It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

In the late 1950s a group of USAF test pilots are flying higher and faster than any American and anticipate that they will be the first Americans in space... then NASA is created and they are humiliated as they learn a chimp is to replace them! Forty years later a Russian general approaches NASA asking for help; a vital communications satellite is about to crash to earth in a matter of weeks. It is too big to bring back to earth in the shuttle and the electronics system is so antiquated nobody working at NASA understands it. The system is a stolen version of that used on Skylab and its designer is Frank Corvin, one of the old test pilots. When asked for help he agrees but has conditions; he and his old team; William "Hawk" Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and "Tank" Sullivan; will be the ones to go into orbit to fix it. With no other choice NASA agree and the quartet of aging pilots prepare to finally go into space. Of course there will be plenty of hiccoughs along the way; passing fitness tests; learning that one of them has cancer and finally discovering that the Russians weren't entirely honest about the satellite's purpose.This film may be more than a little far-fetched but if you can suspend your disbelief it is a lot of fun. There are plenty of amusing moments as Corvin reassembles the old team and gets them through training, often showing younger astronauts a thing or two in the process. Once the mission gets started there is a reduction in the comedy as the tension rises and we ultimately get a bittersweet conclusion. The veteran cast which includes Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner as the four elderly astronauts does a fine job; they never play it too seriously but at the same time avoid things getting silly... even though the story is far-fetched it is easy to believe it while watching. There are some good twists towards the end when we finally learn the truth about the old Soviet satellite and just how they got Skylab's systems. The special effects are of a high quality; one could almost believe our protagonists really went up into orbit. Overall I'd say that this is a bit cheesy at times but who cares as it is a lot of fun; I'd certainly recommend it to fans of the main cast or anybody likes the genre.

There is so much about "Space Cowboys" that is unrealistic and, if you think about it, silly. But, it manages to tell this story in an entertaining fashion. So, my advice is just turn off your brain and enjoy.The story begins in 1958. Despite all their training towards orbital travel, NASA is created and the Air Force folks who were working towards space were told to stand down. This part of the story is true and some of the pilots from all different branches of the military went on to become NASA astronauts. But some didn't...and the story now jumps to the present (2000). Frank (Clint Eastwood) is still rather bitter he never got a chance to go to space when his project for the Air Force was canceled...but now, in his senior years, an opportunity arises. A Soviet satellite is falling out of orbit and somehow the only person on a planet of 7,000,000,000 people who can fix it is Frank!! He insists that he doesn't want to tell a young astronaut how to fix it but will go to space himself...provided NASA also allows his three friends who were ALSO with project Daedalus to join him on the flight. What follows are lots of old geezer jokes and montages. Eventually, the four guys are shot into space with two young hot shots. Unfortunately there are two huge problems. The satellite is NOT a communications satellite AND one of the crew members might just endanger millions because he's a horse's butt.So is any of this believable? Not really. But it is engaging and the special effects quite amazing for 2000. My only real quibbles are that James Garner's character is poorly written, as he acts nothing like a Baptist minister (how many Baptist ministers say the Rosary as well as quote Alan Shepard instead of making a simple prayer??) and a lot of what surprises everyone in the film seems telegraphed. But the good far outweighs the bad and the picture is never dull.

Continuing my plan to watch every Clint Eastwood movie in order, I come to a new millennium and Space Cowboys (2000)Plot In A Paragraph: When Frank Corvin (Eastwood) a retired engineer, is called upon to rescue a failing satellite, he insists that his equally old teammates accompany him into space.I love this movie. OK, its plot is more than a tad silly and unbelievable, but I find it so enjoyable, so charming, and damn it, it just makes me smile!! In his 5th decade of being a leading man in movies, Clint is makes a few jokes about his age, and for once he is a settled family man. No love interest for him this time, that's left to Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland who (like in Kelly's Heroes) steals every scene he is in. James Cromwell does his usually solid performance and William Devane is impressive too. One problem I do have with the cast is that Tommy Lee Jones seems so much younger than the other three, but it's a minor gripe, and doesn't ruin anything, and his sub plot is a touching one. Lennie Niehaus's score is as superb as always, and I'll probably be singing 'Fly Me To The Moon' by Frank Sinatra for the rest of the day. Clint went into the new Millennium with his highest hit since In The Line Of Fire in 1993, as Space Cowboys grossed $90 million at the domestic box office to end the year the 25th highest grossing movie of 2000.

SPACE COWBOYS is an astronaut picture with a simple premise: a quartet of old-timers are sent up into space to repair an old-fashioned satellite whose technology is so obsolete that they are the only ones who know how to fix it. Interest is piqued by the presence of Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and Jim Garner in the cast, and the addition of Eastwood himself as director. How could the film be bad with all that talent behind it? The answer lies in the script. This is an oddly uninvolving story that's never quite sure what it wants to be. There's plenty of humour and the natural camaraderie between the old-timers works well; it's great to see these guys on the screen again. The attempts at high drama and action don't work so well, however, and there's never a real sense of danger coming from the predicament. The dated CGI effects don't help much either. This is better than GRAVITY, although not by much; somehow Hollywood seem to struggle a bit with making convincing astronaut movies.