Operation Avalanche

Seen at the Viennale 2016: It seems that Matt Johnson, an exaggerated enthusiastic filmmaker, had a lot of fun doing this movie. He was able to transfer his enthusiasm onto the movie and the movie was able to transfer it to the Viennese audience. There are a lot of meta levels in the making of this mock documentary. The movie content is based upon the crazy conspiracy theories surrounding the first moon-landing. The main level just shows a documentary that shows the tricks that had to be played that the whole world believed that the landing was real. One sub level is that Johnson interviewed the real NASA in tricky ways to get answers in the right direction, so he was able to include that footage into his movie. Another level is the story of the camera team that develops this story in the movie itself. Johnson is the director of the film crew in the movie and also the director of The Avalanche. Another story is about politics and the power of state to hide its secrets. Even footage of Stanley Kubrick could be used. Quite entertaining. But most impressing: the pictures showing the moon mission of Apollo itself. The result is a homage about this great decade of the US flying to the moon. The mock documentary is not faultless, but quite good entertainment. And also added is a low-budget car chase - a real highlight to see.

It's a fairly solid movie. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. As the headline says, I think the car chase scene stands out in the movie. It was fantastic.

Operation Avalanche proposes that in 1967, a small group of young filmmaking CIA agents were responsible for 'faking' Apollo 11's landing on the moon by shooting it on a sort of makeshift movie set. In conclusion, it's not very good.

Finally, the faked moon landing conspiracy nuts get their proof, and then some.

Not only does "Operation Avalanche" tell the cold war truth of America's ridiculous claim to lunar escapades, but it's also a nifty espionage thriller, complete with gun play and classic car chases. A pair of documentarians, originally hired to sniff out a Russian mole, soon hatch a plot to film the impending (impossible) moon landing with some clever cinema magic. A tricky plan for sure, but when spy agencies heat up the cold war plans, our filmic nerds are in for the ride of heir life.

Filmed on crackly old stock, old school, old film, "Operation Avalanche" captures the bizarro undercover adventures of the CIA, when the fate of everything America felt near and dear to her heart rested on conquering a barren, grey hunk of space rock.

Could this found footage documentary be the real deal? You decide, and along the way, enjoy the greatest in-car filmed chase since "Bullitt".

What would it take to convince Walter Cronkite, the public, and even NASA personnel Apollo 11 landed on the Moon ... when it didn't? Operation Avalanche earnestly explores the idea the 1969 Moon landing was faked. Was it real, or was it Memorex? Low budget movie, but worth watching late at night or on a rainy afternoon.