"Sometimes one dream is enough to light up the whole sky."

1999

1h 47m

7.7(1503 votes)

Drama

History

Family

Overview

The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.

Where to Watch

Stream

Rent

Links & Resources

IMDbView

Social & External

IMDb

Production Companies

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Jake Gyllenhaal

Homer Hickam

Chris Cooper

John Hickam

Chris Owen

Quentin Wilson

Laura Dern

Miss Riley

William Lee Scott

Roy Lee

Chad Lindberg

O'Dell

Natalie Canerday

Elsie Hickam

Elya Baskin

Ike Bykovsky

Chris Ellis

Principal Turner

Scott Thomas

Jim Hickam

Creative team

Directed by: Joe Johnston
Written by: Lewis Colick
Produced by: Larry Franco
Charles Gordon

Similar Movies

The People v Gary McKinnon

Using the moniker 'Solo', Gary McKinnon broke into 97 US military and NASA computers from London over the course of 13 months, causing outages and deleting files. He also posted a criticism of the military's security on their website.

Movie

5.5

1972

Tranquility in the Presence of Others

An aging colonel retires, marries a provincial teacher, and moves to Tehran to be close to his two adult daughters. Instead of a peaceful reunion, he finds them living independent, urban lives he no longer recognizes. As the cultural and generational rift deepens, the family enters a tense, psychological spiral of alienation and emotional unrest.

Movie

6.3

2004

Warau Iemon

Having put down his sword and given up the will to fight, the masterless samurai Iemon lives in solitude while being haunted by his violent enigmatic past...

Movie

3.8

2003

Tage des Sturms

On June 17, 1953, there was an outrageous action between the Elbe and the Oder: the people in the GDR refused obedience to their political leadership. The story takes place in Bitterfeld and tells the story of a family involved in the political events around 17 June.

Movie

7.1

2007

Shooter

A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.

Movie

6.6

1998

Earth

In 1947, the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl bears witnesses to tragedy as her ayah is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.

Movie

8.0

2007

Like Stars on Earth

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

Movie

5.8

2006

Running with Scissors

Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.

Movie

7.5

2006

Fearless

After going through a series of tragic events in his life, martial arts master Huo Yuanjia returns to Tianjin and must fight four international soldiers, in order to safeguard his nation's pride.

Movie

4.3

2003

Blueprint

The story of the first cloned human being - told in her own words: At the age of thirty the world-famous composer Iris Sellin learns that she has an incurable illness. She - a person who wanted to live for ever - does however not give in. In order to preserve her art and also herself, beyond death, for all posterity, she has herself cloned. Her daughter Siri, whom, in this way, she turns into her virtual twin, learns as a child that she is the world's first cloned human being. In fact a blueprint: a blueprint of her mother. From that moment on nothing is as it was before...

Movie

6.4

1969

Katzelmacher

A group of young slackers spend most of their time hanging out in front of a Munich apartment building. When a Greek immigrant named Jorgos moves in, however, their aimless lives are shaken up. Soon, new tensions arise both within the group and with Jorgos.

Movie

6.1

2007

Youth Without Youth

Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Nazis. While on the run, the professor meets a young woman who has her own experience with a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research.

Movie

7.9

1973

Amarcord

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

Movie

6.7

2006

Half Nelson

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

Movie

7.4

1996

Shine

Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

Movie

3.0

2020

The Devil Wears Ju-Ni Hitoe Kimono

Rai, a frustrated student and part-time labourer, is wandering home after setting up a museum exhibition on the classic novel "The Tale of Genji". There is a blinding flash of light and he finds himself mysteriously time-slipped into the Heian period, the setting for the famous novel. Armed with a pamphlet on the history of the period and a bottle of headache tablets he passes as an onmyoji (magical protector of the capital) and is hired by the emperor’s wife Nyogo Kokiden. Fearless and coldly analytical she plots to have her son take over the Emperor’s position. Rai is expected to help. This light-hearted historical fantasy is a treat for lovers of sumptuous kimono.

Movie

The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Diesel, one of history’s greatest inventors, vanished into thin air on the eve of World War I. His revolutionary invention, the Diesel engine, was highly sought after by global industries and political figures around the world. It had the power to threaten empires and change the fate of nations, turning him and his technology into both a prized asset and a potential threat.

Movie

2023

Mugabe

Mugabe rises from being a prisoner to power as a guerrilla fighter but gradually becomes the world's top tyrant. After four decades in power his allies do the unexpected.

Movie

7.0

2022

100 Years of Ulysses

Paris, France, February 2, 1922. The novel Ulysses, by Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941), is published by US poet Sylvia Beach (1887-1962), owner of the small bookstore Shakespeare & Co. The book, whose writing consumed seven years of Joyce's life, years in which his family was in financial need, would have a profound and unprecedented impact on 20th century literature and culture.

Movie

7.8

2023

The Teacher Who Promised the Sea

The buried memories of the Spanish Civil War are unearthed as a woman searches for the remains of her grandfather's father and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona.

Movie

Recommended Movies

8.0

1999

The Iron Giant

In the small town of Rockwell, Maine in October 1957, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.

Movie

7.4

2019

Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.

Movie

6.9

2013

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet

A 10-year-old child prodigy cartographer secretly leaves his family's ranch in Montana where he lives with his cowboy father and scientist mother and travels across the country on board a freight train to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute.

Movie

6.4

2026

Propeller One-Way Night Coach

During the golden age of aviation, a young airplane enthusiast and his mother embark on a cross-country journey to Hollywood—and their simple flight transforms into the trip of a lifetime.

Movie

6.8

2015

Steve Jobs

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

Movie

5.9

2011

The Greening of Whitney Brown

Whitney, a spoiled pre-teen from Philadelphia, is forced to move to the country when her parents feel the squeeze of economic hard times. A fish out of water, far from her comfort zone, she befriends an amazing horse, and undertakes a misguided journey back to her old life, only to discover that her family is her home.

Movie

7.3

2009

The Perfect Game

Based on a true story, a group of boys from Monterrey, Mexico who become the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series.

Movie

6.5

2006

Bambi II

Return to the forest and join Bambi as he reunites with his father, The Great Prince, who must now raise the young fawn on his own. But in the adventure of a lifetime, the proud parent discovers there is much he can learn from his spirited young son.

Movie

7.1

2024

Kensuke's Kingdom

A young boy and his family set off on a sailing trip of a lifetime until a violent storm erupts, sweeping Michael and his dog overboard. After washing up on a remote island, terrified, they struggle to survive and adjust to life alone, One day, Michael discovers he is not alone when he is confronted by a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there secretly since World War II, angry that Michael has arrived. However, as dangerous invaders threaten their fragile island paradise, Michael and the old man, Kensuke, join forces to save their secret world.

Movie

6.2

1993

The Adventures of Huck Finn

Mischievous Huck Finn is unnerved when his father, reemerging after years away, kidnaps him in an attempt to take away a $600 inheritance from his late mother. Fearing for his life, Huck fakes his own death and escapes. He soon runs into his friend, Jim, a slave fleeing his master. Together, the pair embarks on a raft journey down the Mississippi River, staying ahead of pursuers who blame the slave for Huck's alleged murder.

Movie

7.0

2024

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

When twelve-year-old Donn Fendler gets tired of waiting for his father and brothers to join him on the summit of Maine's highest peak, he decides to find his own way back to camp. But Donn doesn't count on a fast-moving fog that obscures the path. He doesn't count on falling down an embankment that hides him from sight. And he doesn't count on taking a turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nearly two weeks in the empty mountain wilderness.

Movie

6.8

1970

The Railway Children

At the dawn of the 20th century, following their father's arrest on suspicion of betraying state secrets, the three Waterbury children—Bobbie, Phyllis and Peter—move with their mother to Yorkshire, where they find themselves involved in unexpected dramas along the railway by their new home.

Movie

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

8.2

2022

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The unlikely friendship of a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse traveling together in the boy's search for home.

Movie

6.7

1991

White Fang

Jack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him.

Movie

Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain

6.2

1995

Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain

Two teen girls, one from the city, one from the country, try to find the hidden gold of Bear Mountain learning about friendship, loyalty and courage on the way.

Movie

6.6

2003

Where the Red Fern Grows

Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."

Movie

6.4

1970

The Molly Maguires

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, 1876. A secret society of Irish coal miners, bond by a sacred oath, put pressure on the greedy and ruthless company they work for by sabotaging mining facilities in the hope of improving their working conditions and the lives of their families.

Movie

6.7

1994

Black Beauty

The fates of horses, and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life.

Movie

7.0

2018

First Man

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Movie

7.0

1986

Hoosiers

Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

Movie