First Man Review.

First man is the latest movie directed by Damien Chazelle who once again teams up with Ryan Gosling this time to tell the story of Neil Armstrong's journey to the Moon.

The first thing you should know going into this movie is that it is not a movie that is principally about the Apollo 11 mission, if you go to the theatre to see this expecting some huge epic space adventure you will be disappointed. Rather Chazelle along with writer Josh Singer have chosen to tell a more personal side of the story, its a movie that is trying to tell the story of the human sacrifice that Armstrong and others gave so we could hear those famous words as he stepped off the moon-lander all those years ago. It starts with showing the death of Armstrong's daughter which haunts him throughout the rest of the movie as he moves from applying to be part of the Gemini program right through to his landing of the moon and those famous words.

That is not to say that this movie does not have its tense moments or its epic space scenes, it's just more focused on his personal life.

But wow!

When those space sequences start you are in for a real treat.

As such,I would highly recommend going out to see this in IMAX. The director has done a wonderful job of making it feel like this movie has come right out of the 1970's. The picture isn't quite a sharp as it seems it should be, the backgrounds don't look quite right and at times text looks a little blurred then BANG! The movie takes off (literally) into space and it switches into full beautiful IMAX with gorgeous space vistas. The effect must have been what it was like for folks going to see the wizard of oz back in the 1940's. Its effective, its stunning, and I loved it.

Not only is this movie shot in a interesting way but the use of sound is amazing, Chazzele who previously worked on Whiplash and LA-La Land is fast becoming one of my favourite directors and its because of how he uses sound. Unlike his pervious works this movie does not have any musical numbers yet still this director shows off his talent for using sound to create suspense in a movie in a way that is quite unique. If JJ. Abrams has is light flares then Damien Chazelle has his epic sound. Of course not all of the credit for this can go to the director who has for the third time now teamed up with Justin Hurwitz to create what is a truly amazing score and one that is decently another Oscar contender in my book for best score.

Gosling is as expected, demonstrating his superb acting but for me the real stand out comes from Claire Foy who plays his wife and at times steels Goslings thunder with her exquisite emotional range in contrast with Gosling; whose character at times struggles to express his own emotions steaming for the death of his daughter. Some have actually criticised Gosling in this role saying he is too stoic or even robotic but I disagree, I think rather that his performance was just showing the human side to a man who is often times seen as a hero, yet Goslings performance does well and showing him as just a every-day man with a extraordinary job.

I could go on but I won't.

I loved this movie, it is undoubtably going to be featuring heavily during the awards season, if you are thinking about going to see it though just spend a extra couple of bucks and go for the IMAX.

If you have seen it though shear your thoughts!

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

I've been mulling this one over and so far it hasn't really got ahold of me.
I'll wait until I hear a few more viewer reviews before I decide.

Did the lack of showing the flag planted on the moon affect you?

That's been about the most press I have read about it. As usual, they politicized that, too.

Think my lazy, cheap self may wait for it to hit the small screen.

originally posted by: Justso

Did the lack of showing the flag planted on the moon affect you?

That's been about the most press I have read about it. As usual, they politicized that, too.

Think my lazy, cheap self may wait for it to hit the small screen.

I am aware of the whole flag issue and honestly its a non-issue.

I think some people like to politicise movies unnecessarily, the flag can be seen in a few shots and its quite clear throughout the movie that this is very much a American endeavour. There is pretty much zero politics in this movie one of the other things in my book that makes it so good.

If you are not going to see this movie because you think they should have shown a flag being planted on the moon then your robbing yourself of a experience.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Hopefully Hollywood learned a lesson from Star wars and will leave politics out of their movies.
Or at least back off some.
Just tell us a good story and we will watch.

originally posted by: Justso

Did the lack of showing the flag planted on the moon affect you?

That's been about the most press I have read about it. As usual, they politicized that, too.

Think my lazy, cheap self may wait for it to hit the small screen.

It did me.

It is an iconic moment that they decided to not show because of their own political agenda and likely to thumb their nose at the U.S. This omission likely won’t bother the OP since he isn’t an American.

I don’t have any interest in seeing this film.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Meh I doubt it'll be something I'll watch now that I know it barely has anything about the moon landing other than being what I'll coin as "Outside story" basis. I didn't expect it to either actually with the trailers and the interviews I saw with him talking about the films main point was to tell this guys story rather than any historical events (I'm assuming that's about the flag) and while I personally have issues with the whole moon landing (not calling it fake by the way...well...that's another debate/thread) I'd be an angry American (if I was not a Brit) if they have done moon landing footage but kept out the shot of him planting the flag on the moon which is one of the major historical moments not just for you Yanks but for the world.

To be clear the flag is in the movie they just didn’t show it being stuck in the ground. I really don’t see what the big deal is

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
To be clear the flag is in the movie they just didn’t show it being stuck in the ground. I really don’t see what the big deal is

Well, it wasn't your flag.

a reply to: Metallicus

Well I didn’t get all upset with William Wallace having a American accent.....

A movie is required to convince people they went to moon. lol