Customer Reviews

The Race to the Moon (History Channel)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I write this it is the 36th anniversary of Armstrong and Aldrin's moonwalk. In honor of that I thought it would be a good time to review this fine DVD set from the History Channel. This set is really a conglomeration of four separate programs on space, but one of them shines above all the rest. There are programs on Project Orion and the Space Shuttle, which I found to be modestly interesting, a quite good special on Apollo 13 (from the "Modern Marvels" series), and the absolutely thrilling view of the Apollo program through the eyes of Flight Control legend Gene Kranz, "Failure is not an Option." If you haven't read the book of the same title by Kranz, by all means purchase it immediately; your next order of business should then be to watch this documentary.

Much of the documentary footage has been seen before, but the interview footage of Kranz and others involved in Apollo is extremely well done and is frequently more emotional than might be expected (especially when discussing Apollo 1 and Apollo 13.) The Apollo 11 landing (program alarm) drama is told better here than anywhere else I have ever seen, and really underscores the value of the training program NASA had in place for Apollo (especially the simulator training.)

There is no doubt that the Kranz piece is the reason to buy this set, though the rest of the material is also interesting. If you have any interest in manned spaceflight whatsoever, you will love this set, especially "Failure is not an Option."

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the space program you can't go wrong with this 2 DVD set. There are 4 programs on this DVD. "Failure is not an Option"-a wonderful documentary from the perspective of those great engineers who worked in mission control during the sixties and seventies..It's fascinating listening to their stories and seeing the history of the space program through their eyes! Tons of great historical footage! The Space Shuttle, Apollo 13 and Project Orion are the other 3 programs. Project Orion is a documentary about a group of scientists back in the early sixties who had a idea about flying to Saturn by 1970..It's interesting listening to their theories..However, the program that best illustrates the space program in my opinion is "Failure is not an Option"..It's a wonderfully moving documentary and gives you a great deal of insight into Project Mercury, the Gemini program and the Apollo space program to the moon..It's very comprehensive and has great historical footage! Gene Kranz is interviewed quite a bit during this documentary and it's quite interesting listening to his viewpoint..It's amazing how much these engineers on the ground did..they were brains of the program..they had to know how to troubleshoot whatever problems arose and they were tested quite often! This is a well thought out and historically accurate depiction of the space race...Highly recommended!

First off let me say that the price is extremely low considering that the History Channel and A&E sells their videos at ridiculously high prices. Failure is not an Option is the whole reason that I bought it 'cuz I loved it so much when it was on TV. It's very different from other spaceflight documentaries in the sense that it relates the stories of the flights through the flight controllers on the ground and the drama they went through. I really recommend listening to the commentary track as well because it is just as informative as the regular program. Apollo 13 was equally good and is very distinct and clear about what happened - something alot of other documentaries do not do. Project Orion was almost too ambitious to be real (for example, humans traveling to the outer planets) and interesting simply because of how ludicris the whole idea is. I am not really into the space shuttle that much so that program was just alright and average. If you like this I highly recommend Nova's "To the Moon" or the PBS mini-series "Spaceflight" (currently only on VHS) and the movies "Apollo 13" and "The Right Stuff."

If this collection just contained "Failure Is Not An Option," I would unhesitatingly give it five stars. Gene Kranz's personal retelling of the space race provides enthralling insight into what went on behind the scenes, what life was like in Mission Control, and how decisions were made.

Unfortunately, the remaining items in the set aren't of the same caliber. "Project Orion" is decent coverage of a bizarre effort to use exploding atomic bombs to propel spacecraft. "Space Shuttle" is nothing special, and if you want to see a good documentary about "Apollo 13", get PBS's "Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back", not this one.

That being said, "Failure" is worth the price of the set all by itself. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in how we got men to the Moon.

"MOCR" is an acronym for Mission Operations Control Room and the 90 minute segment, "Failure Is Not An Option", is mainly about the people that worked behind the scenes in Mission Control.

Other than the dozens of Astronauts themselves, these men were working as a highly motivated team in Mission Control, as the NASA brain trust that made President Kennedy's vision to land a man on the Moon an astonishing reality.

I can't get enough of this kind of memorabilia from the space race era, and there are several excellent videos on this subject, but this one tells the story from the perspective of the Flight Director in Mission Control. The manned spacecraft flight controllers - all now long since retired NASA Engineers -guided the Astronauts 24/7 during the trials and tribulations of every mission, from Project Mercury to Apollo. These are the men featured individually and collectively in this DVD.

Their enthusiasium and sometimes apprehensions too, coupled with many emotional highs and lows, during those hectic space race years, are all well presented in this documentary; Gene Krantz, perhaps more well known if not leading Flight Director, most of all. Chris Kraft - Mr. Krantz's mentor - is also featured as quite instrumental in setting up a phenomenally bright group of often nerdish looking (personified by pocket protector wearing, slide rule touting and surprisingly young) Engineers.

All these MOCR Engineers with such specialty positions as EECON, FIDO, GNC, and the like, also clearly had the makings of the "right stuff". When this DVD was produced, these men, all in their late 60s or 70s, were extensively interviewed throughout the video. By today's standards, back in the late 60s, they were NASA's not-so-well-paid brightest spaceflight experts who literally wrote the book on how to get a rocket ship to the Moon. They planned, calculated, simulated, training step by step, right alongside the astronauts until the job was done. The men behind the dazzling lights and consoles in MOCR had to function under the most stressful, mentally challenging conditions, often making life and death decisions and perform all their jobs as a team absolutely superbly.

This movie is a tribute to these men and all of their extremely hard work and untiring dedication to putting not only one, but 12 different Americans on the Moon. BRAVO to all of these men for a job WELL DONE!

I grew up with Sputnik (12 at the time) and the activities that followed. I closely followed all I could - first by radio and later by black and white TV. The focus was always centered around the Astronauts and Kosmonauts. Just by chance, I turned on my TV to a documentary cannel some weeks ago and into the middle of the first part of this History Cannel production. I got totally mesmerized by the stories told, now by the Mission Control people - headed by Gene Kranz, who is the key person in these documentaries. This production is so brilliant and fascinating. I felt I had to get hold of the DVD version and found it at Amazon. I warmly recommend it.

The Race to the Moon (History Channel) was a two DVD box set. The first DVD, which was excellent, focused on Gene Krantz and his crew of NASA flight controllers during projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. It covered each of the major crisis in space and just how they were handled by the ground team. This first topic was illustrated by excellent graphics and animations of each stage of Apollo flight.(Great - 5 stars)

The second DVD contained 3 features, CODE NAME:PROJECT ORION, Apollo 13, and The Space Shuttle. These features were not handled as well as the first DVD topic but were still of interest. I especially enjoyed Project Orion which treated the early efforts to harness fission bombs to propell a hugh manned spacecraft. This project was cancelled but remains an interesting topic in space history. (3 stars)

These materials scored an overall 4 star average with this space fan.

I was hard pressed to undestand the theory behind organizing this set. It combines "The Gene Kranz Fan Club" with a piece on the NASA project to send vehicles into deep space via nuclear explosions.

And then it talks about the space shuttle.

Each of these separate items has its own interest, but they seem very unrelated. If you like continuity, look elsewhere. That said, I liked hearing from Gene Kranz. And, if you watch his segment with the commentary turned on, you can hear him say everything twice!

The first documentary in this box set, Failure is Not an Option, happens to be the best concise information you could ask for in learning or remembering NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo moon programs from concept to splashdown. The story is told from the Mission Control (Ground Operations) viewpoint with the primary spokesman none other than the legendary Flight Director, Eugene Kranz. Other Mission Control luminaries have absolutely fascinating input to this story as well. You will be shocked at how much planning and preparation went into the concepts, the designs, the mathematics, the perfection of orbital mechanics, the simulations, etc using 1960's technology. Even after the endless preparation and redundant safety systems almost every mission was fraught with hair raising emergencies that required quick thinking from Mission Control staff in order to avoid aborting the mission and endangering the lives of the crew. This film should be in every US school library and required student viewing not only for the awesome achievement it is but because of the pride for our country that it instils in you. I don't think there is a single positive human trait that is not on display at some point in this documentary. You will watch it over and over in constant amazement.

Project Orion was mildly entertaining and interesting and the Space Shuttle segment was not that great. I have not seen Apollo 13 yet but it doesn't matter because Failure is Not an Option is worth it's weight in gold.

Volume one of this set is the most fascinating account of nasa's early years that I have ever seen. Gene Kranz's crisp memory of these early years allow him to tell the story in such a way that you understand fully how this handful of men were able to pull off this massive achievement. I have loaned these to a few of the guys at work and so far everyone has fully enjoyed it,leading to many discussions. Oh yeah, then there is volume 2. It covers apollo 13 in detail as well as the space shuttle program and beyond.