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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I like this movie a lot. Yea...Tom Hanks overacts a bit, but I accept it as artistic license.

The movie has all the characteristics of the people who once made NASA great, but alas those are days gone by. I really doubt that they could accomplish the same success presently, and especially with O'keefe at the Helm. (Sorry...that last tirade belongs in the Soapbox section).

The movie is mostly factual and riveting and almost 10 years old! I like the graphics, the story line and the feel. I don't know where the hell I was mentally when this event occured, as I don't remember a thing about it. Only read about it later.

I almost met Jim Lovell - Commander of the Apollo 13 mission. I was at the Adler by my usual location with the telescope last year, when his driver came up to me and wanted a peek. He said that Lovell was inside the Planetarium giving a speech and when he comes out, he would direct him to me. Well I waited as long as I could, but the parks close at 11:00 pm here in Chicago, and I had to leave. Aw Shucks!

[MaryG]

Jim Lovell, local hero! There's a James Lovell Street in downtown Milwaukee. I think he has a school or two named after him too.

Joe, I was pretty small, but I do remember waiting with my parents by the TV, watching Walter Cronkite narrate the ship's final moments. The tension was unbelievable... I still recall how that all felt, especially when the extra time had elapsed. I had some sort of poster with stickers (I think they were replicas of official mission patches) to collect, and the 13 was my special favorite.

I used to live across the street from the military school that Lovell's son is shown attending as he waits with the rest of the world for any sign that his dad is alive. That whole sequence at the end of this movie is fantastic; I've probably seen it a hundred times, and it never fails to make me catch my breath and begin to tear up. I think it's one of the best last-ten-minutes of a movie ever.

And then it ends with this wonderful, softly-read line: "I look up at the moon and wonder: When will we be going back? And... who will that be?"

I think it's a great film, sometimes unfairly slagged by critics, probably just because the director is too "mainstream". But it's not a pandering mainstream flick, it's an intelligent, awe-inspiring, and thought-provoking one. And, yep, my fave space film!!!

[stargazer]

I loved this movie. It seemed to me like it was as close as you can get to finding out the real story about this mission. I plan on getting the book soon.

B

[martyn2005]

Just saw this movie for the first time, I had a watched a NASA made documentary about the flight about a week before I saw it and I was amazed at the factual detail and depth that the film makers went into. I think I enjoyed it more than had I not seen the documentary because some of the necessarily throw away technical jargon on the film actually made sense to me!!

Stargazer you should get the book (if you haven't already) (I just read the date on the thread!!) because it's amazing too, and co-written by Jim Lovell so extra authentic.

Great movie, wish i'd seen it in the cinemas on a big screen

Martyn

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A great movie indeed.

I like all the tech nomenclature, EVA, LEM, CAPCOM, etc...

But be sure to see "Magnificent Desolation", another good Hanks movie coming out in the fall.

I need to see it again soon!

[stargazer]

Ive seen the movie, the documentery and have read the book. I really think it was well done and really close to the real thing.

B