Apollo 13 - Überleben

I remember when I was 10 years old and Apollo 13 took off thinking they were going to the moon. Just another routine mission. They were wrong. The famous line " Houston we have a problem". They went through hell. Once you leave the gravitational pull of Earth you are on your own. They were able to get back home safely with the help of Mission Control. Apollo 13 mission was ruled a successful failure meaning they didn't land on the moon. I have watched the movie with Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon a million times. This documentary shows the real astronauts that were aboard the spaceship. This is a documentary worth watching.

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 is a great documentary. What's particularly great about it is that there's no narrator like they have on shows like Planet Earth and National Geographic documentaries. Instead, this one uses expert editing to piece together original footage - by the astronauts on the shuttle, of the NASA Mission Control room, and of media coverage, as well as photographs. You know what's going on simply from watching this footage, along with sparingly used interviews with Lovell's wife that are played over some of the images. It makes you feel like you're living it in the moment, the way people experienced it back then. It's an incredible and gripping story, and very well-made.

One thing I do wish though, is that they had included a little bit more. I've seen the Apollo 13 movie and have wondered about certain parts - if they were true, and also just feeling like I wanted to learn more about certain events that were portrayed. There were a number of things highlighted in the movie that were omitted from the documentary (like Ken Mattingly's role in coming up with a power-up plan), and I'm not sure if it's because they didn't actually happen that way in real life and were added to the movie for dramatic effect, or if the documentary was working with a length limit. But it's really a great watch, I recommend this.

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.

Definitely worth a watch - We all know the outcome, but I found myself absorbed in the drama nonetheless. I was only 7 years old when this occurred. Having watched the moon landing live on our old black and white TV a short time before this I am surprised I have no recollection of it as it was happening. I only knew of it later through my childhood love of the space program.

At the time of its release Jim Lovell was 96 years old and is the oldest living former astronaut. Sadly, Marilyn Lovell passed away just over one year ago, in August 2023, and Frank Borman died in November of last year.

The unity humanity felt around the whole world during these tense few days is likely never to be felt again! In that regard, Apollo 13 was a great success!