SYNOPSIS:
It
has been less than a year since man first walked on the moon, but as far
as the American public was concerned, Apollo 13 was just another “routine”
space flight until these words pierced the immense void of space: ”Houston,
we have a problem.” Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled
spacecraft, astronauts Jim Novell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack
Swigert (Bacon) fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission
Control, astronaut (Sinise), flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and a heroic
ground crew race against time- and the odds- to bring them home.
MOVIE
REVIEW :
Based
on the book “Lost Moon” by Apollo 13’s crew captain, Jim
Lovell, “Apollo 13” retells the failed lunar mission, which
was the 13th moon exploring mission launched at the 13th minutes in the
13th hour on April 13. The incident had once shaken the whole World, ironically
for the crew not been able to land on the moon. Who’s responsible
for the fault that had blown off part of the spacecraft was insignificant.
However, the race against time to bring the astronauts back home on Earth,
with millions around the World praying for them was rather moving and aspiring.
Through the incident, it seems that we Earthlings do have the big heart
to stand together against all odds in time of adversity.
For the movie, Director Ron Howard was blessed with a dream cast of Tom
Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise. While Tom Hanks
continue to shine and further proof that he is undisputable worthy to be
a two-time (consecutively!) Oscar winner in the Best Actor category, it
is Ed Harris composed and intrepid portrayal of Flight Director Gene Kranz
that had dominated the screen. The two screen titans fortunately did not
overshadow the remaining of the casts: Kevin Bacon usual cerebrating expression
had drawn audience’s empathy of his character; Bill Paxton and Gary
Sinise were also equally commendable for their performances, which added
much zest into the story.
The movie was filmed using groundbreaking techniques with the cast and crew
actually flew 38 000 feet above Earth in a training spacecraft to capture
those “zero gravity” scenes. The training spacecraft would climb
to a height and follow a path downward at two times the force of gravity,
giving the crew a mere 25 seconds of zero gravity. The filming thus took
place, in a fanatic pace, within the 25 seconds. For all the gravity defying
scenes you saw in the movie, the casts and crew had actually cruise 612
routine, up and down the path, amounting to a total of 3hrs and 54 minutes
of weightlessness. However, the experience of zero gravity in the training
spacecraft is nowhere close to pleasant. Besides the flight sickness, some
of the casts and crew had suffered injuries when the zero gravity ended
and they helplessly fell back on the filming equipment or the unpadded spacecraft
floorboard upon gravitational pull.
With many Hollywood filmmakers nowadays twisting historical facts, thinking
they are making their movie “marketable”, “Apollo 13”
sincere and factual treatment definitely put those filmmakers to shame!
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
Now
it is surprising to find a long list of bonus material on this code 3 discs.
If you have little time to spare, zoom directly into “Lost Moon: The
Triumph of Apollo 13 (The Making of Apollo 13)”, which comprises mostly
interviews with the casts and crews as well as the real person involved
in the incident. Thanks to the disc manufacturer for giving a “scene
selection” menu to this special feature, something not available in
most discs. Though conversation heavy, this is equally arresting as the
movie itself. You could practically felt those tense moments as the interviewees
recapture history. I am particularly moved when Flight Director, Gene Kranz
weeps as he re-accounts that moment he heard the voice of Jim Lovell reporting
that they had safely passed through the Earth atmosphere.
AUDIO:
The
volume of the conversation and background music were perfectly balanced
even though I had reviewed the DVD on my desktop. Bringing it back to my
proud audio systems of Altec Lensing speakers, I found no obvious problem
with the sound. You do not experience sudden blast from the background music
nor those whispering during conversation. Thumbs up for a code 3 title!
VISUAL:
Most
screen time in this movie was in outer space. It is unknown whether the
DVD manufacturer had done enhancement to the colours, the flight scenes
were still bright and colour-rich throughout even for this archive title
(the movie was made in 1995). It was also pleasing to note that there were
no halt and jump spotted during playback, which, coupled with the excellent
sound quality, makes this disc value for money.
THAT'S
ALL FOLKS!:
The hard work
and seamless performance put in by the filming casts and crew as well as
the courage and inspirations of the real life heroes and heroines will always
be well remembered whenever the movie were replayed in your home disc machine
or been telecast over TV station. I had watched the movie countless times
and it still glued me to my seat. Apollo 13 is no doubt always an A star
rating movie! However, with such outstanding space movie, I am wondering
whether any other filmmaker could ever surpass “Apollo 13”.
Hollywood, you have a problem!
MOVIE
RATING:A
DVD RATING: A
Review by Leosen Teo
