Space Cowboys

In 1958, four hot shot test pilots seem certain to be the first men to go up into space. However, the back-stabbing leader of their organization, Bob Gerson (James Cromwell), disbands them to prevent their involvement in the then-forming NASA, and labels them as non-team players. Flash forward to the present, they are now living a docile life. Electrical engineer Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood) has a pleasant retired life in a desert home with his wife, Barbara (Barbara Babcock). Pilot "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), who had a penchant for pushing the test planes to their limits, is now a daredevil crop duster. Navigator "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner) is a Baptist minister. Designer Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland) is a womanizing roller coaster designer. Their former boss, Eugene Davis (William Devane), is now a mission leader at NASA and still as despicable as in his younger days. It is here that the main story begins. It seems that an old Russian communications satellite is about to crash back into the Earth's atmosphere and somehow American technology designed by Frank has ended up as the guiding system. Of course, because of the old technology, only the original team can save the day. As Bob makes many learning statements about the satellite to Russian General Vostov (Rade Serbedzija), who is working with the Americans, to save the day, you know there is something much more nefarious about the satellite. After some struggles to get the team to pass their physicals in less than thirty days, they, with two young counterparts, are launched on the space shuttle to fix the satellite. Ethan Glance (Loren Dean) has somehow been coerced to be in on the subterfuge involving Bob, and in an unexplained action, he tries to make connections on the satellite that causes the whole mission to become a disaster and creates the greatest action sequences in the film.