Saturday Afternoon at the Movies: Apollo 13

My internet friends CJ and Kathy are part of this meme where you post your all time favorite films.   I'm not sure I have more than about FOUR favorite films, but I have films I have seen that I can share.  However, unlike CJ, who says the meme cites there is no need to explain why you like the film, I prefer the way my internet friend Birgit reviews films (often hilarious, many times irreverent, but always in a polite and kind way).  Her synopses are not to be missed. If you aren't familiar with her movie reviews, please check out her blog.

One thing you should know about my choice is you won't find any "chick flicks" here and any romance is simply a side effect of the major overall film. 

Today, my choice is Apollo 13.  Released June 30th, 1995, Apollo 13 stars Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise.  It is one of the few films I saw in a first release movie theater.

This is based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon. Astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but were moved up to 13. It was 1970, and the US had already achieved their lunar landing goal, so there was little interest in this "routine" flight, until that is, things went very wrong, and prospects of a safe return faded like a setting sun. 

Everything was going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit according to astronauts Lovell, Haise, and Swigert.  However, when an oxygen tank exploded, the scheduled moon landing was called off.  Subsequent tensions within the crew and numerous technical problems threatened both the astronauts' survival and their safe return to Earth.

What I loved about this film was when the three men isolated themselves in the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) and realized they would run out of oxygen faster than anticipated, since only two people were originally supposed to fit in the LEM.  When the ground team realized the LEM filters were round, and the Command Module filters on the craft were square, a team was put together to create a filtration system from the limited supplies found on the craft itself.  This was truly a human factors problem (my area of expertise), and it made the film even more realistic to me.  

My date was sitting on the edge of his seat and told me it was a thriller and amazed that it was based on real events.  Even Hollywood couldn't make this one up.  The irony is, when Apollo 13 took off, there was practically no interest to show photos of the craft headed to space.  The news outlets didn't even take an interest when the crew sent a video back to earth.  However, once the problem was known, the entire world was watching in anticipation and bated breath.

Although it's often called a docudrama, to me it's really a heart pounding thriller even though you know how it ends.

You can catch this film on Netflix or you can rent it on YouTube. 

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies will be on hiatus next Saturday, since I will be welcoming our new host at Art Journal Journey.