Der Traum von Apollo XI

B"H Being an old-car nut, this movie appealed to me because of the '49 Pontiac Eight that is one of the "stars" of the movie. Ted Danson's acting was a little overdone, and some of the plot was thin. My kids hate the flick.

However, watching Washington and Andy drive through the 1969 West in the Pontiac was fun. Besides the '49 Pontiac, there was an Amphicar (driven by Mary Steenburgen) as well as some neat oldies from the '40s sitting outside the Bellamy's home which Washington kept as collector cars.

Ultimately it was fun to watch the Bellamy family together again, being saved from a police manhunt as they drove the Amphicar across a lake to Canada.

Two parts of the movie were ridiculous; one was Andy Bellamy in his own father's science class, and putting a "455" V8 into the old Chief would have required major body modifications as well as a new transmission, impossible to do in a single night.

Inspiring was watching both the astronauts and the Bellamys preparing for their voyages at the same time, the liftoff and that shift of the old Hydra-Matic Drive into DR was a lot of fun to watch.

I really liked that movie for the originality of the plot. From the beginning, on the one hand, you have Apollo XI taking off to the Moon in the boldest and riskiest adventure in all the history of humanity, and on the other hand, you have Katherine Bellamy, who can't even step out of her house because she is too afraid of the world out there. And between those two extremes, you have Washington Bellamy, his husband, who has a drive to explore and discover but hasn't made a single trip with his 11-year old son because Katherine doesn't even want her son to step into a car.

Now Washington is too inspired by the Apollo odyssey and decides it is time for his son to discover something more than what you can find in books. They will drive from their home in California to a natural crater in Idaho, in exactly the same time as Apollo XI gets from Earth to Moon.

The parallelism between the father-and-son trip and the space journey is maintained from the beginning to the end. Of course, the father and the son will strengthen their ties during the trip, the son will learn why his mother is so timorous and... maybe there's a happy ending over there!

This is a good film for anyone who was a kid at the time of the Apollo Moon Landings and can remember how it felt to be alive at a momentous time in World History.

The film oozes period nostalgia and the scenery on the roadtrip to The Peaks of the Moon in Idaho is quite breathtaking, and the relationship between the Ted Danson character and his young son is quite touching.

You cant expect anyone who wasn't alive at the time this movie was set to appreciate the feelings that the story creates, this is one for those who still retain those feelings of innocense and the feelings of hope that you had; being young in 1969.

It's more than just a movie, it unlocks feelings and emotions you thought you had long forgotten. Not a movie for the cynical, or for the Nintendo generation whom have no historical perspective and no idea what it was like to alive when the World was a place of hope.

Pontiac Moon is such a perfect movie that it's easily one of my top 5 favourites. It's intelligent, fun and perfectly crafted and acted. Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and Ryan Todd perform as if the roles were written for them and they carry the film with gusto and subtlety. It is such a joy to watch (and I've watched it several times) that I can't help but wonder why others can't "get it" but must pick at points that are simply irrelevant. Do you question whether Superman can actually fly or where is the exact location of the Shire? Pontiac Moon is a movie for heaven's sake and it's hugely enjoyable, moving and entertaining. It encourages you to step out of your box and go out into the world because life is meant to be an adventure of the mind and body. This is not for people who wish to live average and mediocre lives of quiet desperation. I'll watch it again and again.

Thank you, Ted Danson.

After seeing this movie I felt that the creators did a good job paralleling the expedition to the moon and the traveling of the father and son. The Indian, Eric Schweig, held the characters together through their trip and allowed them to patch up their relationship by leaving them alone. He continuously gives Andy good advice concerning life and his father. But what I couldn't figure out was why they had to drive through Montana to get to Idaho from California, it is completely out of the way. The plot evolves as the mother finally leaves the home after 7 years of being boarded up inside. Ted Danson plays the father who is a genius professor with a strange behavioral side to him. But not to give the story away I will stop now and leave the rest to those that are interested in it.