Shanelle ..I own this on bluray and cry as much as you. Ron Howard is such a great director. You know what space movie that you will love 2018's "First Man" it a movie about Neil Armstrong.
13 is just a number like any other number, it has absolutely no significance. Unicorns aren't real and neither are gods, and certainly not unlucky numbers.
The number 13 has never been lucky or unlucky to me. Even Friday 13th has been just another ordinary day. I was 22 when Apollo 13 was launched. I lived through this and tried to be positive, but there were times. When they went behind the moon I went outside and looked at it. My stomach was tied in knots. When they emerged from the other side and an hour later when they fired the LM engine to speed up to get back sooner, I felt better but they weren't home yet. I was able to go out with my father to eat supper even though my stomach was still queasy. I got it all down. They had to power everything down to a bare minimum and they got really cold. Can you imagine living in a refrigerator for three days? That is what it was like for the astronauts until they splashed down in the Pacific. When I saw those three big beautiful; parachutes, I knew they made it. I almost forgot the Richmond Braves were to open their season that night, but still went to the game. All of those 13s were a bit unusual but were just a coincidence.
@ShanelleRiccio i get your adversion to the number 13 but look at it from NASA these are scientists they are not the superstitious type. Neither am i 13 is just a number just anything else.
The movie critic for my home town newspaper wrote, "I've seen so many people die in movies this year, so many populations on the brink of distruction, but the first time I was really scared by a movie was watching a story which I knew, for a fact, had a happy ending." I've watched this many times, and when Lovell's little boy asks, "Was it the door?" my heart drops every time.
I feel this exact way every time I watch this movie... it gets me stressed and worried for the crew, despite knowing full well that everything will just be fine. How can a movie be crafted so well to bring you that feeling?! I marvel at it.
Jim Lovell spoke at my college graduation a few weeks before this movie came out. It was a great speech about perseverance and solving problems through life. Very moving speech, and this movie holds a special place for me because of that speech.
@@ShanelleRiccio For more space related movies, check out The Right Stuff (1983). It follows the early space program (called Mercury), which preceded the Apollo program, with the selection process for the first seven astronauts, and their first missions into space. Funnily enough Ed Harris is in that one too, along with so many highly recognizable actors. :)
I don't usually go through other replies but based on what she was saying yes she needs to know this really did happen Apollo 1 is tragic but we did lose another 14 astronauts and our endeavour to go into space but like other great explorers in the end it's necessary
@@ShanelleRiccio jim Lovell was the real deal he was in his day the most reavelled astronaut in the world he had more time in space then anyone. I do love that this movie shows how NASA was our best problem solvers. I also get your aversion 13 but NASA is bunch scientist they dont believe in luck bad or otherwise. To them 13 is just another number i agree as well.
Just a few things: 1. Swigert was as experienced and as well trained to pilot the Apollo 13 mission as Mattingly. He was even THE Apollo program's expert for emergency procedures for accidents like the one that happened during the mission. 2. When you listen to the real radio recordings of the mission, you'll hear how calm and focused they all were right after the explosion. You'd think nothing actually bad has happened. 3. The three astronauts never had a fight on board. 4. They already knew how to connect the LEM's filter with the filters from the command module. They just rebuilt it to make sure it would really work. 5. Same thing with Mattingly in the simulator. They already had all the procedures ready to restart the command module, they just wanted to make sure it'll work and that they get all the things right.
Yeah, the astronauts were a cold-blooded bunch, in the best way. But that made for a boring movie, so they added the arguments to make it more relatable to the audience. ... From what I've read, they had to develop the restart procedures, but it wasn't all Mattingly's doing. Again, storytelling took precedence over history.
@@Caseytify Ken wasn't working alone; the other two astronauts of the back-up team, John Young and Charlie Duke (who walked on the moon in Apollo 16 while Ken was orbiting) were there, too. Charlie was over the measles by then. When 16 rolled around, the three astronauts were sent on a trip to Hawai'i to simulate conditions on the moon by walking around the lava beds. Charlie somehow managed to catch pneumonia (in Hawai'i, no less!) and they were worried he wouldn't be over it in time for the launch in March (this was December). However, other technical problems necessitated pushing the launch back to April, which not only proved lucky for Charlie, but also the mission as the delay let them catch a problem with the fuel bladders, saving another aborted (or worse) mission. (There was no discussion of just doing a one-for-one swap if Charlie hadn't been ready; NASA had learned their lesson. So if the March launch had stayed on the calendar, NASA would have used the back-up crew, with Fred Haise in charge of Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell, and Charlie would have screwed Ken out of TWO trips to space, lol.) When the Apollo 16 astronauts were in quarantine before the launch, Charlie was spotted around the hotel pool and NASA was furious. Except it wasn't him, it was his twin brother, Bill. Oops. And then they went to the moon and everything was fine. Charlie Duke, after all the drama, became the youngest person ever to walk on the moon. At least, for now. Manned moon landings are supposed to resume in 2025 with the Artemis 3 mission, but none of the 18 astronauts that are candidates for Artemis would be young enough to break Charlie's record (he was 36 years and 6 months old), so it's safe until we get a new candidate pool, assuming the program lasts.
@@Caseytify I think Stanley Kubrick is the only director who ever did it properly and had realistically stoic, unflappable astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which ironically *isn't* based on a true story.
I was in elementary school when the Apollo 13 drama unfolded. All our classes were suddenly cancelled, and instead the school rolled in television sets for us to watch the re-entry and splashdown. I was happy about the classes being cancelled, but then I noticed that all the teachers looked scared. And I clearly remember the re-entry radio silence thing. One young teacher was really freaking out during those silent minutes, if I recall. And then the teachers began cheering when we saw the capsule and parachutes. We all cheered. It was very, very dramatic.
I was in 6th grade when the Challenger exploded. We weren't watching it on tv. The classroom I was in didn't have intercoms, they had a phone on the wall that had a light that would flash if the teacher got a call from the office. The phone started to flash, the teacher picked it up, and after a moment or two she looked visibly shocked. She collected herself, turned to us and told us the Challenger blew up.
I was a senior in high school when the Challenger exploded. The high school teacher I had was a personal friend of Christa McAuliffe , which they attended the same school. Until the day of the disaster, I had never seen a grown man fell to the floor, ball up into a fetal position while sitting on the floor and broke down into a flood of tears for a very, very long time. As a class we were completely stunned. R.I.P. Christa McAuliffe and the valiant crew of the Challenger.
NASA admits we can't even go beyond low Earth orbit today which starts at like 90 miles up so this is obviously all fiction to anyone that does a small amount of research and uses common sense
The great thing about Hank's "From the Earth to the Moon" miniseries, is that each episode explores the space race from a different angle. I especially like the geology episode and how it makes you passionate for it. Despite the setbacks, it's one of the most hopeful things you'll ever watch, in movies or on TV.
Although "From the Earth to the Moon" does introduce a bit of a plot hole with "Apollo 13"; in the latter, the public affairs officer, Henry Hurt, says to Marilyn Lovell, "One of them said we made going to the Moon as exciting as taking a trip to Pittsburgh." Whereas we see in "From the Earth to the Moon", the episode which focuses on Apollo 12, clearly that isn't true. Either that or NASA made the wrong decision to not simply have Pete Conrad on VOX the whole way.
@@fallingstar9643 Having Pete Conrad on VOX all the way WOULD make things a LOT more exciting. But not in a way that NASA would ever... EVER... want! Conrad was a pro. But he was absolutely NAVY down to his almost complete lack of a language filter! LMAO!!! 🤣🤣🤣
This movie was behind me building my first home theater, and the beginning of my quest for true low frequency, shake the walls sound. October Sky is a great true story follow on movie.
Ron Howard is a great filmmaker. Another excellent Howard flick is “Backdraft.” The Apollo 13 mission is epic. The movie is based on the book, “Lost Moon,” by Jim Lovell. The true genius of this movie is that everyone knows how it ends but Ron keeps us all stressed the entire time. I’ve seen this movie so many times but I still cheer every time. I can’t imagine how it is for people without knowledge of the incident. Gene Krantz’s wife made him a vest for every mission, thus the significance of the vest. With the exception of the argument between the astronauts, all of this stuff happened. You need to watch the HBO 10 part series, “From The Earth To The Moon.” Tom Hanks did it after this movie. It’s like “Band of Brothers,” and “The Pacific.” Also, do “The Right Stuff.” It’s about the creation of NASA and the Mercury program.
I was 10 years old when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. I got to stay up late that night and watch the whole Moonwalk live on TV as it happened. I'll never forget how I felt that night or the look on my Dad's face while it all took place in front of our eyes. Several years ago I got to hear a presentsation by Gene Kranz at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh and later I got to meet Fred Haise who sat one seat away from me and chatted with several of us Space geeks. What an amazing man. Thanks for another great video!
I had to laugh a little when you mentioned how good the "screenplay" was when Marilyn lost her wedding ring down the drain. _Apollo 13_ is probably as close to a straightforward reenactment of the actual events as Hollywood's ever gotten. Marilyn dropping her wedding ring into the drain, her nightmare in the lead-up, the square-canister-in-round-hole problem, Fred Haise contracting a UTI, Jim Lovell removing his bio-sensors, the longer-than-expected radio blackout after re-entry - it's all basically true to actual events as recounted by Jim Lovell, with only small alterations (Marilyn did end up recover her wedding ring, Ken Mattingly wasn't exposed to true measles but to rubella (German measles), that kind of thing). The story is simply so extraordinary all on its own that there was no need to add any major fictionalised elements to the screenplay at all. An incredible movie about a real catastrophe overcome by the ingenuity and courage of real people
One of my favorite movies which I guess you could call it a "space movie" is Hidden Figures. It is about the early days of NASA. Along with this movie and the Martian, it seems sort of like a trilogy of the important steps in getting into space. Of course, with Hidden Figures, it is also how some critically important contributors were for a long time overlooked. Movie tears me up no matter how often I watch it.
I was around 12 when the real life event happened. The film really captured it well, the small changes Ron made to heighten the tension worked great without making it too far from what actually occurred. As a space follower my whole life I am always amazed when I find out people don't know the history.
If you haven't already you should watch Hidden Figures. It's about Katherine Johnson who unfortunately was omitted during this film. Mathematical genius.
What's so amazing is how tense and on the edge of your seat this movie keeps you, even if you already knew how it all turned out before you started watching.
This was based on Jim Lovell's memoir originally titled "Lost Moon" later retitled "Apollo 13" to tie-in to the movie. Nearly everything in the movie occurred in real life, though dramatically heightened. Definitely a great read!
Growing up, Walter Cronkite was the man. His voice and delivery gave weight to the information he passed to us. I enjoy hearing it today. I flew the 'Vomit Comet' in a flight sim mission. Upon reaching a specific altitude at the proper speed and climb rate, we begin to nose down at a specific rate which is like some roller coasters when you leave your seat. Losing altitude and increasing speed is why 20 seconds is the safety margin to begin leveling the plane. It's not a fighter jet :)
I saw this in the theater but also in real life. All of America was glued to the news 24-7. My strongest memory was laying with my mother while we waited for Apollo 13 to come around the dark side of the moon.
The brilliance is in the execution of a plot you know the end of before it starts and yet still manage to feel every ounce of the tension the characters feel.
What I love about good space movies (most notably this one and The Martian) is that there are no bad guys. Just smart problem solving, people coming together to help other people survive. Comes to show that a good story doesn't necessarily needs a villain.
Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity to run the ship. Oxygen is not just used for breathing, it is also mixed with the hydrogen to create electricity and the byproduct would be water for drinking.
One of the few details they got wrong was the nozzles of the five F-1 engines during the launch scene. The real nozzles were clad in inconel sheet metal for thermal shielding which gave them a very scrappy looking appearance. It was among the final steps in assembling the rocket before flight, so none of the unused engines that went to museums include the cladding. The film's artists used museum pieces for reference, thus missing the detail.
This movie is so well done. I was 14 when this happened for real and remember following it on television. I also remember all the churches in town holding special prayer meetings to get them home safely.
One of the best movies ever. We know how it ends, we know what happens, we know they make it… but it’s SO stressful every time! Ron Howard’s masterpiece!
The news footage in the movie is actual news footage from television at the time. I was in high school when this happened and absolutely everyone was just glued to the TV. Because there was no internet or 24/7 news channels to get information it was random breaks in TV shows for information.
They couldn't pay you enough to go to the Moon? I'd gleefully give them every last penny I have to go to the Moon. I was four when Armstrong set foot on the Moon. It's mixed in with my sister's birth, which happened a week apart, but I remember it. I remember Apollo 13 as a disaster for which there could be no rescue. Only later in life did I learn about how harrowing it was. Ron Howard took some liberties with events and time -- it was actually _worse_ than what Howard portrayed. However, it's close enough that it doesn't matter. Excellent film. I never tire of it.
I was really into all sorts of space stuff as a kid in the 80's. When my parents realized it wasn't just the science-fiction but real stuff as well, they of course told me of the space race, the first moon landing, and ... the time it felt like the ENTIRE world held their breath hoping three astronauts would make it back home. At least the entire western world was watching, like my parents here in Norway. (and shortly after they told me about this was when I witnessed the Challenger disaster live on TV) So when this movie was made, I didn't expect it to be a good adaptation, you know? It is one of the best movies ever. I absolutely love it.
Great reaction, Shanelle! I saw this movie in the theater with my Dad. He especially liked Dick Cavett's line: "I like those ingenious girl watchers who put on Con Edison helmets and dig trenches in the street..." (My Dad is a Con Edison retiree who worked there for over 45 years.)
Fun Fact: Jim Lovell has a cameo at the end of the film. He’s the Naval Captain Tom Hanks shakes hands with when he steps off the helicopter. Several years later, Jim Lovell made a speech when Tom Hanks received his AFI award.
"Steely eyed missile man" is one of the highest compliments a person can receive at NASA. The real ending wasn't quite that dramatic. They started receiving telemetry from Odyssey right when they were supposed to.
Watching this in theatre gave it an additional dimension in my opinion. Of course, the big screen, the sound etc. But also, you sit in the dark watching people sit in the dark. That adds quite a bit.
There were many, many people working in other rooms to produce what was displayed on the screens in the main Mission Control room. That wasn't only computer data, it was information that other unseen people worked hard to produce. Each person in Mission Control represented an entire team that we rarely ever get to see or hear about.
14:37 : "We can isolate it there, we can save what's left." And there he is, ladies and gentlemen, none other than Clint Howard ... Ron Howard's brother. He makes appearances as a character actor in many films, and I always take great joy in finding him. Like the way Bill Murray's brother, Brian Doyle Murray, shows up from time to time (the Mayor of Punxsutawney in Groundhog Day). So glad that Clint made the cut in this reaction! 😁
I am 71 and I got to see a lot of the coverage of the Apollo 13 mission. My Dad said they should use the LEM as a lifeboat even before they reported that. There were a lot of people praying for their safe return to earth.
Ron Howard as kid played 10-yo Winthrop Paroo in the classic 1962 Music Man (singing Gary Indiana). He also played Sheriff Andy's son on the tv series, Andy Griffith Show. As a teenager, he was a main character in Happy Days. All this before his successful career as a director.
The Command module and LEM interiors were made by SpaceWorks in Hutchinson, Kansas, a shop affiliated with the Kansas Cosmosphere, (the best aviation/space museum that nobody has ever heard of). The recreations were loaded on a 707, then flown in parabolic arcs with cameras on board, to film the weightless shot. One of the best shots in the movie, IMO, is when they take their helmets and gloves off after the launch. Paxton and Bacon seem to be genuinely amused seeing all their gear floating around.
The Apollo 13 command module "Odyssey" is displayed at the Kansas Cosmosphere, along with "Liberty Bell 7", Gus Grissoms Mercury "spacecraft", which was recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic in 1999. Along with a Russian Soyuz, and (reportedly) the largest display of Russian/Soviet space equipment outside of Russia. Really. A fantastic museum, especially when you consider where it is. The locals decided they wanted to have a first class space museum, and they made it happen.
I remember watching this with my parents on our 24” console tv and VHS. We purchased the it from Target, which we had to exchange because the first tape we got was blank.
Fun bit of trivia if you like space movies: The phrase "Steely eyed missile man", used in this movie and The Martian (and probably others) is an unofficial title of honor used within NASA. It originates from Apollo 12, in which the mission was almost aborted moments after launch when the rocket was hit by lightning, causing garbled telemetry data in the command module. John Aaron (the guy who's concerned with the electricity usage in this movie), thinking quickly, recommended a highly obscure remedy (set SCE to Aux) which would allow the Signal Conditioning Equipment to function with low voltage, and thankfully one member of the crew (Alan Bean) knew where the switch (one out of hundreds) was to do that, and the mission was saved. John Aaron was given the title by his colleagues for his quick thinking under pressure and obscure knowledge.
The 0g effects were created by using NASA's "Vomit Comet", a custom airplane designed to simulate 0g by going to a high altitude then plummeting down at the rate of gravity. They were only able to do shots of about 30 seconds each in plane before coming out of the dive and going back up to altitude for the next shot. My father was a career military journalist. I was only four years old in 1970, so I don't remember any of it happening. My dad happened to be on the ship that recovered Apollo 13 from its emergency splashdown, the only photojournalist on board. He was on his way to SE Asia when the ship was rerouted for the recovery. Any still photos that you see of the splashdown and recovery were taken by my dad. I wish that he had lived long enough to see this movie. He would have loved it. As for historical accuracy, the History Buffs channel has done a very good exploration of that. Other than some stress added for dramatic effect, the movie is very accurate.
The part where Ed Harris tears up after he fell back in his chair was a lot of work for him. The director watched an interview with Gene Crantz where he was so emotional talking about what happened that he almost couldn't contain his tears. The director then told Harris "that's what I want from you."
It's a wonderful moment. Amidst all the clichéd cheering and paper-throwing, the true emotional reaction to a good outcome after several days of relentless tension is exactly as portrayed by Ed Harris.
In Gene Kranz's autobiography "Failure is Not an Option", he describes the tense final hours in Mission Control; his sweaty palms curling the corners of the log-book, the deep gouges cut by his pen as he notes various events, the "seconds [turning] into minutes and minutes into infinity". It was a full 1 minute 28 seconds past the expected time before they had acquisition of signal. There was a brief cheer or gasp for breath around the room, but as the real Gene noted, "if a controller ever did that before the mission was over and the crew was on the carrier, that would be the last time he sat at a console." Because they were professionals. Consummate professionals. Even when Gene found "himself crying unabashedly, then I try to suck it in, realizing this is inappropriate. But it doesn't work; it only gets worse. I was standing at the console crying." ... it's an amazing book, well worth a read.
I have a very interesting history with this movie. In 1995, when it came out, my parents took my sister and I to see Pocahontas at the drive-in, but the projector wasn't working, and after about an hour or two, they gave us a voucher for a free movie. Apollo 13 hadn't started yet, so my parents decided to see it instead...but my sister and I had already fallen asleep. Six years later, my sixth grade humanities teacher showed Apollo 13 to us in class when we were studying the '60s and the space race. Finally, I rewatched it last weekend (I had the DVD in my collection, but I hadn't watched it in over 20 years). Despite knowing exactly how it ends and having seen it before, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. This is an amazing movie, and I feel like the older I get, the more I appreciate it. Also, because this is a Ron Howard movie, his family is in here. Brother Clint was one of the NASA scientists, mom Jean was Jim Lovell's mom, dad Rance was the minister (he has no lines, but he's sitting next to Marilyn Lovell on the couch during the reentry). Even 14-year-old Bryce Dallas Howard has a cameo (along with Ron's wife Cheryl) during the scene where the families are saying goodbye to the astronauts.
The way Gene said "I believe this is going to be our finest hour" is so perfectly appropriate, tying into why the mission was a "successful failure". It really was NASA's finest hour, and still is to this day. Its greatest accomplishments have generally happened while a mission was, at least at that point, going according to plan. This is the only time the whole mission went out the window with any slim hope of maybe finding a way to bring the astronauts back... And they brought them back. I just hope the next time something happens to a manned spacecraft that doesn't immediately kill everyone on board, that mission control is being staffed by people as dedicated as the ones that were there for this.
One thing to note: Even in the tight shots of just the three astronauts, they are positioned in a way that they would be in weightlessness, so you can't really tell how the shot was achieved, meaning who is actually hanging upside down vs. who is right side up. One scene I was always impressed with was Bacon being upside down and eating, while the other two were seemingly right side up, all while no one appeared to be hanging in a set that actually had gravity. It makes you stop and think about how right side up and upside down don't really exist in space. Amazing filmmaking! PS: The Captain who shakes Tom Hanks' hand at 29:34 is in fact the real Captain Jim Lovell. Ron Howard offered Captain Lovell the role of an Admiral, but he declined, preferring to appear in the rank he retired at.
I love this movie! I was 9 when Apollo 13 actually happened. Back then we had favorite astronauts like kids have favorite ball players. My favorite astronaut was one of the people who died in the Apollo 1 fire. I went to Catholic school and we had daily mass to pray for the Apollo 13 astronauts safe return after the accident. i was in my 30's when I saw it in the theater, I was surprised how I cried when I watched it. The memories came crashing back! I still cry when the little boy asks "Is it the door?"
When My grandfather was nine, in 1903, the Wright brothers made their flight. In 1969, when I was nine, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, only 66 years later. I remember watching it live on TV. It was the most exiting thing I ever saw. Not even the Canada-Russia Hockey tournament in 1972 could match it.
I love this movie. the whole 'houston, we have a problem'' thing, even though it WAS taken from the audio logs of the actual mission, has got to be the most over-quoted and joked-to-death things to ever come out of hollywood. we're even seeing kids movies with characters named ''Houston'' JUST so they can make that reference at one point. It gets old. Anyway, enough of my old-man ranting. thanks for the video Shanelle. It was great watching you enjoying this modern classic
Never thought about it before, but now I think the "Second time it's done that" is a forboding after talking about the previous accident he was talking about. How things so rarely go wrong like that and then saying "second time that's happened" is either forshadowing/forboding or giving us another glimpse of his wifes fear of it happening again.
Ron Howard has many members of his family in this movie. His *daughter* Dallas (now a director herself) plays a kid in the scene where the families are waiting on the opposite side of the dirt road from the astronauts; his *mother* plays Jim Lovell's mother; his *brother* Clint plays Sy, the guy at mission control who recommends they shut down the fuel cell to stop the leak; and his *father* plays the priest at Jim Lovell's house.
The line that sends a shiver up my spine is "Gentlemen, it's been a privilege flying with you." As he says that, he knows they could all three be dead, within the next 3 minutes.
I was a projectionist at an 8 screen theater when this movie came out. I watched the launch scene probably 20+ times while we had Apollo 13. I'd start other movies early or late so I could be in the theater to watch the launch scene. It was amazing to see it on a massive screen with surround sound.
Last suggestion, promise, Enemy Mine. it's a space movie without all the fighting and explosions, a drama between a human and alien who are enemy soldiers that shot each other's ship down on a barren planet without any hope of being rescued. It stars Dennis Quaid (The sane Quaid brother) and Louis Gossett Jr. Edit: even I get the Quaids mixed up, said Randy, the guano crazy brother.
19:40 The part where they have to solve the issue with the CO2 scrubbers, making a square peg fit into a round hole, Jack Black's mother (yes that Jack Black, Tenacious D, Jumanji reboots) was 1 of the people who worked on the problem. Both his parents are actual rocket scientists.
The 'for this to fit in the hole for this' scene was my 'Houston, we have a problem' moment, given how much the actual event moved me when I saw it in a documentary film (...in the 90s?)
I was 14, and still very well remembered the deaths of astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffey in the Apollo 1 fire. My most vivid memories of Apollo13 were the clear knowledge that the entire globe had stopped doing anything except holding their breath for all those days, hoping and praying. And I was terrified by the discription of the paper-thin angle of atmospheric entry that would bring them home, rather than burn them alive, or send them skipping off to their death in space. What a time. You think watching the 2-hour movie is stressful. LOL!!
As a massive science geek who loves all things astronomy, cosmology and astrophysics the reason I love this movie is that it's the most historically and scientifically accurate movie ever made, ever, in all of human history. Full stop.
@ShanelleRiccio I just remembered this video on Astrum's channel called "Artemis 1's Attempts To Reclaim The Moon Blew Us Away", a short 17 minute documentary on NASA's Artemis missions to colonize the moon. The space-test dummies are named Compos after Arturo Compos, the engineer who designed the fix for the Apollo 13 oxygen tank disaster. Did you know he won the Medal of Freedom for doing that? Humans will be going to the moon again in a couple years or less.
Ron Howard made this as a family movie; his brother Clint Howard has some lines in the control room scenes, and Ron's mother played Jim Lovell's mother in the scene where she was greeted by Armstrong and Aldrin.
I did a demonstration in my 10th grade science class with the same exact models Tom used. The first time the students had actually seen the mission in detail besides stuff in the paper. The teacher was very impressed with my model work and answering detailed questions. The kids didn't look at me the same after that.
Tom Hanks in the 90s was just unstoppable. Apollo 13 was Hanks at the height of his career. But if you were around in the 90s, it was like hit movie after hit movie for him.
Enjoyed your reaction. A true fact soon after the safe return is Grumman Aerospace Corporation (manufacturer of the LEM/Lunar Excursion Module) used as a lifeboat had some fun at posting a $312,421.24 bill to North American Rockwell (manufacturer of the Command Module) for towing services. North American Rockwell, on receiving the invoice, had its Houston auditor examine it. Then the public relations director of its Downey, Calif. space division, Earl Blount, with a poker face issued a statement. He said that Grumman, before sending such an invoice, should remember that North American Rockwell had not received payment for ferrying [Lunar Modules] on previous trips to the moon. LOL
I saw this film when it came out in 1995. It was when I finally knew what had happened. In April 1970, I was in the Army going to Signal School at Ft. Gordon, GA now Ft. Eisenhower. We did not have access to a TV and heard just a little about it on the radio. Since they came home safely, I did not hear about the details. I have a different additude about these events. My father was an Air Force pilot, he flew B-36s and B-52s. You realize early that these things crash and your father might not come home. You don't dwell on it but it is always in the back of your mind.
Ron Howard's younger brother, Clint Howard, also an actor and has been in so many movies and TV shows including the Star Trek franchise, was one of the characters in Houston Control in this film.
I can't imagine how difficult this was to shoot for everyone involved. The plane that makes zero g possible can only create such an effect for 25 seconds at a time. That's assuming everything and everyone immediately gets used to zero g when everything starts floating all over the place. Staying in the moment as the character having to stop and start every 25 seconds while filming incredibly emotional moments would be incredibly difficult. It just makes the whole thing even more impressive watching with that in mind. There's a bunch of behind the scenes footage of the actors prepping for what it would be like and other stuff with Ron Howard actually filming. They also had to build their tiny set in the interior of the plane so it wasn't like they could pull the side off and get great angles. They had to shoot where the camera could fit. Again, that it looks as good as it does is a minor miracle.
I bring this up, just cause she mentioned that they did a similar thing in Gravity, using orbit. How movement in space is treated in movies is pretty unrealistic, overall. Gravity is movement, and speed is distance. Outside of course corrections and speeding up/slowing down, all movement in space is based off orbit. Speeding up increasing your orbital path, slowing down decreasing it. So for getting to the Moon from Earth, part way up you change angle to get into orbit. You then speed up to increase your orbital path until it crosses paths with the Moon's orbit. Once you're within the Moon's gravitational field, you can alter to use that as your new center for your orbital path. It's why they have to leave at very specific times. The less fuel they need to use to line up an intersection with the Moon's orbit, the better. Saying "We just put Issac Newton in the driver's seat" is like saying "We just put the steering wheel on the car"
Love this movie, did see it in the cinema. Ron Howard did say that this movie was difficult, because he needed to create suspense and stress in the audience, even though they already the final outcome... I think he succeeded brilliantly.
I was 20 when this movie came out. I was born 5 years after Apollo 13 so I didn’t know the story. Like you said it was very tense, especially during the re-entry scene. You could have heard a pin drop in the theatre, it was so quiet.
Ron Howard's brother, Clint Howard plays a character in Mission Control... their mother plays the grandmother character... and because he said his wife would never stop gloating that she got a part and he didn't, Howard's father played the priest.
Many of the zero gravity scenes were filmed in a so-called ""vomit comet", which is an airplane that flies in a special upward and then downward arc to simulate micro gravity for about 20 seconds at a time. They did over 200 of these flights!
Every aspect of the film and the actual event was just incredible. The fact that we had a catastrophic malfunction in space where we had everyone on the ground trying to figure out how to get them home and actually getting it done was nothing short of a miracle. This is just one of those movies that every time it is on, I watch it and it never gets old. In one of the last scenes where he says "Houston, this is Apollo 13. The ship is secured, signing off" gives me chills....
I remember seeing Apollo 13 along with Aliens, Predator , Jurassic Park, Starship Trooper and the best " Battlefield Earth" at the same Theater over many, many years. It was the "Centrury Plaza 10" in South San Francisco Ca, sadly closed and abandoned "All those moments lost in time, like tears in rain".
Fun fact. Jim Lovell actually said, “Houston, we’ve had a problem“ but Ron Howard didn’t think it had as much punch as “Houston, we have a problem” so he changed it.
A couple of Howard cameos in this one: Ron’s brother Clint in mission control with the thick glasses, and Ron’s mother plays Jim Lovell’s mom. If you loved this, you should definitely check out the Hanks HBO miniseries ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ about the entire Apollo program. 12 episodes; absolutely stunning!
