Apollo 13: Survival

We need more documentaries like this - the pure and inundated story of the true event of Apollo 13 using original footage and original people involved including family members unlike movies that try to depict history. I for one, am someone that lived through this time period and saw the moon landing in 1969 on live TV, got to go to the awesome ticker tape parade in downtown Chicago (an experience never to be forgotten wading through all the ticket tape flying out of high rise windows and people to people crowds), and this event as well. It is a reminder what a great feat was accomplished; I didn't even own a Commodore 64K yet and our upper level math in schools was taught with a manual slide rule and our brains. So it is remarkable that they were able to navigate home and all lived. Some asked if this mission was a failure - no mission is ever a failure because you learn something on every mission. They are true patriots and heros.

This documentary emphasises the rising anxiety among the mission controllers, astronauts and their families, NASA and the US government, and eventually the whole world via the news media - at least, for those with journalists at the scene.

The personal reactions/body languages and team challenges of specialists working under extreme stress are fascinating to observe - plenty of thought-provoking content here for training courses, supplementing the usual Tom Hanks account focusing on the CO2 scrubber.

Brits of a certain age will spot an anxious James Burke, crossing his fingers and knawing his gnuckles. Patrick Moore's facial expressions are telling as always, despite him having a non-speaking part.

There is loads of genuine Apollo footage (albeit supplemented by some fill-in content from other missions) plus contemporaneous TV coverage and home videos. If the evolving crisis doesn't spark your imagination, the remarkable scenes of a distant earth viewed by three men uncertain they would ever return, are well worth the watch. Even the crude TV "graphics" tell a story of the time.

If you take a small sip of sherry every time you spot a cigarette or cigar in Mission Control, you'll probably miss the closing scenes ...

Bottom line: a superb documentary account of the near disastrous mission - gripping stuff, highly recommended.

I absolutely love the story of Apollo 13. What an incredible tribute to the human spirit and to the amazing men and women who overcame this disaster.

However, the documentary is slightly disappointing. While I love vintage footage, my general feeling is that I could have watched free videos on YouTube and gotten roughly the same content that I got here. I still enjoyed it and I'm rating it a 7 which is a quality show, but I felt it slightly underachieved its potential.

ABOUT MY REVIEWS:

I do not include a synopsis of the film/show -- you can get that anywhere and that does not constitute a meaningful review -- but rather my thoughts and feelings on the film that hopefully will be informative to you in deciding whether to invest 90-180 minutes of your life on it.

My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre" 6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings 10 - A classic. (Less than 2% receive this rating). For Lifetime Movies for Chicks (LMFC), drop the above scale by 3 notches. A 6 is excellent and 7 almost unattainable.

We finally get to see what really happened and these brave men using their instincts to get home to their families. The anxiety, excitement , fear, patriotism was palpable. From the command center to the men on the craft, it was nail biting.

I wish they would have interviewed the astronauts and their families at the end. Recommended this to everyone and they enjoyed it. I was 5 going on 6 when this mission happened and I can remember the splashdown and how everyone was glued to their TVs and radios. I miss these days, but so glad to see it all. Your bravery and exploring the frontier of space will forever be remembered. God speed to all who have ever gone into space. This is what real men, women, and families looked like then.

The shocking and almost unbelievable story of Apollo 13, told through interviews and original footage.

I thought this was quite a compelling and original documentary. The story, as we all know is an incredible one, and credit to the production team, they've chosen to do it a little differently, through original footage and photos.

You don't get any cutaway interviews or expert opinions, it's all blended in to the remarkable, glossy footage, some of the shots are incredible.

The story never fails to amaze me, equally as much as The Challenger story, but in a very different way. It mixes in what was happening in America at the time, again through stock footage, it helps give you a sense of why this story was so important.

It makes you feel the stress, anxiety and genuine fear felt by all those involved, you certainly could rely on the journalists to add a dramatic slant on the situation, and they did, talk of Apollo limping around the moon must have sent fear into the whole public.

It made me want to watch the film.

8/10.