbiting capsule “windmilling” but Armstrong calmly identifies the problem and brings the craft under control.
Armstrong may make an infuriating husband for Janet (a largely thankless role for Claire Foy) but he could have been the perfect man for Nasa.