A "routine" space flight becomes a desperate battle to survive in this breathtaking adventure of courage and faith starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.
I worked at the Johnson Space Center when the Apollo 13 movie was originally released. The director, Ron Howard, considered filming in the Apollo Mission Control Center (MCC), but decided to duplicate the room on a Hollywood sound stage to give him better control over lighting and camera angles. The set designers extensively photographed the MCC and duplicated it down to the last detail including stenciled lettering on the walls, and the layout of the Ford Aerospace video display consoles. It is virtually impossible to tell that the move WAS NOT shot in the actual MCC. The details that were changed in the movie were for the most part insignificant to the story. Large teams of people working behind the scenes on the actual Apollo 13 mission were consolidated down to a few characters in the movie. The flight controllers work rotating shifts, yet only the primary team was depicted in the movie. Adding the other flight control shifts would have been more accurate, but could have been confusing. Sacrifices need to be made to squeeze nearly 6 days of mission in to 2 hours.
I had forgotten how great this movie was and, talking to my grandson who had just come back from a trip in which he visited Cape Canaveral, I told him about Apollo 13. I downloaded it from Prime Video and we spent a very pleasant (and educational) afternoon together. It isn't scary for 7-year olds as long as you reassure them that they all survived, and it teaches them values such as courage, ingenuity, creative thinking, and grace under pressure. He (and I) look forward to seeing it again together.
Apollo 13 is my favorite movie of all time, so I had to get this when we got a 4K TV. However, be aware that as this is film-based source material, you get a LOT of film grain. Not really sure it is a big improvement over the Anniversary Blu-ray edition we already had, but does have better dynamic range (it is HDR even though the product image does not show this) and better color & contrast overall.
This movie is my favorite movie. It puts a lump in my throat every time I watch it. And I have watched it a lot. What I love about it, is the hero's have slide rules and short sleeve shirts and glasses. No car chases. No gun fights. Just guts and the spirit to keep trying in the face of what seems hopeless situations. Probably my favorite movie by Hanks and Howard. And it makes me smile to hear NASA loved it so much, they wanted to use frames of the lift off. Way cool.
Timely arrival, good packing job, undamaged NEW items... This movie is definitely one of my favorite epic TRUE stories. It is of the Apollo 13 space/moon exploration mission that happened in April of 1970. The acting is TOP NOTCH!!! Tom Hanks does an amazing job of portraying the Courageous Leader - Jim Lovell and his outstanding crew... An EPIC TRUE STORY of HOW ; the 3 men in the Apollo 13 flight and the Thousands of amazing people on the Earth , who worked relentlessly, to get them back home alive, following a mishap that took place over 200,000 miles away... Awesome movie!!! Directed by Ron Howard, and the music score & 'angelic' voices in the background in several scenes are perfect... I now have 4 copies- because I like it That much!!! Great movie!!!
While visiting my sister, she mentioned that she had never seen this, so Amazon to the rescue. We were both teenagers at the time, and I remember being riveted to the tv, especially those last moments of silence. I still hold my breath every time I see it. We commented on the look of Mission Control, both the set and the dozens of white men in white shirts with narrow ties. It is all so accurate that it seems normal, but at the same time made us wonder what it would look like today. I suspect Ron Howard would not be surprised.
How can one be so callous that this story doesn't move you? From the brink of disaster during one of the most trying times in the history of the United States (Vietnam), then American perseverance and ingenuity save the day. While problems still exist in our country and within the influence of those that are supposed to represent us, this nation became the beacon of the can-do spirit thanks to brave men like the ones that are portrayed in this 1995 movie.
From a cinematography perspective, this movie is a great example of practical effects, excellent acting, and Hollywood's ability to send us to a different place and time for a short while.
I watched this as a kid in the theater and was bored out of my mind. Now I wanted to see it again to see if it’s better than I remembered. It was..I like it a lot more now....the idea that...there is more out there...humans are just scratching the surface with space travel and missions to space..is exciting...and yeah...dangerous but worth the effort...definitely watch it if you haven’t. N yeah the direction by Ron Howard was really good!