Moon Shot

Moon Shot is the story of the astronauts that flew in the first flights into space thru the last flight of an Apollo space craft. It is a very solid and well put together film, exciting, action packed, and filled with scenes of high emotion (Apollo 1 fire, Apollo 8's Christmas Eve reading from Genesis, Apollo 13's ordeal, the final scene as a tribute to Deke Slayton). There is humor and a feeling of the type of personalities it took to man these crafts and fly into outer space. We are reminded of the political climate of the 60s, the leadership of JFK, the way the program treaded thru the late 60s. The show has what amounts to 3 climaxes. The first is the flight of Apollo 8, which was the first flight to orbit the moon. The Christmas Eve reading from Genesis is moving. The 2nd climax is the landing of Apollo 11 and the time that craft spent on the moon's surface. The 3rd was about Slayton finally getting to fly into space in 1975. For anyone that wants to get a feel of the way things were in the 60s, this is a grand film to watch.

When I first saw this program on TV I knew instantly that I had to obtain a copy of it and I did. I feel that this is the best space documentary ever made, period. The fact that this documentary draws directly from the original mercury and gemini astronauts tells the story from those who lived in it. A lot of information about the space operations of NASA I had never heard about till I saw this and they were quite amusing. Sadly Deke Slayton died during the making of the film and Al Shepard just recently died. This film is a final tribute in my mind to two great Americans who helped lead all Americans into the unknown depths of space through their pioneering careers as astronauts.

With a lot of great humor. Moon Shot covers the U.S. space program from the Mercury days through Apollo/Soyuz, as told by former astronaut Deke Slayton (voiced by Barry Corbin). The humor comes from anecdotes from several of the original astronauts, including John Glenn, who, talking about the mysterious "fireflies" that appeared during his space mission, said that one of the psychiatrists asked him, "And, what did they SAY, John?" Alan Shepard later said, "Those fireflies weren't fireflies at all....they were the constellation URION (Urine)."

Or another example: Frank Borman, talking about his Gemini 12 flight with Jim Lovell, says, "There was a song by Nat King Cole.." And Lovell comes on, and says, " 'Put Your Sweet Lips a Little Closer to The Phone,' by Nat King Cole." They then alternate verses, and Lovell finally says, "And that went on for two weeks. And of course, Frank & I were alone." Or the debate about who would be the first man to step on the moon - Armstrong, or Aldrin. As "Deke," Barry Corbin, put it: "It came down to tradition, and tradition says the commander always goes first. Besides, Neil was closest to the door!"

One of the most poignant lines comes from Alan Shepard, when he describes what his father told him after his Apollo 14 mission: "My father said, 'Do you remember when you called us, back in 1959, and said that you were going to be an astronaut'? I said, 'Yessir.' He said, 'Do you remember what I said?' I said, 'Yessir. You were not in favor of it.' And he raised his glass and said...'I was wrong.' And that's all he had to say."

This video belongs in the library of anyone who is in any way interested in history and the early U.S. space program.

I have been a staunch supporter of the U.S. space program for many years, and when I heard about "Moon Shot" I knew I had to add this video tape to my collection. One thing that struck me as very funny were the comments of some of the principals(John Glenn, Chris Kraft, Alan Shepard, etc). For example, when discussing Deke Slayton's heart problem, in relation to his Apollo-Soyuz mission, Kraft states, "We knew more about Deke Slayton's heart than any man we ever flew, and that goddamned doctor stood up in the meeting and said, 'Well, I know we've said this before, but if he fibrillates on the pad, I'm gonna stop the count.' And I fired that sonuvabitch!"

Of course, life for the American space program wasn't all humorous. Three astronauts died in an accident during a training excercise in 1967, and there are many interviews with fellow astronauts and Mission Control members describing how they felt at the loss of their three comrades. There is also a great deal of discussion of the Soviet moon program, and its ultimate failure.

Any history fan or space enthusiast will enjoy Moon Shot. It gives one of the most accurate accounts of the early space program, through the eyes of the guys who lived it. I would heartily recommend this video for anyone interested in the space program.

I was fortunate enough to see this on its original TBS broadcast in 1994 and have just finished re-watching it for the first time in several years in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Having not seen it in so long and having been highly impressed with then, I was intrigued to see this again and wondered if my wonderful memories of it were still true. As it turns out, the memory didn't cheat on this occasion. Moon Shot was a fantastic and personal look at the Space Race from its beginning in 1957 to effective epilogue in 1975.

This documentary series is based upon the book written by astronauts Deke Slayton and Alan Shephard (both of whom are now deceased). The series is told from the point of view of Slayton in the form of narration from actor Barry Corbin. Corbin proves to be a perfect choice for the voice of Slayton (who died during the making of the series in 1993). As Slyaton, Corbin brings a wide range of emotions to his narration rather then a possibly monotone form of narration and by the end of it one could be convinced he is Slayton. Corbin though is the tip of the iceberg.

The series is also full of interviews as well. These range from other astronauts (including the book's co-author Alan Shephard) plus various individuals such as those who worked for NASA or reporters who covered NASA in this period. The interviewees each bring their own personal perspectives and allow for a much fuller version of events to be shared. The interviews also present a rather interesting historical document in themselves as many of the astronauts interviewed including Shephard, Wally Schirra and Stu Roosa to name a few have since passed away (Roosa passing away just months after the original broadcast). The interviews represent both a fuller picture of events and an interesting historical document rolled into one.

The series also makes extensive use of archive material as well. Much credit goes to the filmmakers in successfully bringing nearly twenty years worth of events into a just over three hour package which is entertaining, tense and informative even to someone who has spent their life studying the space program. Whiel there is a considerable amount of mixing and matching of stock footage which can become noticeable at times if you know enough, I suspect that the general viewer will remain oblivious to much of that (as I did until my most recent viewing). All in all though it is program that counts and the fact that this is as fascinating to watch today as it was fifteen years ago should speak to the success of the filmmakers.

Moon Shot isn't just another documentary on the Space Race. It is that familiar story told from the perspective of those on the inside of those events ranging from Deke Slyaton (in the form of Corbin's fine narration), interviews and archival footage in a from that is never boring but entertaining, tense and informative. As a result, Moon Shot (like its literary counterpart) takes a fascinating period of history where man first reached out into the night sky come alive again and, as someone who was born well after the fact, offers an amazing gateway into the past. I highly recommended this series along with the films For All Manking and In The Shadow Of The Moon as the best programs to watch about the Apollo missions.