Revealing: When Homer placed the rocket on his fence and lit it his friend asked "Should we get behind somethin'?" That's when the rocket explodes. When you see them fly back you don't need to slow motion it because you can clearly see the wires attached to their backs.
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Mistakes
Homer Hickam's father's name is actually Homer Hickam Sr.; in the movie, the father's name was changed to John. The assumption would be that the name was changed in the movie to avoid confusion between father and son. See more...
October Sky (1999)
Directed by Joe Johnston, starring Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern (add more)
October Sky mistakes
Deliberate "mistake": Homer Hickam's father's name is actually Homer Hickam Sr.; in the movie, the father's name was changed to John. The assumption would be that the name was changed in the movie to avoid confusion between father and son.
Continuity: When Homer is walking to Snake Root, he has a rolling pin in his box. You can see the pin change positions in the box.
October Sky trivia
The title "October Sky" is an anagram of "Rocket Boys," the book on which the movie is based.