What a fantastic film! Kudos to Ron Howard for making this film as accurate as possible! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed the reaction. If you'd like to support the channel and gain access to the full length reaction become a member of our patreon bit.ly/3ICVrJ6 Watch our reactions early! ruclips.net/channel/UCiCUz1bHid4H9mu6g2IOjXgjoin
@OfficialMediaKnights The real Jim Lovell makes a cameo appearance at the end too. When the helicopter lands, and Tom Hanks is doing the narration, he shakes hands with Jim (he's in his white uniform wearing a hat) Also, the bald man with glasses on the Houston Nasa crew, is Ron Howard's brother, Clint. 🤓
Regarding the parts of the film that showed them floating weightless....Most famously, much of the 1995 film Apollo 13 was filmed onboard NASA's KC-135, one of the first aircraft models to be used for performing a zero-gravity maneuver. The filmmakers broke down each scene into small chunks in order to film each part in just 25 seconds. So you did see them in 0 gravity in the movie!
Ron Howard said in interview that he brought up the idea of possibly filming on the 'Vomit Comet' with Steven Spielberg, who giddily told him that he should definitely do that. He convinced everyone it was a good idea by inserting that Spielberg thought it was a good idea into telling everyone he needed to tell - producers, actors, etc.
The officer on the aircraft carrier shaking hands with Tom Hanks is the real Jim Lovell. He has his very own rank of Captain on his insignia, even though the producers wanted him to be an Admiral. Lovell said he only ever managed to get as far as Captain, and wouldn't be anything else above that.
Only bad thing about the movie is how Swigert is portrayed as not as competent as the others. He was chosen to write the emergency manual for the command module and therefore had more simulator time than any other CM pilot. Additionally the argument between the crew not only didn't happen, it couldn't have happened. Over a minute passed between the start of the tank stir and the explosion. No one knew that was the cause until the investigation after the mission.
A lot of the spur of the moment Macgyvering shown in the film was also stuff they had in their procedure manuals. Using the earth as a fixed reference was a procedure Lovell had developed and practiced during the Apollo 8 flight. Mattingly’s last minute “reverse the flow” was actually pretty much the first thing they did after they shut down the CM. The lead air systems engineer was at home when the news broke, and hopped in his car to drive back to Mission Control, and had the adapter designed in his head by the time he got there.
A documentary has to be accurate, a movie not so much. The argument added even more tension to an already tense situation thats strictly for the audience. Despite it being a true event its still a movie that has to sell.
Swaggart actually wrote the procedure for docking and there was none of the infighting portrayed in the movie. These guys were consummate professional's there was no arguing.
They do Mattingly dirty for drama purposes, too. He didn't go sulk, he was there at mission control for the accident. Then they did John Aaron dirty by making him the one Mattingly bounces stuff off of. He was head of EECOM, Mattingly would not be telling him how electricity worked.
I think it's important to point out something for those who don't know... The character with the glasses who works with Ken on managing the power-up procedures is a man named John Aaron. John Aaron was the inspiration for the phrase "steely-eyed missile-man" when he famously saved the flight (and possibly the lives) of the Apollo 12 crew when their Saturn V was struck by lightning TWICE 40 seconds into their flight, knocking out every system they had. It was Aaron who prevented an emergency abort by making the call "SCE to AUX" (Signal Conditioning Equipment to Auxiliary). This allowed the crew to restore guidance telemetry to the ground which allowed controllers to monitor the boosters flight. Thankfully, the Saturn V was built robust enough that even after twin lightning strikes the IBM guidance computer kept them precisely on course throughout the flight, but to everyone on the ground, and according to the gimbals in the ship, they were tumbling end over end. Little did Aaron know just the very next flight, he'd be instrumental in saving the lives of another crew. Too few people know about him.
I love that little moment where the projector goes out, and Ed Harris' character just pushes it aside and grabs a piece of chalk. Gives a little insight into his character and sums up their new mission at the same time. When something goes wrong ... figure out a different way.
The fact that you already know the outcome but can watch the film again and again and still get that nervous tension just shows how powerful of a movie this is.
Indeed! Ihave seen it a couple times and several reactions. It's interesting with some reactors like Denise who honestly didn't even know the outcome, she said she thought they would die.
@@testfire3000 I remember reading about when the movie was made, they did test screening with audience before official premiere and people were asked to leave reviews. And many said that it was unrealistic movie, that in reality these guys would've died and the whole thing was just fiction. I was reading that and was like, are you Fng kidding me? How Americans NOT know about Apollo 13? I would understand someone from Europe or other continent, but come on...
What I want to know is, how can any American over the age of 13 not know the history of Apollo 13? How did our education system in the U.S. get so bad that we are not teaching, and remembering, such historicaly important events? I've watched several reactions to this film, and 90% of the reactors had no clue of the outcome and a wopping 10% didn't know this was based on actual history! Shame on the American Educational system!
I remember this event very clearly and how the entire world waited in rapt attention during the minutes it took to hear the Odyssey respond after reentry. Every event depicted in this move actually happened. There is a documentary that is incredible to watch that covers the entire actual event including what Gene Kranz and the entire NASA control crew went through.
Ed Harris was so good in this film and in The Right Stuff that they had him as the voice of ground control in Gravity. He can't make a bad space movie.
Fun fact: many of the zero-g scenes were literally shot in zero-g. To prepare astronauts for a weightless environment, they used a few cargo aircraft from the US Air Force which would take them up and do parabolic flight patterns. The down slope of each "hill" would approximate zero (or near zero) gravity conditions. These aircraft were nicknamed the "vomit comet" due to the fact that the parabolic patterns were often nausea-inducing, but Ron Howard and cast shot in numerous flights to avoid the expense and complications of post-production effect work.
Kevin Bacon said it was 212 trips up and down over several weeks. They had to take anti-nausea medicine (which makes you sleepy) and an upper to keep from puking all the time. 🤯
@@hafeya There were multiple aircraft who bore the nickname. I'm referring to the original, the C-131, used by the Mercury astronauts in the 1950s. Later models were of NASA origin.
Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) wrote a book called "Failure Is Not An Option" about his time as NASA flight director for the Apollo missions. It's iconic having him say the phrase in this movie. Another note: the captain of the aircraft carrier that picks them up is played by the real Jim Lovell.
@@BedsitBob Nobody at NASA did, then. It was made for the movie. 'In preparation for the movie, the script writers, Al Reinert and Bill Broyles, came down to Clear Lake to interview [FDO Flight Controller Jerry Bostick] on "What are the people in Mission Control really like?" One of their questions was "Weren't there times when everybody, or at least a few people, just panicked?" My answer was "No, when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them." ... I immediately sensed that Bill Broyles wanted to leave and assumed that he was bored with the interview. Only months later did I learn that when they got in their car to leave, he started screaming, "That's it! That's the tag line for the whole movie, Failure is not an option." ' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_is_not_an_option
my dad was the asst. city foreman for Western Union and was assigned to NASA to maintain the Telex and Twx machines. after the explosion he was called out. he stayed in Mission Control until after splashdown. i was 9 years old when this event took place. dad would call home every so often and let me and my mom know he was ok. when watching the movie he would have been one of the people in the very back of Mission Control where the Telex machines were located. he said when they finally came on the radio it was surreal, almost magical. this movie has a special place in my heart because of the connection.
You guys have quickly become one of my favorite reaction channels on RUclips. Your humanity comes through the screen. You are genuinely moved by the films, you show/give no cynicism, no unfounded criticisms, and no false praise. Keep going, I look forward to each reaction. As for the film, this is an absolute masterpiece. Many people knew the story from experiencing it in real life yet the movie kept them on the edge of their seats. That's really saying something. Ron Howard is one of the greats, and this is IMHO his absolute best film, even more than A Beautiful Mind, which won Best Picture.
Thank you for your support and for showing some love. It means the world to us ❤️ This film knows exactly how to grip the audience and continue to rise the tension till the very end. We he acting, score, directing and cinematography all come together so neatly!
I was 11 when this happened, and like most kids of the '60s, was completely obsessed with the space program from my youngest years. I knew the details of each mission, each astronaut, and had made models of every NASA spacecraft. I knew as I watched this story unfold in real-time, that it was one of the greatest survival dramas of the modern age, and would some day become a very popular book or movie. I was surprised by how long it took before finally happening, but Ron Howard and crew did it justice. A real tribute to the human spirit, and to the scientific/engineering community.
The character who handles the power sequence is John Aaron, who earned the title "Steely-eyed missile man" when he saved the Apollo 12 mission because he had done deep research into the systems on the craft and knew a single switch that could be flipped to return the telemetry to normal after a lightning strike threw everything into disarray. He diagnosed the problem on the fly and gave the instructions to flip the switch. most people didn't even know what the system was or what the switch did. In a room full of subject matter experts, he was king SME. For Apollo 13, he was brought in to work out the details of the power problem. Several other movies have referenced the "Steely-eyed missile man" expert in their own stories as a tribute to Aaron. I love when movies like this get to portray the real people who managed to made all of this shoestring tech work and do something extraordinary.
Younger folks have no idea what it was like growing up during the start of the space program. We were regularly gasping at the stuff NASA was pulling off. As I got older, I came to have such an appreciation for the geniuses that worked at NASA and the companies that worked for it. Mathematicians, engineers, scientists, some of the best minds in the world. You get a glimpse of it in this film - the ability to adapt their skills, improvise, think on their feet, and lead. NASA, man, amazing.
I’m 25 now and can’t imagine how awe inspiring it was. Man I wish we kept that sense of exploration. Who knows where we could’ve been by now. Now instead of the final frontier, it’s become the final battlefield.
Another one of my favorites. My dad had collected all kinds of articles, stamps, stickers and notes about the space program as it happened in his youth. We saw this movie together in the theaters when it came out and I will always love it for giving me warm memories of father/daughter time!
I was lucky enough to have Jim Lovell as the keynote speaker for my college graduation in 1995, a few weeks before this movie came out. He spoke about Apollo 13 and how to overcome obstacles in life. It was a really great speech.
I did some research and what I found really impressed me...According to sources, Ron Howard went to great lengths to create a technically accurate film, employing NASA's assistance in astronaut and flight-controller training for the cast as well as obtaining permission to film scenes aboard a reduced-gravity-aircraft for a realistic depiction of weightlessness experienced by astronauts in space. I honestly thought it was either wires or a green-screened background. It really shows how far authenticity can go for immersion and realism. I personally would LOVE to go into space someday, but knowing that this actually happened is what terrifies me and changes my mind a little. Lol! All else aside, I'm very happy they made it home safely.
As soon as we finished recording this we started doing all of our research on the film as well as the true events. Our jaws dropped to the floor when we learned they actually shot sequences in zero G or at least as close as they could get here on earth. Huge kudos to Ron Howard and the rest of the crew that cared so much to depict this as accurately as possible. They killed it!
@@OfficialMediaKnightsactually “zero g” itself is actually a misnomer. Even if you are out in space you are still being acted on by gravity. It’s just a question of whether your environment is moving with the exact same acceleration or not. If you go far enough out then yes, the effects of gravity are weaker, but it’s always present. But even on the space station they’re still orbiting earth pulled by nearly equivalent gravity as on the earth’s surface. So the zero G airplanes are basically just as equivalently “zero G” they just can only sustain it for short periods at a time before needing to exert extra G forces to avoid crashing into earth. The difference for things like the International Space Station is that they’re able to move laterally fast enough that the free fall effect of gravity causes an orbital path rather than quickly arcing down to earth, so they can sustain the feel of “zero g” indefinitely.
Another fun movie fact: The Navy officer that shakes Tom Hank's hand on the deck of the aircraft carrier in the scene at 36:38 is the actual retired astronaut, Jim Lovell himself making a cameo appearance in the film.
Thanks for reacting to my favorite space film and the best movie Ron Howard ever directed. Two things you mentioned that other react channels rarely talk about, one was Denise's enjoyment of the background actors/characters. Yes, compared to others this movie has a ton of characters and all the actors are believable and convincing in their portrayals. My favorite performance being Clint Howard as EECOM. The other thing was Ari's enjoyment of James Horner's amazing score. It rides that balance of being equal parts patriotic and bittersweet and complements the visuals perfectly. For my money James Horner has never been better!
Thank you for watching and for showing your appreciation towards the commentary. It means the world to both of us. We both agree with your James Horner statement. He’s fantastic and what we love the most about him is that he always knew how to compliment the films he worked on with his music perfectly. It’s always great to feel like the music was tailored for this movie. Of course this is almost always the case but he understood how to make it feel personalized to a whole other level.
@@OfficialMediaKnights 100% agree! Horner's the GOAT when it comes to stirring up emotions with score. It's a shame we'll never experience a new movie with his music but we're blessed he left us with so much to enjoy. If you haven't seen GLORY (1989) yet I'd highly recommend giving it a watch. It's another great score from Horner and a moving war film about one the the first all black regiments to fight in the civil war. It also has a Denzel Washington performance that won him his first Oscar. Keep up the great work!
Nice reaction! As early as the Mercury program, it became very popular among test pilots (many of whom to become astronauts) to drive Corvettes since they were the rockets for the ground. Chevrolet got such good exposure from it that they started leasing the cars to any astronaut who wanted one for the fee of one dollar. 🚀
“A million things could go wrong. One did.” … Amazing tagline; amazing movie. It was a blockbuster the year it was released. I still remember the piles of VHS tapes for sale 😅
When Mrs. Lovell says "they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home on Friday." I'm just destroyed. What an intense story both for those astronauts and their loved ones.
I was born in 1958 and grew up watching all the Gemini and Apollo missions. It was such an exciting time seeing all this play out live as the astronauts and NASA accomplished all these amazing things. They were true heroes to a young boy. This movie is more proof for what a great filmmaker Ron Howard is.
If you're interested in a new series, and if you can find it, I recommend the 12 part "From The Earth to the Moon" miniseries which chronicles the entire Apollo program and was produced by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. Also, I met Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) when i was a kid, and I still found this movie intense.
Nice choice! Loved this movie - I grew up on the space coast during the real journey. THAT was gripping. We were huddled around our TVs as a nation watching this unfold with Uncle Walter (Cronkite)... what the film doesn't show enough of is that amazing experience as an American, let alone as any human. That tech you saw in their training... it did not exist outside NASA/Military and we take it for granted today.
The Martian is another wonderful space movie - it's as if someone said "Take the CO2 filter scene and make it a full movie" (the book is also excellent). Jim Lovell's book "Apollo 13" (aka "Lost Moon") and Gene Kranz' book "Failure is Not an Option" are both excellent.
One of my all-time favorite movies! There were a lot of artistic-licenses taken with the actual events/technology, but I get it, it's a movie. And they nailed it. The acting, the sets, the musical score, everything about this movie is memorable. Glad you guys tackled this one!
Most civilians don't understand and can't appreciate what it means to spend '$5000' on a switch. This is the R&D needed to ensure these custom made pieces do not fail which comes into question with the condensation 'event'. It's the little things, both by NASA and Ron Howard which make this film an outstanding watch.
I have been having a horrible day and feeling awful. Watching you guys has changed my mood. My heart is happy again. Love your content. Great energy coming from you both. Thank you. 😊
The launch sequence is easily in my top 10 film scenes all time! and mixed with the amazing score! @12:36 Nope! I don't know if doing it that way would have been an option but instead, they stuffed the set pieces, crew, cast, and camera into a modified cargo plane(C-130, C-17, etc) and flew a parabolic flight path(think throwing a high arching football/baseball throw) to generate the zero-g for the scenes. Each downward portion allowed 20 seconds of zero-g time to film the scenes. Took numerous flights to get lal the footage. Definitely should watch the BTS.
I was about the same age 13-14 & was literally holding my breath from the moment the news broke hear in Australia, & felt emence realieff when I heard that they splashed down
The people back then were more decent. You would get smacked in the mouth for putting down America. These days democrats support those who kneel against our troops. Crazy!
I was 9 when Apollo 13 took place. We had favorite astronauts like kids have favorite ball players. Mine was one of the 3 that died in Apollo I. This movie was very true to life. Back then for TV there was only ABC, CBS, NBC & PBS. After the 1st moon landing there really was a sharp drop-off of interest. I went to Catholic school, and once the accident happened we prayed every day for them. I was in my 30's when the movie came out and I was shocked at how the emotions came flooding back in the theater. The little boy asking "Is it the door" still makes me tear up. I love this movie, thanks for your reaction.
Oh! I am especially excited for this one. A life-long space nut, plus story-telling fiend, this immediately went on rotation in my life. As many viewings and discussions and reaction-watchings as there's been, I'm particularly happy to share this with you two. Y'all see a lot. It's always a pleasure. Mmmm... Here we go! :)
Aw man! Thanks for making our day ❤️ Glad to hear you enjoy this film. It’s truly amazing what Ron Howard was able to do. He set out to be as accurate as possible and delivered!
What’s most impressive about this film is WE ALREADY KNOW how it turns out - they came back safely and it all worked out. But it still raises the stakes to a point where we’re all sweating wondering if they’re gonna make it. 😂
What’s always amazed me is the fact they did a manual course correction burn (incidentally they were very fortunate to have Lovell onboard as he was involved with inventing the procedures for a manual burn and had actually simulated one) but my point is they still genuinely had the longest blackout of any mission yet they landed within sight of the rescue group! Whilst having the accident happen at all was unlucky - it was a classic Swiss cheese problem where multiple things went wrong to cause them to fly with a damaged tank (and re. the condensation, they probably would have shorted something if it hadn’t been for the Apollo 1 fire where they fireproofed everything in contact with oxygen but forgot the inside of the O2 tanks!) 🙈 Also I don’t like the fact they sort of did Swigert dirty (and he’s dead now). He was extremely competent but I guess they just wanted to highlight the drama of changing the crew just before launch. I’ve actually listened to the recording from Mission Control during the Accident and they’re all so calm it wouldn’t have made a very interesting movie to accurately portray what was going on! Also, Lovell comments in his book Lost Moon that they made the mistake of covering the window the first time they tried to sleep and after that the temperature never got back up above about freezing (in the CM).
Have to say, at 8pm I found your channel it's now 2am, as I can't stop watching your reactions to so many movies I love and have watched more times than you can imagine. Keep up the great work 👍✌️👍
And the thing that gets me is that it's real history, and from what I've read pretty accurate. Can you imagine being the ones on this mission and just white knuckling it all the way there and back? One of the best casts ever in a movie too.
I was a kid when all of this happened. When you commented that you thought they were going to die, you must have forgotten that this is not just a story, it is HISTORY. I remember when I was 12, touring the space center in Florida while on vacation. That big tall building they showed in the beginning is much more massive than you can imagine. A few years ago, we were in Alabama, at the space museum. I was just flabbergasted that there was so much duct tape holding things together on those space ships.
I was a young boy of eight when I watched the moon landing with my family on television and I was nine when this event took place. I remember several days of seeing on the news everyone everywhere in the world watching. My fourth grade teacher led us in a prayer for the crew. Ron Howard & Co. really did an amazing job bringing the story to light. Great reactions as always!
reminds me of how watching titanic you know the ship sinks yet you are so invested in every minute they show... I knew they made it home but showing all the stress they went through was so well done you feel their dedication their hope and fear... you guys had a great reaction for not knowing the outcome.. knowing they survived did not lessen my tension watching this film...
Rock n' roll! Such an important event in human history! Too few people know the history of mankind's greatest ever achievement - leaving our planet and setting foot on another celestial body.
Someday soon space tourism is gonna be accessible to people like you and me. It's insane the advancements that have been made in this field especially recently!
As a 13 year old in 1969 and someone who lived through the space race and watched as in less than a decade we Landed on the Moon , Mercury , Gemini , and finally Apollo . It instilled in me a Pride and love for my Country that will never die . To bad later generations did not have such Heroes to inspire them.
The amazing thing about this movie is that the suspense is just as strong for those of us who know exactly what is going to happen because we lived through it.
For the microgravity scenes where the actors are clearly "floating"...they're _actually_ floating. They worked with NASA to get access to their specially-modified aircraft colloquially known as the "Vomit Comet", which will climb to altitude and then fly in a parabolic arc to provide about 30-45 seconds of effective weightlessness. Normally this aircraft is used for testing and training, but the film crew built partial sets of the _Odyssey_ command module and _Aquarius_ lunar module in there so they could film shots at certain angles with actual "weightlessness".
It got so cold in the LEM because they covered the windows to block out light so they could get some sleep. This made the temperature in the craft plummet, and they were unable to get it back up again. The LEM burn was one of two they had to perform. In the movie you see the Aquarius speed towards Earth, but in the real life events they moved perpendicular to their flight path. Else they'd just shorten the journey instead of adjust the angle of attack. The argument between Swigert and Haise never happened. It was added for dramatic effect. The three astronauts were consummate professionals. Marilyn losing her wedding ring in the motel shower DID actually happen. The blackout exceeded the expected three minutes because they came in at a shallower angle than planned. The aircraft carrier captain, who welcomed Tom Hanks on board at the end, is the real Jim Lovell. Ron Howard wanted to make him an admiral, but Lovell insisted that he be a captain, like his real life rank.
One amazing thing that seldom gets remarked on is how close the Odyssey came down to the carrier: within unaided eyesight. Having come all the way from the far side of the moon. Any more perfect a bullseye and they would have landed right on the flight deck!
I live in Houston myself, and the first lunar landing occurred just 5 days before I turned 5 years old, and I still remember everyone in the family being glued to the TV as we watched.
19:09 I love the bit of business with the overhead projector's lamp blowing as soon as Gene Kranz flips it on. Electrical engineering really matters to the story. The bit with the overhead projector, familiar to an average 1995 audience, is one piece of the film's excellent job of immersing the audience in the world of dodgy electrical components which is so central to the tale. A fine piece of world building. Another favorite is when they use a coffee pot to illustrate how little electrical power is available to the astronauts. People know what a coffee pot is. Of course I love every bit of the rest of the film and how it's made, but little explanatory touches like those bless my heart. Even Swigert with his beer bottle demonstrating LEM capture, but, ewww. And that's not electrical anyway, just glass, no wires, so, I mean, forget it.
The most impressive thing about this film is that although the majority of viewers know that they came back, the film creates the tension to believe at various moments that they won't come back. It's a masterpiece of storytelling.
I felt that was George Lucas's biggest problem with the prequels since it was no secret whom Darth Vader was when they were made. How does a director keep the viewer engaged when they know the outcome. In the case of Apollo 13, I'm surprised how many people don't . . . .
@@terrylandess6072 Yes, I have noticed that reactors increasingly don't know that Apollo 13 is a factual story. That knowledge should let you relax as the various crises build. Yet the story telling is amazing in the way that you are left in suspense when the logical part of you knows how it resolves. Agree about Star Wars, never had any interest in the prequels. The first three were a piece of work of their time and the rest feel like an opportune money grab and increasingly became soulless.
I was actually at the launch of Apollo 13 a member of a boy scout group on a field trip from Atlanta Georgia. This movie ignited a lifelong interest in space exploration I still have decades later. For me this movie always hits different and always will. FYI the scenes of weightlessness actually shot aboard the aircraft NASA was using to simulate zero-g for astronaut candidates., so what you were watching was not CGI., actual actors and a camera crew onboard this aircraft in real time. It took hours and multiple flights to get the proper amount of footage
When I was watching this for the first time, I legit considered researching the real story to find out if they make it or not. Ultimately, I chose not to cuz I didn't wanna rob myself of the experience.
I can't recommend the Blu-ray commentary enough with Jim and Marilyn Lovell themselves. It gives you an appreciation for how much true to life detail the movie packs in.
Incredible true story and amazing movie. Check out "The Right Stuff" next, also about the Space Race. The only inaccuracy in this movie is the panic after the explosion. In real life they were unbelievably all as cool as cucumbers the whole time, as shown by the recordings. But it does make for a better movie this way.
There was another inaccuracy with the manual burn. Yes, it happened, yes they had to keep the Earth in the window,... but no, they weren't flying toward the Earth. Naturally one should stop and think "wait a second, how does flying toward the earth change your course?" because it doesn't. And how could they see the Earth in the window if they were flying CSM-first? what they actually did was fly perpendicularly. Thus having the Earth in the side window, and changing their path while moving laterally. But nobody in the casual audience would have understood that, and it wouldn't have been nearly as exciting a scene.
One of the greatest things about this movie is that even if you know the full story of Apollo 13, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's masterpiece of filmmaking from Ron Howard, in my opinion.
Another great reaction as usual. You guys have such wonderful insights. Keep up the good work. 😊 I'd love it if you make your next Tom Hanks movie "A Man Called Otto". Such a touching and beautiful movie. And next time you're feeling up to a war flick, I've always appreciated the movie Windtalkers.
If you want a truly emotional reaction to this film, you need to watch it with the commentary by the real Jim and Marion Lovell. They talk about all the things in the film that really happened, including Marion losing her wedding ring down the shower drain. You can also hear her get emotional during the liftoff scene, saying those memories still choke her up.
I saw a video of a press conference with the crew of Apollo 13 shortly after the flight; but I saw it *after* I saw this movie, and my jaw dropped: I swear that Kevin Bacon channeled Jack Swigert perfectly, right down to the eye movements.
When the Apollo 11 mission went to the Moon, all systems had triple redundancies built in so that if one thing failed, another process could replace it. As there was close to a million moving parts, that meant that if 99.9% of everything worked, there were only 1,000 things that could go wrong! The computing power used on the mission was about 4KB of RAM and 72KB of ROM.
Have you watched the RUclips channel 'CuriousMarc'? He's got a whole series of video parts documenting his team restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer and were able to retrieve and replicate some of the instructions for some Apollo missions. Very much worth the time watching it.
They nailed the appearance of being in space so well because they're actually in zero g. The filming of Apollo 13 was done largely on a large airplane that would accelerate rapidly upward and then back down to earth, giving brief (minute long) intervals of apparent weightiness as the plane propels itself towards the ground as fast as gravity.It's like that brief moment of weightlessness you feel on a roller coaster, just taken to the max. It's actually how they train real astronauts, and is nicknamed "the vomit commit" because it's fairly common for people to become motion sick as their body tells them they're falling while their eyes say they're standing still. You can pay to do it yourself even, and has always been a dream of mine to experience. Sadly, flights cost a couple thousand dollars per ticket.
Great reaction! This movie makes me cry every time I watch it 😂 There's also a miniseries called From the Earth to the Moon that covers all the Apollo missions. Tom Hanks is the host, but he is not in any of the episodes. The episode about Apollo 13, since this movie had already been released, is about the experience as it was on Earth from NASA, the families, and even broadcasting. Such a fascinating perspective. The entire series is very well made, I've re-watched it several times, love it every time.
Been trying for years to get someone to cover From The Earth To The Moon. It's such a phenomenal miniseries that's essentially been overshadowed by Band Of Brothers airing around the same time.
From the Earth to the Moon is a truly outstanding miniseries, and deserves much more recognition. With different directors for different episodes, each episode tackles that part of the story with its own unique flavor.
Fantastic series. Makes you appreciate how the nation came together for a good purpose. Tom Hanks is in the last episode, playing the assistant to Georges Méliès which is a nice meta combination of the moonshot subject matter and how movies started portraying the trip from almost day one!
I was 5 in 1970 so I didn't really understand what was going on. From 1972 when I started 1st grade and in 1984 when I graduated high school we learned about the Apollo missions! In 1995 I saw this in the theater, and even though I've never been a parent, it really brought home and stressed the importance of family! That silence before you saw the chutes and capsule was deafening, total silence in the theater, but then it erupted into deafening cheers! History is so important to learn and remember!
So glad you enjoyed this film, it was a real banger. If you're interested in another "space movie" with an attention to scientific accuracy, I would suggets "The Martain" starring Matt Damon. I'm positive you'll love that movie.
Fun fact, the burns were coordinated with a watch from Omega known as the Speedmaster Pro. The watch today is celebrated as the Moon Watch since it was the watch almost all of the astronauts wore on the moon. In 1970, Omega was awarded the "Silver Snoopy Award", a sterling silver lapel pin awarded to NASA employees and contractors for their contributions to the success of human space flight and the successful recovery of the Apollo 13 crew.
Great movie theater experience and great reaction. All star cast, the kid from Pet Semetary and a magnificent score from James Horner. Side note, they actually shot all the weightlessness scenes on an airplane designed to produce antigravity. Also, Clint Howard, director Ron’s brother always appears in his movies lol. Great touch
Thank you! That means a lot to us. This movie was already impressive but when we learned all the work they put in behind the scenes this became another level of amazing!
While most remember Ron Howard as Opie from the Andy Griffith show, Clint did appear in an episode of Star Trek long before his brother became a director whom makes sure his family's actor's union cards are still 'active'.
@@OfficialMediaKnights Just to clarify - it's not the plane itself that produces antigravity, it's the way it's flown, using a parabolic flight path, which creates a freefall experience that lasts about 30 seconds. So all those weightless scenes were created by putting together smaller 30 second (or so) scenes.
Guys, great commentary! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I went to the theater three times to see it!! The lift off sequence was superb, and everyone was talking about it everywhere. I was in grade school when this happened, the whole world was fixated and very concerned about the Apollo 13 astronauts, and everyone prayed for thier safe return. We saw this during school class time when they landed back on earth..........
This movie, plus the movie Space Camp, made me love space as a kid and want to know everything about it....but also terrified of it at the same time lol. It made me love good sci-fi but bad sci-fi stood out like a sore thumb any time something was looked over.
Those 3 have more time in the "vomit comet" than most astronauts. They had to ride the plane over 600 dives in about 2 weeks (the dive is where they go weightless) to get all the footage for the movie.
Ken Mattingley was the one who got them home and he’s the real hero in this movie. He’s recently just passed away 😢 that man was an absolute ingenius pilot. What happened to Mattingley not being allowed to fly saved them !! True story !!
Not a true story. First everyone who worked at mission control to bring those men home were heroes, not just one man. Second, they way Maatingly is portrayed in the movie is inaccurate. Since he was removed from the crew of Apollo 13 he was assigned as a member of the back up crew and was at mission control when the accident happened not in a motel room. After the accident he was not assigned a single task but joined several teams working on all the issues of bringing Apollo 13 back safely. He was never in the simulator working on the power up problem. NASA already had a simulation tested to use the LEM as a "lifeboat" in case something happened to the command module. People at NASA were some of the smartest people in the world in their field and they had came up with about every emergency procedure that they could think of. They already had a power up procedure in case they had to shut down the command module computer. Mattingly did read the procedure to 3 other astronauts in the simulator test it, they were Stafford, Engle, and Roosa. They ran the test in the simulator. Per Mattingly this is what he told the 3 in the simulator- "Here. We’re going to call these out to you, and we want you to go through, just like Jack will. We’ll read it up to you. See if there are nomenclatures that we have made confusing or whatever. Just wring it out. See if there’s anything in the process that doesn’t work.”
This is an oldie but I'm sure you guys would love it... Rear Window (Hitchcock) Just watched it again today and considering it was made in 1954... It's an absolute belter of a movie! Bagus sekali reaction guys!
I went to bed disappointed as a 13 year old space nut who had been allowed to stay up late to watch the broadcast from Apollo 13. My Dad woke me a short while later, to let me know about the problem they had experienced and we stayed up till 2:00 AM (Pacific Time) watching the coverage. I followed the Apollo 13 news in minute detail, and I can tell you this was a super-accurate telling of the story. The weightless scenes were filmed inside sets carried aboard the KC-135 "vomit comet" that flew parabolic arcs to create short periods of weightlessness during which filming was carried out. All of the dialogue between Apollo 13 (and all other NASA space missions) is public record, and this recreates it with a few minor changes for clarity. The biggest deviations from reality were the exaggeration of Haise's illness and the exaggeration of the conflict between the crew over "stirring the tanks". You mentioned the nice car driven by Lovell - all of the astronauts in the first three groups chosen by NASA were given Corvettes as promotional items by the local Chevrolet Dealers. Astronauts were mega-stars in the 1960's...
FYI - Essentially zero G is akin constantly falling so for astronaut training NASA has an aircraft called the KC-135. When the aircraft is deliberately accelerated into a steep dive, the trainee astronauts experience zero G for short periods of time. It was this aircraft that was used to film the sequences set in space. Consequently, the actors & crew actually did experience a simulated zero G. Please do not take this as a dig or be offended as this is not my intention, but I am always surprised by the number of younger US movie reactors who are unaware of this episode in their history & its outcome. I was 8 yrs old at the time & remember hearing this on the news here in The UK. Great reaction as always, love you guys!
I would like to suggest a 1998 Soldier with Kurt Russell. About a man taken from birth to become a warrior. While marketed as an action film (and has some fun action for sure), it's more of a character study on people with PTSD, who cannot fully readjust to civillian life. Kurt has barely over 100 words throughout the film but most of his acting is eyes and slight facial changes. Also written by the same guy who did Bladerunner, noting that this is a side-quel to BR. There are some direct easter eggs, and implying of 'replacers' being new type of replicants. I saw maybe one person react to it, not really understanding the subtext.
Ron Howard made this movie as accurate in detail as possible even duplicating Mission Control and the space vehicle in the studio! I was in high school when the events of Apollo 13 happened. Watched them on TV. The TV broadcasts shown in the movie were real. In reality, the crew did not yell or argue with each other which showed the training and professionalism the crew had.
That shot of Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) sitting down in his chair and quietly letting out tears is real. The real Gene Kranz was recorded during those moments actually doing that, and the man was still emotional about it decades later when they did the Apollo 13 documentary. He speaks about it very matter of factly, until he recalls that moment, and you see him break and he curses under his breath before finally getting out "It was neat." He is also heard on the actual mission logs saying "Let's work the problem people. Let's not make things worse by guessin." The DVD commentary for the film features Jim and Marylin Lovell. Jim is a stoic war veteran, he's classic American greatest generation material. His wife relays the emotion. The notion of Jim lamenting not getting to walk on the moon is not in his book. It is entirely something that was inferred by the writers and directors. Both Tom Hanks and Kathleen Quinlan actually stayed with the Lovell's to hear their story first hand and to learn about their relationship. The thumb over the moon was Tom Hank's adlib. The procedure for the CO2 scrubber was actually already in place. NASA had an entire group dedicated to coming up with potential disasters. Including the possibility of a Rescue and Rendezvous mission which they mention briefly in one of the news segments was ruled out. Obviously it would be way too risky to launch another space craft to rescue the crew only to have something more go wrong and even more people be put in danger. The course corrective burn that they do was actually one of several burns they had to perform, but for the film it is condescend into one. "We didn't have time to be scared. If we took the time to be scared we ould have been dead." - Jim Lovell. The argument we see on the ship also did not take place. You can listen to the flight logs and the astronauts are nothing but constant professionals. Jack Swigert gets the short end of the stick in the movie. He was not nearly the "rookie" they made him out to be. He wrote the CSM flight procedures. Some people feel he is given that demirit because the real Jack was already passed away. to Jim's dismay, NASA will never have another "13" space craft as a result of this mission. He thinks that is terribly superstitious and not in keeping with the intellectual reason and intelligence of the organization. The damage done to the oxygen tank occurred well before the mission. The space craft was unfortunately doomed to failure no matter what the crew did.
"What do we have on the spacecraft that's good?" was also on the audio transcripts as well. But EECOM (Sy Liebergot) didn't say "I'll get back to you gene", he did instead give a proper answer on what was still working. But after that is when he said "Flight, I think we've lost two fuel cells. I mean, I'd hate to put it that way but, I don't know why we've lost them. And its not instrumentation"
The zero gravity scenes were actually done on the vomit comet. They could only film when the plane was in A nose dive and that only lasted 15 to 20 seconds, So they did this hundreds of times
When we reas about this we were honestly speechless. Our jaws dropped to the ground. It made us wish we were still recording because the reaction was brutal. We were beyond impressed by what Ron Howard achieved. He was absolutely committed to giving us an incredible accurate portrayal here!
One crazy apollo thirteen fact. Jack black's mother Was in the hospital about to give birth to him and still doing calculations for the reentry procedure. She was one of the head programmers for the guidance computers in the command module and definitely an unsung hero.
Not only the film-makers had help from NASA facilities and personal, and met whenever possible the real people they were playing; but also one of the technical consultants on set during filming was Dave Scott, commander of Apollo 15.
28:00 that thruster they're firing was designed to slow descent onto, and lift up off, the moon. It was never supposed to be fired with the Command module attached to it, the whole ship was not designed to be used in that configuration, that's why they're wobbling all over the place. It's amazing that it worked.
I've already seen numerous movies that discouraged me from wanting to go to space. This isn't the first one, but it sure isn't helping. In case you're curious, the first one is Alien and another one is Gravity.
I remember this as if it happened yesterday. Gene Kranz was the personification of what a leader is. He lead a team that all came together, to make this a success. The whole world held it's breath during this. Great reaction.
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What a fantastic film! Kudos to Ron Howard for making this film as accurate as possible! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed the reaction. If you'd like to support the channel and gain access to the full length reaction become a member of our patreon bit.ly/3ICVrJ6
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Ron Howard used one of those 747s that when dropped just rt.. creating 0 gravity. Setting up a lunar module set inside the 747 ! Pretty Kool haha!!!!
Corvette gave all the astronauts a car.
@tomtheyank1 When we saw how they achieved this we were awestruck! We wanna get on one of those and try out Zero G for ourselves!
The zero gravity shots are done in an airplane that flies up and then sharply down.
@OfficialMediaKnights The real Jim Lovell makes a cameo appearance at the end too. When the helicopter lands, and Tom Hanks is doing the narration, he shakes hands with Jim (he's in his white uniform wearing a hat)
Also, the bald man with glasses on the Houston Nasa crew, is Ron Howard's brother, Clint. 🤓
Regarding the parts of the film that showed them floating weightless....Most famously, much of the 1995 film Apollo 13 was filmed onboard NASA's KC-135, one of the first aircraft models to be used for performing a zero-gravity maneuver.
The filmmakers broke down each scene into small chunks in order to film each part in just 25 seconds.
So you did see them in 0 gravity in the movie!
KC-135 aka "The Vomit Comet" :)
Yep they should look at behind the scenes of filming this on RUclips.
ah yes, the good'ol vomit comet.
@@evomrix If I could get ride on that just once, just once.😆
Ron Howard said in interview that he brought up the idea of possibly filming on the 'Vomit Comet' with Steven Spielberg, who giddily told him that he should definitely do that. He convinced everyone it was a good idea by inserting that Spielberg thought it was a good idea into telling everyone he needed to tell - producers, actors, etc.
The officer on the aircraft carrier shaking hands with Tom Hanks is the real Jim Lovell. He has his very own rank of Captain on his insignia, even though the producers wanted him to be an Admiral. Lovell said he only ever managed to get as far as Captain, and wouldn't be anything else above that.
He even dusted off his own uniform that had been in his closet since he retired, and wore it in the film.
And the real Marylin Lovell is in the crowd, during the launch sequence.
Missed that much thanks . I'll look for it @@BedsitBob
Only bad thing about the movie is how Swigert is portrayed as not as competent as the others. He was chosen to write the emergency manual for the command module and therefore had more simulator time than any other CM pilot. Additionally the argument between the crew not only didn't happen, it couldn't have happened. Over a minute passed between the start of the tank stir and the explosion. No one knew that was the cause until the investigation after the mission.
He was also prepared for the mission (that’s the whole point of being on the back up crew)
A lot of the spur of the moment Macgyvering shown in the film was also stuff they had in their procedure manuals. Using the earth as a fixed reference was a procedure Lovell had developed and practiced during the Apollo 8 flight. Mattingly’s last minute “reverse the flow” was actually pretty much the first thing they did after they shut down the CM. The lead air systems engineer was at home when the news broke, and hopped in his car to drive back to Mission Control, and had the adapter designed in his head by the time he got there.
A documentary has to be accurate, a movie not so much. The argument added even more tension to an already tense situation thats strictly for the audience. Despite it being a true event its still a movie that has to sell.
Swaggart actually wrote the procedure for docking and there was none of the infighting portrayed in the movie. These guys were consummate professional's there was no arguing.
They do Mattingly dirty for drama purposes, too. He didn't go sulk, he was there at mission control for the accident. Then they did John Aaron dirty by making him the one Mattingly bounces stuff off of. He was head of EECOM, Mattingly would not be telling him how electricity worked.
I think it's important to point out something for those who don't know...
The character with the glasses who works with Ken on managing the power-up procedures is a man named John Aaron.
John Aaron was the inspiration for the phrase "steely-eyed missile-man" when he famously saved the flight (and possibly the lives) of the Apollo 12 crew when their Saturn V was struck by lightning TWICE 40 seconds into their flight, knocking out every system they had.
It was Aaron who prevented an emergency abort by making the call "SCE to AUX" (Signal Conditioning Equipment to Auxiliary).
This allowed the crew to restore guidance telemetry to the ground which allowed controllers to monitor the boosters flight. Thankfully, the Saturn V was built robust enough that even after twin lightning strikes the IBM guidance computer kept them precisely on course throughout the flight, but to everyone on the ground, and according to the gimbals in the ship, they were tumbling end over end.
Little did Aaron know just the very next flight, he'd be instrumental in saving the lives of another crew. Too few people know about him.
I wish there were more people who had this level of knowledge.
Yes, Aaron is the GOAT
I love that little moment where the projector goes out, and Ed Harris' character just pushes it aside and grabs a piece of chalk. Gives a little insight into his character and sums up their new mission at the same time. When something goes wrong ... figure out a different way.
That's my favourite moment.
The fact that you already know the outcome but can watch the film again and again and still get that nervous tension just shows how powerful of a movie this is.
Indeed! Ihave seen it a couple times and several reactions. It's interesting with some reactors like Denise who honestly didn't even know the outcome, she said she thought they would die.
Every time. This was a masterpiece of storytelling.
Just a few movies like that. The back to the future trilogies are like that and Rocky 2 when both were getting up. Crazy how it does that to us
@@testfire3000 I remember reading about when the movie was made, they did test screening with audience before official premiere and people were asked to leave reviews. And many said that it was unrealistic movie, that in reality these guys would've died and the whole thing was just fiction. I was reading that and was like, are you Fng kidding me? How Americans NOT know about Apollo 13? I would understand someone from Europe or other continent, but come on...
What I want to know is, how can any American over the age of 13 not know the history of Apollo 13? How did our education system in the U.S. get so bad that we are not teaching, and remembering, such historicaly important events? I've watched several reactions to this film, and 90% of the reactors had no clue of the outcome and a wopping 10% didn't know this was based on actual history! Shame on the American Educational system!
18:47 "Was it the door?" One of the most heart breaking lines in the whole movie.
That's the kid from Pet Cemetery as well.
Yeah I can see that now. Good eye.@@brettperry218
It is such a sad reference to the Apollo 1 fire.
@@eaglevision993 And the thing that frightened the boy the most about his father going into space.
Even for people like me who lived through it as it happened so we knew what the ending was, it was still a very tense film.
I remember this event very clearly and how the entire world waited in rapt attention during the minutes it took to hear the Odyssey respond after reentry. Every event depicted in this move actually happened. There is a documentary that is incredible to watch that covers the entire actual event including what Gene Kranz and the entire NASA control crew went through.
Gene Kranz is a legend at NASA. The role model for every subsequent flight controller.
Well....not every event in the movie happened. The big argument between Haise and Swagart in the LEM never happened at all.
Also History Buffs made a cool video comparing it to the real ebents
Ed Harris was so good in this film and in The Right Stuff that they had him as the voice of ground control in Gravity. He can't make a bad space movie.
It was excellent casting - made even moreso by the fact that, if you look up images of the real Gene Kranz from back then, they even look similar.
Fun fact: many of the zero-g scenes were literally shot in zero-g. To prepare astronauts for a weightless environment, they used a few cargo aircraft from the US Air Force which would take them up and do parabolic flight patterns. The down slope of each "hill" would approximate zero (or near zero) gravity conditions. These aircraft were nicknamed the "vomit comet" due to the fact that the parabolic patterns were often nausea-inducing, but Ron Howard and cast shot in numerous flights to avoid the expense and complications of post-production effect work.
It's wasn't from the AF. It was the 707 "Vomit Comet" that NASA owned and operated.
Kevin Bacon said it was 212 trips up and down over several weeks. They had to take anti-nausea medicine (which makes you sleepy) and an upper to keep from puking all the time. 🤯
@@hafeya There were multiple aircraft who bore the nickname. I'm referring to the original, the C-131, used by the Mercury astronauts in the 1950s. Later models were of NASA origin.
Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) wrote a book called "Failure Is Not An Option" about his time as NASA flight director for the Apollo missions. It's iconic having him say the phrase in this movie.
Another note: the captain of the aircraft carrier that picks them up is played by the real Jim Lovell.
FNAO is a good book. Gene Kranz is a steely-eyed missile man.
And yet Gene Kranz never used the phrase, during the mission.
@@BedsitBob Nobody at NASA did, then. It was made for the movie.
'In preparation for the movie, the script writers, Al Reinert and Bill Broyles, came down to Clear Lake to interview [FDO Flight Controller Jerry Bostick] on "What are the people in Mission Control really like?" One of their questions was "Weren't there times when everybody, or at least a few people, just panicked?" My answer was "No, when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them." ... I immediately sensed that Bill Broyles wanted to leave and assumed that he was bored with the interview. Only months later did I learn that when they got in their car to leave, he started screaming, "That's it! That's the tag line for the whole movie, Failure is not an option." '
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_is_not_an_option
@@wwoods66 And when they thought whom to give the line in the movie, it was obvious it should be Gene
my dad was the asst. city foreman for Western Union and was assigned to NASA to maintain the Telex and Twx machines. after the explosion he was called out. he stayed in Mission Control until after splashdown. i was 9 years old when this event took place. dad would call home every so often and let me and my mom know he was ok. when watching the movie he would have been one of the people in the very back of Mission Control where the Telex machines were located. he said when they finally came on the radio it was surreal, almost magical. this movie has a special place in my heart because of the connection.
You guys have quickly become one of my favorite reaction channels on RUclips. Your humanity comes through the screen. You are genuinely moved by the films, you show/give no cynicism, no unfounded criticisms, and no false praise. Keep going, I look forward to each reaction.
As for the film, this is an absolute masterpiece. Many people knew the story from experiencing it in real life yet the movie kept them on the edge of their seats. That's really saying something. Ron Howard is one of the greats, and this is IMHO his absolute best film, even more than A Beautiful Mind, which won Best Picture.
Thank you for your support and for showing some love. It means the world to us ❤️ This film knows exactly how to grip the audience and continue to rise the tension till the very end. We he acting, score, directing and cinematography all come together so neatly!
36:37 The Navy Officer (Captain) in this welcoming scene is the real life Jim Lovell.
I was 11 when this happened, and like most kids of the '60s, was completely obsessed with the space program from my youngest years. I knew the details of each mission, each astronaut, and had made models of every NASA spacecraft. I knew as I watched this story unfold in real-time, that it was one of the greatest survival dramas of the modern age, and would some day become a very popular book or movie. I was surprised by how long it took before finally happening, but Ron Howard and crew did it justice. A real tribute to the human spirit, and to the scientific/engineering community.
Ron Howard was our age when this went down, so I can appreciate his POV.
The character who handles the power sequence is John Aaron, who earned the title "Steely-eyed missile man" when he saved the Apollo 12 mission because he had done deep research into the systems on the craft and knew a single switch that could be flipped to return the telemetry to normal after a lightning strike threw everything into disarray. He diagnosed the problem on the fly and gave the instructions to flip the switch. most people didn't even know what the system was or what the switch did.
In a room full of subject matter experts, he was king SME.
For Apollo 13, he was brought in to work out the details of the power problem.
Several other movies have referenced the "Steely-eyed missile man" expert in their own stories as a tribute to Aaron.
I love when movies like this get to portray the real people who managed to made all of this shoestring tech work and do something extraordinary.
Younger folks have no idea what it was like growing up during the start of the space program. We were regularly gasping at the stuff NASA was pulling off. As I got older, I came to have such an appreciation for the geniuses that worked at NASA and the companies that worked for it. Mathematicians, engineers, scientists, some of the best minds in the world. You get a glimpse of it in this film - the ability to adapt their skills, improvise, think on their feet, and lead. NASA, man, amazing.
I’m 25 now and can’t imagine how awe inspiring it was. Man I wish we kept that sense of exploration. Who knows where we could’ve been by now.
Now instead of the final frontier, it’s become the final battlefield.
Another one of my favorites. My dad had collected all kinds of articles, stamps, stickers and notes about the space program as it happened in his youth. We saw this movie together in the theaters when it came out and I will always love it for giving me warm memories of father/daughter time!
Those are some beautiful memories to have! Films really do bring us all together ❤️
I was lucky enough to have Jim Lovell as the keynote speaker for my college graduation in 1995, a few weeks before this movie came out. He spoke about Apollo 13 and how to overcome obstacles in life. It was a really great speech.
I did some research and what I found really impressed me...According to sources, Ron Howard went to great lengths to create a technically accurate film, employing NASA's assistance in astronaut and flight-controller training for the cast as well as obtaining permission to film scenes aboard a reduced-gravity-aircraft for a realistic depiction of weightlessness experienced by astronauts in space. I honestly thought it was either wires or a green-screened background. It really shows how far authenticity can go for immersion and realism.
I personally would LOVE to go into space someday, but knowing that this actually happened is what terrifies me and changes my mind a little. Lol!
All else aside, I'm very happy they made it home safely.
As soon as we finished recording this we started doing all of our research on the film as well as the true events. Our jaws dropped to the floor when we learned they actually shot sequences in zero G or at least as close as they could get here on earth. Huge kudos to Ron Howard and the rest of the crew that cared so much to depict this as accurately as possible. They killed it!
@@OfficialMediaKnightsactually “zero g” itself is actually a misnomer. Even if you are out in space you are still being acted on by gravity. It’s just a question of whether your environment is moving with the exact same acceleration or not. If you go far enough out then yes, the effects of gravity are weaker, but it’s always present. But even on the space station they’re still orbiting earth pulled by nearly equivalent gravity as on the earth’s surface. So the zero G airplanes are basically just as equivalently “zero G” they just can only sustain it for short periods at a time before needing to exert extra G forces to avoid crashing into earth. The difference for things like the International Space Station is that they’re able to move laterally fast enough that the free fall effect of gravity causes an orbital path rather than quickly arcing down to earth, so they can sustain the feel of “zero g” indefinitely.
@@AdamNisbettNGT ruining the fun over here. 😉👍
Hey great post . I've been wondering how they did the zero gravity scenes since I was a kid. Thanks for the info 👍.
But he didn't care to portray the PEOPLE accurately. I question that
Another fun movie fact: The Navy officer that shakes Tom Hank's hand on the deck of the aircraft carrier in the scene at 36:38 is the actual retired astronaut, Jim Lovell himself making a cameo appearance in the film.
Thanks for reacting to my favorite space film and the best movie Ron Howard ever directed. Two things you mentioned that other react channels rarely talk about, one was Denise's enjoyment of the background actors/characters. Yes, compared to others this movie has a ton of characters and all the actors are believable and convincing in their portrayals. My favorite performance being Clint Howard as EECOM. The other thing was Ari's enjoyment of James Horner's amazing score. It rides that balance of being equal parts patriotic and bittersweet and complements the visuals perfectly. For my money James Horner has never been better!
Thank you for watching and for showing your appreciation towards the commentary. It means the world to both of us. We both agree with your James Horner statement. He’s fantastic and what we love the most about him is that he always knew how to compliment the films he worked on with his music perfectly. It’s always great to feel like the music was tailored for this movie. Of course this is almost always the case but he understood how to make it feel personalized to a whole other level.
@@OfficialMediaKnights
100% agree! Horner's the GOAT when it comes to stirring up emotions with score. It's a shame we'll never experience a new movie with his music but we're blessed he left us with so much to enjoy. If you haven't seen GLORY (1989) yet I'd highly recommend giving it a watch. It's another great score from Horner and a moving war film about one the the first all black regiments to fight in the civil war. It also has a Denzel Washington performance that won him his first Oscar. Keep up the great work!
Nice reaction! As early as the Mercury program, it became very popular among test pilots (many of whom to become astronauts) to drive Corvettes since they were the rockets for the ground. Chevrolet got such good exposure from it that they started leasing the cars to any astronaut who wanted one for the fee of one dollar. 🚀
“A million things could go wrong. One did.” … Amazing tagline; amazing movie. It was a blockbuster the year it was released. I still remember the piles of VHS tapes for sale 😅
When Mrs. Lovell says "they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home on Friday." I'm just destroyed. What an intense story both for those astronauts and their loved ones.
I was born in 1958 and grew up watching all the Gemini and Apollo missions. It was such an exciting time seeing all this play out live as the astronauts and NASA accomplished all these amazing things. They were true heroes to a young boy. This movie is more proof for what a great filmmaker Ron Howard is.
Happy 65 fellow traveler.
Ed Harris at his best. If you see interviews with Gene Kranz you will find he captured him perfectly.
If you're interested in a new series, and if you can find it, I recommend the 12 part "From The Earth to the Moon" miniseries which chronicles the entire Apollo program and was produced by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. Also, I met Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) when i was a kid, and I still found this movie intense.
Phenomenal mini-series! Also, there is still a statue to Swigert in Terminal B of Denver International Airport.
Highly recommend this series as well!
Nice choice! Loved this movie - I grew up on the space coast during the real journey. THAT was gripping. We were huddled around our TVs as a nation watching this unfold with Uncle Walter (Cronkite)... what the film doesn't show enough of is that amazing experience as an American, let alone as any human. That tech you saw in their training... it did not exist outside NASA/Military and we take it for granted today.
The Martian is another wonderful space movie - it's as if someone said "Take the CO2 filter scene and make it a full movie" (the book is also excellent).
Jim Lovell's book "Apollo 13" (aka "Lost Moon") and Gene Kranz' book "Failure is Not an Option" are both excellent.
When Ed Harris says that he believes it will be their finest hour, it always gets me. It makes me proud and fills me with hope.
In the real world, these were the words of Gene Kranz.
One of my all-time favorite movies! There were a lot of artistic-licenses taken with the actual events/technology, but I get it, it's a movie. And they nailed it. The acting, the sets, the musical score, everything about this movie is memorable. Glad you guys tackled this one!
Most civilians don't understand and can't appreciate what it means to spend '$5000' on a switch. This is the R&D needed to ensure these custom made pieces do not fail which comes into question with the condensation 'event'. It's the little things, both by NASA and Ron Howard which make this film an outstanding watch.
The guy that says it's reading a Quadruple failure and the 13:44 mark is Ron Howard's brother Clint Howard.... in case you didn't know :-)
I have been having a horrible day and feeling awful. Watching you guys has changed my mood. My heart is happy again. Love your content. Great energy coming from you both. Thank you. 😊
Absolute heroes, every single person who was in space AND who was on the ground!!! What lovely spirits they all have!
The launch sequence is easily in my top 10 film scenes all time! and mixed with the amazing score! @12:36 Nope! I don't know if doing it that way would have been an option but instead, they stuffed the set pieces, crew, cast, and camera into a modified cargo plane(C-130, C-17, etc) and flew a parabolic flight path(think throwing a high arching football/baseball throw) to generate the zero-g for the scenes. Each downward portion allowed 20 seconds of zero-g time to film the scenes. Took numerous flights to get lal the footage. Definitely should watch the BTS.
I was 14 when this happened. The whole world was focused on this. The world was united in prayer, even out enemies.
I was about the same age 13-14 & was literally holding my breath from the moment the news broke hear in Australia, & felt emence realieff when I heard that they splashed down
I was 10 and I don’t remember it at all. The movie knocked my socks off.
The people back then were more decent. You would get smacked in the mouth for putting down America. These days democrats support those who kneel against our troops. Crazy!
Come to think of it, I was 12. Wow!
12:21 Fun fact: This guy ("That's no joke, they'll jump on him.") is Ron Howard's brother, Clint Howard.
Yeah, apparently he had issues with the IRS himself irl, so this is basically a little meta inside joke.
My fav reactors. These 2 are locked into every film they watch.
I was 9 when Apollo 13 took place. We had favorite astronauts like kids have favorite ball players. Mine was one of the 3 that died in Apollo I. This movie was very true to life. Back then for TV there was only ABC, CBS, NBC & PBS. After the 1st moon landing there really was a sharp drop-off of interest. I went to Catholic school, and once the accident happened we prayed every day for them. I was in my 30's when the movie came out and I was shocked at how the emotions came flooding back in the theater. The little boy asking "Is it the door" still makes me tear up. I love this movie, thanks for your reaction.
Oh! I am especially excited for this one. A life-long space nut, plus story-telling fiend, this immediately went on rotation in my life. As many viewings and discussions and reaction-watchings as there's been, I'm particularly happy to share this with you two. Y'all see a lot. It's always a pleasure. Mmmm... Here we go! :)
Aw man! Thanks for making our day ❤️ Glad to hear you enjoy this film. It’s truly amazing what Ron Howard was able to do. He set out to be as accurate as possible and delivered!
If you love space then check out the computer game Reentry An Orbital Simulator. It is a full flight sim of Mercury to Apollo
@@ariesrcn Thank you. That looks promising. Now on my wishlist! :)
The choice of actors throw me off. I honestly don't like them for the roles. I would hVe preferred lesser known actors that fit the personal better.
What’s most impressive about this film is WE ALREADY KNOW how it turns out - they came back safely and it all worked out. But it still raises the stakes to a point where we’re all sweating wondering if they’re gonna make it. 😂
What’s always amazed me is the fact they did a manual course correction burn (incidentally they were very fortunate to have Lovell onboard as he was involved with inventing the procedures for a manual burn and had actually simulated one) but my point is they still genuinely had the longest blackout of any mission yet they landed within sight of the rescue group!
Whilst having the accident happen at all was unlucky - it was a classic Swiss cheese problem where multiple things went wrong to cause them to fly with a damaged tank (and re. the condensation, they probably would have shorted something if it hadn’t been for the Apollo 1 fire where they fireproofed everything in contact with oxygen but forgot the inside of the O2 tanks!) 🙈
Also I don’t like the fact they sort of did Swigert dirty (and he’s dead now). He was extremely competent but I guess they just wanted to highlight the drama of changing the crew just before launch.
I’ve actually listened to the recording from Mission Control during the Accident and they’re all so calm it wouldn’t have made a very interesting movie to accurately portray what was going on!
Also, Lovell comments in his book Lost Moon that they made the mistake of covering the window the first time they tried to sleep and after that the temperature never got back up above about freezing (in the CM).
Have to say, at 8pm I found your channel it's now 2am, as I can't stop watching your reactions to so many movies I love and have watched more times than you can imagine. Keep up the great work 👍✌️👍
Aw man! Thank you for the massive compliment. It warms our hearts to hear you’ve been enjoying these 😃
36:36 IS Jim Lovell shaking hands with Hanks!
And the thing that gets me is that it's real history, and from what I've read pretty accurate. Can you imagine being the ones on this mission and just white knuckling it all the way there and back?
One of the best casts ever in a movie too.
I was a kid when all of this happened. When you commented that you thought they were going to die, you must have forgotten that this is not just a story, it is HISTORY. I remember when I was 12, touring the space center in Florida while on vacation. That big tall building they showed in the beginning is much more massive than you can imagine. A few years ago, we were in Alabama, at the space museum. I was just flabbergasted that there was so much duct tape holding things together on those space ships.
I was a young boy of eight when I watched the moon landing with my family on television and I was nine when this event took place. I remember several days of seeing on the news everyone everywhere in the world watching. My fourth grade teacher led us in a prayer for the crew. Ron Howard & Co. really did an amazing job bringing the story to light. Great reactions as always!
reminds me of how watching titanic you know the ship sinks yet you are so invested in every minute they show... I knew they made it home but showing all the stress they went through was so well done you feel their dedication their hope and fear... you guys had a great reaction for not knowing the outcome.. knowing they survived did not lessen my tension watching this film...
Rock n' roll! Such an important event in human history! Too few people know the history of mankind's greatest ever achievement - leaving our planet and setting foot on another celestial body.
Someday soon space tourism is gonna be accessible to people like you and me. It's insane the advancements that have been made in this field especially recently!
As a 13 year old in 1969 and someone who lived through the space race and watched as in less than a decade we Landed on the Moon , Mercury , Gemini , and finally Apollo .
It instilled in me a Pride and love for my Country that will never die . To bad later generations did not have such Heroes to inspire them.
The amazing thing about this movie is that the suspense is just as strong for those of us who know exactly what is going to happen because we lived through it.
For the microgravity scenes where the actors are clearly "floating"...they're _actually_ floating. They worked with NASA to get access to their specially-modified aircraft colloquially known as the "Vomit Comet", which will climb to altitude and then fly in a parabolic arc to provide about 30-45 seconds of effective weightlessness. Normally this aircraft is used for testing and training, but the film crew built partial sets of the _Odyssey_ command module and _Aquarius_ lunar module in there so they could film shots at certain angles with actual "weightlessness".
It got so cold in the LEM because they covered the windows to block out light so they could get some sleep. This made the temperature in the craft plummet, and they were unable to get it back up again.
The LEM burn was one of two they had to perform. In the movie you see the Aquarius speed towards Earth, but in the real life events they moved perpendicular to their flight path. Else they'd just shorten the journey instead of adjust the angle of attack.
The argument between Swigert and Haise never happened. It was added for dramatic effect. The three astronauts were consummate professionals. Marilyn losing her wedding ring in the motel shower DID actually happen.
The blackout exceeded the expected three minutes because they came in at a shallower angle than planned.
The aircraft carrier captain, who welcomed Tom Hanks on board at the end, is the real Jim Lovell. Ron Howard wanted to make him an admiral, but Lovell insisted that he be a captain, like his real life rank.
One amazing thing that seldom gets remarked on is how close the Odyssey came down to the carrier: within unaided eyesight. Having come all the way from the far side of the moon. Any more perfect a bullseye and they would have landed right on the flight deck!
I live in Houston myself, and the first lunar landing occurred just 5 days before I turned 5 years old, and I still remember everyone in the family being glued to the TV as we watched.
What an awesome memory! I can imagine the awe seeing this live while it happened!
19:09 I love the bit of business with the overhead projector's lamp blowing as soon as Gene Kranz flips it on. Electrical engineering really matters to the story. The bit with the overhead projector, familiar to an average 1995 audience, is one piece of the film's excellent job of immersing the audience in the world of dodgy electrical components which is so central to the tale. A fine piece of world building. Another favorite is when they use a coffee pot to illustrate how little electrical power is available to the astronauts. People know what a coffee pot is.
Of course I love every bit of the rest of the film and how it's made, but little explanatory touches like those bless my heart. Even Swigert with his beer bottle demonstrating LEM capture, but, ewww. And that's not electrical anyway, just glass, no wires, so, I mean, forget it.
The most impressive thing about this film is that although the majority of viewers know that they came back, the film creates the tension to believe at various moments that they won't come back. It's a masterpiece of storytelling.
Ron Howard is one of the great directors of our time. From Splash through Willow, Apollo 13, Rush, to Thirteen Lives.
I felt that was George Lucas's biggest problem with the prequels since it was no secret whom Darth Vader was when they were made. How does a director keep the viewer engaged when they know the outcome. In the case of Apollo 13, I'm surprised how many people don't . . . .
@@terrylandess6072 Yes, I have noticed that reactors increasingly don't know that Apollo 13 is a factual story. That knowledge should let you relax as the various crises build. Yet the story telling is amazing in the way that you are left in suspense when the logical part of you knows how it resolves.
Agree about Star Wars, never had any interest in the prequels. The first three were a piece of work of their time and the rest feel like an opportune money grab and increasingly became soulless.
I was actually at the launch of Apollo 13 a member of a boy scout group on a field trip from Atlanta Georgia. This movie ignited a lifelong interest in space exploration I still have decades later. For me this movie always hits different and always will. FYI the scenes of weightlessness actually shot aboard the aircraft NASA was using to simulate zero-g for astronaut candidates., so what you were watching was not CGI., actual actors and a camera crew onboard this aircraft in real time. It took hours and multiple flights to get the proper amount of footage
When I was watching this for the first time, I legit considered researching the real story to find out if they make it or not. Ultimately, I chose not to cuz I didn't wanna rob myself of the experience.
I can't recommend the Blu-ray commentary enough with Jim and Marilyn Lovell themselves.
It gives you an appreciation for how much true to life detail the movie packs in.
Incredible true story and amazing movie. Check out "The Right Stuff" next, also about the Space Race. The only inaccuracy in this movie is the panic after the explosion. In real life they were unbelievably all as cool as cucumbers the whole time, as shown by the recordings. But it does make for a better movie this way.
I've only seen bits and pieces of The Right Stuff, but I read the book in high school, and it was a delight. I certainly recommend both.
There was another inaccuracy with the manual burn. Yes, it happened, yes they had to keep the Earth in the window,... but no, they weren't flying toward the Earth. Naturally one should stop and think "wait a second, how does flying toward the earth change your course?" because it doesn't. And how could they see the Earth in the window if they were flying CSM-first?
what they actually did was fly perpendicularly. Thus having the Earth in the side window, and changing their path while moving laterally. But nobody in the casual audience would have understood that, and it wouldn't have been nearly as exciting a scene.
"Hey Ridley. Got any Beaman's? Well loan me some will ya? I'll pay ya back later."
One of the greatest things about this movie is that even if you know the full story of Apollo 13, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's masterpiece of filmmaking from Ron Howard, in my opinion.
The uniformed man Tom Hanks shakes hands with at the end is the real Jim Lovell.
I watched the first moon landing live on television. I also followed Apollo 13 in real time. Incredible experiences that enthralled the whole world.
Another great reaction as usual. You guys have such wonderful insights. Keep up the good work. 😊
I'd love it if you make your next Tom Hanks movie "A Man Called Otto". Such a touching and beautiful movie.
And next time you're feeling up to a war flick, I've always appreciated the movie Windtalkers.
Thank you! That means a lot to both of us! “A Man Called Otto” is on our list! Thank you for your suggestions 😄
Ed Harris gave the performance of a lifetime in this movie, and Gene Krantz was MVP for this mission. Grace under fire for sure!
If you want a truly emotional reaction to this film, you need to watch it with the commentary by the real Jim and Marion Lovell. They talk about all the things in the film that really happened, including Marion losing her wedding ring down the shower drain. You can also hear her get emotional during the liftoff scene, saying those memories still choke her up.
Her name is Marilyn, nor Marion.
I saw a video of a press conference with the crew of Apollo 13 shortly after the flight; but I saw it *after* I saw this movie, and my jaw dropped: I swear that Kevin Bacon channeled Jack Swigert perfectly, right down to the eye movements.
When the Apollo 11 mission went to the Moon, all systems had triple redundancies built in so that if one thing failed, another process could replace it. As there was close to a million moving parts, that meant that if 99.9% of everything worked, there were only 1,000 things that could go wrong! The computing power used on the mission was about 4KB of RAM and 72KB of ROM.
Have you watched the RUclips channel 'CuriousMarc'? He's got a whole series of video parts documenting his team restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer and were able to retrieve and replicate some of the instructions for some Apollo missions. Very much worth the time watching it.
They nailed the appearance of being in space so well because they're actually in zero g. The filming of Apollo 13 was done largely on a large airplane that would accelerate rapidly upward and then back down to earth, giving brief (minute long) intervals of apparent weightiness as the plane propels itself towards the ground as fast as gravity.It's like that brief moment of weightlessness you feel on a roller coaster, just taken to the max. It's actually how they train real astronauts, and is nicknamed "the vomit commit" because it's fairly common for people to become motion sick as their body tells them they're falling while their eyes say they're standing still.
You can pay to do it yourself even, and has always been a dream of mine to experience. Sadly, flights cost a couple thousand dollars per ticket.
Great reaction! This movie makes me cry every time I watch it 😂
There's also a miniseries called From the Earth to the Moon that covers all the Apollo missions. Tom Hanks is the host, but he is not in any of the episodes. The episode about Apollo 13, since this movie had already been released, is about the experience as it was on Earth from NASA, the families, and even broadcasting. Such a fascinating perspective. The entire series is very well made, I've re-watched it several times, love it every time.
Been trying for years to get someone to cover From The Earth To The Moon. It's such a phenomenal miniseries that's essentially been overshadowed by Band Of Brothers airing around the same time.
Thank you for watching this with us! And thank you for the suggestions, we'll be adding "From The Earth To The Moon" to our list!
Absolutely!!!That's why we got HBO years ago when that came out ❤❤❤
From the Earth to the Moon is a truly outstanding miniseries, and deserves much more recognition. With different directors for different episodes, each episode tackles that part of the story with its own unique flavor.
Fantastic series. Makes you appreciate how the nation came together for a good purpose. Tom Hanks is in the last episode, playing the assistant to Georges Méliès which is a nice meta combination of the moonshot subject matter and how movies started portraying the trip from almost day one!
I was 5 in 1970 so I didn't really understand what was going on. From 1972 when I started 1st grade and in 1984 when I graduated high school we learned about the Apollo missions! In 1995 I saw this in the theater, and even though I've never been a parent, it really brought home and stressed the importance of family! That silence before you saw the chutes and capsule was deafening, total silence in the theater, but then it erupted into deafening cheers! History is so important to learn and remember!
So glad you enjoyed this film, it was a real banger. If you're interested in another "space movie" with an attention to scientific accuracy, I would suggets "The Martain" starring Matt Damon. I'm positive you'll love that movie.
Fun fact, the burns were coordinated with a watch from Omega known as the Speedmaster Pro. The watch today is celebrated as the Moon Watch since it was the watch almost all of the astronauts wore on the moon. In 1970, Omega was awarded the "Silver Snoopy Award", a sterling silver lapel pin awarded to NASA employees and contractors for their contributions to the success of human space flight and the successful recovery of the Apollo 13 crew.
Increíble reacción, que buena química tienen los 2❤
Gracias! Nos alegra ver que te esta gustando el contenido! ❤️
The score for this film is, for me, one of the best ever done. ❤
Great movie theater experience and great reaction. All star cast, the kid from Pet Semetary and a magnificent score from James Horner. Side note, they actually shot all the weightlessness scenes on an airplane designed to produce antigravity. Also, Clint Howard, director Ron’s brother always appears in his movies lol. Great touch
Thank you! That means a lot to us. This movie was already impressive but when we learned all the work they put in behind the scenes this became another level of amazing!
While most remember Ron Howard as Opie from the Andy Griffith show, Clint did appear in an episode of Star Trek long before his brother became a director whom makes sure his family's actor's union cards are still 'active'.
@@OfficialMediaKnights Just to clarify - it's not the plane itself that produces antigravity, it's the way it's flown, using a parabolic flight path, which creates a freefall experience that lasts about 30 seconds. So all those weightless scenes were created by putting together smaller 30 second (or so) scenes.
Guys, great commentary! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I went to the theater three times to see it!! The lift off sequence was superb, and everyone was talking about it everywhere. I was in grade school when this happened, the whole world was fixated and very concerned about the Apollo 13 astronauts, and everyone prayed for thier safe return. We saw this during school class time when they landed back on earth..........
This movie, plus the movie Space Camp, made me love space as a kid and want to know everything about it....but also terrified of it at the same time lol. It made me love good sci-fi but bad sci-fi stood out like a sore thumb any time something was looked over.
Ah, Space Camp. More family friendly and quite fun. As Joachim Phoenix's first movie, it holds 'that' cultural significance as well.
Those 3 have more time in the "vomit comet" than most astronauts. They had to ride the plane over 600 dives in about 2 weeks (the dive is where they go weightless) to get all the footage for the movie.
Ken Mattingley was the one who got them home and he’s the real hero in this movie. He’s recently just passed away 😢 that man was an absolute ingenius pilot. What happened to Mattingley not being allowed to fly saved them !! True story !!
He was exactly where he needed to be.
Not a true story. First everyone who worked at mission control to bring those men home were heroes, not just one man. Second, they way Maatingly is portrayed in the movie is inaccurate. Since he was removed from the crew of Apollo 13 he was assigned as a member of the back up crew and was at mission control when the accident happened not in a motel room. After the accident he was not assigned a single task but joined several teams working on all the issues of bringing Apollo 13 back safely. He was never in the simulator working on the power up problem. NASA already had a simulation tested to use the LEM as a "lifeboat" in case something happened to the command module. People at NASA were some of the smartest people in the world in their field and they had came up with about every emergency procedure that they could think of. They already had a power up procedure in case they had to shut down the command module computer. Mattingly did read the procedure to 3 other astronauts in the simulator test it, they were Stafford, Engle, and Roosa. They ran the test in the simulator. Per Mattingly this is what he told the 3 in the simulator- "Here. We’re going to call these out to you, and we want you to go through, just like Jack will. We’ll read it up to you. See if there are nomenclatures that we have made confusing or whatever. Just wring it out. See if there’s anything in the process that doesn’t work.”
Brilliant movie from a fantastic Director, Ron Howard, I have watched this about 20 times, I love this, and anything that Tom Hanks is in.
This is an oldie but I'm sure you guys would love it... Rear Window (Hitchcock) Just watched it again today and considering it was made in 1954... It's an absolute belter of a movie! Bagus sekali reaction guys!
This is one of my favorite film scores. There are a few songs that bring tears to my eyes, just because of the musical emotion.
Watch “Sully”, another Tom Hank’s movie
Adding it to our list!
I went to bed disappointed as a 13 year old space nut who had been allowed to stay up late to watch the broadcast from Apollo 13. My Dad woke me a short while later, to let me know about the problem they had experienced and we stayed up till 2:00 AM (Pacific Time) watching the coverage. I followed the Apollo 13 news in minute detail, and I can tell you this was a super-accurate telling of the story. The weightless scenes were filmed inside sets carried aboard the KC-135 "vomit comet" that flew parabolic arcs to create short periods of weightlessness during which filming was carried out. All of the dialogue between Apollo 13 (and all other NASA space missions) is public record, and this recreates it with a few minor changes for clarity. The biggest deviations from reality were the exaggeration of Haise's illness and the exaggeration of the conflict between the crew over "stirring the tanks". You mentioned the nice car driven by Lovell - all of the astronauts in the first three groups chosen by NASA were given Corvettes as promotional items by the local Chevrolet Dealers. Astronauts were mega-stars in the 1960's...
This is definitely my favorite Ron Howard film. This is the movie he should have won Best Director Oscar.
FYI - Essentially zero G is akin constantly falling so for astronaut training NASA has an aircraft called the KC-135. When the aircraft is deliberately accelerated into a steep dive, the trainee astronauts experience zero G for short periods of time. It was this aircraft that was used to film the sequences set in space. Consequently, the actors & crew actually did experience a simulated zero G.
Please do not take this as a dig or be offended as this is not my intention, but I am always surprised by the number of younger US movie reactors who are unaware of this episode in their history & its outcome. I was 8 yrs old at the time & remember hearing this on the news here in The UK.
Great reaction as always, love you guys!
I would like to suggest a 1998 Soldier with Kurt Russell. About a man taken from birth to become a warrior. While marketed as an action film (and has some fun action for sure), it's more of a character study on people with PTSD, who cannot fully readjust to civillian life. Kurt has barely over 100 words throughout the film but most of his acting is eyes and slight facial changes. Also written by the same guy who did Bladerunner, noting that this is a side-quel to BR. There are some direct easter eggs, and implying of 'replacers' being new type of replicants.
I saw maybe one person react to it, not really understanding the subtext.
Thank you for the suggestion! We found BR extremely interesting especially with some of the themes it tackled. Adding “Soldier” to our list!
Ron Howard made this movie as accurate in detail as possible even duplicating Mission Control and the space vehicle in the studio! I was in high school when the events of Apollo 13 happened. Watched them on TV. The TV broadcasts shown in the movie were real. In reality, the crew did not yell or argue with each other which showed the training and professionalism the crew had.
That was "actual" weightlessness...
That shot of Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) sitting down in his chair and quietly letting out tears is real. The real Gene Kranz was recorded during those moments actually doing that, and the man was still emotional about it decades later when they did the Apollo 13 documentary. He speaks about it very matter of factly, until he recalls that moment, and you see him break and he curses under his breath before finally getting out "It was neat." He is also heard on the actual mission logs saying "Let's work the problem people. Let's not make things worse by guessin."
The DVD commentary for the film features Jim and Marylin Lovell. Jim is a stoic war veteran, he's classic American greatest generation material. His wife relays the emotion. The notion of Jim lamenting not getting to walk on the moon is not in his book. It is entirely something that was inferred by the writers and directors. Both Tom Hanks and Kathleen Quinlan actually stayed with the Lovell's to hear their story first hand and to learn about their relationship. The thumb over the moon was Tom Hank's adlib.
The procedure for the CO2 scrubber was actually already in place. NASA had an entire group dedicated to coming up with potential disasters. Including the possibility of a Rescue and Rendezvous mission which they mention briefly in one of the news segments was ruled out. Obviously it would be way too risky to launch another space craft to rescue the crew only to have something more go wrong and even more people be put in danger.
The course corrective burn that they do was actually one of several burns they had to perform, but for the film it is condescend into one.
"We didn't have time to be scared. If we took the time to be scared we ould have been dead." - Jim Lovell.
The argument we see on the ship also did not take place. You can listen to the flight logs and the astronauts are nothing but constant professionals.
Jack Swigert gets the short end of the stick in the movie. He was not nearly the "rookie" they made him out to be. He wrote the CSM flight procedures. Some people feel he is given that demirit because the real Jack was already passed away.
to Jim's dismay, NASA will never have another "13" space craft as a result of this mission. He thinks that is terribly superstitious and not in keeping with the intellectual reason and intelligence of the organization.
The damage done to the oxygen tank occurred well before the mission. The space craft was unfortunately doomed to failure no matter what the crew did.
"What do we have on the spacecraft that's good?" was also on the audio transcripts as well. But EECOM (Sy Liebergot) didn't say "I'll get back to you gene", he did instead give a proper answer on what was still working. But after that is when he said "Flight, I think we've lost two fuel cells. I mean, I'd hate to put it that way but, I don't know why we've lost them. And its not instrumentation"
The zero gravity scenes were actually done on the vomit comet. They could only film when the plane was in A nose dive and that only lasted 15 to 20 seconds, So they did this hundreds of times
When we reas about this we were honestly speechless. Our jaws dropped to the ground. It made us wish we were still recording because the reaction was brutal. We were beyond impressed by what Ron Howard achieved. He was absolutely committed to giving us an incredible accurate portrayal here!
One crazy apollo thirteen fact. Jack black's mother Was in the hospital about to give birth to him and still doing calculations for the reentry procedure. She was one of the head programmers for the guidance computers in the command module and definitely an unsung hero.
@christopherwawrzyniakowski34 that is indeed an awesome fact! Jack Black always knew how to make an entrance! That is an awesome mom right there.
Not only the film-makers had help from NASA facilities and personal, and met whenever possible the real people they were playing; but also one of the technical consultants on set during filming was Dave Scott, commander of Apollo 15.
28:00 that thruster they're firing was designed to slow descent onto, and lift up off, the moon. It was never supposed to be fired with the Command module attached to it, the whole ship was not designed to be used in that configuration, that's why they're wobbling all over the place. It's amazing that it worked.
I've already seen numerous movies that discouraged me from wanting to go to space. This isn't the first one, but it sure isn't helping.
In case you're curious, the first one is Alien and another one is Gravity.
I remember this as if it happened yesterday. Gene Kranz was the personification of what a leader is. He lead a team that all came together, to make this a success. The whole world held it's breath during this. Great reaction.
This is a depiction of real events, this really happened!