Apollo 13

I don't know what the real event was like, because I wasn't even born then, but I guess it must have been really shocking to see how these astronauts were fighting for their lives. The movie really has done a good job on showing how inventive people can be in times of need, and on recreating the emotions that the crew, their families and the people in the flight command center had to go through.

If you ask me, the film really was at its best as soon as the crew was actually taking off in their rocket. Before that the movie was a little bit too slow to my taste and it didn't have that much to say. However, from the moment the problems with Apollo 13 started I was sitting on the edge of my seat. It all felt very real and you just have to empathize with the crew and their family.

Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton,... all did a great job showing us the astronauts, their families and the flight crew on this doomed mission. Their performances made "Apollo 13" one of the better movies of the nineties. I reward it with an 8/10.

My first job as an engineering graduate in 1960 was with NASA. I was fortunate enough to have been a Project Engineer on the Apollo Program, and I am familiar with the technical aspects of the program. But this movie was not as much about the technical aspects of the program as it was about a thrilling, real-life drama that just happened to take place during a glorious time and a once-in-a-lifetime project. Despite all of the little technical errors, Ron Howard and his crew have put together a superb film, one that deserved the 9 Academy Award nominations which it received. I wish that present-day film-makers would concentrate on happy situations, like this one, instead of the constant barrage of drivel to which we, the movie-going public, are made subject. Long live NASA and long live courage!!

I can watch this film over and over. Not only because I am so terribly interested in the exploration of space and the historical events that have taken place - but because it's a great film with excellent performances and a truth-telling style. Heck, even Lovell's wife dropping the wedding ring in the shower the day of the launch is true!

Just the fact that this film is true makes it even more enjoyable. It's hard to understand how in the hell one can make it back to Earth and survive with a fatally crippled space-craft. It's even harder to appreciate just how close they actually got to dying out there.

The performances are astounding. Ed Harris is just stupendous as Gene Krantz, and Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Garty Sinise and Bill Paxton (who seems to always get the role as the whiner...) are also great.

As Hanks put it: this story is one of the greatest ever. The question is, how do you get home? That question is as old as humanity itself.

You can tell he put his heart and soul into this one. And the fact that this happened to the American space explorers is hardly noticeable. Good job.

I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, i was simply compelled to watch it until the end. I already knew how it ended so i was surprised it commanded my attention so intensely.

The fact is the characters were all so realistically portrayed and the film was so expertly directed that it was almost as if the Apollo 13 disaster was filmed and that is what i was watching.

Now this film is certainly not to everyone's taste, it is quite slow in the build up and the film relies almost entirely on the script and ability of the cast.

If you like your disaster films loud and in your face then this is probably not for you, but if you like them realistic (slightly dramatised) then watch it and be astounded.

9/10

APOLLO 13 (1995) ***1/2 Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan, Ed Harris, Loren Dean, Clint Howard. Exhilarating and absorbing true life account of the 1970 mishap of the American space program's Apollo 13 that nearly became a tragic catastrophe based on astronaut and team leader Jim Lovell's novel "Lost Moon". Hanks is excellent as Lovell, grace under pressure realized, as is the rest of the fine ensemble and perfect visual effects of space travel and ingenuity. Harris won a nomination for Best Supporting Actor as Mission control's chief. Noteworthy: that's director Ron Howard's real life mother as Lovell's mom and look sharp for Lovell himself at the film's conclusion. Oscar winner for Best Editing and Best Sound.