space : part one - looking up
cinema's love of the final frontier
one of the first school projects i did was about Laika the dog, the first living organism sent into outer space. i was fascinated learning about the progress of space travel, and also saddened at its cost, learning the Russians who sent Laika into space knew she’d never return.
even so, i became fascinated by the broad strokes of space exploration — the space race, the moon landing, the space shuttle. the crowning event of this interest was when Andy Watts and i spent a week in Huntsville, Alabama as young astronauts-in-training attending the U. S. Space & Rocket Center’s Space Camp.
to be fair, a big reason for wanting to go was fueled by the movie Space Camp, where campers are accidentally sent into space during what was supposed to be an engine test, and NASA has to coach them through getting home.
this film came out late in 1986. it was slated to come out earlier in the year, but in January, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart during its ascent. on board was a civilian schoolteacher, so millions of young students like me were watching the liftoff live on television, deepening the horror. it was a sober reminder of the dangers of escaping Earth’s domain and adventuring into the unknown. when the Space Camp finally was released, marketing was difficult, as the Challenger tragedy was still fresh, particularly with the younger demographic. the film did poorly at the box office, but that didn’t stop me from watching it at home whenever i could1.
the reality of space travel is difficult and terrifyingly risky, and though i was saddened by the losses of the crews of the Challenger, Apollo 1, later the Columbia, and even little Laika, space’s mystery still drew me in. while the headlines and history created a healthy respect for the Great Vacuum, the films i loved made the Final Frontier a place full of adventure and excitement for those willing to break the surly bonds of Earth.
coming up
this series was inspired by a new site called FinalFrontierReport.com. it’s a collection of all the latest online news for those of us interested in what happens way out there, and humanity’s plans to get there and back.
so i’ve got six parts planned (including this one) to talk about some of my favorite films related to space in some way. this will by no means be exhaustive, just a train-of-thought catalog of some films i love. i’d love to hear about some of the space films you love as well.
growing up
it would be hard to imagine my childhood without Star Wars. the epic space opera was a fantasy piece wardrobed in sci-fi, but its opening lines promised it wasn’t completely removed from our modern Earthly experience:
this was my generation’s “once upon a time…”, and like the fables of Grimm, the story about aliens and space travel was ultimately about humanity and family. Return of the Jedi was the first film i remember seeing in theaters. i was not yet 5 years old, but i remember walking through the parking lot of the Cinema 1&2 where my grandmother sometimes worked taking tickets. and i remember Yoda’s big head up on the silver screen.
this was my favorite Star Wars film for a long time. it was full of mystical worlds, adventure, chases, and redemption. and i loved the Ewoks (i was 4).
but as i got older, i began to love The Empire Strikes Back most of all. it’s the second act of the original saga, where the hero is at the darkest part of his journey, farthest away from home and friends, where he learns the most about himself. when he returns, he will be different.
Luke leaves his friends, still the farmboy-turned-freedom-fighter. he returns a knight, bearing the gravity of the knights who have gone before.
i was fascinated by the filmmaking of Return of the Jedi, but as i began to learn to make films on my own, i became enamored with the storytelling of Empire.2
now as an adult, i admit i’ve grown tired of the fantastic films. maybe i’m just inundated with them. i can’t keep up with all the Marvel movies; i gave up sometime around Iron Man 2. Harry Potter really doesn’t do anything for me, and i love the idea of Lord of the Rings but just really don’t care for fantasy of that kind (The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride being exceptions).
but there’s still something mythological about those first three Star Wars films. there’s value in the “old ways” that persist. there are real evil, broken men out there, but good men can triumph. anyone can be redeemed through love and forgiveness. redeeming a broken man is better than vanquishing him, and that is the real new hope.
and at 45, i still kinda like the Ewoks.
looking up
i still look up. i won’t claim to be the guy who follows every launch, or knows all the space race trivia, or watches all the sci-fi movies. but i still look up. i still would love to feel the weightlessness, to look through the spacecraft window and see all of humanity, past and present, within its frame.
the movies have long been in love with the exotic possibilities of outer space. what’s out there? are we alone? what came before us? what comes after? are we in danger? what are the ethical and theological implications of our place in creation? how significant is human life in the long run?
not surprisingly, these are the same questions we filmmakers explore about life in general, and the same questions we seek to answer when search the Scriptures as well as the heavens…
i’m looking forward to thinking and writing about space-themed movies over the next few weeks, and i hope you enjoy the ruminations. if you have a favorite space movie, drop it in the comments.
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and by the way, they do have Space Camp for adults, if anyone wants to sponsor me.
also, i had a huge crush on Lea Thompson.
a special moment for me was going to a free screenwriting seminar in Memphis with host Irvin Kershner, director of The Empire Strikes Back. i got him to sign one of my early run Power of the Force Boba Fest figures. and i told him my dad’s favorite movie was a film he directed, The Flim-Flam Man. he asked me if i had a copy of it, because he didn’t have one. true story.
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