Re: Special Edition October Sky

While watching October sky this passed wekend on cable with a friend, one of the children passed by and looked back and said, hey, we saw this in school, I assumed it was science or math class, but she said it was another class but could not remember what class it was, cant wait to get the special edition, I was going to buy the one out now, so, Thanks for the heads up and Thank you for what you have done, LeRoy

Why do they always do this AFTER I buy the thing. October Sky is one of only

Actually, I'd feel better about it if you WERE getting some of the $$$, rather than some corporate monolith pocketing all the $$$. I assume you still get the royalty checks on the books...

And I still need to transfer my large Beta collection to DVD!

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

If he bought/received them at wholesale from the publisher and sold them from his website, folks might choose to "buy direct".

Jerry

A) It is only $15. B) Sell/dump the old DVD on ebay like everyone else :-)

Uh yeah... No comment :-)

Homer- Thanks for the 'heads-up'. We will be one of the first to buy the new release as my son has almost worn out the original October Sky video. Your voice-over will be a welcome addition. As a 'rockethead' from way on back and a native of Rocket City USA and your neighbor we look forward to the new release.

Your contribution to rocketry has not gone unnoticed.

AIM HIGH!

Thank you-

Bob and Jerry: I appreciate your comments. I think when you see the extra film - "Aiming High: The Story of the Rocket Boys," you are going to be blown away and agree that this edition is worth purchasing even if you already own the old version. My wife and I have been lobbying Universal for months to go ahead with this edition or give us the rights to "Aiming High" so that we could get it into the hands of teachers and students across the nation and the world. It is that powerful a piece. Nearly everyone who watches it comes away with their hearts touched and tears in their eyes. Students will understand the importance of higher education, teachers will have a new tool to explain why education is so important, and all viewers will understand how building rockets is, if nothing else, FUN! For many young people not aware of the sport, I think it will spur their participation once they see this film and understand the wonderful friendships that form when accomplishing something like building and launching rockets.

We will never make a cent off this Special Edition although we may offer it on our web site with the profits going to the Cape Coalwood Restoration Association, the non-profit that the people of Coalwood formed to keep the old town going and sponsor a number of youth programs. Right now, we have such items as Rocket Boys t-shirts and polo shirts on our web site that support the CCRA. Just click on the "Gifts" button on homerhickam.com to take a look.

We will purchase from Universal a significant number of the Special Edition and get it into the hands of schools where students are at risk of not understanding the importance of education.

As for royalties on the books, yes, I still get those. The hard cover just recently went out of print even though it was selling briskly (go figure). So they are now collector's items. The trade paperback and the mass market (titled October Sky) are in print and sell very, very well. Rocket Boys is the most picked choice for city reads across the country and it's studied in over 400 high schools and colleges as well as most high school summer reading programs. Since my wife and I are childless, we plow a lot of the book royalties back into scholarship programs (we have four going right now) and into the CCRA. The annual October Sky Festival also funds the CCRA. I am happy to have Universal make some money off their DVD. They rolled the dice when they made this movie (Chuck Gordon of Field of Dreams was the producer and he's the true hero here), and now they have done a very good thing finishing "Aiming High" and putting it on this special issue. When you see it, I think you'll agree. Chuck's been seriously ill recently and could use some encouragement. If anyone would like to send Chuck a message of thanks for October Sky, please route them through me and I'll make sure he gets them.

If you suspect I'm excited by this Special Edition, you're right. It's like seeing an old Auk head for the sky. All the Rocket Boys participated and we're thrilled at the result.

Homer Hickam It's better to confess ignorance than provide it.

God bless you.

Be sure to tell Chuck everyone in the family cries when seeing October Sky.

Looking forward to seeing the special edition.

It may be "just a movie", but it demonstrates the ecucational aspects of rocketry. And kids LOVE rocketry!

You win!

Jerry

I hope you get the hardback in a new printing.

What he said.

Of course my wife's favorite memory of us going to see it for the first time in the theater is when you poured the stuff down the sink in the chemistry class. I immediately started laughing, and everyone around me, including my wife, stared at me like I was an idiot. Been there, Done that!

Make the DVD available on your web site, autographed, and I'll buy it there for sure!

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

Point!

I just checked my favorite DVD search engine, and see that several stores are already listing this, including one of the big dealers in my area. But other than perhaps being LBX only (no 4:3, fine by me) there's no notation of what is different between the previous "Collector's Edition" and the new "Special Edition". Don't 'cha just love Hollywoodspeak? At least Homer has already filled us in.

But what I noticed that was really interesting was the Value Pack of "October Sky" plus "Field of Dreams". An interesting combinations, perhaps my third or fourth choice of movies to pair up with "Sky".

First would be "Breaking Away", another story about a group of small town boys making good. Second would be "Apollo 13" (which is instead packaged with Backdraft).

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!