The Dish

Sometimes I feel sorry for the people who didn't get to experience the excitement of the early days of the manned space program. The miracle of space exploration is all so routine to them, it's hard to explain what the "big deal" was all about.

This movie perfectly captures the excitement of the first manned moon landing, and does it from a point-of-view that most people never think about. It's funny: we see the images on our TV, and most of the time we never even think about how they got there. It's just TV, right? It comes out of a box (or, nowadays, a flat screen), right? It just comes through wires or through the air.

This movie is about one of the massive antenna assemblies that received the images from the Apollo XI mooncast, and about the people who made it work. And while that sounds more like something that you'd expect to see on a "how it's made" show on the Science Channel than in a movie, it's actually a wonderfully entertaining and funny movie about people who are engaging and funny, and who are doing a critical and fascinating job that made it possible for millions of people worldwide to watch, live, one of humanity's great milestone events.

And another nice thing about it: this is a FAMILY movie. There is no nudity, no violence, and although the movie has a PG-13 rating, I can't remember any language in it that was overtly offensive.

Sam Neill stars in this movie as Cliff Buxton, the guy who is in charge of the huge antenna dish that gives the movie its title. Neill is excellent in this. He does a superb job in bringing out the nuances of the character and in working with the other people in this movie. My only problem with him is that in the sequence that frames the movie, when he has to appear aged, a truly AWFUL job of makeup was done. It looked like something that might be done in an elementary school play by kids who borrowed their mom's makeup kit. Please, please try to ignore this cringe-inducing look, because it's very brief and Neill looks fine the rest of the movie.

The rest of the cast is also very good, although I don't think any of them are well-known or very familiar. They do well with the material, and there's a real sense of a group of people who like each other and care about each other, while at the same time occasionally getting on each other's nerves. They're mostly engineering/scientist types, which basically means they're aware that they're better with machines and numbers than they are with people. There's a little sub-plot involving romance that's very funny and sweet.

The tension in the movie comes from the fact that the giant antenna assembly that receives the lunar transmissions had to be pointed very precisely in order to get the reception, and that certain kinds of weather conditions made moving the giant antenna very dangerous. While most of the world was sitting in front of their TV sets, expectantly waiting for the "mooncast" to begin, there were a whole bunch of people in Australia, where the antenna was located, frantically working and making some very tough decisions to make it possible.

I have to say that the sequence when everyone is finally watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon really swept me back to when I was 12 years old and sitting spellbound on the couch in our living room, watching that shadowy shape on the TV screen make that "giant leap for mankind." I'd like to hope that maybe, through watching this movie, younger people who missed out on that magical moment will at least understand how transforming it was for the entire world. We don't have many moments like that in history. I'm glad I was there for this one. And this movie captures that moment, when just for a few heartbeats while we watched the blurry black-and-white image of a man in a spacesuit slowly coming down a ladder, literally everyone in the world was riveted and united by a sense of perfect awe.

And I'm glad this movie captures some of the magic of that particular event, and gives us some insight into what it took to bring it to the world on TV. That it almost didn't make it live onto TV was something I didn't fully appreciate until I saw "The Dish."

This is a great movie to enjoy with your family. I don't like to say "family movie," because that conjures up something silly and trivial and kid-centric, which this movie is not. I really enjoyed it and I think anyone who is into the space program or who can identify with engineers and scientists will like it too.

Once and a while a true surprise comes along. A film that is pleasantly surprising and enjoyable. Well, that's what "The Dish" is. It never takes itself too serious and never takes itself too lightly. It is just right.

It is centered around the true story of the largest satellite dish in the world, found in the middle of a sheep paddock in Australia. The dish, at one time, broadcast the Apollo 11 moon landing to the world, and this is the story of the problems the men who ran the dish went through.

Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton lead the group of four that manage the dish; the characters are all nice and pleasant and likable. No one is unlikable in this film.

Sam Neill is a great actor; I've liked him in films since "Dead Calm," but my real respect for his performances rose after he brought Dr. Allen Grant to life in "Jurassic Park."

Patrick Warburton, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated comedic actors in Hollywood. He always gets throwaway roles ("MIIB," "Big Trouble,"=etc...), but in this film he gets a leading role (sorta) and handles it excellently. He proves he really can act--serious or comedic--in films.

One thing that is so nice about "The Dish" is that it doesn't try to really prove anything extremely memorable. It's not trying to be the next big hit. It sticks to the facts while presenting some great actors and a twist of humor. And because of this, it is, possibly, one of the most pleasant film experiences I've had in recent years. Sometimes it's nice to sit back, relax and just watch a movie.

The Dish delivers the way some of Michael Crichton's best novels do : Take a true story and build fiction around it so you can entertain the reader/viewer with technical accuracy and focus on the fictional characters, and the role they play. And boy, does The Dish entertain.

First credit must go to Rob Sitch's absolutely brilliant direction. On one hand it comes as no surprise that part of the old "D-Generation" line-up (Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy) wrote a comedy full of sharp wit in the tradition of the infamous "Late Show" that ran on the ABC (Ch 2) in 1992-1993. Glen's (Tom Long) question "Who's the guy ?", when Al (Patrick Warburton) volunteers his admiration for Neil Armstrong and that he'll be walking on the moon is on a par with the Late Show "It's academic" 1993 sketch where the Santo/Rob/Tom Ivanhoe College team is faced with the challenge : "How much change do you receive from 7 Dollars if you purchase 7 items at 98 Cents each ?" - Rob's answer " What are the items ? " is unforgettable.

That same team performed at its best yet when The Dish's script was written. The Dish is also quite unique as a movie that can be watched over and over again without the need to skip many parts of the story. This could mainly be attributed to the story's characters, and how we are compelled to care about each and every one of them, no matter how insignificant they might seem.

The core of The Dish revolves around Neil Armstrong's first historic steps on the Moon at 12:56 PM, Monday 21 July 1969 AEST. When 600 Million people (1/5th of mankind at that time) tuned in and witnessed the TV pictures from the Eagle Lunar Module, 3 tracking stations were receiving these signals simultaneously. They were CSIRO's Parkes Radio Telescope, Honeysuckle Creek tracking Station near Canberra and NASA's Goldstone station in California. During the first 9 minutes of the broadcast, NASA alternated between these 3 stations. When they switched to the Parkes pictures, they were of such superior quality that NASA remained with them for the rest of the 2 1/2 hour Moonwalk. Of course the audience knows the good outcome to the events, so the writers can fully focus on the fictional part of the story and remind us how human nature can marvel by putting a man on the moon and safely return him home.

The Dish is so refreshing because it doesn't need to resort to adult themes, violence or excessive profanity to flag your attention to the townfolk of Parkes, their involvement in the mission and how they are "over the moon" about it.

The film accurately portrays the spirit of Aussie people in 1969. I found the camerawork simply stunning at times, capturing the beauty of Parkes : the dusty road to the Telescope, the farmer with dog and sheep, the (empty) Fuel station and Parkes' sleepy shops. The wonderful soundtrack attends to the "missing pieces" with songs like "Good morning Star shine" and "Come on". Dramatization is resourcefully completed by Edmund Choi's composition and direction of The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (under Jane Kennedy's guidance).

The Dish succeeds in a non-pretentious and honest way to convey its great emotion and charm to the viewer. Working Dog excelled itself and surely must face great difficulty to surpass this masterpiece. "Frontline" and "The Castle" were very clever indeed, but The Dish is perceived by me as the best Australian Movie ever made, a priceless moment in Aussie Cine history.

Charles "Bud" Tingwell's cameo appearance as the Priest is the icing on the cake. The amount of research to realize the Dish must have been extensive, to adhere for example to the 2.2825 GHz Apollo 11 frequency, the solid minus 90 dBM signals etc. in the script.

It is worthwhile to note that NASA delayed the Parkes pictures by 6 seconds before its worldwide broadcast, in the event of an accident. Australian viewers saw mankind's giant leap 6.3 seconds earlier than the rest of the world !! (A 300 mS delay for the INTELSAT satellite link from Sydney,Australia to Houston,USA was incurred).

I still watch The Dish regularly and the movie, if nothing, conveys greater emotion than it first did. Highly recommended : great acting across the entire cast, almost flawless camerawork, fantastic soundtrack, fast paced yet non-engaging script, witty comedy. A treat for the whole family. 9.5 out of 10 !!!

I did not expect too much from this movie and was very pleasantly surprised by its quality across the board. My expectations did increase the moment I noticed that top billing goes to Sam Neill ("The Piano," "Jurassic Park," "Reilly: Ace of Spies"). Don't hold this against the movie, but the true story of Australia's role in the first moon landing gives it redeeming educational value as well as some suspense, believe it or not. I had no idea that the Australians were suffering from so many glitches that it was a miracle that they pulled it off. There are many funny moments in the movie such as when the likeable but clueless security guard, Rudi, says, "Halt, who goes there?" and after a moment you here a sheep bleating. Yes, the most sophisticated radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere in 1969 was in the middle of a sheep paddock. Another noteworthy feature is the movie's soundtrack. I can say, having lived in 1969, that the movie reflects what people actually heard when they turned on the radio that year, as opposed to the usual "best of" soundtrack you hear in most movies set in the sixties. For that reason I couldn't recommend the CD of this movie's soundtrack if it exists.

"The Dish" is a real crowd pleaser, which surpassed my initial expectations. I guess you could say that it falls into that little genre of world cinema known as the "regional comedy." Such examples might include "Cinema Paradiso" or "The Full Monty." It looks, quite lovingly, at the lives of several characters and their environment, providing subtle humour and a healthy dose of sentiment as well. What makes this film particularly interesting is its take on the first moon landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. While usually covered in an American jingoistic mode of filmmaking, "The Dish" offers a fresh, outside perspective. How did the world view it? How were Americans viewed? The detached perspective of the Australians is the source of much humour within the film, culminating in a few scenes where the responsibility of providing a relay signal from Apollo 11 to Houston is placed fully upon the small band of dish operators in rural Australia. Perhaps the most profound thing about this film is that it is largely based on a true story.

With an all-round solid cast, led by Sam Neill and Tom Long.