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Author
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Topic: X-15: The Movie?
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DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 02-02-2004 09:24 AM
   
So it turns out that "X-15" is being released on DVD tomorrow.
I've never even heard of this movie, and was unclear from the description whether it's supposed to be a true story or not. Anybody remember this 43-year-old flick?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YEEWQ/104-8530057-5503131 ------------------
"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." - Commander Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Mission, 11 December 1972 |
Paul
Member Posts: 201
From: Duluth,Ga.
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 02-02-2004 10:10 AM
David, I actually saw "X-15 The Movie" in a small
theater in Globe, Arizona way back in '61
when it first came out!
I remember that Charles Bronson and Mary
Tyler Moore were in it and that some of
the "state of the art" special effects
left a lot to be desired!
It seems (I may be wrong about this since it
has been 43 years and my memory ain't as
reliable as it used to be!)that there was one scene where the X-15 was "crashing" on
a runway at Edwards...and the aircraft they
showed was an F-100 Super Sabre!!
I'm sure there was some stock film footage
of the X-15, but I don't recall how much!
I will be buying it just out of curiousity
and to find out how much of the film I do
remember.
No Academy Awards, but maybe fun to watch!
BTW, I found, a couple of years ago, an 8x10, b&w glossy of Charles
Bronson taken from a movie still of the
"X-15" movie! I was gonna send it to him
to get signed, but he passed away before I
had a chance to send it!
Also, in the Apogee book about the X-15
Program, there is an item in the latter
part of the book referring to the movie! Paul |
Larry McGlynn
Member Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 02-02-2004 12:03 PM
I saw the movie too. It was a ok B movie at the time. Also, I didn't know any of the actors (I was too young). The funny thing is that the lead actor is not that famous and the other actors went on to more fame. Mary Tyler Moore, Charles Bronson and James Gregory (Sgt Luger in the Barney Miller TV series).I found a movie poster from the movie a while back and still have it. ------------------
Larry McGlynn
A Tribute to Apollo |
dtemple
Member Posts: 729
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 02-02-2004 07:54 PM
The movie was run several times on one of the cable movie channels. I taped it, watched it once, and recorded over it later. I wouldn't waste any money on buying the DVD - just my opinion. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 02-02-2004 10:23 PM
Yup, I agree with dtemple - X-15 the movie is pretty lame. Spend your money on a good X-15 book (like 'Hypersonic", or Milt Thompson's book). |
Cliff Lentz
Member Posts: 655
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 02-04-2004 09:53 AM
I would agree, it's not great. The acting is very stale almost like a militiary training film production. There is at least some X-15 file footage and it deals with the test pilot lifestyle, but it's probably a better example of how NOT to make a movie.My two cents,
Cliff |
GliderGuider
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 10-21-2004 03:09 PM
Catching up on some old postings...Actually by the standards of 1961 this movie was far more technically accurate than most. One sign is that the movie folks built their own X-15 for use in the show and it takes looking fairly carefully in the film to spot which is the prop and which is a real X-15. A lot of the video editing actually shows details of operation that are important but that would be lost on the general public. Just to pick an example, (hope my memory matches the real flick!) they showed a couple seconds of a closeup of a pilot's hand switching the tanks from "vent" to "pressurize" on a landing approach. This was necessary to be sure the tanks/fuselage wouldn't buckle inward on a fast descent -- the vent valves wouldn't flow air fast enough to keep them close to ambient pressure when ambient was increasing rapidly. The plot was definitely Hollywood hoaky, I agree about that part being quite lame. The part about the F-100 crash was an invention of a scene where (if memory serves) they supplied a small explosion in the X-15 that tossed flak at an F-100 chase plane, which started losing hydraulic pressure. Trying to explain the crash in Hollywood hype words, the F-100 pilot valiantly held on to guide the damaged X-15 to a landing as he was losing his own flight controls, saving the X-15 and its pilot at the cost of his own life with the F-100 going out of control just as the X-15 set down. What that really means was they took advantage of some existing footage of an F-100 crash from totally different circumstances and invented a plot line to use it. My summary: Lame plot, some good documentary details if you know what to look for.
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albatron@aol.com
New Member Posts:
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Registered:
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posted 10-28-2004 01:21 AM
The crash footage of the F-100 was actual footage of something very problematic in the F-100 in the early model, and referred to as the "Sabre dance". As in this actualy footage, the pilot was killed in very nearly every instance. The special effects were bad, but remember this was 1961 and we've become spoilt now. I believe this was Mary Tyler Moores (MTM) first movie of note - can anyone recall her first role? It's space related.  | |
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