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Space Cowboys

PG-13 Released Aug 4, 2000 2h 9m Adventure Comedy Drama List
78% Tomatometer 122 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner star as a group of pilots whose time has come to serve their country and fulfill their dream of going to space. In 1958, the members of Team Daedalus, a group of top Air Force test pilots, were ready to serve their country as the first Americans in space. When NASA replaced the Air Force for outer atmospheric testing, they were pushed aside for a chimpanzee. The team retired, but the dream of going into space never died.
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Space Cowboys

Space Cowboys

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Critics Consensus

While the plot is overly cliched, the suberb acting by the stars (especially the tense interactions between Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones) and the spectacular special effects make this a movie worth seeing.

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Critics Reviews

View All (122) Critics Reviews
David Ansen Newsweek Space Cowboys is at least three different movies--high-tech thriller, low-key comedy, rumination on aging--jammed together into an implausible but very likable entertainment. Mar 7, 2018 Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media Weak and saggy script meets predictable plot. Rated: 3/5 Dec 28, 2010 Full Review Edward Buscombe Sight & Sound Despite the poignancy of old age, the mood of the film is cheerful, sustained by the high spirits of the four veterans. Dec 2, 2002 Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault I’m not sure that a relaxed treatment of tense outer-space moments is the way to go. The last half hour — the climax we’re supposedly here for — is flat-out dull. Rated: C Sep 2, 2022 Full Review Tim Brayton Alternate Ending Takes a ludicrous premise simultaneously at face value and also not very seriously. Rated: 3/5 Jun 27, 2022 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Space Cowboys features a masterclass performance in acting from four of the hardest working actors of their generation. Rated: 4/5 Apr 13, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Nora K Okay… I came into to this movie with no knowledge of anything at all. I walked out, confused and confuzzled about what I just saw. First of all, the writers did some weird stuff. Starting with the foreshadowing; there is literally so much of it in this movie. And I do applaud the writers for this. It’s just they probably should have focused more on the plot and music more. Speaking of the music… I was not shocked to find that this 2000s movie did not have the best soundtrack in the books, but it also just also didn’t fit the tone of the movie. If you want a “comedy” that makes you question how astronauts actually are and I guess dive deep into characters for one split sec—basically no character development in this entire dang movie— then it is for you. I just felt weird and confused in the worst way. But that’s just my general opinion. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/31/24 Full Review Devin B Slow at first but picks up near the middle of the movie.Great actors with a solid ending! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/14/24 Full Review Del A personal fave film as a child and STILL remains to move me deeply. The ending gets me every time. If you enjoy a movie with humor, logic, science and raw emotion, this is it! The good ol' boys retirement is interrupted by the mission they've dreamt of since their 20's. They have the stamina, but will their old bones hold together as well as their space station? Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner & Donald Sutherland showed up! This film never gets old, unlike the astronauts! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/13/24 Full Review Alec B A silly geriatric fantasy and while I don't necessarily have a problem with that aspect, the entire movie is so cliched and predictable. It's really just a "getting the band back together" story with space instead of music. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/13/23 Full Review C Eastwood, Jones, Garner, and Sutherland pulled this movie off and it was a fun watch, but had it not been an all star cast, this movie was a clunker. I liked the special effects in space. The plot was chaotic with the nuclear war heads apparently left on the moon. The movie ended ubruptly with Jones (Hawkins) body on the moon. This movie was really about Hollywood nostalgia, and in that sense the movie was a success. The run time was a bit long, but a good watch. Cheers. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/26/23 Full Review Audience Member another NASA movie helmed by the multi-talented Clint Eastwood himself next to him are Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner along with supporting players such as James Cromwell and Marcia Gay Harden 4 air force pilots always dreamed of going to the moon during the 1960's yet all their dreams were upstaged by NASA sending a chimpanzee instead flash to present day all the pilots are retired; then when a Russian satellite is in desperate need of repairs they are all called upon to carry out the mission a majority of the movie is about the old timers getting back into the game; they have to go through all the training and physical evaluations in order to be cleared for going into orbit of course Corbin (Eastwood) isn't much of a team player and his old commander Gerson keeps impeding his ability to make him worthy of being an astronaut when they actually do get to outer space the movie starts gaining more momentum as well as building suspense to finishing the mission the effects for the zero-gravity, the debris, and the perspective of being out in orbit are really one-of-a-kind these 4 guys are a treat to watch on-screen bouncing off one another and I really did feel their genuine passion for wanting to be astronauts you definitely attach to all of them and understand their angles for handling different skills and maneuvers flying in outer space and I was pretty amazed by the actors they got to play their younger selves, totally convincing the ending is sad but not too overbearing and it provides a solid capper to wrap up everything a few different genres meshed together from thrills of high-tech to buddy comedy to reflecting on seniority makes for such likeable entertainment from Clint Eastwood deserves a spot in the giant collection of space movies for sure Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner star as a group of pilots whose time has come to serve their country and fulfill their dream of going to space. In 1958, the members of Team Daedalus, a group of top Air Force test pilots, were ready to serve their country as the first Americans in space. When NASA replaced the Air Force for outer atmospheric testing, they were pushed aside for a chimpanzee. The team retired, but the dream of going into space never died.
Director
Clint Eastwood
Producer
Clint Eastwood, Andrew Lazar
Screenwriter
Ken Kaufman, Howard Klausner
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Malpaso Company, Village Roadshow Prod., Mad Chance, Clipsal Films
Rating
PG-13 (Language)
Genre
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 4, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jun 17, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA)
$90.4M
Runtime
2h 9m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround
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