Product Details

• Actors: Alex D. Linz, William Atherton, James Woods, Annabeth Gish, Wesley Mann
• Directors: Sean McNamara
• Writers: Eric Gardner, Steven H. Wilson
• Producers: Al Lapin Jr., David Brookwell, Elsa Lind, Glenn Greene, Gregory Hobson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Studio / Sterling
• VHS Release Date: August 13, 2002
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000069I46
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,260 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally - a family movie done _right_., June 16, 2002

By 

"dracadarkwingette" - See all my reviews

Okay, so this is one of those A-Boy-And-His-Dog/Cat/Horse/Space Alien type movies. (In this case, the mammal in question is Mac the chimp, the first US critter to make it up in space.) So, some of the plot details are gonna be a given: the boy, Billy, and Mac form a deep bond almost instantaneously; the boy's father, a German scientist now working for NASA, is distant and removed from him; the bad guy government agent is willing to do anything to stop the rocket launch from succeeding, even if it will hurt Mac.

So, okay. A few overly-used plot conventions. But what movie _doesn't_ have overly-used plot conventions? And this remains one of the very, very few family movies I've seen done _right_. The boy, Billy, gets to help both the training of Mac and will later "save the day" - but we have no annoying, attempting-to-be-humorous scenes of Billy brillantly thwarting the sunglasses-wearing evil agents of Doom. Nor does he get free reign around NASA to do whatever he wants. His father - brillantly portrayed by James Woods, who does a surprisingly excellent German accent - is not a horrible father who cares more about his work than his son; he's a normal enough guy who still misses his wife who died three years ago and is trying, _really_ trying, to do the right thing by his son. The movie is moved along with decent speed, having more than its fair share of amusing moments ("Why do you people continually try to kill my son?") without losing the realism tone.

And best of all: the ending. *WARNING: SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!* Billy's father does _not_ fall madly in love with the beautiful doctor and trainer of Mac, to be followed by marriage and a once-again perfectly nuclear family for Billy. Nope. Billy finds a mother figure again in Mac's vet, but Billy's father ain't over his wife yet, and there is no corny, unrealistic romance between the two good doctors. Real life doesn't _work_ that way all the time; and it was nice to be reminded that you can have a happy ending without Daddy getting re-married. It would have totally ruined the mood of the film, not to mention Woods' character, to do something so artifical. And they didn't, and it worked. *END SPOILER ALERT*.

This was a really well-done family movie that I recommend to any James Woods fan; but also to anyone looking for well-done, well-written entertainment the _whole_ family can enjoy. Rarely corny and always down-to-earth, this is a good movie. If you get a chance to see it in your area - see it. You won't be disappointed.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All in all, a great family film!, October 3, 2003

By 

Sharon Wayne (Dove Canyon, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Race to Space (DVD)

The movie Race to Space is a wonderful, heart touching movie, starring Alex D. Linz and James Woods. Now these two actors are so extremly good, that no matter what the movie was if they were in it, it would be entertaining. These movie was extremly entertaining and I will give it 5 STARS! Watch it!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another masterpiece, August 6, 2002

By 

Stephanie C. (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Race to Space [VHS] (VHS Tape)

See, the thing is...I am a huge Alex Linz fan. I watch all of his movies and I think he is an awsome actor. This movie is just excellent. The movies he is in are just so good (im not saying this just because i am in love with him lol) and i think this is one of his best. The plot is realistica and reasonable, yet a great kiddie movie (i would know cuz im 13). I went to see this at the movie theater and after the movie was over, i stood up and applauded, and that was the first time i felt that it was neccesary to do so. Everyone else did the same and, enough babbling, there is just one thing to say, THIS MOVIE IS AWSOME! Hope you enjoy it!!!