The delay in comms until after the parachutes ooened is accurate, as the crew was afraid even using the radio might compromise the power needed to deploy the chutes... and it did drive the CAPCOM guys nuts because the crew didnt tell them before the blackout that was their plan.
Thanks. I know the time aspect was correct but never understood the logical reason for it. And it makes absolute perfect sense, though they could have warned them......
On the audio transcripts, we can hear a call of "Okay Joe" as contact is restored before chute deployment. This wouldn't have sounded triumphant for a movie, of course. But there was a signal. It was late, however. And the reason for that is they came in a bit shallow, so while it wasn't a full skip-off, it did lift slightly and make blackout last a minute longer.
"This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever experienced." "With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour." Fun Fact: Jim Lovell cameos as the captain greeting the astronauts when they come aboard (the USS New Orleans (LPH-11) was the one filmed since her sister ship was decommissioned and scrapped) the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2). He was a real US Navy captain and that's his actual uniform. American Education Fact: Ron Howard stated that, after the first test preview of the film, one of the comment cards had "total disdain" indicated. The audience member had written it was a "typical Hollywood" ending and that the crew would never have survived. Apparently, the person who wrote it did not know the film is based on a true story. Vomit Comet Fact: The cast and crew flew an estimated 612 parabolic arcs in NASA's KC-135 "Vomit Comet" airplane. Each arc produced 20 seconds of weightlessness. All of these flights were completed in 13 days. The actual KC-135 used (NASA serial number N930NA) was decommissioned in 1995 after 22 years of service and placed on display at Ellington Field.
The movie’s fairly accurate to how it was the only thing that was dramatic was the argument between the astronauts there’s audio of their mission recording and if you listen to them you wouldn’t think that there’s anything wrong because they were as level headed as possible Also Jack was actually as prepared for the mission as Ken was
I listened to their audio recorded when the explosion happened, you almost couldn't tell how serious the situation was just by how calm, cool and collected they sounded. I guess having ice cold water in one's veins is a big requirement for being an astronaut.
Yeah, that and giving Mattingly a larger role in solving the problems which was actually solved by a team of people working together were the biggest discrepancies. And changing the "we've had a problem" quote in order to further the already-popular misconception.
There's a training airplane they call the vomit comet. It's used to train astronauts. It does parabolic arcs to make them weightless for about 30 seconds. That's how they filmed the weightless scenes, 30 seconds at a time.
I got to meet Buzz Aldrin and tell him what an important hero he has always been to me and my family. My whole family watched that lunar landing on the edge of our seats.
If you watch the Mandalorian, there is an episode in the 2nd season directed by Ron Howard's daughter, Bryce. While directing the episode, she called up her dad to ask how they got the effect of the water droplets falling during re-entry but did not tell him why. When the episode came out and he watched it, he saw that she had done a shot-for-shot remake of the re-entry scene in Apollo 13 as an homage to her father.
Sensing the tension in the room as Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, Grandad shouted, "Lookout, it's gonna get him!". Everyone jumped. People might not admit it now, but people didn't really know better, so they halfway expected a Moon monster to jump out from behind a rock and devour Armstrong! I was almost 6 years old and remember the experience of watching it on TV at my grandparent's house with my family. Grandad had a great sense of humor. Kind of like Will Rogers.
A gentleman I know worked on the lunar lander simulator. Basically, it was a camera that "flew" over a photographic map of the lunar surface. He designed the optics of the system that made the camera's image look realistic to the astronauts. He told a story of how someone played a joke on one of the crews by putting a praying mantis on the map. One can imagine how startling that must have looked in the simulator.
Its like the funny moment in the episode of "From The Earth to The Moon" when they were asking if Neil would have something appropriate to say after landing, and Michael Collins (played by Cary Elwes) remarked "If you had any balls, you'd say "Oh my GOD, what is that THING?" and then scream and cut your mic" though that pales in comparison to Pete Conrad's actual words on Apollo 12 (which he promised a reporter he would say, in order to prove that NASA doesn't script their words for them) - "That may have been a small one for Neil, but it was a long one for me"
It's amazing how much tension you feel throughout the movie already knowing it all turns out fine. All credit to Ron Howard and Hanks for being able to pull that off.
This movie was handled with class and everything worked perfectly to bring us into the story. I loved this one! My eighth grade class was given the “square peg into a round hole” thing to figure out. We were put in two groups and whoever figured it out first was the winner. My team lost. LOL! That lesson stuck with me more than most. It was hard to believe that there are brilliant people that actually figured that out. It was a special learning moment for me.
Fun fact, the man ho gave Ron Howard his first directing job (Grand Theft Auto) , Roger Corman has a small cameo in this movie. He also has appeared in small roles in other directors who started with him (most of them Oscar winners),
They created zero gravity - for real - by flying on a military cargo jet - "the vomit comet" - that flew parabolas or sine waves, up and down. At each apex, they had maybe 2 minutes of zero-G in which to film. Amazing feat to get all the footage they needed! So glad you got to see "Apollo 13", Shan. Like the vomit comet, it's an emotional roller coaster. You get totally invested in the characters and their journey even though you know the outcome. And for more realism, they used actual NASA transcripts for much of the dialogue, with minor tweaks. My favorite scene is Lovell telling the story of trying to fly back to the aircraft carrier at night when all his controls shorted out - but then he could see the phosphorescent trail the ship left in its wake, which led him to safety! If his lights hadn't shorted out, he'd never have seen that - coincidence, a little help from above? I also wonder if it was "destiny" for Ken Maddingly to be grounded. If he hadn't been stuck in Houston, he wouldn't have been there to figure out how to save the 4 amps to get them home. A lot of little miracles added up to "our finest hour." I love this film, I cry every time, and I watch this movie every chance I get!
This film occupies a permanent #1 spot on my top films list. I don't care what else I haven't yet seen or what comes out in the future, nothing will dethrone this. It captured my soul the moment I saw it in theaters and has still never let go
I remember all the attention paid to this drama as it unfolded and my fourth grade teacher leading us in a prayer for the astronauts. This was amazing to see on the big screen.
It's so refreshing to see someone who's familiar with the space program react to this film. I'll add yet another recommendation for the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" as it's absolutely fantastic. "The Right Stuff" is another brilliant film with a star studded cast that explores the precursor Mercury space program - also with Ed Harris.
Go back and look carefully when Tom Hanks set foot on the carrier. He shook hands with a navy Captain (4 gold bars on his shoulder boards). That Captain is the real Jim Lovell, he made a very brief cameo. (Edit for typo)
In real life, the Apollo 13 astronauts never got angry with one another & were calm & cool for the duration. Jim Lovell understood, that movies need dramatic flourishes, so he didn't mind, that the movie put in them almost losing their tempers with each other.
If you like Ron Howard movies you should consider reacting to Rush which is also based on a true story. It's about a rivalry between two Formula 1 drivers in the 1970's. The drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, are played by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. It's a great movie, right up there with Ford vs. Ferrari.
One thing that I haven't seen anyone mention yet is that Marilyn Lovell actually did lose her ring down the shower drain like she does in the film, and has said that she felt like it was "the worst omen of all." But apparently she was eventually able to retrieve it. :)
I was a high school sophomore when this happened. They put TVs in all the classrooms they could and had everybody watch every update everyday until they returned home. 53 years ago last month.
I was lucky to meet Jim Lovell a couple of times as a teen in the early 00s. He had opened and was running at the time a classy restaurant in the Chicago suburbs. He is truly an amazing and inspiring man of great character!
Well-deserved. Marilyn was just as much a hero as everyone else. I love the part when she says "They can take it up with my husband. He'll be home Friday."
The Launch was CGI, but many of the cast and actual people at NASA were so impressed by it that they thought it was real at first. As many people have said on here already, NASA has a plane that they use to simulate weightlessness, and all of the stuff in the scapecrafts were actually shot in the plane. They build sets in it and everything.
From the commentary: someone in NASA asked Ron Howard where he got some of that launch footage and he had to admit they made it all up themselves. Then the engineer asked Howard if they could use the footage for training purposes because it was so good.
I heard that the Academy Awards disqualified the movie for consideration for best visual effects, because they accused them of using real footage for the launch, even though they didn't. It was so damn convincing that they were totally fooled into thinking it was real footage. At least, that's what I heard.
Fun Facts: Jim Lovell's mother is played by Ron Howard's mother, The priest in the Lovell home is Ron Howard's dad, and the guy at NASA that says "The odyssey is dying, from my seat, this is the only option" is Clint Howard, Ron's brother.
They filmed in actual weightlessness, as I recall! They used the plane nicknamed the Vomit Comet, whose deep dives simulate weightlessness for astronaut trainees.
Astronaut Jim Lovell is on record saying that the film crew and actors on this movie logged more hours in the Vomit Comet than he himself had or ever would care to, across his entire career. And yeah, when you consider they only have a 20 second filming window with each arc... that's a LOT of arcs
I loved that the real man who Tom Hanks was portraying shook Tom's hand on the ship in the movie. Jim Lovell had a cameo role as the captain of the large ship they were brought to upon being rescued.
I was in the 8th grade when this happened. My science class followed this whole event LIVE. I remember not knowing whether the astronauts were going to live or die. This movie did a great job illustrating it.
This is a special movie for me....glad you've watched it! My dad went to high school with Gene Krantz; they were two years apart, but to have that connection is cool. I was born the year before the Apollo 11 moon landing. My dad got me out of my bed/crib and sat me up on his lap and we watched the landing together. I was one, so I don't remember any of it but it was one of my dad's fondest memories/stories.
If you think this movie is good, you should also check out the movie: "The Right Stuff". This movie has guess who, ED HARRIS again in a space related movie. A great cast that also includes Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid, and Fred Ward. You mentioned you like space sciences, this is another story of the space race against the Soviet Union. Hope you do check it out. Also, the soundtrack to that movie is also very good.
Sadly, The Right Stuff doesn't get into the space sciences as much, and does play a little loosey goosey with the history. Its a great movie, and Ed Harris totally makes the film, but I would more strongly recommend "From The Earth to The Moon"
I know you don't do shows, on your channel, but even if you just do it in your spare time, the HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon," is the best thing ever done on this topic. Every episode, covering the Apollo missions, from a different angle. Much more optimistic and upbeat than Apollo 13, as well. Especially as they include the money shot.
I second this. Fortunately its only 12 episodes, so its not like a full-on show. But each episode is like a film in their own right, and absolutely worth seeing.
A perfect film, perfect acting, perfect directing, perfect casting, perfect composition, even the 'reaction' was perfect. Shan, perfect balance between saying just the right comments, but not too much - intelligent, timely and pertinent comments. Well done.
I still remember our whole family gathered in front of the TV, like most other families, watching the live footage of the Apollo missions. Particularly the landing and first steps on the moon. I was born in 62' so I was pretty young when all of this took place. Still, it will always be an event I'll never forget.
You mention the "look" of the movie. I was a small child at this time, and the hairstyles and the clothes and the furnishings in the houses looked so familiar to me. This has A LOT in common with the Martian. Science nerds working together one problem at a time to get someone home.
Nice reaction, Shan and glad you're back. I wonder how many people watching this movie realize the computers or even phones we're watching on are vastly more powerful than the ones used to land a man on the moon? The Apollo Guidance Computer had 32 KB of RAM, a 72 KB hard drive (ROM) and a processor that ran at 43 kHz. :)
I love Clint Howard. Like his Dad, one of the best "utility" actors in Hollywood. He's usually an acting level ABOVE the part and ALWAYS adds great touches. "That's no joke. They'll jump ya." From "Chaka" to "Serial Killer" to "Apollo Tech."
He was also one of the first proper aliens in the original Star Trek. Balok, in the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver" (first proper episode produced after the two pilot episodes, but didn't air on television until episode 10). He was also in Deep Space Nine, decades later, in the two-parter "Past Tense", and a decade after that as a Ferengi in the Enterprise episode "Acquisition" part of me wishes he was able to appear in a Next Generation episode, as most consider that to be the more iconic of the various series'
@@k1productions87 "Tranya! I hope you grow to enjoy it as much as I." LOL! The voice over still cracks me up. I have to say, his not landing one of the MAIN Ferengi, in "NG," is a shame.
THE RIGHT STUFF is a hugely entertaining masterpiece. And Ed Harris' performance as John Glenn sealed his being in every subsequent NASA movie. Thanks for this episode. APOLLO 13 is my favorite Ron Howard film. It's pretty flawless.
Ed Harris in The Right Stuff certainly makes that film,... but unfortunately, when it comes to its telling of history, you gotta take it with a grain of salt. And that's not even mentioning the unfair hatchet job they do to Gus Grissom, barely any attention given to Slayton or Carpenter, and Schirra being almost entirely omitted. I think he had only four lines in the entire film.
No I was ten . I’m 67 years old. Moved to Florida in 1965. Lived in Sulfur. We could see launches from our house. Schools would even let us out of class when there was a launch during school hours
Hey, Shan.... there is a 2019 movie called "Apollo 11", that is pure documentary, using ALL NASA footage from the event. It's not grainy like the "broadcast" footage we're all familiar with, but it's from the raw footage taken at the time. It's an amazing showing of what happened back then. As I've said, I was 2 1/2 years old when Apollo 11 happened, and it's my earliest memory. I think it was the fact that it was pounded into my very young mind of how historical of an event it was, that left such an impression on me.
There is also a nice documentary called "Moonshot", told from the point of view of Deke Slayton, as voiced by Barry Corbin (with both Deke and Barry's farm boy charm)
Call this a fun fact "consolation prize"...since they did not go into orbit around the Moon on their free return trajectory, Apollo 13 traveled a bit further away from Earth than all of the other flights to the Moon. So to this day, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert hold the record for the farthest distance from Earth people have ever traveled. An excellent movie, and in most ways a really faithful adaptation of the history. The only few things they got wrong either make sense for the story, or have to do with the Astronauts' behavior during the journey...as others have mentioned I believe there has been some pushback that there was never really any yelling between the Astronauts, and that everything they said and did they did so calmly. One example of something they changed for the story is that the procedure on how to adapt the CO2 cartridges had already been developed a few missions before Apollo 13.
I live near Hutchinson, Kansas where the Kansas Cosmosphere is located. They have some awesome things on display there.Gus Grissom’s Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell. 7 is there. It was brought up from the ocean in 1999. You really don’t realize how small these early spacecraft are until you stand next to one. I don’t see how anybody could fit in it and I’m only 5’8”.
The essential true-history space dramas to watch are "The Right Stuff" (1983) about the Mercury astronauts, the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" about the Gemini and Apollo programs, of course this one about Apollo 13, and then "First Man" (2018) which is a biopic about Neil Armstrong. "October Sky" (1999) is an optional true-story inspiration movie about some kids in the '50s who start their own rocket program.
A lovely, thoughtful, and knowledgeable reaction, Shan, as always. When I watch you, or Mia Tiffany, react to films, I always finish the reaction knowing more and understanding the film better than before I started. I'm grateful. (Actually I think it would be fantastic if you and Mia did a joint reaction, because you're both so smart and have such a great critical eye.)
I fully agree ! That's what I love as well with Shan reactions : He's so knowledgeable as it is plus takes the time to research. There's always something to learn with his videos.
Remember the event. The nation sat glued to our TV's. It's important to note when his son is watching a TV w/his classmates. The TV wasn't there, just for him. All classrooms had a TV, & every student in every school was watching. People who couldn't afford TV's, stood outside Department store window displays broadcasting the event for the public.
Why does James Horner's scores always make me get teary eyed 😢 Great reaction and film, if you haven't seen Hidden Figures its another true story about the space program, its phenomenal
@@RideAcrossTheRiver I suppose it has a similar vibe to "Aria" by Yanni. Doesn't make it bad though, its an amazing song. Plus its not like its the first movie to have a unique sound for the closing credits, nor would it be the last.
I watched this movie with the commentary from Jim and Marilyn, and Jim said that Ron Howard stuck very close to the story, but only dramatized the part where the guys lose their shit over the stirring of the tanks. Also, the quick burn to line up for re-entry was made more dramatic as well. Jim said they knew exactly how long they had to burn the engine for and were lined up nicely.
That is one of my favorite commentary tracks ever. And the sweetest thing about it is knowing how not only are Jim and Marilyn still together, but they are still so very much in love, and it warms my heart to think about. Especially when you consider how many astronaut marriages went bust, particularly among the "New Nine"
When I watched the real landing I remember being impressed that with all the problems they had they came down within sight of the Iwo Jima, just as it showed in the movie.
Swigart (Bacon) was the guy that wrote the emergencies procedure manual for the service module. He was indeed, fully qualified. :-) Dramatic license to make him out as a "rookie" in that sense.
they make no mention of the fact that both Mattingly and Haise were also rookies. None of them had any spaceflight experience under their belt. Indeed, Swigert was FAR from being a "rookie", he simply was the odd-man out that they didn't spend their time training with. So it was the natural rapport and unspoken language that flight teams learn that was missing. Swigert was probably as close with Young and Duke as Mattingly was with Lovell and Haise. I can only hope Mattingly gained that with his new crew, as Young and Duke would go on to fly Apollo 16 (which would have otherwise been Young, Duke, and Swigert)
When you see Tom Hanks exiting the helicopter, there's a Commander who shakes his hand, that was Jim Lovell. They wanted him to be in a Captains uniform, but he refused, because he never held that rank.
This movie was a family affair. The preacher at the house when they were watching on TV was Ron's father Rance Howard. The short engineer with the thick black- rimmed glasses was Ron's brother Clint Howard. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I am thoroughly entertained every time.
I recommend finding a copy with commentaries. Most commentaries are from actors, directors, etc. But Apollo 13's have that but also a commentary featuring Jim and Marilyn Lovell themselves.
I'll be turning 59 years old in a couple of months now, and I still remember the day that Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon, just a few days before my 5th birthday, and we were all glued to the TV. and we live in Houston!
Ron Howard's dad played the priest comforting the family. His mother played the grandmother. His brother Clint, who seems to have been in all his movies, was the EECOM technician. His daughter was in a yellow dress in the crowd the night before the launch. (She later played Two-Slice Hilly in The Help.) IMO, this is James Horner's magnum opus.
Ron Howard is masterful at making you anxious, even when you know the outcome is successful. He manages it again, brilliantly, in ‘13 Lives’, the story of the Thai cave rescue. Which is another brilliant film that you should try to see. The performances of the lead actors are, again, outstanding.
I really do enjoy your reactions sir. Your knowledge and critical eye are always a delight. Anyway, that's enough of that - if you enjoy a Ron Howard movie, you'll definitely enjoy Rush, the story of the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
The ‘in space’ scenes were filmed in the KC-135 Zero-G plane, a.k.a. the vomit comet. The scenes were filmed in about 25 second increments while the plane was plummeting towards the ground at a 45° angle before going back up at another hard 45° angle in order to do it again. These maneuvers are called parabolic arcs. Bill Paxton said the hardest part for him was the scene where he had to throw up. Because he had to get the fake throw up into his mouth while they were ascending hard at nearly 2Gs, hitting zero Gs while still holding it in his mouth, and then holding it in his mouth until filming began so that he could act like he was getting sick. He said there was a few takes where he almost didn’t have to act because the consistency of what he had to hold in his mouth and the way the plane made his stomach feel was not a good combination. 😅 Any shot that lasted longer than 20-25 seconds was filmed on a soundstage with either the actors acting like they were still in space by slowly standing up and squatting down or sometimes they were on teeter totter like things that would move them up and down. If you get the Blu-ray, you’ll be able to listen to the commentary of Jim Lovell and Marilyn Lovell and they pretty much explain what was true and what was stretched for the movie. From what I remember, the only thing that absolutely did not happen was Marilyn Lovell swearing at NASA on the phone. Apparently she never used curse words. 🤣 And speaking of Jim Lovell, he made an appearance at the end of the movie. After Tom Hanks and the crew are on the carrier ship, Jim Lovell is the one in the Admiral whites uniform who shakes Tom’s hand. Marilyn Lovell also makes a very quick appearance in the movie during the launch scene. She’s in the crowd with the other wives. When Deke Slayton got on CapCom to inform the astronauts that they were working on a plan, that was a huge deal. Just hearing his voice on CapCom was a major breach of protocol. Only actual/current astronauts were allowed to be on CapCom. Absolutely no one else. And even though Deke Slayton was one of the original mercury seven astronauts, he was grounded in 1962 due to atrial fibrillation and didn’t go up into space. He didn’t go into space until 1975 when he was the docking pilot for the Apollo - Soyuz Test Project. So when he hopped on CapCom, the crew instantly knew something was up. I have seen this movie a few dozen times and I still get goosebumps and anxiety and pride every time! I have seen a few dozen reactions to it also. And even for those I get the same feelings. It’s most definitely one of my favorite movies. One more thing, I believe it was John Glenn who asked Ron Howard after seeing the movie where he dug up the shots from the launch sequence. He had said he’d seen the launches from every angle recorded, but he didn’t remember seeing what was in the movie. Ron Howard had to tell him that those were CGI shots. John Glenn had replied that they looked real to him! How cool is that? Anyway, I’m glad you liked it! 🌎🚀🌓💙💙💙
The person playing the captain of the ship that they were taken to by helicopter after landing, was actually Jim Lovell.! Great reaction / review on your part.!! As we say here in Texas; Y'all be safe.
Somebody probably mentioned this but the guy Hanks played was in the movie, he was the captain picking them up at the end, and his wife was also seen in one scene.
The only dramatic licence Howard used was the agro between Bacon and Paxton. Everything else was real. Ron Howard's brother and mother were in the movie as was the real Jim Lovell
I was 12 when this happened and was glued to the news for every update. I read Lovell's book and was gripped by every word. It saw the movie when it came out, I've rewatching it several times and I've watched at least half a dozen youtube reactors watch out. It still grabs me and brings tears to me eyes at points The weightless sequences were filmed in NASA's "vomit comet", which is used to train astronauts. The plane flies parabolic arcs giving a couple of minutes of weightlessness at a time. I don't know, but Bill Paxton's upchuck might have been real!
I remember seeing a PBS documentary about this in the late '80s and thinking that it would make a great movie. Perhaps Tom Hanks saw the same one! Heard one of the astronauts once (on a talk show?), and he had high praise for this movie. Although, he did say the conflict between the crew was dramatized for the audience. Related recommendations: "The Right Stuff" (1983) - about the breaking of the sound barrier and the Gemini program "The Simpsons: Deep Space Homer" (1994) - Homer Simpson becomes an astronaut
Shan, welcome back! Delighted to see you feeling better and to hear your reaction. I can see you're as thrilled with this movie as I was when i saw it in theather. Lowell's son's terrified, "Was it the door?" gets me in the feels every time.
Gene Krantz is an absolute legend and a true American hero. His role in this mission was integral to bringing those men back safely-and Ed Harris played him perfectly. You are the first reactor I’ve seen who recognized the “Failure is not an option” line as famous-probably even more famous than the more popular “Houston, we have a problem” line. I believe it gave NASA engineers the drive and determination to succeed at the tasks at hand. Absolutely brilliant-and it was borne from the extraordinary events of Apollo 13. So so good!
"Spaceflight is terribly unforgiving. Unforgiving of carelessness, incapacity, or neglect. I don't know what (they) will find was the cause of this accident (Apollo 1), but I know what I find. WE were the cause. Our simulators weren't ready, our software in Mission Control didn't function, procedures weren't complete, nothing we did had any shelf life, and NOBODY stood up and said "DAMMIT, STOP!!!" From now on, Mission Control will be known by two words, "tough" and "competent." Tough meaning we will never again shirk from our responsibilities, for we will be forever accountable for what we do, or what we fail to do. Competent meaning we will never take anything for granted, we will never stop learning. When you leave this room, you will write the words "tough" and "competent" on your blackboard, and they will never be erased. They will serve as a constant reminder of the sacrifice of Grissom, White, and Chaffee" - Gene Kranz
my dad was infinitely ambitious, he worked for TRW as a consultant for NASA and was one of several that figured out how to get those guys back to Earth. Got he presidential medal of freedom for it. Of course being ambitious and a workabolic, lost he spouse and me and my sister as a family, but that is another story. shit happens. my dad died 6 yrs ago - i never blamed him for the divorce, and we remained friends until his death though he was mostly out of my life growing up. Growing up is an experience and the older I got the more forgiving I became with me and my dad. I'm glad we were friends and loved each other over the decades, and as i said before, I miss him very much.
My dad took me to this one. Summer before I went off to college. The whole world seemed to be opening up. Dad died last year, and my son is in college now. I always remember that night at the theater, that Saturn launching, the exhiliration.... and holy crap does Hanks look young now LOL
I wish you hadn't cut out the "You are a steely-eyed missile man" compliment for the head of the team that designed the filter hack. Support people usually don't get any recognition.
I live near Space Center Houston and this happened when I was in middle school. Some of my classmates were the children of NASA employees and we didn't get a lot of work done those days. I have known a lot of NASA employees and contractors over the years, all smart, dedicated and positive. Then the years of constant defunding and layoffs ruined a lot of careers.
Great reaction! Really appreciated that you were able to provide the real world context for what actually happened. I was fortunate enough, (at age 14), to have watched the Apollo 11 telecast and Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon for the first time. It was life changing! I still get chills everytime I watch this movie and see the actual footage of the event. I also remember being confused as to why the Apollo 13 mission (just a few months later) was not initially televised. It eventually came to us as one of those "we interupt your regular programming" messages to inform us that there had been a serious incident with the Apollo 13 mission. I remember the tension and fear of watching the various news programs with my parents reacting to the ever changing situation. We and the world were glued to our TV's for the next few days. That few minutes of silence while they were reentering the Earth's atmosphere seemed like an eternity as depicted in the movie. This is an epic film and one that everyone should experience. Thanks again.
The Apollo program was slightly before my time. Growing up, the space program was still big news and lots of kids wanted to get involved in it. Unfortunately, this was steadily cut back and back. I did almost get to see a shuttle launch once. It was scrubbed though and launched a few days later.
Gene Kranz never actually said "Failure is not an option", but years later, when he wrote his autobiography (a fantastic book, well worth a read), he used the line for the book title.
24:02 "Did [the extra-long reentry blackout] happen in real life too? Did it take more than three minutes?" Yes, that really happened. But unlike the movie, those of us watching on TV in 1970 (yes, I'm that old) weren't ominously told that there was a "normal" blackout time or that they'd gone well over. Because I doubt the press understood that detail themselves. Others have recounted here that the shallower reentry would mean a little longer in blackout. But only @NightOwlModeler mentioned that the astronauts simply didn't transmit on their radio as soon as they normally might. That's confirmed by a comment made by the real Jim Lovell, that they heard Houston calling, but Jack Swigert didn't answer immediately. And if they knew that their tiny batteries were dangerously low, then that made perfect sense; transmitting on their radio probably took more electrical power than anything else in the command module. In the meantime, they needed power to deploy their drogue parachutes. After that, they needed more power to deploy their _main_ parachutes. Compared to those, radioing home was a very low priority.
I remember when I was a kid when I picked up my first astronomy book in the class bookshelf, actually a children's book about the solar system planets. It was a revelation at 10 years old, and I distinctly remember wondering why no one seemed to be talking about all these other strange worlds. A few years later and I was totally into all the Apollo missions and never lost interest. The movie overstates a lack of interest as I think there was still strong interest in the missions after Apollo 11 but the networks had commitments with their regular shows and the later missions weren't deemed as newsworthy for minute by minute coverage. If I recall correctly, the national public network here in Canada did cover all the missions quite well though they relied on an American network feed, maybe CBS. All the launches, landings, exploration and other key moments were still well covered by the American networks, but just not as much wall to wall coverage as for Apollo 8 and 11. One thing I do remember well is how the live video from the moon improved considerably after Apollo 11 which made it more fascinating for the viewer. Also later missions featured the cool lunar rover and with its remote controlled camera mast, it could record the LEM liftoff from the moon.
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA Finals D3 | Fall | รู้ผลทีมแชมป์ พร้อมตั๋วสู่ PMGC](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7NxsN0Ch6vk/mqdefault.jpg)
The delay in comms until after the parachutes ooened is accurate, as the crew was afraid even using the radio might compromise the power needed to deploy the chutes... and it did drive the CAPCOM guys nuts because the crew didnt tell them before the blackout that was their plan.
Thanks. I know the time aspect was correct but never understood the logical reason for it. And it makes absolute perfect sense, though they could have warned them......
On the audio transcripts, we can hear a call of "Okay Joe" as contact is restored before chute deployment. This wouldn't have sounded triumphant for a movie, of course. But there was a signal. It was late, however. And the reason for that is they came in a bit shallow, so while it wasn't a full skip-off, it did lift slightly and make blackout last a minute longer.
@@k1productions87 solid explanation, thx
"This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever experienced."
"With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour."
Fun Fact: Jim Lovell cameos as the captain greeting the astronauts when they come aboard (the USS New Orleans (LPH-11) was the one filmed since her sister ship was decommissioned and scrapped) the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2). He was a real US Navy captain and that's his actual uniform.
American Education Fact: Ron Howard stated that, after the first test preview of the film, one of the comment cards had "total disdain" indicated. The audience member had written it was a "typical Hollywood" ending and that the crew would never have survived. Apparently, the person who wrote it did not know the film is based on a true story.
Vomit Comet Fact: The cast and crew flew an estimated 612 parabolic arcs in NASA's KC-135 "Vomit Comet" airplane. Each arc produced 20 seconds of weightlessness. All of these flights were completed in 13 days. The actual KC-135 used (NASA serial number N930NA) was decommissioned in 1995 after 22 years of service and placed on display at Ellington Field.
The movie’s fairly accurate to how it was the only thing that was dramatic was the argument between the astronauts there’s audio of their mission recording and if you listen to them you wouldn’t think that there’s anything wrong because they were as level headed as possible
Also Jack was actually as prepared for the mission as Ken was
I listened to their audio recorded when the explosion happened, you almost couldn't tell how serious the situation was just by how calm, cool and collected they sounded. I guess having ice cold water in one's veins is a big requirement for being an astronaut.
@@quiett6191 I listened too and their calmness was amazing. I believe they were all Air Force pilots previous to joining the space program.
@@catherinelw9365 I believe most or all astronauts at NASA have background in the air force before doing missions for NASA
Yeah, that and giving Mattingly a larger role in solving the problems which was actually solved by a team of people working together were the biggest discrepancies.
And changing the "we've had a problem" quote in order to further the already-popular misconception.
@@grife3000 They showed a team working with Mattingly.
Jim Lovell was the commencement speaker at my college graduation in 1995, 2 or 3 weeks before this movie came out. Great speech.
There's a training airplane they call the vomit comet. It's used to train astronauts. It does parabolic arcs to make them weightless for about 30 seconds. That's how they filmed the weightless scenes, 30 seconds at a time.
And they did it around 500 times.
And they also in some close shots literally stood on "apple crates" and just swayed back and forth.
@@Fred-vy1hm 500!! That's production value!
considering how much that aircraft cost it was probably a large portion of the budget.
@@Fred-vy1hm I've heard it was over 600 times, but it's still crazy.
Another great Ron Howard movie that few people react to is "Cinderella Man." I highly recommend it.
I got to meet Buzz Aldrin and tell him what an important hero he has always been to me and my family. My whole family watched that lunar landing on the edge of our seats.
If you watch the Mandalorian, there is an episode in the 2nd season directed by Ron Howard's daughter, Bryce. While directing the episode, she called up her dad to ask how they got the effect of the water droplets falling during re-entry but did not tell him why. When the episode came out and he watched it, he saw that she had done a shot-for-shot remake of the re-entry scene in Apollo 13 as an homage to her father.
I always crack up when the mother of Tom Hanks' character asks Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin if they are in the space program also.
It's also neat that that actress was Ron Howard's mother. His brother, Clint, was in the movie, as well.
Then she kicks ass with "If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it."
Sensing the tension in the room as Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, Grandad shouted, "Lookout, it's gonna get him!". Everyone jumped. People might not admit it now, but people didn't really know better, so they halfway expected a Moon monster to jump out from behind a rock and devour Armstrong!
I was almost 6 years old and remember the experience of watching it on TV at my grandparent's house with my family. Grandad had a great sense of humor. Kind of like Will Rogers.
A gentleman I know worked on the lunar lander simulator. Basically, it was a camera that "flew" over a photographic map of the lunar surface. He designed the optics of the system that made the camera's image look realistic to the astronauts. He told a story of how someone played a joke on one of the crews by putting a praying mantis on the map. One can imagine how startling that must have looked in the simulator.
Its like the funny moment in the episode of "From The Earth to The Moon" when they were asking if Neil would have something appropriate to say after landing, and Michael Collins (played by Cary Elwes) remarked "If you had any balls, you'd say "Oh my GOD, what is that THING?" and then scream and cut your mic"
though that pales in comparison to Pete Conrad's actual words on Apollo 12 (which he promised a reporter he would say, in order to prove that NASA doesn't script their words for them) - "That may have been a small one for Neil, but it was a long one for me"
It's amazing how much tension you feel throughout the movie already knowing it all turns out fine. All credit to Ron Howard and Hanks for being able to pull that off.
This movie was handled with class and everything worked perfectly to bring us into the story. I loved this one! My eighth grade class was given the “square peg into a round hole” thing to figure out. We were put in two groups and whoever figured it out first was the winner. My team lost. LOL! That lesson stuck with me more than most. It was hard to believe that there are brilliant people that actually figured that out. It was a special learning moment for me.
Fun fact, the man ho gave Ron Howard his first directing job (Grand Theft Auto) , Roger Corman has a small cameo in this movie. He also has appeared in small roles in other directors who started with him (most of them Oscar winners),
They created zero gravity - for real - by flying on a military cargo jet - "the vomit comet" - that flew parabolas or sine waves, up and down. At each apex, they had maybe 2 minutes of zero-G in which to film. Amazing feat to get all the footage they needed! So glad you got to see "Apollo 13", Shan. Like the vomit comet, it's an emotional roller coaster. You get totally invested in the characters and their journey even though you know the outcome. And for more realism, they used actual NASA transcripts for much of the dialogue, with minor tweaks. My favorite scene is Lovell telling the story of trying to fly back to the aircraft carrier at night when all his controls shorted out - but then he could see the phosphorescent trail the ship left in its wake, which led him to safety! If his lights hadn't shorted out, he'd never have seen that - coincidence, a little help from above? I also wonder if it was "destiny" for Ken Maddingly to be grounded. If he hadn't been stuck in Houston, he wouldn't have been there to figure out how to save the 4 amps to get them home. A lot of little miracles added up to "our finest hour." I love this film, I cry every time, and I watch this movie every chance I get!
This film occupies a permanent #1 spot on my top films list. I don't care what else I haven't yet seen or what comes out in the future, nothing will dethrone this. It captured my soul the moment I saw it in theaters and has still never let go
One of my all-time favorites for highlighting human ingenuity and perseverance in the face of certain doom. And the soundtrack is beautiful!
I remember all the attention paid to this drama as it unfolded and my fourth grade teacher leading us in a prayer for the astronauts. This was amazing to see on the big screen.
It's so refreshing to see someone who's familiar with the space program react to this film.
I'll add yet another recommendation for the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" as it's absolutely fantastic. "The Right Stuff" is another brilliant film with a star studded cast that explores the precursor Mercury space program - also with Ed Harris.
Apollo 13 is one of my favorite movies
Go back and look carefully when Tom Hanks set foot on the carrier. He shook hands with a navy Captain (4 gold bars on his shoulder boards). That Captain is the real Jim Lovell, he made a very brief cameo. (Edit for typo)
In real life, the Apollo 13 astronauts never got angry with one another & were calm & cool for the duration.
Jim Lovell understood, that movies need dramatic flourishes, so he didn't mind, that the movie put in them almost losing their tempers with each other.
If you like Ron Howard movies you should consider reacting to Rush which is also based on a true story. It's about a rivalry between two Formula 1 drivers in the 1970's. The drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, are played by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. It's a great movie, right up there with Ford vs. Ferrari.
I second that !
Rush (2013) is a solid movie, well directed and acted. And strangely 'under-reacted'
One thing that I haven't seen anyone mention yet is that Marilyn Lovell actually did lose her ring down the shower drain like she does in the film, and has said that she felt like it was "the worst omen of all." But apparently she was eventually able to retrieve it. :)
it's a sign of a fantastic film when you have never felt so tense despite knowing how it ends....
Agreed. I am on the edge of my seat every single time... despite seeing it dozens of times. :-) A truly perfect movie.
I was a high school sophomore when this happened. They put TVs in all the classrooms they could and had everybody watch every update everyday until they returned home. 53 years ago last month.
I was lucky to meet Jim Lovell a couple of times as a teen in the early 00s.
He had opened and was running at the time a classy restaurant in the Chicago suburbs.
He is truly an amazing and inspiring man of great character!
Kathleen Quinlan was nominated for an academy award for this film.
Well-deserved. Marilyn was just as much a hero as everyone else. I love the part when she says "They can take it up with my husband. He'll be home Friday."
The Launch was CGI, but many of the cast and actual people at NASA were so impressed by it that they thought it was real at first.
As many people have said on here already, NASA has a plane that they use to simulate weightlessness, and all of the stuff in the scapecrafts were actually shot in the plane. They build sets in it and everything.
From the commentary: someone in NASA asked Ron Howard where he got some of that launch footage and he had to admit they made it all up themselves. Then the engineer asked Howard if they could use the footage for training purposes because it was so good.
I heard that the Academy Awards disqualified the movie for consideration for best visual effects, because they accused them of using real footage for the launch, even though they didn't. It was so damn convincing that they were totally fooled into thinking it was real footage. At least, that's what I heard.
Jim Lovell had a cameo in this, he was the Captain of the carrier who shook Hank's hand when he came onboard.
Fun Facts: Jim Lovell's mother is played by Ron Howard's mother, The priest in the Lovell home is Ron Howard's dad, and the guy at NASA that says "The odyssey is dying, from my seat, this is the only option" is Clint Howard, Ron's brother.
Seen this so many times and still cheer at the end! Thanks Shan! Great reaction!
They filmed in actual weightlessness, as I recall! They used the plane nicknamed the Vomit Comet, whose deep dives simulate weightlessness for astronaut trainees.
Astronaut Jim Lovell is on record saying that the film crew and actors on this movie logged more hours in the Vomit Comet than he himself had or ever would care to, across his entire career. And yeah, when you consider they only have a 20 second filming window with each arc... that's a LOT of arcs
Glad you're feeling better and glad to see you back. Love this movie and the attention to detail to did
The sinise and Hanks dialog together is solid gold I’m reminded of Henry Fonda and jimmy Stewart
I loved that the real man who Tom Hanks was portraying shook Tom's hand on the ship in the movie. Jim Lovell had a cameo role as the captain of the large ship they were brought to upon being rescued.
I was in high school when this happened. Very accurate movie. The parts with Walter Cronkite were actual broadcasts.
I was in the 8th grade when this happened. My science class followed this whole event LIVE. I remember not knowing whether the astronauts were going to live or die. This movie did a great job illustrating it.
This is a special movie for me....glad you've watched it!
My dad went to high school with Gene Krantz; they were two years apart, but to have that connection is cool.
I was born the year before the Apollo 11 moon landing. My dad got me out of my bed/crib and sat me up on his lap and we watched the landing together. I was one, so I don't remember any of it but it was one of my dad's fondest memories/stories.
If you think this movie is good, you should also check out the movie: "The Right Stuff". This movie has guess who, ED HARRIS again in a space related movie. A great cast that also includes Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid, and Fred Ward. You mentioned you like space sciences, this is another story of the space race against the Soviet Union.
Hope you do check it out. Also, the soundtrack to that movie is also very good.
Sadly, The Right Stuff doesn't get into the space sciences as much, and does play a little loosey goosey with the history. Its a great movie, and Ed Harris totally makes the film, but I would more strongly recommend "From The Earth to The Moon"
I know you don't do shows, on your channel, but even if you just do it in your spare time, the HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon," is the best thing ever done on this topic. Every episode, covering the Apollo missions, from a different angle. Much more optimistic and upbeat than Apollo 13, as well. Especially as they include the money shot.
I second this. Fortunately its only 12 episodes, so its not like a full-on show. But each episode is like a film in their own right, and absolutely worth seeing.
A perfect film, perfect acting, perfect directing, perfect casting, perfect composition, even the 'reaction' was perfect. Shan, perfect balance between saying just the right comments, but not too much - intelligent, timely and pertinent comments. Well done.
I still remember our whole family gathered in front of the TV, like most other families, watching the live footage of the Apollo missions. Particularly the landing and first steps on the moon. I was born in 62' so I was pretty young when all of this took place. Still, it will always be an event I'll never forget.
You mention the "look" of the movie. I was a small child at this time, and the hairstyles and the clothes and the furnishings in the houses looked so familiar to me. This has A LOT in common with the Martian. Science nerds working together one problem at a time to get someone home.
Nice reaction, Shan and glad you're back. I wonder how many people watching this movie realize the computers or even phones we're watching on are vastly more powerful than the ones used to land a man on the moon?
The Apollo Guidance Computer had 32 KB of RAM, a 72 KB hard drive (ROM) and a processor that ran at 43 kHz. :)
I once had an IBM ThinkPad 750C (1993), the same one they used on the space shuttle. I was so proud. Today it's a piece of sh*t.
I love Clint Howard. Like his Dad, one of the best "utility" actors in Hollywood. He's usually an acting level ABOVE the part and ALWAYS adds great touches. "That's no joke. They'll jump ya." From "Chaka" to "Serial Killer" to "Apollo Tech."
Ind the ice cream man
He was also one of the first proper aliens in the original Star Trek. Balok, in the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver" (first proper episode produced after the two pilot episodes, but didn't air on television until episode 10). He was also in Deep Space Nine, decades later, in the two-parter "Past Tense", and a decade after that as a Ferengi in the Enterprise episode "Acquisition"
part of me wishes he was able to appear in a Next Generation episode, as most consider that to be the more iconic of the various series'
@@k1productions87 wouldn't it be cool if he did one of those star trek game app commercials all the other star trek alumni seem to be doing now?
@@k1productions87 "Tranya! I hope you grow to enjoy it as much as I." LOL! The voice over still cracks me up. I have to say, his not landing one of the MAIN Ferengi, in "NG," is a shame.
THE RIGHT STUFF is a hugely entertaining masterpiece. And Ed Harris' performance as John Glenn sealed his being in every subsequent NASA movie.
Thanks for this episode. APOLLO 13 is my favorite Ron Howard film. It's pretty flawless.
Absolutely yes!
Ed Harris in The Right Stuff certainly makes that film,... but unfortunately, when it comes to its telling of history, you gotta take it with a grain of salt. And that's not even mentioning the unfair hatchet job they do to Gus Grissom, barely any attention given to Slayton or Carpenter, and Schirra being almost entirely omitted. I think he had only four lines in the entire film.
My step dad worked on building the
VAB building. He helped put in the atmosphere controls. It was so big that it could form clouds on the inside.
and you probably saw The Exorcist when you were 8 like all trolls
No I was ten . I’m 67 years old. Moved to Florida in 1965. Lived in Sulfur. We could see launches from our house. Schools would even let us out of class when there was a launch during school hours
Sorry I was 9 moved in late 1964 I just started 4th grade
Hey, Shan.... there is a 2019 movie called "Apollo 11", that is pure documentary, using ALL NASA footage from the event. It's not grainy like the "broadcast" footage we're all familiar with, but it's from the raw footage taken at the time. It's an amazing showing of what happened back then. As I've said, I was 2 1/2 years old when Apollo 11 happened, and it's my earliest memory. I think it was the fact that it was pounded into my very young mind of how historical of an event it was, that left such an impression on me.
Great documentary that used newly found 65mm (hi-def) film that was shot as part of an aborted film project and forgotten about for over 45 years.
_Apollo 11_ is my favorite film of 2019, full stop. What an absolute masterpiece in every craft.
There is also a nice documentary called "Moonshot", told from the point of view of Deke Slayton, as voiced by Barry Corbin (with both Deke and Barry's farm boy charm)
Call this a fun fact "consolation prize"...since they did not go into orbit around the Moon on their free return trajectory, Apollo 13 traveled a bit further away from Earth than all of the other flights to the Moon. So to this day, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert hold the record for the farthest distance from Earth people have ever traveled.
An excellent movie, and in most ways a really faithful adaptation of the history. The only few things they got wrong either make sense for the story, or have to do with the Astronauts' behavior during the journey...as others have mentioned I believe there has been some pushback that there was never really any yelling between the Astronauts, and that everything they said and did they did so calmly. One example of something they changed for the story is that the procedure on how to adapt the CO2 cartridges had already been developed a few missions before Apollo 13.
I live near Hutchinson, Kansas where the Kansas Cosmosphere is located. They have some awesome things on display there.Gus Grissom’s Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell. 7 is there. It was brought up from the ocean in 1999. You really don’t realize how small these early spacecraft are until you stand next to one. I don’t see how anybody could fit in it and I’m only 5’8”.
It’s a mark of a great film when you know the ending will work out fine, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat during the journey to get there.
The essential true-history space dramas to watch are "The Right Stuff" (1983) about the Mercury astronauts, the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" about the Gemini and Apollo programs, of course this one about Apollo 13, and then "First Man" (2018) which is a biopic about Neil Armstrong. "October Sky" (1999) is an optional true-story inspiration movie about some kids in the '50s who start their own rocket program.
A lovely, thoughtful, and knowledgeable reaction, Shan, as always. When I watch you, or Mia Tiffany, react to films, I always finish the reaction knowing more and understanding the film better than before I started. I'm grateful. (Actually I think it would be fantastic if you and Mia did a joint reaction, because you're both so smart and have such a great critical eye.)
I fully agree !
That's what I love as well with Shan reactions : He's so knowledgeable as it is plus takes the time to research. There's always something to learn with his videos.
Remember the event. The nation sat glued to our TV's. It's important to note when his son is watching a TV w/his classmates. The TV wasn't there, just for him. All classrooms had a TV, & every student in every school was watching. People who couldn't afford TV's, stood outside Department store window displays broadcasting the event for the public.
Why does James Horner's scores always make me get teary eyed 😢
Great reaction and film, if you haven't seen Hidden Figures its another true story about the space program, its phenomenal
This is, hands down, my absolutely favorite James Horner score, especially the ending suite.
@@k1productions87 Never understood the 'Lion King' music at the end.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver Lion King? Not exactly. Acapella perhaps, but not Lion King. And honestly, it was my favorite part of the whole soundtrack.
@@k1productions87 It sounds like music for a PBS special on wildlife of the savannah.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver I suppose it has a similar vibe to "Aria" by Yanni. Doesn't make it bad though, its an amazing song. Plus its not like its the first movie to have a unique sound for the closing credits, nor would it be the last.
You will love this one for sure. The only historical inaccuracies are the drama with the crew. In real life, everyone remained calm somehow.
The tanks also did not explode immediately after they were stirred; it took a few minutes.
I watched this movie with the commentary from Jim and Marilyn, and Jim said that Ron Howard stuck very close to the story, but only dramatized the part where the guys lose their shit over the stirring of the tanks. Also, the quick burn to line up for re-entry was made more dramatic as well. Jim said they knew exactly how long they had to burn the engine for and were lined up nicely.
That is one of my favorite commentary tracks ever. And the sweetest thing about it is knowing how not only are Jim and Marilyn still together, but they are still so very much in love, and it warms my heart to think about. Especially when you consider how many astronaut marriages went bust, particularly among the "New Nine"
When I watched the real landing I remember being impressed that with all the problems they had they came down within sight of the Iwo Jima, just as it showed in the movie.
Swigart (Bacon) was the guy that wrote the emergencies procedure manual for the service module. He was indeed, fully qualified. :-) Dramatic license to make him out as a "rookie" in that sense.
they make no mention of the fact that both Mattingly and Haise were also rookies. None of them had any spaceflight experience under their belt. Indeed, Swigert was FAR from being a "rookie", he simply was the odd-man out that they didn't spend their time training with. So it was the natural rapport and unspoken language that flight teams learn that was missing. Swigert was probably as close with Young and Duke as Mattingly was with Lovell and Haise. I can only hope Mattingly gained that with his new crew, as Young and Duke would go on to fly Apollo 16 (which would have otherwise been Young, Duke, and Swigert)
When you see Tom Hanks exiting the helicopter, there's a Commander who shakes his hand, that was Jim Lovell. They wanted him to be in a Captains uniform, but he refused, because he never held that rank.
This movie was a family affair. The preacher at the house when they were watching on TV was Ron's father Rance Howard. The short engineer with the thick black- rimmed glasses was Ron's brother Clint Howard. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I am thoroughly entertained every time.
GREAT movie. This is how you can make history entertaining with only minimal creative license. And the James Horner soundtrack is a masterpiece.
What is great about the film is that you know the crew survived, but you still feel anxious/nervous for them until the movie's end.
I recommend finding a copy with commentaries. Most commentaries are from actors, directors, etc. But Apollo 13's have that but also a commentary featuring Jim and Marilyn Lovell themselves.
I'll be turning 59 years old in a couple of months now, and I still remember the day that Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon, just a few days before my 5th birthday, and we were all glued to the TV. and we live in Houston!
Ron Howard's dad played the priest comforting the family.
His mother played the grandmother.
His brother Clint, who seems to have been in all his movies, was the EECOM technician.
His daughter was in a yellow dress in the crowd the night before the launch. (She later played Two-Slice Hilly in The Help.)
IMO, this is James Horner's magnum opus.
It already is a classic. It's virtually flawless. :)
I agree, it really is a flawless film. 👍
Ron Howard is masterful at making you anxious, even when you know the outcome is successful. He manages it again, brilliantly, in ‘13 Lives’, the story of the Thai cave rescue. Which is another brilliant film that you should try to see. The performances of the lead actors are, again, outstanding.
He sure is. I was anxious going in to watch _Solo._ The nausea of that experience has never left me.
The weightless scenes were filmed in an aircraft flying a parabolic path to simulate zero gravity (sometimes called The Vomit Comet)
I love your reactions, Shan. I watch them and I'm reminded how exciting and awe-inspiring film can be. Thank you.
I really do enjoy your reactions sir. Your knowledge and critical eye are always a delight. Anyway, that's enough of that - if you enjoy a Ron Howard movie, you'll definitely enjoy Rush, the story of the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
Welcome 'home' Shan! Great to see you again. Ron Howard is one of my all time favorite directors. Fantastic movie, great reaction as always.
The ‘in space’ scenes were filmed in the KC-135 Zero-G plane, a.k.a. the vomit comet. The scenes were filmed in about 25 second increments while the plane was plummeting towards the ground at a 45° angle before going back up at another hard 45° angle in order to do it again. These maneuvers are called parabolic arcs. Bill Paxton said the hardest part for him was the scene where he had to throw up. Because he had to get the fake throw up into his mouth while they were ascending hard at nearly 2Gs, hitting zero Gs while still holding it in his mouth, and then holding it in his mouth until filming began so that he could act like he was getting sick. He said there was a few takes where he almost didn’t have to act because the consistency of what he had to hold in his mouth and the way the plane made his stomach feel was not a good combination. 😅 Any shot that lasted longer than 20-25 seconds was filmed on a soundstage with either the actors acting like they were still in space by slowly standing up and squatting down or sometimes they were on teeter totter like things that would move them up and down. If you get the Blu-ray, you’ll be able to listen to the commentary of Jim Lovell and Marilyn Lovell and they pretty much explain what was true and what was stretched for the movie. From what I remember, the only thing that absolutely did not happen was Marilyn Lovell swearing at NASA on the phone. Apparently she never used curse words. 🤣 And speaking of Jim Lovell, he made an appearance at the end of the movie. After Tom Hanks and the crew are on the carrier ship, Jim Lovell is the one in the Admiral whites uniform who shakes Tom’s hand. Marilyn Lovell also makes a very quick appearance in the movie during the launch scene. She’s in the crowd with the other wives. When Deke Slayton got on CapCom to inform the astronauts that they were working on a plan, that was a huge deal. Just hearing his voice on CapCom was a major breach of protocol. Only actual/current astronauts were allowed to be on CapCom. Absolutely no one else. And even though Deke Slayton was one of the original mercury seven astronauts, he was grounded in 1962 due to atrial fibrillation and didn’t go up into space. He didn’t go into space until 1975 when he was the docking pilot for the Apollo - Soyuz Test Project. So when he hopped on CapCom, the crew instantly knew something was up. I have seen this movie a few dozen times and I still get goosebumps and anxiety and pride every time! I have seen a few dozen reactions to it also. And even for those I get the same feelings. It’s most definitely one of my favorite movies. One more thing, I believe it was John Glenn who asked Ron Howard after seeing the movie where he dug up the shots from the launch sequence. He had said he’d seen the launches from every angle recorded, but he didn’t remember seeing what was in the movie. Ron Howard had to tell him that those were CGI shots. John Glenn had replied that they looked real to him! How cool is that? Anyway, I’m glad you liked it! 🌎🚀🌓💙💙💙
The person playing the captain of the ship that they were taken to by helicopter after landing, was actually Jim Lovell.! Great reaction / review on your part.!!
As we say here in Texas; Y'all be safe.
It is one of the few movies I would call "perfect".
Everytime I hear "This is one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.", I always get chills.
And yet, the mission afterward had the far less dignified "WHOPIEEEE.... that may have been a small one for Neil, but it was a LONG one for ME"
Somebody probably mentioned this but the guy Hanks played was in the movie, he was the captain picking them up at the end, and his wife was also seen in one scene.
Have you seen "Cinderella Man" with Russell Crowe, that Howard directed? True Depression era boxing story, and my personal *favorite RH film.
The only dramatic licence Howard used was the agro between Bacon and Paxton. Everything else was real. Ron Howard's brother and mother were in the movie as was the real Jim Lovell
18:16 "They knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash!"
I was 12 when this happened and was glued to the news for every update. I read Lovell's book and was gripped by every word. It saw the movie when it came out, I've rewatching it several times and I've watched at least half a dozen youtube reactors watch out. It still grabs me and brings tears to me eyes at points
The weightless sequences were filmed in NASA's "vomit comet", which is used to train astronauts. The plane flies parabolic arcs giving a couple of minutes of weightlessness at a time. I don't know, but Bill Paxton's upchuck might have been real!
"Gentlemen, it's been a privilege flying with you" is my favourite line.
He's saying it, knowing they could all be dead in a couple of minutes.
I heavily recommend Shan The Final Countdown 1979. Navy real time stunts around a sci-fi backdrop.
I remember seeing a PBS documentary about this in the late '80s and thinking that it would make a great movie. Perhaps Tom Hanks saw the same one!
Heard one of the astronauts once (on a talk show?), and he had high praise for this movie. Although, he did say the conflict between the crew was dramatized for the audience.
Related recommendations:
"The Right Stuff" (1983) - about the breaking of the sound barrier and the Gemini program
"The Simpsons: Deep Space Homer" (1994) - Homer Simpson becomes an astronaut
Shan, welcome back! Delighted to see you feeling better and to hear your reaction. I can see you're as thrilled with this movie as I was when i saw it in theather. Lowell's son's terrified, "Was it the door?" gets me in the feels every time.
Gene Krantz is an absolute legend and a true American hero. His role in this mission was integral to bringing those men back safely-and Ed Harris played him perfectly.
You are the first reactor I’ve seen who recognized the “Failure is not an option” line as famous-probably even more famous than the more popular “Houston, we have a problem” line. I believe it gave NASA engineers the drive and determination to succeed at the tasks at hand. Absolutely brilliant-and it was borne from the extraordinary events of Apollo 13. So so good!
"Spaceflight is terribly unforgiving. Unforgiving of carelessness, incapacity, or neglect. I don't know what (they) will find was the cause of this accident (Apollo 1), but I know what I find. WE were the cause. Our simulators weren't ready, our software in Mission Control didn't function, procedures weren't complete, nothing we did had any shelf life, and NOBODY stood up and said "DAMMIT, STOP!!!" From now on, Mission Control will be known by two words, "tough" and "competent." Tough meaning we will never again shirk from our responsibilities, for we will be forever accountable for what we do, or what we fail to do. Competent meaning we will never take anything for granted, we will never stop learning. When you leave this room, you will write the words "tough" and "competent" on your blackboard, and they will never be erased. They will serve as a constant reminder of the sacrifice of Grissom, White, and Chaffee"
- Gene Kranz
my dad was infinitely ambitious, he worked for TRW as a consultant for NASA and was one of several that figured out how to get those guys back to Earth. Got he presidential medal of freedom for it. Of course being ambitious and a workabolic, lost he spouse and me and my sister as a family, but that is another story.
shit happens. my dad died 6 yrs ago - i never blamed him for the divorce, and we remained friends until his death though he was mostly out of my life growing up. Growing up is an experience and the older I got the more forgiving I became with me and my dad. I'm glad we were friends and loved each other over the decades, and as i said before, I miss him very much.
24:00 Yes, a shallow reentry path lengthened the comm blackout to six minutes instead of four
My dad took me to this one. Summer before I went off to college. The whole world seemed to be opening up. Dad died last year, and my son is in college now. I always remember that night at the theater, that Saturn launching, the exhiliration.... and holy crap does Hanks look young now LOL
I wish you hadn't cut out the "You are a steely-eyed missile man" compliment for the head of the team that designed the filter hack. Support people usually don't get any recognition.
I live near Space Center Houston and this happened when I was in middle school. Some of my classmates were the children of NASA employees and we didn't get a lot of work done those days. I have known a lot of NASA employees and contractors over the years, all smart, dedicated and positive. Then the years of constant defunding and layoffs ruined a lot of careers.
Great reaction! Really appreciated that you were able to provide the real world context for what actually happened. I was fortunate enough, (at age 14), to have watched the Apollo 11 telecast and Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon for the first time. It was life changing! I still get chills everytime I watch this movie and see the actual footage of the event. I also remember being confused as to why the Apollo 13 mission (just a few months later) was not initially televised. It eventually came to us as one of those "we interupt your regular programming" messages to inform us that there had been a serious incident with the Apollo 13 mission. I remember the tension and fear of watching the various news programs with my parents reacting to the ever changing situation. We and the world were glued to our TV's for the next few days. That few minutes of silence while they were reentering the Earth's atmosphere seemed like an eternity as depicted in the movie. This is an epic film and one that everyone should experience. Thanks again.
The Apollo program was slightly before my time. Growing up, the space program was still big news and lots of kids wanted to get involved in it. Unfortunately, this was steadily cut back and back.
I did almost get to see a shuttle launch once. It was scrubbed though and launched a few days later.
Gene Kranz never actually said "Failure is not an option", but years later, when he wrote his autobiography (a fantastic book, well worth a read), he used the line for the book title.
The movie dones an excellent job of explaining the technical matters without resorting to obvious and unnecessary exposition.
24:02 "Did [the extra-long reentry blackout] happen in real life too? Did it take more than three minutes?"
Yes, that really happened. But unlike the movie, those of us watching on TV in 1970 (yes, I'm that old) weren't ominously told that there was a "normal" blackout time or that they'd gone well over. Because I doubt the press understood that detail themselves.
Others have recounted here that the shallower reentry would mean a little longer in blackout. But only @NightOwlModeler mentioned that the astronauts simply didn't transmit on their radio as soon as they normally might. That's confirmed by a comment made by the real Jim Lovell, that they heard Houston calling, but Jack Swigert didn't answer immediately. And if they knew that their tiny batteries were dangerously low, then that made perfect sense; transmitting on their radio probably took more electrical power than anything else in the command module. In the meantime, they needed power to deploy their drogue parachutes. After that, they needed more power to deploy their _main_ parachutes. Compared to those, radioing home was a very low priority.
I remember when I was a kid when I picked up my first astronomy book in the class bookshelf, actually a children's book about the solar system planets. It was a revelation at 10 years old, and I distinctly remember wondering why no one seemed to be talking about all these other strange worlds. A few years later and I was totally into all the Apollo missions and never lost interest.
The movie overstates a lack of interest as I think there was still strong interest in the missions after Apollo 11 but the networks had commitments with their regular shows and the later missions weren't deemed as newsworthy for minute by minute coverage. If I recall correctly, the national public network here in Canada did cover all the missions quite well though they relied on an American network feed, maybe CBS. All the launches, landings, exploration and other key moments were still well covered by the American networks, but just not as much wall to wall coverage as for Apollo 8 and 11. One thing I do remember well is how the live video from the moon improved considerably after Apollo 11 which made it more fascinating for the viewer. Also later missions featured the cool lunar rover and with its remote controlled camera mast, it could record the LEM liftoff from the moon.
The serviceman Tom Hanks talks to at the end is the real life Jim Lovell
Another excellent Ron Howard film.