''Pontiac Moon'' is a 1994 adventure film directed by

Peter Medak Peter Medak (born Medák Péter, 23 December 1937) is a Hungarian-born film director and television director of British and American productions. Early life Born in Budapest, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Med ...

, and produced by Robert Schaffel and Youssef Vahabzadeh. The film stars

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. ...

as Washington Bellamy, a "pigheaded" science teacher in a small town of California, as well as Mary Steenburgen as his wife Katherine. Danson was also one of three executive producers of the film, along with Jeffrey D. Brown (co-writer) and Robert Benedetti.

Plot

The film takes place in the summer of 1969, when

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

astronauts successfully landed on the Moon for the first time, in the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

spacecraft. Katherine, suffering from

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

s caused by an automobile accident which resulted in the loss of their unborn child, refuses to leave the house, while Washington is a man of adventure who enjoys travel and experiencing life. As a result of the conflict between the two, eleven-year-old son Andy (Ryan Todd) has never traveled in a car, nor has he ever left town. Washington, who also maintains a ragtag collection of automobiles of various vintages, decides to travel with Andy to the Spires of the Moon National Park (a fictitious park possibly based on

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. national monument and national preserve in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho. It is along US 20 ( concurrent with US 93 and US 26), between the small towns of Arco and Carey, a ...

), arriving at the very moment that the Apollo 11 crew lands on the Moon. They make the trip in Washington's 1949 Pontiac Eight Chieftain DeLuxe

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

(the grille indicates it's a 1950) nicknamed "Old Chief", and make some enemies, new friends, and learn the meaning of family. The Pontiac's mileage, when arriving at its destination, will be exactly the distance in miles from the Earth to the Moon. When Katherine finds out where her husband and son are going, she faces her fears (she hasn't been out the house for seven years), and follows them in one of Washington's cars, an

Amphicar The Amphicar Model 770 is an amphibious automobile which was launched at the 1961 New York Auto Show, manufactured in West Germany and marketed from 1961 to 1968. Production stopped in 1965. Designed by Hans Trippel, the amphibious vehicle ...

. She learns the importance of living as she follows the Pontiac to Spires of the Moon. On the way, the Pontiac's engine dies, and Washington arranges for a mechanic to install a replacement engine, only to leave the premises without paying for the engine because he didn't have enough money to pay. At the moment of the Apollo 11 landing, the Pontiac crashes into a crater at Spires of the Moon, with Andy at the wheel. Katherine arrives, and they escape a police chase by driving the Amphicar into a lake to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and safety. The adventure brings the Bellamy family together, and they are now ready to begin a more normal life.

Production

Parts of the film were shot in

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

, Crescent Junction, Ruby Ranch Road, and

Arches National Park Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Year-end lists

* 4th worst – Bob Strauss, '' Los Angeles Daily News''

References

External links

NYT Review
* * * {{Peter Medak 1994 films 1990s adventure films American adventure films Films directed by Peter Medak Films set in 1969 Paramount Pictures films Films scored by Randy Edelman Films shot in Utah 1990s English-language films 1990s American films