Elements I am long interested in:
Ham radios and shortwave radio - I had a shortwave radio in the 70's growing up. Before the Internet ham radios were the Internet
Space - I am the son of a NASA engineer that worked on the IU on the Saturn V. I grew up listening to the sound of the F-1 engines being tested.
The end of Communism - the largest change in my life. it is hard for those who do not remember it how it seemed impossible the Cold War would end, and then in a flash it did. There are really only 2 Stalinist states left: Cuba and North Korea.
One VERY minor spoiler at the end of this review.
Each of the interesting characters work through these changes in their own way. It dables in Apollo Conspiracy nonsense but it does not detract from the tale. The actors are likable, and the circumstances of both Sergio's and Serguei's lives are fascinating. Serguei was literally a man without a country for a while: he entered space as a member of the USSR, he landed as a member of the Russian Federation. One element of the tale is Serguei's ingenuity in fixing his craft. The Russian space program was very good at this, in part because they had to be, but that doesn't make the ingenuity any less real.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the movie is Sergio's encounters with the Cuban police. Their interference is presented as almost comical, but it is no less real. One wonders, of course, about what the filmmaker was and was not allowed to say. It is possible that the events depicted are old enough that the censors say no need to change anything. In any event the politics of the film are never heavy handed enough to interfere with the story.
The special effects are quite good. This is not, say gravity, but they special effects are certainly better than seen say in the original Star Trek.
An irony alert: Serguei returned to space in 1992: on the US Space Shuttle.
One VERY minor spoiler at the end of this review.
Each of the interesting characters work through these changes in their own way. It dables in Apollo Conspiracy nonsense but it does not detract from the tale. The actors are likable, and the circumstances of both Sergio's and Serguei's lives are fascinating. Serguei was literally a man without a country for a while: he entered space as a member of the USSR, he landed as a member of the Russian Federation. One element of the tale is Serguei's ingenuity in fixing his craft. The Russian space program was very good at this, in part because they had to be, but that doesn't make the ingenuity any less real.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the movie is Sergio's encounters with the Cuban police. Their interference is presented as almost comical, but it is no less real. One wonders, of course, about what the filmmaker was and was not allowed to say. It is possible that the events depicted are old enough that the censors say no need to change anything. In any event the politics of the film are never heavy handed enough to interfere with the story.
The special effects are quite good. This is not, say gravity, but they special effects are certainly better than seen say in the original Star Trek.
An irony alert: Serguei returned to space in 1992: on the US Space Shuttle.