Space Cowboys

PG-13

Released Aug 4, 2000

2h 9m

Adventure

Comedy

Drama

List

78%

122 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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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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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

red t

It's Not Bad Honestly. The acting overall is solid with good humor that made me laugh a few times throughout. There is also some decent chemistry amongst everyone. I will say the characters don't have terribly much depth and I feel like you could almost take out the subplot of the rivalry between Eastwood & Jones and nothing would be lost. The cinematography in this is just ok, the sets aren't that memorable there are questionable camera angles and the CGI at the end has shown its age. The music also is just ok in this as well being generic and forgettable. The editing and pacing is solid in this though which is impressive being slightly on the longer side. The plot is kind of dumb and cliché and you may see the twist coming but it has charm the whole way through. I'd say if your a fan of any actor in this than give it a try. Maybe if you like Non Science Fiction movies that take place in space give this a try also. I can't really recommend this to anyone else. It's not bad overall but I wouldn't call it good.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Clint Eastwood

Director

Clint Eastwood

Frank Corvin

Tommy Lee Jones

Hawk Hawkins

Donald Sutherland

Jerry O'Nell

James Garner

Tank Sullivan

James Cromwell

Bob Gerson

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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

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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: Tom Rooker
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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