Customer Reviews
A film thats out of this world SHEER CLASS - By: Mr. P. J. R. LEWIS, 25 Dec 2007 
Can Tom Hanks do no wrong,not in this case because alongside Kevin Bacon & others he brings this magnificent account of the near 1970 disaster of the Apollo 13 moon mission into one of the most frilling & brilliantly directed films to come out of Holywood for many years.
Ron Howard (Ricky in Happy Days) won a deserving Oscar for this incredible film,the cinematography & script make this an especiallly memorable film.
Now the last Saturn 5 space rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Centre with Apollo 17s successfull moon mission in 1972.The launch sequence in this film is as realistic as it is possible to get to the real thing way back 35years ago even down to the control centre itself.
Thankfully Ron Howard obtained the help of NASA itself to make this film,the weightlesness in orbit sequences were filmed in NASA very own test aeroplane that verticallly dives from an altitude of around 36,000ft resulting in the zero gravity effect.Remarkably Hanks & his fellow actors were standing on boxes to film the majority of the space shots but Howards direction & quality acting desgises this magnificently.
I can go on & on writing about the realism & use of actual events to make a memorable film into a great one but there is no need because im sure there would be few bad words said against this film.
It took two Oscars at the ceremmony & those were more than deserved.
Its a film you can watch again & again & never become bored with it,in my opinion its Tom Hanks best film & if you have never seen it it comes highly reccommended for the visuals alone.
Almost a documentary - By: M. A. Ramos, 05 Oct 2007 Apollo 13 is based on Based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon. Astronauts Lovell, Haise & Mattingly were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but are moved up to 13. Swigert replaced Ken Mattingly at the last moment. It was 1970, & America has already achieved their lunar landing goal, so there's little interest in this. America had become complacent about our space shots by this time, which is something I still do not understand. But that may be because I worked so long at the Kennedy Space Center & always knew & still understand how dangerous each & every launch is. Apollo 13 was to have been the fifth mission to the moon. But two days into the trip, on April 13, 1970, the oxygen tank exploded in the command module, placing the three astronauts in grave danger. This movie shows those terrifying days as astronauts, contractors, & Mission Controlled struggled to bring Apollo 13 safely back to earth.
This special edition is the copy should purchase. It has two commentaries. One of the commentaries is by director Ron Howard & the other commentary by Jim & Marilyn Lovell. It also contains the IMAX version that is crisp & great if you have a home theater. You will learn that they show only a very few of the things that actuallly went wrong on the flight. And almost everything you see in the movie actuallly happened with a couple of composite characters to help the flow of the movie. From the documentary "Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13" where the crew & cast members come across as being absolutely committed to portraying events accurately, but in a way that underscored the innate drama of them. You can tell that every single person involved in this project had respect for the material & staying true to the story. A must see.
Strength of the Human Spirit - By: Jay, 15 Apr 2007 Ever since I saw this movie I've loved it! Its a truly amazing true story. When I saw it I didn't know how it would end so I cried when the astronauts families, NASA, & the world were waiting for them to come home. After I saw it I would give anything to See it back in 1970 ( i was only 2 years old then)!
Knew the ending, enjoyed it all the same. - By: Richard H, 03 Mar 2007 This is one of those rare films where you know the ending but the way the story is portrayed grips you anyway. Three men, two hundred thousand miles from home going in the wrong direction at close to seven times the speed of sound, what's not to grip? Fantastic, right to the end. The heroic endeavours of both crew & ground control are made plain. I defy anyone to say that, in a similar position, they would have reacted with such self control & aplomb, as these people. Great portrayal of a historic event. Buy it, enjoy it, live it.
Great!!!!!!!!! - By: alasdair, 27 Feb 2006 I first saw this when I was about five & I loved it! I was instantly given the video & since then seen it about 15 times!!!
