[Due to an upload problem, I didn't receive several of Ben Hoffman's reviews until today, which is why some may seem a bit late. -Moderator]
APOLLO 13
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1995 Ben Hoffman
This is the most enthralling film so far in 1995. with Tom Hanks again giving an Oscar-nominating performance as one of three astronauts trapped in space when one of the oxygen tanks blows up.
The film is based on the true story of the almost fatal accident in 1969 when the U.S. attempted to land the first humans on the moon since Armstrong. Much of the information in the film is revealed for the first time as NASA does not always tell us everything. Still more, even the film does not reveal the whole story.
Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) who was to have been one of the astronauts has been exposed to measles and is scrubbed from the mission. Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), (is the author together with Jeffrey Kluger who wrote the book LOST MOON on which the book is based) is the chief astronaut. The two other astronauts were Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon.) The Mission Control commander is Gene Kranz (Ed Harris).
Suddenly, from outer space, the ground crew hears "Houston we have a problem." That is the last thing the hundreds of scientists and mathematicians at their computers want to hear. On board Apollo 13, an explosion has occurred. There was the great dangers of running out of oxygen, freezing to death if the power ran out and/or dying because of the carbon dioxide each of the three was expelling.
This film is a thriller in every sense of the word. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat as Mattingly, (who would have been on board if he had not been dropped because of measles exposure) most familiar with every part of Apollo 13, was called in to see what he could do to keep the oxygen use to a minimum, to see if he could come up with an idea to reduce the power usage. It looked like history was about to be made; three dead astronauts in space forever.
What NASA did not tell the American civilians and anyone else watching the Apollo 13, was that it was minutes away from disaster. Even worse, as THE NATION magazine recently exposed, the Apollo 13 was carrying a nuclear device with 8.3 pounds of plutonium. This was to be left on the moon for further experiments in the future. Less than a millionth of a gram could give a person cancer. This was in the ship as it tried to get back to Earth. If the launching rocket had blown up before Apollo 13 reached orbit, or if the spaceship crashed on landing there could have been a nuclear holocaust.
Keep that in mind when you watch the film and think of the consequences ... and realize that we, the civilians, were never told about how close our planet came to its end. The plutonium in Apollo 13's capsule will be hotly radioactive for 2,000 years. It fell into the Pacific Ocean about 2000 miles from Sydney, Australia. where it will remain radioactive for 2,000 years. NASA implies that it is safe but they forget that the ocean cannot absorb our garbage forever.
Don't miss this thriller.
Directed by Ron Howard.
4 bytes 4 Bytes = Superb
3 Bytes = Too good to be missed.
2 Bytes = So so
1 Byte = Save your money.
-- Ben Hoffman
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