The tragic demise of the Challenger shuttle and her crew is subject matter that will always have my attention. Which I guess kinda sounds perverse, but it's also a moment in time that always grabs me. So you know I'm in for a TV movie based on the inquiry into the disaster. Throw in heavyweight actors William Hurt, Brian Dennehy and Bruce Greenwood? That's some sweet icing on that cake.
And as much as I love watching (indeed, listening to) Greenwood and Dennehy, William Hurt is nothing short of phenomenal as Richard Feynman, the man who eventually brings forth the answer of what happened to the doomed shuttle. He completely inhabits this role.
All in all, this is a captivating TV movie. Small-scale and intimate, though not lacking in hard-hitting story as the physicist butts heads with D.C. bureaucracy and NASA politics. The shot of the charred remains of Shuttle Challenger strewn about the Vehicle Assembly Building was particular haunting. Feynman's job is a heroic venture, and as he said, it was "a good use of science".
And surprisingly, "The Challenger Disaster" manages to even have a feel-good ending.
7/10
And as much as I love watching (indeed, listening to) Greenwood and Dennehy, William Hurt is nothing short of phenomenal as Richard Feynman, the man who eventually brings forth the answer of what happened to the doomed shuttle. He completely inhabits this role.
All in all, this is a captivating TV movie. Small-scale and intimate, though not lacking in hard-hitting story as the physicist butts heads with D.C. bureaucracy and NASA politics. The shot of the charred remains of Shuttle Challenger strewn about the Vehicle Assembly Building was particular haunting. Feynman's job is a heroic venture, and as he said, it was "a good use of science".
And surprisingly, "The Challenger Disaster" manages to even have a feel-good ending.
7/10