Apollo 13 - Überleben

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!

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.

I absolutely love the story of Apollo 13. What an incredible tribute to the human spirit and to the amazing men and women who overcame this disaster.

However, the documentary is slightly disappointing. While I love vintage footage, my general feeling is that I could have watched free videos on YouTube and gotten roughly the same content that I got here. I still enjoyed it and I'm rating it a 7 which is a quality show, but I felt it slightly underachieved its potential.

ABOUT MY REVIEWS:

I do not include a synopsis of the film/show -- you can get that anywhere and that does not constitute a meaningful review -- but rather my thoughts and feelings on the film that hopefully will be informative to you in deciding whether to invest 90-180 minutes of your life on it.

My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre" 6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings 10 - A classic. (Less than 2% receive this rating). For Lifetime Movies for Chicks (LMFC), drop the above scale by 3 notches. A 6 is excellent and 7 almost unattainable.

I very much enjoy the way these archival documentaries are compiled and edited. It is just as gripping and has the same impact as the film version and nothing is lost by telling the story using archival footage - and it keeps you hooked.

Some of the comments made by Jack Swigert when out in the loneliness of space are quite moving. With images of the space all around them filled with billions of stars just gives you a sense of the hopelessness that they very likely felt.

The aspect of this documentary that most appeals is the fact that it stays in the period and does not introduce any talking heads that would break the spell. With the archival footage you are immersed in the time, just as they saw and experienced it, and it is that which makes it compelling. Any modern day comments are thankfully just voice overs which don't break the spell.

This is a superb documentary and the makers are to be congratulated.

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.