Apollo 11: Quarantine

If you want to see really interesting footage of how this was accomplished, this is worth watching. If I were reviewing only on the footage, I'd give it a 10. But it should be noted that there is no narration, except a few random blurbs of NASA/news reporting and politician speeches starting around 21 minutes into the 30-minute runtime, no other audio than background sound effects. There are also no closed captions. It would've been really nice to hear something about what procedure was going on in a particular scene. I can imagine the deaf or hearing-impaired community would've really appreciated that.

Talk about a perfect sequel, released during the current pandemic and haphazard quarantining of many, to Todd Douglas Miller and company's prior man-to-the-Moon documentary "Apollo 11" (2019), which was well timed itself coming on the 50th anniversary of the event. It's just this sort of observational, archival-footage approach to documentary filmmaking of important history that should be celebrated by the Academy Awards and the like, but I won't hold my breath for this short follow-up being so honored given that the feature-length documentary was unaccountably not nominated for an Oscar (and I swear if they also dismiss "Totally Under Control" (2020) in a few days here, I'm going to write the documentary categories off entirely).

Anyways, "Apollo 11: Quarantine" is further evidence that what we've gone through in the past year of this pandemic--quarantines, PPE, disinfectant and all--isn't all that new. Once again, Neil Armstrong was already there and done that. Had we all taken just 21 days, too, to prevent the spread of the Andromeda Strain, perhaps we wouldn't be where we are in 2021. Then again, only two-thirds of Americans even know who Armstrong was--and this from a poll during the 50th anniversary year, the year of the prior "Apollo 11" doc and a year after the Ryan Gosling movie (from Gallup polling, and only half identified him correctly ten years earlier)--so right there, no more questions needed, at least one-third of Americans are completely stupid, but I digress. Among the newly-released footage, it's also nice that someone thought to pan down from a shot of the Moon to the astronauts quarantined in a trailer, and there's a reflexive shot of a manned TV camera at one point. Ending with Buzz Aldrin waxing poetic, that "We walked on the Moon," at the end before the joint session of Congress and editing in Moon and space images from the trip is an appreciated finishing touch.

Apollo 11: Quarantine is a uniquely relatable found-footage style film that is sure to allure space fans, history buffs and everyone else, too! The creators of this film have pieced together parts of old footage from newsfeeds and other sources to tell a grand story of astronauts in quarantine.

Now, more about that story! The film follows the crew of the Apollo 11 spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins) in their 21-day quarantine in the summer of 1969. Scientists weren't sure if they had made contact (and maybe even brought back) dangerous lunar microorganisms like bacteria, so the astronauts had to be contained and swabbed and scrubbed down regularly. But the Apollo 11 crew weren't as isolated as you'd think: they kept contact with the outside world through a pane of thick glass. This film shows the activities that went on during those 21 days and how much patience and emotional strength the astronauts had to show; it took a lot of resilience for the roving moon-explorers, but they pulled through!

To the fun stuff, now! Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins are the lead "characters" in the film. Todd Douglas Miller brilliantly edited together all of the individual incredible clips. Besides the editing, the music and small intercut scenes of footage shot in the 21st century both help create the ambiance for the film. I also have to say that the audio work is quite interesting; I didn't think that audio from the late '60s was surround sound or stereo. I watch the film with headphones on and was surprised that the audio in parts of the film (like when the crew uses walkie-talkies) goes from one ear to the other. Quite modern for the mid-to-late 20th century!

Apollo 11: Quarantine promotes the message of resilience and sticking through anything that comes your way. The film shows exactly how difficult it was for the crew of Apollo 11 to be quarantined for 21 days, interacting with the outside world through a glass pane or capsule. But they pulled through, and President Gerald Ford congratulated them with a proud speech on Day 21 of their quarantine, the last day.

I give Apollo 11: Quarantine 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 11 to 18. Adults will enjoy this film as well. Reviewed by Eshaan M., KIDS FIRST

Greetings again from the darkness. We've seen the video and heard the audio of Neil Armstrong's "one small step", but do you know what happened when the crew of Apollo 11 returned to Earth after the moonwalk? Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Armstrong spent 21 days in quarantine, and that's what Todd Douglas Miller documents in his 23 minute no-frills short film.

It's the summer of 1969 and Miller's film picks up with footage after the capsule has splashed down in the ocean. A hovering helicopter is dropping swimmers as part of the recovery. A raft and "Biological Isolation" garments are delivered, and the astronauts are hoisted one-by-one up into the helicopter and then flown to the Aircraft Carrier Hornet, where they are locked into the Mobile Quarantine facility.

A countdown to 21 days is used for structure, but mostly we see actual footage of the crew being taken first to Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, then to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, and finally to a NASA facility where Armstrong will be treated to birthday cake while in quarantine. No narrator is utilized, only official footage - including moon rocks and dust, as well as Aldrin addressing Congress a month or so after quarantine. As the film concludes with breathtaking photos of Earth from the moon, we are still asking how giant was this leap?