Customer Reviews

First Lunar Landing: The Exclusive Chronicle of Mankind's Priceless Moment - Including the Restored Moonwalk TV

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off, I totally agree with the previous reviewer in that whoever is selling these for $29.99 is doing so for more than what is being offered currently at Barnes & Noble online.

Now on to a review. To begin with, this is NOT a documentary typical in the style that you will find on PBS, the History Channel, Science Channel, etc. It is mainly restored footage of the moonlanding, and the events the day of the launch and the day of the splashdown.

It starts off with a nice introduction. Then an interview with the NASA employee who was the voice of the countdown.

Then it's on to the scenes of the Astronauts getting suited up and entering the space capsule. It's definitely interesting to watch if you are into such things. The audio is that of the announcer (who was in the above-mentioned interview)relating to you the minute-by-minute sequence of events of July 16th. We then see various camera angles of the rocket being prepared for lift-off. Then Lift-off. At this point, we can use our "angle" button on our dvd remote to watch 5 different angles of take-off. I found this cumbersome to use as you have to wait until each liftoff sequence is complete to view the next one.

The main part of the program is of the descent to the moon as viewed through Buzz Aldrin's window, and of course, the moonwalk. Nearly all of it is there, fully restored. However, the way it is presented is a bit unconvetional.

On the screen you see three windows. One with the original moonwalk, the second with photos that were taken at that moment of the moonwalk, and another window which shows a second video camera setup.

It's always fun to watch the first moments of the moonwalk. But after a while it starts to wear thin, being a bit unexciting at times. I wish there was another track that showed the most interesting highlights of the moonwalk.

The ending shows the splash down and their quarantine aboard the aircraft carrier. Complete with a visit from President Nixon.

What really makes this dvd even better is the superb slide show. There's lots and lots of slides, of things and pictures I have not seen before anywhere. That alone is probably worth the price of the dvd.

So, if you are an apollomaniac and enjoy watching every moment of every apollo launch, then it could be very worthwhile to you. If you don't have the patience to watch every second of the mission, then I suggest you get a copy of For All Mankind. What a great movie that is about the apollo missions. And the restoration of the footage is better than some of what is in First Lunar Landing.

First of all, thank goodness Spacecraft Films are finally releasing some material at a decent price. Most of their previous releases are multi-disk sets selling for over eighty dollars. This low-budget offering is being published on one disk. The first moonwalk has been "restored", meaning most of the video noise has been removed and it is a definite improvement. My only complaint falls a little flat. The black and white video has been squeezed down into a little box, along with the 16mm color film. The two separate views play side by side, in perfect sync. It gives context to the poor quality television video. However, be advised that none of the moonwalks are presented full frame. On the plus side, it's a unique presentation you can't see anywhere else. Occasionally still photographs are also squeezed into small boxes and then superimposed over the motion pictures. This proves to be a big distraction. Also be advised that the entire disk contents are presented as raw video and film, with no music or narration. Just the voices of astronauts and mission control.

I remember seeing a clip of the Apollo 11 moon landing on CBS and I loved it. I checked out this DVD and this is the best footage of Apollo 11. The best part about this is that the moonwalk is restored and you don't have to hear any television network announcers. You even get to see color photos during the television transmissions. I am happy to say that the photos are a lot nicer to see.

I feel that Spacecraft Films did such a wonderful job with this release and I look forward to seeing more releases from Spacecraft Films.

I was only a child when I witnessed this seminal event in mankind's history, so I don't remember too much. Being able to view all this footage in it's original form (much of it restored digitally) is a godsend. Also keep in mind that much of this footage was never broadcast, so it's safe to say that much of it is new. Even though the presentation is not in true documentary form, it is an interesting and moving experience nonetheless, and will even make some of you well up with pride and admiration (I did), given where we were, and what we accomplished as Americans at that particular time in history. For what it is, this is an excellent historical collection of raw footage and photos.

This guy is buying these for about $13 retail from Barnes and Noble, who have an exclusive on this item, and then selling it for double the B&N price.