APOLLO 13
A film review by Thomas Wheeler
Copyright 1995 Thomas Wheeler
I've seen a good number of movies this summer--more than usual, actually, and there's several more I'm looking forward to. Thus far, I've been to CASPER, BATMAN FOREVER, CRIMSON TIDE, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, POCAHONTAS, and am looking forward to attending JUDGE DREDD, UNDER SIEGE 2, and MORTAL KOMBAT.
As much as I've enjoyed each of these movies as they've come along, none of them have compared for pure emotional intensity as APOLLO 13. I am not given to emotional reactions in movie theaters. This one had me in tears several times.
Even though we all knew the outcome, that the astronauts would get home safely, the sheer drama of the film more than compensated for what would usually be a terrible hindrance for a movie--knowing how it turns out.
Every aspect of this drama--the astronauts trying to survive, the Mission Control people having to scrap everything they knew to find ways to *keep* them alive and get them back, the families trying to cope--and the disappointment in being *so close* to the moon--and not making it, were brought full force to the screen.
The cinematography was spectacular. You weren't looking at "special effects" here. In fact, some of the filming actually took place in zero-gravity! Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, and crew got permission from NASA to use a training plane known as the "vomit comet", which flies in ascending and descending parabolas to simulate zero-gravity.
Words cannot easily describe the drama and intensity of this movie. Go see it. You'll see what I mean.
On a personal note, I was alive in 1970, when all this happened for real (that this incredible adventure did actually take place truly enhances the movie). I was 10 at the time, but my father was in the news business, so I heard a lot about it. This movie took me back *and* brought me up to date.
The closing words of Tom Hanks/Jim Lovell in the film should be a rallying cry. "Sometimes I still look up at the moon, and wonder when we'll return." It can't be too soon. Would I go? Knowing the dangers, the risks, if given the opportunity, would this 35-year-old graphic artist take a trip on a multi-story bullet to the moon? Just hand me an astronaut suit and point me to the launch pad.
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