Coming on the heels of this past weekend's successful launching of two American astronauts to the ISS, we present to you 1997's "RocketMan", the story of an unlikely astronaut becoming part of the crew on a manned mission to Mars. (For other space related posts, you can see our blog entries for The Martian and Passengers.) The film's cast includes Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, James Pickens Jr., Beau Bridges, Paxton Whitehead, and Raven.
Fred Randall is a computer programmer. He's definitely not your average human being. He's got a lot of, shall we say, quirks, which include making extremely weird noises while playing video games.
He's also got a crush on a certain member of the team that is going to be heading to Mars.
The head of the Mars team and two astronauts are not at all sure of what they're dealing with. They've come to Fred because of a problem with the software program he designed. It turns out it was human error, not computer error.
Because one of the astronauts was injured while proving himself wrong, the rest of the team needs to find a replacement, and quick. They put forth their own candidate as well as Fred Randall.
Fred gets to NASA and his unique personality comes immediately to the forefront.
He meets the object of his crush, fellow Mars team member Julie Ford, and the chimp Ulysses. Julie is not at all impressed with Fred. "Because we're going to Mars, we should take along a guy from Mars?" she asks with raised eyebrows.
Next comes a series of tests designed to see if the applicants can stand the isolation of space. Fred breezes through them all. As he does, he seems to drive his competition insane.
Fred is shocked when he's announced as the replacement astronaut at a press conference. He immediately starts screaming and making a scene. Ulysses covers his eyes in embarrassment.
On launch day, everyone (including Ulysses) is strapped into the shuttle that will take them to Mars. Just at the final countdown, Fred announces that he's got to go "tinkle". Count downs can't stop for things like that, and they lift off anyway.
Once in space, Fred is wowed by the way Earth looks. It's just as he's always imagined it from the time he was a small boy.
During dinner (which Fred is responsible for preparing), things don't go very well. He serves Julie toothpaste, and Commander Bill Overbeck is served hemorrhoid cream. They aren't thrilled.
And during a live broadcast with the President of the United States, Fred gets sucked into the toilet causing him to turn blue, which mortifies his crewmates.
And the crew is shocked when Fred starts singing a rousing chorus of "I've Got The Whole World In My Hands". He leads several different "language" versions of the song.
But Julie starts to succumb to Fred's charm. They bond while showing each other a pair of stars they picked out as kids.
Next it's time for hypersleep. The journey takes 8 months. Fred bids goodnight to Bill and Julie. Before he can get to sleep, Ulysses steals his "bed".
Since he can't fit into Ulysses' bed, Fred now has to stay away for the next eight months. He has a lot of time on his hands.
He fills it in interesting ways: space blanket cutouts, "dates" with Julie, "art" with Bill, and a "mural" made out of food.
Bill and Julie are very surprised and a little bit angered at the food depletion. But all that goes away when they see they've arrived at Mars.
Bill is supposed to step onto Mars first. However, Fred slips on the ladder and beats him to the Martian surface ahead of time. "It wasn't me!" he screams, proclaiming the first words spoken on Mars.
Looking out over the vastness of this red planet, Fred says, "It’s amazing.
We’re the first to ever stand on Mars!" Bill looks over at him and replies, "Yeah. Now
you’re the biggest idiot on two planets."
And the mishaps keep coming. After Fred loses the flag they are supposed to plant, he arranges for a substitute. He also has to share air with Bill because of a leak. Fred can't keep his farts in and poor Bill has to suffer with the smell over the course of a very long walk.
Unfortunately, a huge storm has come up, and the astronauts must abort the mission. "Mr. Wick, this is bad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.It reminds me of a French Canadian...tennis
racket stuck to the back of...a
Venus snow goon...bubbling out of my sister’s...Brazilian
donkey!I don’t think I can make myself
any clearer."
Before they can leave, Fred must go out in search of Bill and Ulysses. He finds and rescues them, sacrificing his own air in the process so that Ulysses (whose tank has run out of air) can breathe.
They are hit by a large rock on the way to the shuttle, and begin a freefall to the Martian surface. Fred is the only one with the ability to fix it, and he has to act quickly if they are to survive.
Of course, they do. Fred and Julie continue to become close as they make their journey home. Fred even has an idea for a date. He's recently had some time on his hands and got very creative with the space blankets.
He produces a tuxedo and evening gown he's made. The two dance to "When You Wish Upon A Star" as Bill turns off the artificial gravity, allowing them to dance and float around the ship.
Sadly for Fred, as he's wishing Julie a good hypersleep, Ulysses once again steals his bed, and now Fred must remain awake all over again. Cast rundown:
Raven.....................................................Ulysses And that's all for RocketMan. The Mars scenes were filmed in the desert at Moab, Utah. In order to prepare for their roles, members of the cast attended the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. FYI, Ulysses was actually played by a three-year-old female chimp named Raven. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
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