Product Details

• Actors: Walter Cronkite
• Directors: n, a
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Timeless Media Group
• DVD Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Run Time: 270 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001QYA7EI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,053 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This special anniversary 2 DVD Set, Man on the Moon, commemorates 40 years of space exploration by America's NASA astronauts, from the first Mercury missions that successfully launched John Glenn into orbit, to the moon landing, Skylab, the shuttle and beyond. Man on the Moon is an opportunity to relive some of man's greatest achievements. Disc 1 - Man on the Moon features real-time reporting by Walter Cronkite and CBS News as NASA reached into space to put a man on the moon. From pre-launch preparations to lift off and the culminating achievement of Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin landing on the Sea of Tranquility, Cronkite and his team give you a front-row seat to history. The Apollo program went on to several more moon landings, but none was more dramatic than the Apollo 13 mission. The words "Houston we have a problem..." have become part of the language since an explosion onboard the Lunar Command Module rocketed the astronauts 200,000 miles into space. Again, Walter Cronkite is there, as ground control and the astronauts struggle heroically and successfully to return the craft to safety. Cronkite and his team also narrate as the first launch of the space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in 1981, beginning another chapter in America's exploration of space. Disc 2 - Part 2 of Man on the Moon brings you official NASA programs detailing America's Space program. First, "Twenty Five Years of Progress" recalls NASA's early years, as the space agency developed the programs and rocketry that would propel man to the stars. Next, NASA's production "The Moon-A Goal" takes you inside the Space Center, and give you a first hand look at the men and women who made the Mercury and Apollo missions possible. Also included is, "The Eagle Has Landed", an inside look at the Apollo Mission, and "Time of Apollo", another look at the lunar landing, narrated by Burgess Meredith, and the celebration at Houston's Astrodome to welcome and honor America's astronauts home.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Much Cronkite, No Hi-Def, August 1, 2009

By 

Michael Burton (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man on the Moon (40th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Seconding John Hillestad: there is no hi-def material on this disc. It seems the blu-ray format has been used solely to get four and a half hours of video onto a single disc.

The Walter Cronkite "Man on the Moon" documentary is a 75-minute summary of the Apollo 11 flight that was apparently aired not long after the flight. It consists mostly of footage from CBS News coverage. As someone who experienced the space program largely through watching CBS, there is some nostalgia value to seeing the simple animations and simulations -- actors in spacesuits attempting to show what was happening in the spacecraft before the actual pictures from the moon started to come in. And, following Cronkite's death not long ago, it's touching to see the skilled professional get so excited during the landing and the first steps that he can't really communicate effectively. But if you're interested in the Apollo program itself, there are better alternatives. The value here is all nostalgia.

The disc also contains a number of NASA PR films: "Houston, We've Got a Problem" and "The Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine," look dull and blurry, as if they're tenth-generation dupes of the original films. "The Eagle Has Landed" and "Time of Apollo" look considerably better.

There are two episodes of a NASA-produced series called "Twenty Five Years of Progress," which I had never seen before. It's the best thing on the disc if you're interested in the early history of NASA.

The disc is disappointing. The prominence of Walter Cronkite on the cover seems deceptive, given his participation in only a small fraction of the material on the disc. I'm somewhat consoled by the fact that I didn't have to pay the premium price asked for many blu-ray discs.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars no need for blu ray - its all worse than SD, July 29, 2009

By 

John Hillestad (Ft Lauderdale, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man on the Moon (40th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I was hoping for better video but wow this is just plain awful. There is no need for blu ray here if its on normal dvd save some cash. I was expecting much more. there is NO HD on this disc at all... I was hoping they converted the film stock to better resolution for blu ray but the stock is sooo bad there is no hope..... now why discovery could do a lot better with when we left earth just shows that this was a lazy cbs effort.....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Reprise of CBS Apollo Program Coverage; Poor Transfer of NASA Films., May 27, 2010

By 

Wade H. Rice, Jr. (Alexandria,, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Man on the Moon with Walter Cronkite - 2 DVD Set (DVD)

I greatly enjoyed seeing again (actually reliving) the CBS videotapes covering the Apollo moon program of years ago, and especially the legendary Walter Cronkite as it happened. But that is about where my enjoyment of this set ended. All the rest of the first disk, and all of the second was poor transfers of umpteenth-generation NASA films of the manned space program from Apollo onward. I've seen better transfers to regular DVD of regular 8-mm. movie film than these were. For a consistently clear visual history of the entire manned space program, get the Discovery Channel set, "When We Left Earth" on Blu-Ray, if you have a Blu-Ray player. The Al Reinert film, "For All Mankind" went back to the ORIGINAL NASA films kept in cold storage in Houston to be excellently transferred, and this is also on Blu-Ray.

For seeing the CBS material from the Gemini and Apollo space programs again, I give the first program on the first disk five stars. All of the rest of the material I give one star (and would give less if I could). Averages out to two stars.Man on the Moon with Walter Cronkite - 2 DVD Set