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In 1958, four hot shot test pilots seem certain to be the first men to go into
outer space. However, the back-stabbing leader of their organization
disbands them to prevent their involvement in the then forming NASA and
labels them as non-team players. Flash forward to the present, the foursome
are now living a docile life. The electrical engineer (Clint Eastwood has a
pleasant retired life in a desert home with his wife (Barbara Babcock). The
pilot (Tommy Lee Jones), who had a penchant for pushing the test planes to
their limits, is now a daredevil crop-duster. The navigator (James Garner) is
a Baptist minister. The designer (Donald Sutherland) is a womanizing roller
coaster designer. Their former boss (James Cromwell) is now a mission
leader in Nasa and still as despicable as in his younger days. It is here that
the main story begins. It seems that an old Russian "communications"
satellite is about to crash back into the Earth's atmosphere and somehow
American technology designed by Eastwood's character has ended up as
the guiding system. Of course, because of the old technology, only the
original team can save the day. As Cromwell's character makes many
learing statements about the satellite to the Russian general who is working
with the Americans to save the day, you know there is something much
more nefarious about the satellite. After some struggles to get the four to
pass their physicals in less than 30 days, the four with two young
counterparts (Loren Dean, Courtney B. Vance) are launched on the space
shuttle to fix the satellite. Dean's character has somehow been coerced to
be in on the subterfuge involving Cromwell and in an unexplained action, he
tries to make connections on the satellite that causes the whole mission to
become a disaster and creates the greatest action sequences in the film...
