This is a review of 'Apollo 13' in the HD DVD format
The world stood still for Apollo 11 as it descended to the surface of the moon in 1969. I was in a garden shed with a bed, a short-wave radio and a black and white TV. It was the topic on everyone's lips. However, by the time Apollo 13 ... Read review
It had been less than a year since man first walked on the moon, but as far as the ... more
American public were concerned, Apollo 13 was just another 'routine' space flight - until these word pierced the immense voice of space: 'Houston, we have a problem'. St...
NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, ... more
when theApollo 13crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and B...
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NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, ... more
when theApollo 13crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and B...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
13th April 1970, on route to the moon, Apollo 13 developed life-threatening problems.More ... more
than 200 thousand miles out in space, an oxygen tank exploded, ripping off a side of the service module and disabling the Odyssey spacecraft.Astronauts James Love...
This is the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon.NASA had ... more
already achieved President Kennedy's challenge of going to the moon within ten years and the crew of Apollo 11 had achieved their lunar landing triumphantly, in one...
In this definitive 2-disc Special Edition, Ron Howard directs Academy Award Winner Tom ... more
Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris in this riveting suspense-thriller from Imagine Entertainment about a 'routine' space flight.Apollo 13 is a breathtaking adventure that tells the true and remarkable story of courage, faith and ingenuity in a race to bring a group of heroic astronauts home when their spacecraft is damaged thousands of miles from Earth.
NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, ... more
when theApollo 13crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton play (respectively) astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise in director Ron Howard's intense, painstakingly authentic docudrama. TheApollo 13crew and Houston-based mission controllers race against time and heavy odds to return the damaged spacecraft safely to Earth from a distance of 205,500 miles. Using state-of-the-art special effects and ingenious film-making techniques, Howard and his stellar cast and crew build nail-biting tension while maintaining close fidelity to the facts. The result is a fitting tribute to theApollo 13mission and one of the biggest box-office hits of 1995.--Jeff Shannon
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Advantages: Historically accurate and informative Disadvantages: Trying to make a drama out of what was actually a crisis
...The world stood still for Apollo 11 as it descended to the surface of the moon in 1969. I was in a garden shed with a bed, a short-wave radio and a black and white TV. It was the topic on everyone's lips. However, by the time Apollo 13 flew, as is made clear in this movie, everyone had taken our sojourns to the moon for granted. When Lovell sent documentary footage back to earth on his outward journey none of the networks would even show it. Moon ... ...This indifferent complacency changed, however. Apollo 13 was about to be big news too.
One of the oxygen tanks onboard the command module had a thermostat which had been designed to run at 28 volts. You wouldn't think they'd stick 65 volts through it would you? I mean - it isn't exactly rocket science.... but they did. The fuse blew. The tank heater registered 100 degrees but it was jammed on. Unknown to anyone, the temperature actually ... more
This is a review of 'Apollo 13' in the HD DVD format
The world stood still for Apollo 11 as it descended to the surface of the moon in 1969. I was in a garden shed with a bed, a short-wave radio and a black and white TV. It was the topic on everyone's lips. However, by the time Apollo 13 flew, as is made clear in this movie, everyone had taken our sojourns to the moon for granted. When Lovell sent documentary footage back to earth on his outward journey none of the networks would even show it. Moon missions weren't news any more. This was only one year after we'd all held our breath in the early hours (UK time) watching that 'one small step.' We were quite unimpressed and had seen it all before.
This indifferent complacency changed, however. Apollo 13 was about to be big news too.
One of the oxygen tanks onboard the command module had a thermostat which had been designed to run at 28 volts. You wouldn't think they'd stick 65 volts through it would you? I mean - it isn't exactly rocket science.... but they did. The fuse blew. The tank heater registered 100 degrees but it was jammed on. Unknown to anyone, the temperature actually rose to something like 800 degrees, melted the shielding and bared the wires. When the order came from Houston to stir the oxygen tank and Swigert pressed the switch to operate the fan in the tank that should have done so, those wires sparked, the tank went off like a bomb and shot out of the side of the ship. It wasn't the only tank. However, the tanks were close together and another one lost pressure in no time.
The electrical systems needed the pressure. The astronauts needed to breathe. This was a big problem. Could they solve it and if so how? Would the teams running simulations back in on Earth be able to figure out how to keep three men alive for four days in the moon module that was only intended to keep two men alive for two?
Tom Hanks plays Commander Jim Lovell, Bill Paxton is Fred Haise and Kevin Bacon is Jack Swigert. These three astronauts are in for a bumpy ride and the odds are stacked against their survival.
This movie about an ill-fated mission depicts it so accurately that it could be used as an educational resource in school classrooms. As a docudrama it succeeds admirably. I'm not so sure about it as a movie. Ron Howard the director interprets the script of Jim Lovell's book very well. Amazing lengths are gone to in order to achieve realistic weightlessness with a set being assembled on a 'plane that flew over six hundred climbs and dives to simulate it. As the extra features show, the stories told by the astronauts themselves in interview footage tally with the portrayal of events in the movie. Also, in those special features, the clever juxtaposition of archive news footage and bits of the film clearly demonstrates that exact quotations from the past are accurately reproduced.
Kathleen Quinlan makes a convincing Marilyn Lovell who suffers the prospect of possibly losing her husband Jim in this frantic situation where a crippled ship must be brought home against all the odds. In interviews it's clear that she did and said things in real life shown in the film.
A mischievous satirical interviewer once buttonholed Tom Hanks and told him that the movie was about space and asked if that was why it 'had no atmosphere.' It's a funny line but It's not really fair to suggest that this movie is lacking feeling or good acting or to imply that the CGI effects and the use of real zero gravity wasn't ground-breaking and very smart.
What does rankle somewhat is the tub-thumping patriotic tone of the movie. It's one of those all-American, self-congratulatory productions in which Americans with spirit, guts and gumption strut and sway. I know the flight was an American one, the ship was American, and the space race had been won in order to elevate the status of the US over the Soviet Union so they must have been very proud - justifiably proud - of having achieved so much.
Nixon's speech to this effect on an aircraft carrier toward the end of Apollo 13 is full of this idealistic and patriotic moralising. The music swells to it. Chins jut. Grown men hug. Chests swell. It's really quite annoying.
I'm not sure either that the documentary and dramatic aspects of the movie sit well together. However, if you can ignore the gung-ho, us-Yanks-are-just-so-great, aspect, much of the characterisation is strong and although it isn't really a story so much as a faithful reconstruction and report of actual events in space in 1970, there's enough to make it worth watching.
For me, the first half of the movie seemed quite leisurely and then, after the tank blows, everyone is far more energised and motivated. The TV crews who ignored the flight when it was going okay were all over the lawn at the Lovell's place when it went wrong.
The high point for me came in the form of those special features packed with analysis and interviews of Jim Lovell and including footage only twenty years after the flight from various other significant individuals such as Gene Kranz who was in charge on the ground and said things like, 'We've never lost an American in space and we're not going to on my watch!' Oh well. He's played with a lot of attention to detail by Ed Harris. His lucky waistcoat and even his hair looks right as do his emotional reactions based on footage including an interview about the mission in which he got upset.
Seeing photos of Marilyn Lovell and her children as they appeared in 1970 set against how they were in the film and how they are now or were in the years after the mission is fascinating.
That's where I am at the moment having watched the movie twice, I'm now going through the considerable amount of extra material on the disk. This includes audio-commentaries with the Lovells and with Ron Howard so I guess I'll be watching the movie at least twice more!
There's a documentary called "Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13," which is filled with old news footage, interviews as I've mentioned already, and the juxtaposition of these with clips of the movie is very well done.
There's a documentary about the history of the space missions of the period, and 'Lucky 13, the astronaut's story,' which is a featurette about mission control.
I've seen other reviews praising the quality of the HD picture though I wasn't convinced. There are time when old footage is used cut in with the shots in the movie. These obviously look quite rough. There weren't many times, personally, when I marvelled at the cinematographic quality of the high-res HD content. For me the main thing, though, is the story of Apollo 13 that, for all its dramatic limitations, is remarkable and fascinating as documentary. Set in the Lovell's home, in Mission control, Houston, and on board a ship in space with the lights out a lot of the time, this is a movie where HD doesn't hurt but you're really not likely to gasp in awe at its wonders.
The events are remarkable and those involved have lots to say on the matter. The extra materials seem generous and are still holding my attention. It's more education than entertainment in my opinion and that's something to consider if you're thinking of getting it. On that basis I'd certainly recommend it. If the history of our trips to the moon interests you this HD DVD and its extras should prove informative, startling at times, and at least fairly entertaining at others.
If you'd like the background to the Apollo 13 mission in full you can find it here:
Advantages: wonderful film of a true story Disadvantages: none
I remember watching Apollo 13 when it first came out at the cinema in 1995. Base on the real events of the unsuccessful moon mission in 1970, it would have been possible to hear a pin drop as the entire audience watched as the events unfolded - and this was even when we knew what happened.
For the purpose of this review I am going to assume that most people know the story of Apollo 13 - if you don't and you are likely to watch the film it's probably ... ...on the Apollo 13 mission which was intended to be the third moon landing by US astronauts. The mission was led by Commander Jim Lovell (played by Tom hanks) who had already circled the moon on an earlier mission. His crew was meant to be Fred Haise (Bill Paton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) but a threat of contracting the measles while in Space meant that Mattingly could not go and his place was taken by Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon). The film charts ...
kingfisher111 02.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apollo 13 (DVD)
Advantages: A space film that isn't sci-fi Disadvantages: Only if you know the ending (true story)
...this accolade. Then along came Apollo 13.
Now being space fans we knew our history, so we KNEW how the film would finish. What we didn’t know was just how good this film would be. It seemed that they really did film this presentation in space (which is not too far from the truth in actual fact, but I’ll come to that later).
It turns out that with one exception the entire film is based on fact. Everything and I mean everything is authentic. ... ...then take a chance on Apollo 13. The film is incredibly tense, even if you do know the ending. The acting first rate (Hanks, Bacon, Paxton), the effects truly convincing, and the sound track spot on. (The floating in space was just brilliant – achieved by flying the set in a giant air carrier up to the edge of the atmosphere then diving at high speed, making everything which was falling at the same speed appear to be floating, including the ...
brianbarnes 28.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apollo 13 (DVD)
Advantages: Gripping story, excellent supporting roles, sfx, tension, score Disadvantages: known ending, Hanks just a tad robotic, Quinlann underused
...true events of the aborted Apollo 13 mission to the Moon back in 70/71. Of course for those of us who are old enough to remember the moon missions we already know the ending. However, Ron Howard does an excellent job of making this "remake" even more breathtaking & astounding than the real event!
There was always the risk of Hollywood taking "dramatic" liberties with this movie, but fortunately they resisted temptation for major changes and kept ... ...a close interest with the Apollo missions and so in the movie he really plays his character with a great deal of enthusiasm & intelligence.
He is also ably supported by one of Kevin Bacon's best performances and particularly from Bill Paxton.
The only troublesome acting comes from Kathleen Quinlann (Lovell's wife). She isn't given much to do throughout the film other than to cry a bit and offer moral support to her family and friends. Quinlann ...
dreamstar70 05.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apollo 13 (DVD)
Advantages: Fabulously accurate Disadvantages: It ends?
...comes the admission: I missed Apollo 13. Admittedly so did much of America (such was the American lack of interest to begin with) but I missed it spectacularly. Not only could I not be bothered to show any interest, I couldn't even be bothered to be born for another 4 years. But now it's the 90's and it's not only America that doesn't care for space...no-one does. How would the world react to the resurrection of a story that was getting on for 30 ... ...race to the moon with Apollo 11, NASA has tried to push the envelope further with longer and more detailed missions. With the goal achieved though it seems America has become almost blase about going to the moon. Apollo 11 was a success, Apollo 12 was a success, so Apollo 13 is just routine. Or is it? A routine maintenance check results in the three astronauts (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert) staring death in the face. With their spacecraft ...
TheNeil 06.03.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apollo 13 (DVD)
Advantages: Superb acting. Great effects. Disadvantages: We know the ending.
...by the time of the Apollo 13 launch the public interest in the space race had started to dwindle. It seemed that everything had been done and each mission was just a variant on previous missions. The dramatic events of this mission reminded everyone that space travel was still a terrific challenge to mankind and how vulnerable astronauts were when they were in space. This film captures the whole atmosphere of the 1970 event, from the public apathy ... ...other two members of the Apollo 13 crew, but it is Tom Hanks that is the real star of this movie, plus of course the rocket itself. Of course most of us know the ending of the film, but it is the build-up and the changes of fortune that make this such a good film to watch. There is also a lot of personal interest, showing how the whole space programme and individual events affect the astronauts families as much as the men themselves. You do not have ...
daseaford 15.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Apollo 13 (DVD)
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Advantages: Brilliant Story and Great Cast Disadvantages: Some real emotional parts
Rank: 2,633 in DVD
*****Costs*****
This DVD can be brought for well under £10 if you know where to look, so without a doubt, this is possibly one of the best deals you can get!
*****And a Final Word*****
It's difficult to say what makes Apollo13 such a great film, whether it be the fact that it is based on a true story, or the amazing special effects, or perhaps the great cast and believable acting, or maybe simply because it is such an amazing story. Either way, this is one film really worth watching, and well worth buying the DVD! ...
Advantages: Well Shot, Decent acting Disadvantages: Quite dull, lame ending
, Splash and Apollo13.
On previous Shyamalan DVD's there have been little home movie's included. On this disc you get a very faded and rough take on Indiana Jones as directed by Shyamalan in his youth. What this shows is that you can goof around with a video camera in your youth and then make millions years later - hurrah!
Things wrap up with a photo gallery featuring over thirty stills.
For me this film was a bit of a disappointment. It lacked the real haunting quality of The Sixth Sense, the grand themes of Unbreakable and the general scare tactics of Signs. Above all else, the ending wasn't very good at all. The film can be picked up for under a tenner but I'd probably advise a rental first. ...
Contains mild langauge and peril and one mild sex reference
Video Category
Feature Film
Plot
A documentary examination of the events of the Apollo 13 mission that would lead to the phrase 'Houston, we have a problem' becoming known all over the western world., The story of Apollo 13.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
Classic Pictures Entertainment Ltd.; Pinnacle Vision, GO ENTERTAIN; PINNACLE VISION, UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS, RSK Entertainment
Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital French German Italian Spanish, Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital Mono French German Italian Spanish
Special Features
Feature commentary with director Ron Howard, Feature commentary with Jim and Marilyn Lovell, Lost Moon - The Triumph of Apollo 13, Conquering Space - The Moon and Beyond, Lucky 13 - The Astronaut's Story, Commentaries, Production Notes, Filmography, Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Professional reviews
Review
"...So authentic, so brilliant in its technical details, that it succeeds in putting us on that ship..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, pp.78-9, 30/06/1995)
"...Suspense right up to the splashdown..." - Recommended (Premiere, p.119, 01/12/1995)
"...It's easily Howard's best film....A triumph of stirring storytelling and heartstopping suspense..." (Rolling Stone, p.116, 13/07/1995)
"...This book-faithful, 2 1/4-hour team effort shrewdly keeps its eye on the ball....The movie will happily repay multiple viewings..." -- 4 out of 4 stars (USA Today, p.1D, 30/06/1995)
"...Howard makes all the complicated action clear to the viewer, a feat in itself....Physically, APOLLO 13 pulls off some stunners..." (Variety, 26/06/1995)
DVD Description
A documentary examination of the events of the Apollo 13 mission that would lead to the phrase 'Houston, we have a problem' becoming known all over the western world.
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