Apollo 13 (Widescreen Collectors
Edition) starring Tom Hanks, Bill
Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed
Harris
Houston,We Have A Problem!
Relying primarily on actual footage shot by NASA and by news
organizations, this video documents the drama of the aborted Apollo 13
mission, in which three astronauts came close to losing their lives in space.
The actual recording of commander Jim Lovell telling Houston about the
problem made famous in the Hollywood version of Apollo 13 is presented,
and the scenes showing distressed engineers in the actual control room in
Houston are in some ways much more dramatic than anything seen on the
big screen. This is, after all, reality, with real people scrambling under
intense pressure to save real lives. Besides the footage inside mission
control, the video also showcases invaluable flight footage shot by the
astronauts aboard the crippled spaceship. This video takes an essentially
chronological approach, but the technique of using the crews postflight
news conference to serve as narration, while it is at first confusing, serves
a useful purpose. This is a no-frills production, but the excitement as
NASA engineers mobilize and the whole world watches the news about the
stricken spaceship is so gripping that any flourishes would only seem to
get in the way. --Robert J. McNamara
It seems impossible to think that an Oscar-nominated film (in several major
categories) could be considered under-rated. But this is certainly the case
with Apollo 13. Perhaps Ron Howards best film, it is an exciting,
harrowing, and ultimately rewarding film-watching experience that doesnt
let you down on repeated viewings. Howard brings out the most in his cast
- the casual viewer will be surprised at the depth and nuance the
performances of Gary Sinese and Bill Paxton. This is also Kevin Bacons
breakout role (with Mystic River). I would even go so far as to say this
might be Tom Hanks greatest performance - yes, even better than
Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, or Saving Private Ryan (it is most similar to
the last, perhaps unsurprisingly as his Apollo 13 character is an Air Force
officer). But the performances are only part of the puzzle. The filming -
much of it in sets built for microgravity filming in a NASA training plane - is
a remarkable feat of cinematic sleight of hand, and I am still shocked and
dismayed that Howard did not win the best director Oscar. There has
never been a movie that uses special effects so effectively as this one.
The story is likely well-known to most: the 3rd American mission to the
moon suffers a catestrophic failure when a fuel cell blows up, leaving the
three astronauts aboard with little power and no hope of rescue. Howard
dishes out the drama in stages, as first the oxygen tanks leak out, to the
temperature dropping, to erratic course corrections, to gradual poisoning of
the atmosphere on the ship by respired carbon dioxide. He does not
neglect the peripheral members of the NASA team, and pays special
attention to Lovells wife and family. The IMAX version, some 15 minutes
shorter, is also included on this Anniversary Edition. Its instructive to note
that the longer version is a more effective film, since he spends more time
developing the relationships that allow us to care for the characters.
For those that have seen the movie many times, I would direct them to the
making-of features as a reason to buy this bargain-priced DVD. Of most
interest to me was the audio commentary by Apollo 13 commander Jim
Lovell. He is candid about where the film fails to accurately portray either
the science or the details of the actual mission, while Ron Howards
commentary explains why these changes were made cinematically (as an
example - the film shows Mattingly in the simulator exclusively, while in
reality there were three simulators and teams of astronauts working in
them all simultaneously). Lovells wife Marilyn (portrayed by Kathleen
Quinlin in the film) is also part of the commentary, and her input is equally
valuable. One amusing part is the discussion of miniskirts:
Jim: Hey, they dressed Kathleen in miniskirts through this whole movie.
Did you really wear them that much?
Marilyn: Well, it was the style at the time...
To sum up, this is a 5-star movie on a 5-star DVD.
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