Movie Review - First Man

Movie Review: First Man - Reviewed by LCDR Chip Lancaster, USN (Ret.)

From the late 1950’s through the 1960’s the United States was immersed in and energized by the space program, with the goal of putting men on the moon. Project Mercury was quickly followed by the Gemini and then the Apollo Programs. Mercury proved that we could put a man in orbit and safely return him to the earth. The path to the moon would be much more difficult requiring a combined spacecraft. The Gemini Program would prove that it was possible to link spacecraft in orbit with Apollo being the program to utilize the combined spacecraft to orbit and then land on the moon. The original Mercury astronauts, the Mercury 7, were followed by a new generation of Gemini and Apollo astronauts. First Man is the story of Neil Armstrong, following him through Gemini and to Apollo and to the moon.

I picked this movie for a number of reasons. Number one is that it involves a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft specifically designed and built by Bell Aircraft to train astronauts to control the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) and land on the moon. Number two is that one of our premier astronauts in the current space program, and possibly stranded on the International Space Station, is CAPT Sunita Williams, USN (Ret.) who is working with the Boeing Starliner Program. We have profiled Sunita in the magazine before. She has an amazing career and started in Naval Aviation flying the venerable CH-46 Sea Knight. Number three, and perhaps the most important reason, was the way this movie was made. It tells the story from the inside, from a pilot's perspective inside the cockpit as well as from the family perspective inside the home.

We join Neil Armstrong, played by Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land, and Barbie), climbing into the cockpit of the North American X-15 hypersonic rocket-plane, strapped under the wing of a B-52. We’re in the cockpit with him, up close and personal, as he straps in, closes the canopy, and checks the instrumentation. He is dropped and launched, with the rockets firing and the whole cockpit shaking as if the aircraft was going through a violent thunderstorm as he attempts to point the ship up, to reach the edge of space. His rocket-plane encounters serious difficulties as he comes back down but Neil manages to pull it out and safely land on the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB.

Neil’s professional and personal life are looking rocky. His intense family life is portrayed expertly alongside wife, Janet, played by award winning British actress, Claire Foy (The Crown, and Upstairs Downstairs). Looking for a change, he applies and is accepted for the new Gemini and Apollo Astronaut Program. He goes through the rigorous training program, much of which is shown in detail. He successfully completes the training and is selected as commander of Gemini 8 to test the docking operation along with pilot, Dave Scott, played by Christopher Abbott (Poor Things and Catch 22). The Gemini mission encounters equipment failures after successfully docking, leading to disastrous spacecraft gyrations. The Gemini capsule oscillates and rolls wildly before Neil uses the reaction-control thrusters to stabilize the craft for reentry.

During the Apollo training, all the astronauts are required to fly the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle. The LLRV was a single pilot jet-powered, reaction thruster controlled, aircraft built by Bell AeroSystems. It was designed to simulate the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) in control feel and reaction. The unique vehicle was a challenge to operate and could become unstable, which it did for Neil causing him to eject on one occasion. But, true to his calm organized character, Neil went right back to his desk to continue his calculations immediately following the ejection. He is informed by Director of the Astronauts Deke Slayton played by Kyle Chandler (Saturday Night Lights and Godzilla vs Kong), that he will be the commander of Apollo Eleven and landing on the moon. I’ll leave my description there. You know how it turns out, but you must see the movie to appreciate it. To further your viewing pleasure, know that the movie did not use any green-screen or CGI and limited models and miniatures, using LED tech and a variety of film formats along with archival footage to give a true feel to the movie. At times, it feels like an 8mm home movie, especially during the family sequences.

The movie seems to play down Armstrong’s aeronautical expertise, portraying him as solely a civilian test pilot. In fact, he had an extensive aeronautical background flying over two hundred models of aircraft including numerous flights in the X-15, while additionally flying seventy-eight combat missions in Korea in the F9F Panther as a Naval Aviator (see RR # 142 The Bridges at Toko-Ri). Not only an aviator with thousands of test and combat hours, he also had a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue to round out his expertise. Clearly, he was no aerospace lightweight, and much more of an asset to the NASA Gemini and Apollo Programs than the movie makes him out to be. I give First Man five stars and two thumbs up. Grab the popcorn and beverage of choice and check it out, it’s worth the price of admission.