As the first man to ever walk on the surface of the Moon, Neil Armstrong deserves our adoration and recognition. Specifically, he deserves it in the form of a well-made, potentially Oscar-contending film, and it looks like that’s exactly what he’s getting in the new trailer for First Man.
The film, from La La Land director Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling as Armstrong, looks like it’s going to be the best fictional depiction yet of Armstrong and company’s famous adventure to Earth’s closest celestial neighbor. The new trailer really focuses on the tension surrounding the 1969 mission, which was anything but a sure thing, and really hammers home just how incredible — and unexpected — it was when Armstrong took that one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind. Even though the event happened nearly 50 years ago, it’s still insane that human beings not only made it to the surface of the moon, but that they made it back, which appears to be a point this movie hopes to hammer home.
For authenticity, the film makes use of actual equipment used by NASA in the 1960s, here reappropriated as props. Even the astronaut helmet Gosling wears is the real deal, as it was once worn by Apollo 16 astronaut John Young, as Chazelle revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. To get the character of Armstrong right, Chazelle consulted with the late American hero’s two sons, Rick and Mark. All of this extra effort looks like it’s going to pay off in the film, as evidenced by the outstanding new trailer below.
First Man opens wide on Oct 12.
