Apollo 13

 

Year of release

1995

Directed by

Ron Howard

Written by

Al Reinert

William Broyles Jr.

Starring

Tom Hanks

Kevin Bacon

Bill Paxton

Ed Harris

Gary Sinise

Apollo 13

    

 

Plot - The true story of the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission. In 1970, NASA has scheduled its third lunar landing on the moon. The crew selected are astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Ken Mattingly (Sinise) and Fred Haise (Paxton). When Mattingly is removed by the flight surgeon after being exposed to measles, he is replaced by back-up Jack Swigert (Bacon). The initial shuttle launch is successful but a mechanical fault causes an explosion which leaves their mission scrubbed and their hopes of returning home slim. Back at Mission Control, Mattingly, flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and the ground crew pull out all the stops to ensure the men can return home. A mission which was almost completely ignored by the American public suddenly becomes the biggest story in the world.

Ron Howard brings history to life with this commendable film. The whole event is remarkably recreated, particularly taking into account the fact that there is not a single piece of documentary or archival footage to be found in Apollo 13. This is all original material. So the special effects; the models, CGI etc that go into recreating the events, especially the shuttle launch itself are highly effective. With some sweeping camerawork and a stirring piece of music it's quite a grand, triumphant scene. While to recreate the effects of zero gravity the actors were flown in an airplane which can create the sensation of being weightless for 23 seconds at a time. And with Howard really concentrating on the minutiae of the whole operation the film really does have quite a docudrama feel to it.

The acting is very solid across the board. Though as a result of what is required of the characters I didn't feel there were really any big, attention-grabbing performances. Taking its cue from the real events which unfolded they are never really asked to perform in a showy or grandstanding manner. If this were a piece of fiction I imagine that the film would have given them ample occasions to show off; characters panicking and freaking out, fights between the crew etc. So while they are admirable in their own ways it's not a great surprise that none of the cast portraying members of the shuttle crew were nominated for any awards at the time. And as a result perhaps the most impressive aspect of the acting on show is the chemistry and camaraderie that the performers build between the cabin crew. Star turn amongst them for me would still belong to Tom Hanks however. And I think that's largely down to just what a perfect piece of casting it is. To become an astronaut has got to be just about the most American of pursuits, so who better to cast than Tom Hanks; the all-American everyman, the man of the people. Also very impressive to me were Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan as Lovell's wife.

Film Trivia Snippets - NASA regulations dictate that Tom Hanks could not actually become an astronaut in real life. The maximum height for an astronaut if exactly six feet, while Tom Hanks is 6'1”. /// Due to his portrayal of Jim Lovell in the film, Tom Hanks was honoured by having an asteroid named after him; “12818 Tomhanks” /// Before Tom Hanks came on board John Travolate turned down the role of Lovell, while Brad Pitt also turned down an offer to star in the film to make Se7en instead. /// There's a scene in the film where the NASA engineers are challenged to come up with an improvised solution to a problem on the shuttle using only items that the astronauts have on board. This scene proved the inspiration for Cathy Rogers to create the TV shows Scrapheap Challenge and Junkyard Wars.

I felt that the film accomplished a few nuances rather nicely. I think it captured the boyish sense of wonder very well when it comes to space and astronauts, the moon etc. There's a great little moment just after the shuttle has been launched and they've entered zero gravity. The crew begin to remove pieces of their equipment and allow them to float around the cabin, knocking them up into the air and laughing, really taken by the whole childlike novelty of it. Another thing I felt it handled well was the apathy that quickly set in when it came to space exploration. I think I touched on this a while back when I reviewed Capricorn One, but I'm absolutely amazed at how quickly people, particularly Americans, got bored with NASA and the moon and space shuttles etc. In 1969 when man landed on the moon it was one of the biggest events the world had ever seen. And yet just one year later and the launch of Apollo 13 generated barely no interest whatsoever, at least not until it was in peril that is. In the film, even one of the employees at NASA is more interested in watching a baseball game on the TV than experiencing the adventure of the crew. After I watched and reviewed the film I had a little look around at some other reviews for the film and really loved this little bit that Roger Ebert wrote on this phenomenon of indifference - “When I was a kid, they used to predict that by the year 2000, you'd be able to go to the moon. Nobody ever thought to predict that you'd be able to, but nobody would bother.”

The film really does help you to understand just how heroic these guys were, and perhaps just how insane they were! At one point Tom Hanks' character extols the computer at NASA which “fits in one room”; a computer which probably had the same amount of power as this little laptop I'm typing away on right this moment. And then there's the makeshift, ramshackle repairs that the men have to implicate if they are to make it home alive. It's like a damn arts and craft project from primary school. To willingly volunteer to take part in such an undertaking is an incredible feat of bravery and derring-do; really pioneering stuff.

While I admired the numerous qualities of the film it struggled to really involve me to a great degree. I think the fact it's such an enclosed and contained story certainly played a part in that, giving the film quite a stuffy atmosphere. As a result the scenes set in Mission Control or at Lovell's home provide a nice break. It's also a touch on the patriotic and sentimental side of things which you'd probably expect given the subject and Howard's involvement, but it does a decent job of just about keeping it in check.

Conclusion - This is certainly a prime example of fine film-making when it comes to creating a crowd pleaser, but one that just did not quite get my juices flowing like I hoped it would. With an excellent story as its source it had the potential to be something special, but personally I just felt that it was sabotaged a touch by its sentimental side and occasionally too obvious sense of storytelling. Though I do feel I'm perhaps being a touch harsh on it. Perhaps I was in a bit of a grumpy mood when I watched it. It wouldn't exactly be a rare occurrence.