Apollo 13

I though this a great film, really showed the tension of the situation.

The build up to the launch is well done showing the drama of the issues created by the crew changes which builds the later health issues that arose.

I heard the real crew were that impressed with the launch footage they thought it was real & asked where it had been got from!. Equally convincing is the command center, if you saw the real event on TV you'll know they got very close.

Considering this is dramatization of real events and we all know what the outcome will be, Ron Howard still creates a film with a lot of tension getting you biting your nails like when it really happened!. I also really liked the way Ron deals with the way the public had become accustomed to the Apollo missions & were largely disinterested until suddenly it had all gone wrong & the crew looked likely to be lost!

If you can get the HD version then all the better, as the picture quality is great, despite the films age. The filmography makes full use of the format (2.35:1) so don't bother to view in pan/scan on a 4:3 set, as you will loose too much atmosphere.

The soundtrack is great, especially during the launch, but you would miss all that if viewing without the AC3 soundtrack through a suitable amp. As 50% of any film is the sound, clearly missing much of the sound would detract somewhat from your enjoyment of this.

So a brilliant film of a real situation that shows how people had to cope with very limited resources in a desperate situation, well acted directed & produced.

I saw this movie ages and ages ago, and i still think its a bad movie! typical, boring - go to space, 'huston, we have a problem' (famous tag line apparently said on the real mission). it was supposed to mimic closely what happened in reality with the apollo 13 mission, but it seemed like a bad, tasteless narrative. not worth it.