MovieChat Forums > October Sky (1999) Discussion > Question

Question

posted 16 years ago by Ilovejakeg513
10 replies | jump to latest

So I was just wondering...

I read that Homer Hickam's birthday was February 19th, and this movie is called October Sky, but they show him having his birthday during this movie.... so does it take place in like february and march and october sky is just a creative title... or like the title says, it take place in october, and they just decided to have a little birthday part in it....?

Thanks!!!

[–] mjilek 16 years ago

Sputnik was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. You can get a feel for it during th emovie when the town is looking up at night and they are trying to get a glimpse of Sputnik traveling overhead.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28950029

[–] zeta1983-1 16 years ago

The poster above is correct. The October Sky refferenced in the title is from the beginning where they are looking at Spunik transverse the October Sky. It was the inspiration for everything to follow.

[–] Ilovejakeg513 16 years ago

So it didn't take place in October, it took place in february??

Thanks

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] danielwolfe75 16 years ago

Homer loved anagrams. October Sky is an anagram for Rocket Boys.

[–] jdsmith 16 years ago

And the film takes place over several months. The Rocket Boys did not send up a dozen rockets in one auspicious month.

[–] El_Jeffro 13 years ago

It wasn't Homer's doing to change the name. It was the movie studios. From the FAQ on Homer Hickam's website (http://www.homerhickam.com/faq.shtml#a13):

I loved the book title Rocket Boys. Why did they call the movie October Sky?
The short answer is Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys.

As for the movie's time-line: At one point there is a time-lapse footage of the railroad trestle in the woods where you see the trees going from bare to budding to having small leaves on them. And since Homer was trying out for the football team in the beginning of the movie, you should be able to at least deduce that the movie takes place starting in late summer/early fall, through winter, and into the next spring. But in reality the Rocket Boys started shortly after Sputnik in 10/1957 and launched their last rocket after they won the National Science Fair and just before they graduated High School in the Spring of 1960.

[–] El_Jeffro 13 years ago

Another about the name change (from http://www.homerhickam.com/books/set.htm, bottom):

NOTE: After marketing surveys by Universal Studios indicated that Rocket Boys as a movie title would not attract the female over age thirty demographic, the film was retitled and released as "October Sky." Interestingly, "October Sky" is an anagram of Rocket Boys, the same letters just moved around. This was discovered by director Joe Johnston using an anagram program on his computer. Since he had just recently completed editing the scene where we boys watched Sputnik arc through the October Sky, he thought the title to be cosmically inspired!

[–] Kelea7 12 years ago

Wow, I like that story.

[–] jaystarstar 13 years ago

The actual storyline from "Rocket Boys" takes place from October 1957 to spring 1960. The movie storyline starts in Sept. 1957 (Homer at pre-season football practice) and ends with the science fair in spring 1958.

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