Not my review: First Man

I haven't been able yet to make time to go see the new movie First Man, a biopic about Neil Armstrong, but I had been looking forward to it since hearing of it last summer.  Now some reviews are in, and in a nutshell they're saying that it's beautifully made, but that Armstrong is portrayed as an emotionally damaged robot.

Now mind you, these reviews aren't coming from the usual film school dropouts who write for the local city paper.  Sure, those people can critique something like La La Land just fine.  However, for a movie about the Apollo program and the engineer pilots behind it, more expertise is called for.  So go have a look at what Amy Teitel over at Vintage Space has to say about the movie.  I trust her a good deal more than the average film reviewer.

And no, it doesn't seem like editing history to drop the flag-planting scene was that big a deal, even to people nominally on the right.  Don't take my word on it, listen to what Bill Whittle has to say.  His complaints aren't about the flag, which he mentions only in passing.  His complaints are all about the portrayal of Armstrong.  Conversely, his praise is all about the re-creation of early space hardware, specifically the X-15 and Gemini scenes.

So bleh.  I'd really like to go see this movie, if only for the cool hardware on the big screen.  But I don't think it's worth my time to bother.  Maybe I'll go see it, if I get a free evening.  At least I've been warned ahead of time and can perhaps shrug off the bad writing long enough to enjoy the flight scenes.