Apollo 13: Survival

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.

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 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.

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.

As "Apollo Thirteen: Survival" (2024 release; 98 min) opens, Apollo 13 is on its way to the moon, and then an explosion happens... We go the "Four Months Earlier" as we get to know the crew for this mission, most of all Jim Lovell, who was part of the Apollo 8 mission, and his wife, who reluctantly supports him. At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from documentarian Peter Middleton ("The Reasl Charlie Chaplin"). Here he revisits the seemingly cursed mission (Apollo 13's launch was at 13:13 hrs. Houston time, and the explosion happened on April 13). The question is how to make a documentary worth seeing when we all know the outcome in advance? The answer: dig up yet more archive footage and pictures we have not seen before (including ample home 8mm footage and pictures from the Lovell family). This is what worked so well in the 2019 documentary "Apollo 11" and I dare say that "Apollo Thirteen: Survival" follows the exact same formular, and to great effect. Along the way we are reminded that at one point the crew was given a 10% chance of surviving. And the fate of Apollo 13 brought together the world in a manner that we probably have not seen since then. Please note that, per the film's opening credits, the correct title of this is "Apollo Thirteen: Survival" (and not "Apollo 13: Survival").

"Apollo Thirteen: Survival" is currently streaming on Netflix, where I caught it just the other night. This documentary is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels a little too generous to me, but no matter. If you liked the 2019 documentary "Apollo 11" or simply are interested in the NASA space exploration program, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.