Mission Apollo 11, les premiers pas sur la Lune

This was an OK production of the now-familiar story of the first manned landing on the moon. There are better versions, but this one was pretty good, I'd say about seven stars out of ten.

HOWEVER, I'm giving it a ten-star rating simply to counter the 3-star rating given by a dumbass who didn't know what the hell he was talking about. David Byrne got all bent out of shape about what he perceived as lazy and uninformed set design: "The final straw was when about half way thought the film, green 7-segment LED digital displays were in view. They were not even invented in 1969 and thus were not used in Apollo 11. I had to switch it off at that point - I had enough. "

Sorry to burst your indignant bubble Davie, but the Apollo DSKY (Display Keyboard) computer interface used aboard the Apollo Command Module did indeed have a green LED numerical readout, as even a cursory look on Google would reveal. No, LEDs were not in wide use in 1969, but you can chalk that up as yet another piece of cutting-edge technology developed or first used by the U.S. space program.

Everyone knows the basic story, and when there is an anniversary there is a glut of documentaries. This dramatized version is different, in that it focuses mainly on the human relationships. It makes Buzz Aldrin into an ambitious and slightly abrasive character who would quarrel with Neil Armstrong, if only the the latter were not so easy-going (not to say bland). Well, that's how it's played here. I don't know how true it is.

It's entertaining and well acted. Daniel Lapaine has a good (moon) shot at Neil Armstrong - not an easy thing to do.

I'd only really criticize the structure of the film. It is packed with flashbacks, so much so that it's quite confusing at times.

Very much third rate TV movie. Distractingly bad (sometimes shockingly bad) music covering up the interesting parts. Good sets ruined by bad spacesuits and not very similar actors (or impressions of them) mean the otherwise clever use of merging actual audio, actual film with their re-enactments is just odd and not easy to follow.

But at least it's badly edited. Flashbacks, flash forwards. Oh, and a weird voiceover up front, which is right after Buzz says... almost entirely the same thing as a talking head with a very choppy transition.

Overall not as great as it should have been with the material they had.

In 2019 comparisons will inevitably be drawn between this film and First Man. If this film was made with the budget of First Man it would be a winner. It was more watchable than First Man. Armstrong's character is far more rounded than the morose and withdrawn character in the other film. You can believe in him much more here, and that connects you and draws you into the film. There is a fair amount of stock Nasa footage used which interestingly they have managed to lipsynch to the Nasa audio. This is a much vaunted feature of the upcoming Apollo 11 documentary. What really lets this film down are the silly mistakes. If you are not a space buff you probably won't notice, but if you are - prepare to be frustrated! The floating space pen has already been mentioned in other reviews, but for me the incorrect wristwatches (which got a far amount of screen time) and footwear made me roll my eyes. The DVD can be picked up very cheaply online and if you're into this stuff it's definitely worth a loo.

This film was OK, but it was destroyed with mistakes like a whooshing sound in once scene as command module and lunar module went past near the moon. It might appeal to those who know nothing about science, but to the majority of educated viewers, it is an insult to their intelligence. The final straw was when about half way thought the film, green 7-segment LED digital displays were in view. They were not even invented in 1969 and thus were not used in Apollo 11. I had to switch it off at that point - I had enough. The acting was reasonable, but on the whole I found this film boring. At least in The Dish movie (which was quite fictional), they used authentic equipment used in 1969. Producers should do their homework before embarking on a topic they know little of nothing about.

For the purists out there, don't bother with this film. Nothing beats the telecasts during moon landing in July 1969.