Movie Shoot

Steven Soderbergh's Biopic on Che Guevara Released in NYC
Launch 5 and Crew Appear in East River Scene

Launch 5 takes up the entire Big Screen at the Ziegfeld Theatre during the NYC release of the film.
Click the photo to view the clip (which was videotaped off the screen).

We previously reported (in January of 2006) that Launch 5 and crew were filmed for a Steven Soderbergh film on Che Guevara.

On December 12, 2008, the movie was publicly debuted at the Ziegfeld Theatre in NYC. We were happy to see that the Launch 5 seen made it into the movie - including a pretty close shot of one of the crewmembers - Bill Smith - ordering a boat to stop. Bill was wearing his late father's uniform for the scene. Sgt. Howard Smith was in Harbor for 22 years and on the force for 37.

Click on the picture above to see the clip.

Scene Description: Che Guevara is speaking at the U.N. in 1964 and Cuban Exiles have setup a mortar launcher and timer on Belmont Island aimed at the U.N. Building. We play officers on a police boat patrolling the East River and just after stopping a boat, the mortar launches over our heads and splashes in the water short of the U.N. This scene is shot entirely in black and white to preserve the journalistic nature and also to set it apart as one of a series of "flashforwards" to his NYC trip. The text you see is a subtitle translation of Che's voiceover.

Video Clip

Photos from the day of filming


Jim Picciano chats with Director Steven Soderbergh after the Q&A session following the showing.	Bill Smith gets his program autographed by Director Steven Soderbergh