Documentary by Ron Howard
Starring the Apollo astronauts
Studio: ThinkFilm TF-15595
Video: 1.78:1 enhanced for 16:9, color & B&W
Audio: English DD 6.1, DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Extras: Introduction by Ron Howard, “Scoring Apollo” – featurette with composer Philip Sheppard, Commentary track by Director David Sington, Editor David Fairhead and Archive Producer Chris Riley, Deleted and Extended Scenes – over 60 min. of stories from the astronauts and rare Apollo footage, Theatrical trailer, Trailer gallery
Length: 110 minutes (feature only)
Rating: *****
Audience winner for documentaries at Sundance last year, Ron Howard’s stunning documentary is subtitled “Remember When the Whole World Looked Up.” It combines original NASA film footage – some of not seen before – and TV coverage of the time with talking-head comments by some of the surviving astronauts. The result is a very moving reminder of the amazing achievement of the Apollo project, which put a dozen American men on the surface of the moon between 1968 and 1972 – with no other humans having set foot there since. Howard’s previous dramatic film Apollo 13 would make a great double-feature with this documentary that covers the entire Apollo project. (And don’t forget The Right Stuff – one of the astronauts even uses that expression in talking about himself.) The documentary is both epic and very intimate at the same time, with the astronauts demonstrating great wit, thoughtful comments, and emotional power – sharing some aspects of the moon voyages that will be new revelations to much of the public. (For example, exactly what one of the astronauts was doing when he paused for some time on the last step of the ladder from the moon lander before setting foot on the surface.)
The interview material with the ten surviving astronauts provides a very personal angle to the extraordinary project. Jim Lovell and Alan Bean are especially interesting to hear. The powerful impact of seeing the tiny blue earth from outer space was a life-changing experience for many of the astronauts. It stimulated one of them upon return to earth to become a born-again Christian, and another – Edgar Mitchell – to found the Noetic Sciences Institute to study various psychic phenomena. In their travels around the world just after their voyages, the astronauts always heard their voyages described as something “we” (the whole world) had accomplished – not just America. This particular time was the peak of international goodwill for the United States. How that has changed…
– John Sunier
