IMDb RATING
6.3/10
250
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The story of rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun's career, from the 1920s until the late 1950s.The story of rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun's career, from the 1920s until the late 1950s.The story of rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun's career, from the 1920s until the late 1950s.
Don Burnett
- Newspaper Reporter
- (uncredited)
Paul Carpenter
- Launch Countdown Coordinator
- (uncredited)
Arpad Diener
- Horst
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the American Film Institute: "The film was greeted with demonstrations against von Braun at showings in Europe and New York, according to various news stories. Prior to the world premiere in Munich, von Braun and Jurgens held a press conference during which members of the Communist and British press hounded von Braun with charges that the film whitewashed his war work. The press conference prompted von Braun to issue the following statement: 'I have very deep and sincere regrets for the victims of the V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides. A war is a war, and when my country is at war, my duty is to help win that war.' Later, a crowd of protesters mobbed the theater where the premiere was held. Demonstrators in London dropped anti-Nazi pamphlets onto theatergoers from a balcony. In New York, the film was picketed by an anti-Fascist youth organization. The film was previewed in Washington at the Senate Office auditorium, and its Oct 1960 opening in Washington was attended by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The film was chosen to open the Edinburgh Film Festival, where it received a special diploma of merit."
- GoofsDuring the Allied bombing raid on Peenemünde, dive-bombers are heard. No such aircraft would have been used.
Featured review
A bit of a whitewash.
"I Aim at the Stars" is a very problematic film. On one hand, Dr. Wernher von Braun was instrumental in the American space program. But on the other, his Nazi past was whitewashed and this film ignored the awful war crimes this man perpetrated during WWII. While head of the German rocket program, its leader, von Braun, was responsible for using slave laborers to build his research station at Peenemünde, Germany. And, in total, about 20,000-25,000 of these slave laborers were worked to death to make von Braun's dream come true! He also was NOT the apolitical guy you see in the story, but was a card-carrying and eager member of the National Socialist Party as well as a member of the SS! The man was a monster...and you get none of this in the movie which is intended to glorify his life. Now I am not saying they shouldn't have done a movie about him...but at least it should have been a more honest one.
The film begins well after WWII had begun. While it showed von Braun and his comrades working on the V-2 rocket, there isn't much apart from that and you learn little about the man's personal life. Then, as the war ended, von Braun and many of his fellow rocket scientists defected to the USA and the film then follows them to New Mexico and their work on the US space program. It ends with the first US satellite in space.
I think about 80-90% of the film is good. Jurgens is good as von Braun and the story is reasonably good despite its HUGE omissions. In other words, technically it's well made but also, as I mentioned above, it's pretty sad what is omitted. It's worth seeing but only if you read up on the man and don't take the entire film as a thorough biography of the man.
The film begins well after WWII had begun. While it showed von Braun and his comrades working on the V-2 rocket, there isn't much apart from that and you learn little about the man's personal life. Then, as the war ended, von Braun and many of his fellow rocket scientists defected to the USA and the film then follows them to New Mexico and their work on the US space program. It ends with the first US satellite in space.
I think about 80-90% of the film is good. Jurgens is good as von Braun and the story is reasonably good despite its HUGE omissions. In other words, technically it's well made but also, as I mentioned above, it's pretty sad what is omitted. It's worth seeing but only if you read up on the man and don't take the entire film as a thorough biography of the man.
helpful•13
- planktonrules
- Aug 15, 2022
- How long is I Aim at the Stars?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- A Rocket and Four Stars
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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