Clint Eastwood Directed And Starred In This Forgotten, Armageddon-Esque Sci-Fi Movie

When Michael Bay's "Armageddon" exploded at the box office and became a commercial juggernaut in 1998, the arrival of a slew of copycats was practically guaranteed. Not that the Bruce Willis-led film was the first disaster movie of that decade (in fact, "Deep Impact" premiered just a month before it), but it's probably been the loudest and most memorable one that wrote itself into pop culture history. And given its astronomical success — making over $553 million against a $140 million budget at the box office – the disaster flick fever wasn't going to ease up just yet. In the early aughts, audiences got "The Core" and "The Day After Tomorrow," but also the slightly overlooked Clint Eastwood vehicle "Space Cowboys" in 2000.

"Space Cowboys" is a movie that's easy to forget — even though Eastwood was its director, too, besides starring in it — but not because it was atrocious on any level, but due to the fact that it didn't really stand out in its contemporary crowd either. Most viewers probably remember it because of the terrific ensemble cast, including Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner. That was (and still is) "Space Cowboys'" biggest appeal by a mile. Watching these acting legends who were already stepping into the late stage of their careers (astonishingly, Eastwood was 71, Sutherland 65, Garner 72, and Jones practically the kid at 54) is what made "Space Cowboys" kind of unique. It was a veteran "Armageddon" if you like, with the old, but tough-as-nails, guys.

Besides that prestigious four-hander, the supporting cast also included James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden, William Devane, Jay Leno, and Croatian legend Rade Serbedzija, among others. The plot followed those four men as retired test pilots who are called back by NASA to work with a younger crew and help repair an old Soviet communications satellite spiraling out of orbit due to a system error. Initially, they are only there to be shadowed by younger astronauts before the launch, but once the press gets wind of the old guys, their boss insists they join the mission, too, in some capacity.

The premise of "Space Cowboys" is a classic trope done to death, but due to the seasoned legends, it's a handsomely entertaining affair without a doubt. At the time of its release, critics (as of this writing, the sci-fi film stands at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences thought so, too. Eastwood's flick was a box office hit, making $128 million worldwide against an estimated $65 million budget. Although it didn't write itself into cinema history in the way that "Armageddon" — or "Independence Day," which lost the potential backing of the military – did, disaster movie enthusiasts and Clint Eastwood completists should certainly give it a watch if they haven't done so in the past two and a half decades.