028 - Apollo 13 (1995)

DVD Box

On April 11, 1970 at 13:13 CST Apollo 13 left the Earth's orbit, bound for the third lunar landing. The module never reached the surface of the moon due to numerous technical difficulties, but because the astronauts defied all probabilities to return home safely, it is regarded as a successful failure.

Tom Hanks, during arguably the most successful point in his career, heads up the cast of Ron Howard's semi-biographical retelling of a story mixed with courage and determination.

Theatrical Poster

In a way, the story tells everything that American's love about their country - heroes are found throughout the film from the astronauts themselves right down to those in mission control. James Horner's score is well-weighted throughout to match with the various situations and it beautifully aids in raising tension and creating that American patriotic feeling.

The majority of the film takes place in space, Howard preferring to tell the story from the astronauts point of view, although shots of Houston and the astronauts family provide a welcome break in parts. The scenery for the spacecraft would have been relatively easy to create - having such a confined space to work with. Howard takes full advantage of this and makes the craft technically brilliant - the zero gravity is flawless and the 20-year-old computers and recreated well.

A wonderful film, made even better when you know that in the most part it's non-fiction.

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