The second is more subtle – weaving in real footage into the background of scenes. They aren’t used often but are well placed. The vast warehouses of shuttle pieces and seeing the test shuttle in action all look great. The first comes from the crash scene investigation section of the film. There are two styles of effects used in the film. Kutyna issues both friendly and warning shots as not all is what it seems. There’s nothing quite like exposing people for what they are with simplicity and openness. It needed to nail that victory moment and it does so. The final third of the movie takes place in the courtroom and whilst it doesn’t have the surprise ending as we know the ending, it is still enjoyable finding out how we got there and who worked with whom. Lastly, Challenger aligns best as a court room drama. Thankfully, I have integrity and so does Richard. Having worked in the civil service for over a decade, this kind of thing absolutely happens today and it has limited my own career many times. There is a scene early on where he literally tells everyone that this is the case and no one bats an eyelid except Richard. His gruff, brash, dismissive and single minded view that NASA does a great job and that’s that is fantastic. Thankfully Rogers, played by Brian Dennehy, is an excellent counterbalance. This works well enough but it does mean that Challenger comes across a little stiff in places. With Richard being the only one able to speak freely, he has to piece together issues from breadcrumbs. Everyone was gagged and unable to ask truly freeing questions because of who they represented and their agenda. I found that style mirrored the main problem with the actual commission itself. Everything from the colour palettes, to the quiet wide shots to the acting styles shows that restraint is key across the whole film. Expect quiet conversations, moments of realisation, frustrating bureaucracy and quiet triumphs. Why is it worth watching?Ĭhallenger is very much in the non-sensationalist factual drama style of film making. With NASA drawing everything out and purposely closing doors at every turn, how can Richard expose the truth in the court case and is it worth spending his dying days fighting for? The wreckage recovered makes for sobering thoughts. Away from wife Gwen and daughter Michelle, he is finding out that his blood cancer, likely caused from his earlier work, is winning the health battle. NASA disagrees.Īll of this takes place with Richard’s health suffering in the background. Allan Macdonald from the part manufacturers takes the stand to state that NASA were aware of the faults and issues of the part but decided to run with it anyway. All the while Rogers and NASA thwart Richard’s progress. Slowly Richard, Sally and Kutyna start to pick apart the odd theory or two before they arrive at a faulty part and cold conditions as an issue. General Kutyna instead feels like the military has been hung out to dry and has a different view.Īs the investigation starts to raise questions for Richard that no-one seems prepared to answer, he turns to Sally Ride, the first female astronaut in space, who seems to be coming up short on answers too. They have too much at stake, especially when you consider a civilian teacher was onboard and killed. Rogers and his crew are focused on ensuring NASA don’t cop the blame. The problem is, he is the only member of the commission who isn’t aligned to a party involved. Richard is requested to join the Presidential Commission to find out what happened. That is until The Challenger falls apart on the 28th January 1986. Clearly unimpressed and conflicted with his efforts in the war and the use of his science, he has moved away from the political world. He also worked on the Manhattan project to build the first atom bomb. William Hurt plays Richard Feynman, a scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his work in quantum physics. Rogers Vs Feynman – a war of politics and integrity. The Challenger disintegration, not wearing a tie to dinner, corporate pissing competitions and wondering if spending your final days battling NASA is the best use of your time. Real footage is interspersed with the actors to show a timeline of events. It is a slow burn but offers great insight into how a whitewash cover up was averted. Instead of focusing on the actual event, Challenger is a BBC TV movie that focuses on the investigation into why the disaster happened. There has been several movies made about The Challenger disaster and my interest has been sparked following the Netflix series The Challenger Disaster.
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