Apollo 13 is a 1995 production from Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. The movie is directed by Ron Howard, with the screenplay written by William Boyles Jr. and Al Reinert, based upon the book “Lost Moon” by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. The movie stars Tom Hanks in the main role, alongside Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon as his fellow astronauts. The cast is completed by the likes of Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The movie scores a good 7.6/10 on IMDb and received a similar 77 Metascore.
The Story
The story told in this movie, is a powerful one. The failed Apollo 13 mission itself is already an amazing story and therefore this movie needed to live up to those expectations. In my opinion, the second half of this movie delivered that, while the first half of the movie lacked in some regards a true story that could be followed.
The film starts slow, getting the viewer up to speed with the Apollo missions and the role of our main protagonist, Jim Lovell, in it. It shows Jim desire to be part of the select group of astronauts who have set foot on the Moon, something which adds to his character arc later in the movie. But the movie spends around an hour explaining the situation and giving us some background, while it basically comes down to: a few astronauts are sick, so we need some replacements.
As the story develops into the situation where our astronauts are in some deep trouble, the movie starts to gain traction. Over the following hour, the movie kept the intensity of the movie extremely high, showing how something could go wrong at any given moment. And, of course, when they finally land safely, it delivers a powerful reaction of joy to the viewer.
The Characters
The dynamic between the astronauts stuck together for around a week in a confined space failed to get me interested in any other character than our main protagonist, Jim. Although it is likely historically accurate, it would’ve been more fascinating to watch the three of them become sick of each other, leading to more tension between the crew, which could then cause more problems. It is very briefly covered when Jack lashes out at Bill, while Jim tries to keep them calm, alongside the fact that Jack put a note saying ‘NO’ on the decoupling system.
For me, the more interesting characters were on the ground. Ken and Gene had some powerful moments. Ken was struggling with the docking sequence and then heard he wouldn’t go at all because he could get the measles, which he ended up not getting at all. That must be soo hard for a man to endure but still, he tries everything in his power to help them. Meanwhile, Gene’s powerful aura in the control centre proves vital to save the astronauts.
The Production
For a movie made in 1995, I think they did a great job. All the space stuff looks real and apart from some bad VFX on a rocket, I never felt that the set disturbed my viewing experience, and that is a good thing for an older movie. In meantime, the dialogue in the control room, between the different teams proves to be a good addition to the movie, whilst every important message from Jim to Houston is amplified by the shot to give it more significance.