Apollo 13 [Blu-ray]

At some point in the publicity surrounding the 1995 film "Apollo 13" I had occasion to hear the real Jim Lovell say the word's "Houston we have a problem" that signaled to NASA that a routine mission to the moon had become a life and death situation. If you did not know what Lovell was saying I doubt that you would be able to tell any difference in his tone from anything else he said during the mission. With that baseline in my mind every time I have watched "Apollo 13" since then I have been aware that Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon as astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert are a lot more emotional then than their real world counterparts. However, that does not take away from my enjoyment of this film. When I was in the first grade when my father was stationed in Orlando, Florida, we would go outside and watch the Mercury missions take off from Cape Canaveral. We were in Japan when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, an event that we were able to watch on Japanese TV. So the idea that going to the moon was "routine" is inherently offensive and I easily picture a universe in which Fate cripples Apollo 13 as reminder to humanity not to take sending men to the moon in a small capsule for granted. The best part of Ron Howard's film takes place on earth as the NASA team headed by Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) has to deal with the disaster and the potential of losing the crew. When one of the adminsitrators declares that this could be the worst disaster NASA has ever faced, Kranz insists, "With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour." Indeed, watching NASA literally true to figure out how to get a square peg into a round hole is the most captivating part. After the explosion cripples Apollo 13 the three astronauts spend most of their time waiting in their freezing lunar module for the few times when they can actually do something while former crew member Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise), pulled from the mission because he was exposed to measles, tries to figure out how to turn on the capsule's power without using too many amps (Stop and think about how weird that is to have as a tense situation). The space shuttle disasters with "Challenger" and "Columbia" are a subtext for this movie because those two times there was nothing NASA could do. By the time they knew there was a problem, the astronauts were gone. This time, there is things that can be done, and despite all the rocket scientists running around the place, it is good old fashion American problem solving that matters here. As Kranz says at one point, "I don't care about what anything was DESIGNED to do, I care about what it CAN do," and there is a sense in which NASA jury rigs a final solution. Kathleen Quinlan plays Marilyn Lovell, the wife who has to suffer while her husband's mission is ignored (the networks will not show the crew's television broadcast) and then as the entire word waits to see if he and his crewmates are going to die in space. However, the bit role I like is Jean Speegle Howard as Blanch Lovell, Jim's mom. Blanch is in a retirement home and is not always clear on what is going on; when Marilyn assigned Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to distract her from the worst predictions of disaster on television as Apollo 13 heads back to earth she wonders if they work with her son. But when Marilyn and the kids first tell her about what is happening with the mission and she notices her granddaughter is scared, she tells her: "Don't you worry. If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it." Much was made about what the cast and crew went through to make "Apollo 13," during zero-G dives in an aircraft containing a capsule set to film the weightlessness scenes. But as much as the film and the story about technology, both really come down to the human beings. Harris and Quinlan were both nominated for their supporting roles and the film was up for Best Picture, but was one of those rare nominees that directed itself (i.e., Howard was not nominated) and won Oscars for Film Editing and Sound. If you watch "From the Earth to the Moon," produced by Hanks, you will find the episode of Apollo 13 takes a different tack from both this movie and the rest of that series that is rather interesting as well.

I don't think it matters whether you remember the story of the Apollo 13 space mission or not. Whether you know the ending or whether you were otherwise occupied at the time in 1970, the tension created and maintained by the fine script (by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert with uncredited help from John Sayles) and the direction of Ron Howard will compel your interest. And when the resolution comes it will command your emotions. Part of the success of this movie goes to the fine acting by Tom Hanks, who is, in a professional and psychological sense, very much like those fly boys with the Right Stuff who fearlessly left our comfort cocoon here on earth and ventured into the cold, dark airlessness of space for glory and honor and maybe for proof of their manhood. Like the astronauts depicted, Tom Hanks is always on task and always delivers an arresting and believable performance. Ed Harris, who played the flight director in Houston was also excellent as was Kevin Bacon as the replacement astronaut who had to fly the ship. In fact the entire cast, especially a whole lot of people with small roles as part of the nearly anonymous support techno nerds at NASA, gave believable and compelling performances. A lot of the credit for that has to go to Ron Howard, who made sure that they all looked the way they were suppose to look. After all, they were engaged in the success or failure of the mission in the most immediate sense. I also was very much moved by the musical score by James Horner. When you have an extraterrestrial epic, you need the music of the spheres, and Horner provided that. The music was so triumphantly married to the events and to the cosmic adventure, that it inspired without drawing undue attention to itself. It is one of the most beautiful film scores I have ever heard. Although this was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, it won only two, for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Perhaps the movie was considered too much of a purely commercial venture at the time (and because of the budget it was largely that of course), and perhaps Howard's direction and intention seemed very much by the book. However I think the final result turned out to be more than some thought when it was released in 1995. It is a heroic epic, with a worthy theme, professionally done. Everybody worked hard for veracity and they certainly convinced me. Nonetheless there is perhaps something missing here. Although the sheer horror of dying in the cold vacuum of space or being burned up by a too rapid descent into the atmosphere is kept very much on our minds, there is a level of psychological reality that lives within the heart and soul of the astronaut and within the astronaut's family that was attempted here but not entirely achieved. See this for Ron Howard who did a great job as director and for Tom Hanks, one of the most charismatic actors of our time, and especially for astronaut Jim Lovell who lived it and (with help from Jeffrey Kluger) wrote the book Lost Moon (1994) upon which the film was based.

Great movie and we loved Tom Hanks

Great movie, originally saw it at the cinema but the home experience was just as exciting. The interviews with key people was also really informative. Well worth buying

Apollo 13 4K São 2 discos. Dublado e legendado em Português-BR nos dois discos.

Ron Howard's epic masterpiece is presented well in this beautifully mastered DVD. Brilliantly clear with amazing sound, viewing it is like watching it in the theater, as I did in 1995, when the realistic surround sound kept you on the edge of your seat, your heart pounding. Television news footage featured throughout took me back to 1970, when I witnessed the events live, unable to leave the living room. Feeling the hair rise on the back of your neck reminds you of those same emotions of fear for the astronauts' lives, as well as awe for the technical teams whose ingenuity brought them home safely to earth. James Horner's powerful original score underlines brilliant direction by Howard. It was a collaboration of two masters bringing their best to their art. Bonus material gives insight into the intricacies of the task of being faithful to the original events, with interviews with the original teams carefully interspersed with Howard's cast footage. I highly recommend this exceptional film - it is a faithful representation of one of the most harrowing events in the Apollo program.

Apollo 13 20th annivrsary edition BD USA版の感想です。 公開当時、映画館で観ました。 （予想通りの良い作品でした。） それ以来、映画館に行っていないのでこれが映画館で観た最後の作品になりそうです。 BDはブルーレイらしいきれいな画面です。 日本語音声、字幕もありますが、字幕が途中で本編と合っていないので無しと思って下さい。 特典映像もあり、値段の割にお得感があります。 内容はアポロ１３号に起きた事故を乗り越え、地球までの帰還を描いたもので 窮地に立たされた人間の知恵と勇気を描いています。 それにしても俳優さんたちが皆若く見え、時が経ったのだと感じます。