Apollo 13

APOLLO 13 (1995) ***1/2 Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan, Ed Harris, Loren Dean, Clint Howard. Exhilarating and absorbing true life account of the 1970 mishap of the American space program's Apollo 13 that nearly became a tragic catastrophe based on astronaut and team leader Jim Lovell's novel "Lost Moon". Hanks is excellent as Lovell, grace under pressure realized, as is the rest of the fine ensemble and perfect visual effects of space travel and ingenuity. Harris won a nomination for Best Supporting Actor as Mission control's chief. Noteworthy: that's director Ron Howard's real life mother as Lovell's mom and look sharp for Lovell himself at the film's conclusion. Oscar winner for Best Editing and Best Sound.

I can watch this film over and over. Not only because I am so terribly interested in the exploration of space and the historical events that have taken place - but because it's a great film with excellent performances and a truth-telling style. Heck, even Lovell's wife dropping the wedding ring in the shower the day of the launch is true!

Just the fact that this film is true makes it even more enjoyable. It's hard to understand how in the hell one can make it back to Earth and survive with a fatally crippled space-craft. It's even harder to appreciate just how close they actually got to dying out there.

The performances are astounding. Ed Harris is just stupendous as Gene Krantz, and Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Garty Sinise and Bill Paxton (who seems to always get the role as the whiner...) are also great.

As Hanks put it: this story is one of the greatest ever. The question is, how do you get home? That question is as old as humanity itself.

You can tell he put his heart and soul into this one. And the fact that this happened to the American space explorers is hardly noticeable. Good job.

Probably one of the most significant things about Apollo 13 is the fact that it managed to be such a strikingly realistic film despite the abundance of well-known Hollywood actors. Tom Hanks, of course, can convincingly act any part in the world, and his role in Apollo 13 is no exception. All of the actors involved seemed to have been given parts that they were born to play, because they were so successful in the roles. The true events of the historic Apollo 13 mission are amazingly re-created here, and the results are spectacular.

Not only is this film wonderfully acted, it also presents a nearly flawless portrayal of the time period, even down to the slide rulers that were used to do calculations. The audience is literally taken back in time to the 1960's, and all of these universally exciting events are brought back to life, and this is one of the things that makes this movie so special. So many films try to do this, and the vast majority of them fail miserably, so it just feels so good to occasionally see it done right.

Another thing that was used in the perfect amount in Apollo 13 was the special effects. I am entirely against excessive special effects, because if they aren't justified in being in the film, they can sometimes ruin the film by themselves (remember The Perfect Storm?). The special effects in Apollo 13, however, served the film very well. Of course, the most significant special effect in the film, aside from the space scenes, was the zero gravity, which was done flawlessly. I'm just glad that they decided to go up in one of those Zero-G planes for these scenes, rather than have the actors drift lazily around and act as if they are in zero gravity, because that would have taken a lot away from the film.

Apollo 13 has an excellent story made even better by the fact that it is true, it has great acting, skillful direction, and plenty of tasteful humor. It is not only a highly entertaining film, but is also educational, which should please parents (as if they need any more pleasing than seeing their younger years brought back to life on the silver screen). Definite must-see, Apollo 13 is a contemporary classic.

I'm honestly a little blown away by how much I liked this film. I have heard nothing but good things, and I went in expecting it to be good, but I never would've expected to be so captivated by it. Apollo 13 is probably the best space movie I have ever seen, at least as far as ones based on actual events go.

While movies like First Man, Interstellar, or even Gravity, have certain moments that are extremely tense, this film keeps that tension going throughout. Apart from the very beginning, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire 140-minute runtime. Especially once the, now infamous line, 'Houston we have a problem' is said, the tension just keeps on ramping up and never eases until the final credits start rolling. Tension, and especially high tension, is what's crucial for these types of movies to be successful. Space is, after all, uncharted territory for most of us watching and having that tension present, adds to the anxiety of the unknown. Another thing that is very much explored in this film is the idea that once you are in space, no one will come to the rescue. Add all these things together, and you will have a tense environment. Something that this movie captures incredibly well.

Something else that I found fascinating, was the way that the situation in this film was solved. The whole mission was done with basically less computing power than we now have in our pockets. To not only be able to undertake such a mission, but to solve the biggest problem that NASA had ever faced with nothing but human ingenuity, is quite astonishing, especially for someone like me who has lived most of his life used to having computers everywhere. In many ways, this movie celebrates how capable we humans are and how far we can stretch ourselves when needed.

What Apollo 13 is, is an incredible story told very well. It captured me and my attention from the very get-go and held onto it until the very end. It's emotional when it needs to be, and the ending can only be described as spectacularly triumphant. As mentioned, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking this film. It had been on my watchlist for forever, and now I'm wondering why it took me so long to watch it.

I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, i was simply compelled to watch it until the end. I already knew how it ended so i was surprised it commanded my attention so intensely.

The fact is the characters were all so realistically portrayed and the film was so expertly directed that it was almost as if the Apollo 13 disaster was filmed and that is what i was watching.

Now this film is certainly not to everyone's taste, it is quite slow in the build up and the film relies almost entirely on the script and ability of the cast.

If you like your disaster films loud and in your face then this is probably not for you, but if you like them realistic (slightly dramatised) then watch it and be astounded.

9/10