Space

From Penemundee to the tragic 'Apollo 18', it was quite an inspiration to saw this miniseries as a kid 15 years ago. The 80s saw the production of some of the best TV miniseries around and this is certainly one of them. As usual, the novel was even better though I only got to read it years later. It potrayed the human spirit version of the space program in their golden era. Great work by Harry Hamlin and Michael York as John Pope and Dieter Kolf respectively. If you're looking for some heart warming, feel good time, this's one worth the watch.

Based on the James Michener novel of the same name this mini series which originally aired on CBS tells the tale of Americas space program through fictional characters. Beginning with German Rocket scientists who choose to go to the Americans side after the war up to the manned lunar landings. The politics, money making business, careers and romances of those who made up the space program are covered.

The original broadcast was the best version. It has been rebroadcast a few times since but has always been edited in some form or another. A little heavy at times on the soap opera romance bit but still a good mini series. Don't miss reading the novel by Michener.

This is an excellent mini-series with lots of stars and a great story line. If you liked Right Stuff, Apollo 13, Space Camp then this is for you. Lots of sub plots to keep it interesting. Definitely worth watching if you can find it.

This adaptation of James Michener's novel was especially well done and was made in the heyday of mini-series production. I was lucky enough to have recorded the original showing of the program and watched it just recently.

This program depicts the race for space from the closing days of World War II through a fictional end of the Apollo program. It follows the lives of five fictional main characters, which interweave from 1944 through the late 1970's. During these years we see a fictional, but accurate, portrayal of how the space program in the US developed from early failures to successful moon landings.

The cast of characters is lengthy and all of the main characters turned in very good performances. The technical and special effects were very good for the period. If you get a chance to watch a copy of this, please be prepared for a long viewing time, as even with the commercials edited out, it will last over 10 hours.

My thoughts are essentially in agreement with the previous commentators. If you've read the book you'll know what to expect: an "epic" in the true sense of the word. The Mercury, Gemini and early Apollo astronauts are depicted pretty well as history shows them; in fact it seems difficult to separate the fictional from the might-be-real-but-not-well-known.

The version I saw in Australia has a final section covering the destruction of the "Challenger". This is done is a somewhat different style to the rest of the movie (a bit too "soft focus" and "tearjerker" for my liking), and is not in the book, either.

In style and approach, I would rate this as a little closer to "Right Stuff" than to "Apollo 13".