Hidden Figures [Blu-ray] [2016]

This is the fourth attempt to write this. I have so much to say about this film.First of all, let me review the film.I loved it. The performances are wonderful. You have Kevin Costner as Al Harrison, the head of the NASA team trying to get a man into space. You have Jim Parsons playing Paul Stafford, the teams lead engineer. These two characters are key to the story.Harrison is focused only on getting a man into space, and he doesn’t care who he uses, what sex they are, what colour they are, as long as they can do the job, and they’re of use to the program, then they’re in.Stafford on the other hand is a fairly insecure man, who’s as racist and sexist as you’d imagine a white man in the 1960’s to be.Then, we have our stars. The three main female characters are superb, and the story right revolves around them. The performances are wonderful, full of life, vigour and happiness, as well as passion and an unending drive to achieve. We have Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson. Played by Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe respectively.I’ve never been lucky enough to meet any of these women personally, and with only Katherine Johnson still alive at the grand old age of 98, I’m never likely too, but if these performances represent them even partially, then they really were amazing people.Whether you want to call it one or not this is a costume drama, and a beautiful one at that. It’s gorgeous to look at, the cars, the costumes, everything about it is vintage 1960’s. Even the score which is made up of some modern songs feels authentic to the period.It tells the story of three amazing women, who lived at a time when their sex and the colour of their skin tried to hold them back, in a way that I feel that only people who lived through it can really appreciate. Most importantly it shows us that a single black woman, with three children, in a time rife with that sexism and racism, can change the world. This is an inspirational film.But, you have to remember that this is a film based on real events. These three women were key to the success of NASA, both at the time this film is set, but also for many years afterward. They fort against so much discrimination it’s embarrassing to watch.That last sentence is what made Hidden Figures great, rather than good. When dealing with racism and sexism you have two options; either scream about your victimhood and attack those who oppress you, or you can do what this film does; and simply show how shitty people were treated, be it, making them use different toilets and coffee machines, or telling them were they had to sit on a bus, or in a courtroom, and even limiting where they could be educated, in order to keep specific jobs closed off to them. The showing the dignity and the courage that these women had in not letting it hold them back. They fort for everything, and achieved so much, despite the obnoxious situation they found themselves in. Then you just sit back, and let the audience try to justify it to themselves. You make them uncomfortable, and let them realise how wrong it was, and if they see anything like it today, how horrific it still is. No need for screaming and shouting, just a slow realisation that this was the ‘norm’ only 50 years ago.Just so you know, there is no way to justify those things. They were appalling then, and they’re appalling now.I’d like to think were past both of those things today. If that were true these three women, wouldn’t be Black Heroes, they wouldn’t be Feminist Heroes, they wouldn’t be American Heroes. No, if we were truly past those things, then like I do, people would simply see them as Heroes. Black, white, male or female, it doesn’t matter. This film is about three people, who deserve your adoration, whose stories deserve to be told. I’m an English, white, male and I look up to them, they inspire me.The only sad thing is that this story is being told for the first time in 2017. That’s got to be at least 40 if not 50 years too late. But, it has been told, and told beautifully.I loved it. Everything about it. It’s fun, it’s uplifting, it’s powerful. Let’s be honest, it’s a film about the beginning of one of the greatest achievement ever made by humanity (space travel), at a time when we were still racked by racism, and with the deep scar of slavery still stinging, as well as the good old fashioned rampant sexism of the 1960’s.You’d think from what I’ve written that this is a really serious film. It so isn’t. If funny, and sweet and full of positivity and love. I genuinely, hand on heart, don’t think this story could have been told any better than this.Katherine is one of the most important mathematicians in the history of NASA. Dorothy was regarded as one of the most brilliant minds at NASA, and Mary was America first black female aeronautical engineer.Martin Luther King Jr. said “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”We still maybe a long way from that, but films like this are definitely a step in the right direction.There may be a more impressive looking film this year, there may well be a better constructed story and script, I’m sure there will be better performances by individual actors, but there won’t be a story that needed telling more than this one. That simply feels more right than this one. It’s a wonderful story, wonderfully produced, and it deserves your time. Without people like this, we may have been living in a much worse world than we do so today, and let’s be honest, that’s saying something right now.

Early in the 1960's, at the height of the cold war and the space race, America was looking to the skies A bright new future beckoned.But old prejudices and ways of life held some of it's people back.This is an adaptation of a book that tells the story of three African American ladies, who became instrumental figures at NASA. And all they had to do to get the recognition they deserved.Katherine is a computer. Which in those days was a term for a person doing maths. She has an amazing mind and is brilliant at complicated calculations. Not least trajectory ones.Dorothy is running the department of coloured computer girls. But nobody will make it a permanent position for her.Mary is smart enough to be an engineer. But the law won't let her study to get the qualifications she needs for the job.As America strives to get a man into space, these three ladies strive to be all they can be....This is both history and empowerment. And it succeeds superbly at both. The direction and the music and style of the film give it a great sixties look. The history is fascinating, revealing a fair few things that might surprise you. And leave you aghast at how the indignities of segregation persisted and were seen as the norm by many,The three leads deliver superb performances. Katherine's story does get a little more attention than Dorothy and Mary, but the latter two are not neglected. There's solid work from Kirsten Dunst in a supporting role. And a superb turn from Kevin Costner as Harrison, the man in charge of things. A man who can adapt far better to changing times than maths man Paul Stafford [Jim Parsons]. An interesting turn from Jim Parsons as Stafford is somewhat like Sheldon Cooper, but without the dismissive superiority, and he has even less ability to handle change than Sheldon ever did.Glen Powell also stands out, with a superbly charismatic turn as John Glenn.The empowerment side of this is spot on. And like all of that, it's a message that doesn't have to be specific to any gender or anyone else. It's something anyone can take heart from if you are open enough to do so. The film does manage to get beautifully emotional at points, particularly the opening introduction to Katherine, but it also has to cram in lots of exposition scenes. These don't get you in the same way, but they work fine anyhow.The score as mentioned is nicely sixties, although the tone of it in some of the scenes of the effects of segregation isn't quite what you might expect. But you get used to it.Great history, and the story of three remarkable people that really deserved to be told. It does them justice.The dvd begins with a short anti piracy ad which can't be skipped, but then goes into the main menu,Although the box just says English for language and subtitle options, the disc actually has slightly more:Languages: English. Castilian Spanish. English audio captioned.Subtitles: English, Castilian Spanish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish.Extras:A stills gallery.A commentary from the director and the lady who plays Katherine.No limits - the life of Katherine Johnson. An eleven minute long look at her life and the film project itself. An absorbing and interesting watch.Moving the decimal - honouring Katherine Johnson. A six minute long tribute. The first half of which is specifically about her, and might leave you with something stuck in your eye. The second is more about the film, but still good.Filming in Georgia. Six minutes about the experience of the movie shoot and the locations they used. A good watch.

This is an excellent film without preaching.Just the facts. Really inspirational and rewarding to watch. Watch it, you'll not be disappointed.

One of my favourite movie.Amazing story and even better acting.Well worth the time to see it even multiple times.

A piece of history that is rarely mentioned. Informative and watchable.

excellent film, highly recommend

A really excellent DVD and supposedly a true story . Set in the early years of NASA with segregation in America, it tells of the difficulties suffered by black women against white workers. I thoroughly enjoyed it .

What an amazing, inspiring piece of history this was. Prejudice finally overcome by African-American women who certainly did their bit in the space race. Well dramatised by a superb group of actors.This movie is firmly in my video collection and I will watch it time and time again.Not to be missed.