My father was one of the engineers who designed that heatshield. We watched this on TV, and all my dad kept saying during that 3 minutes of silence was "The shield'll hold. The shield'll hold". He was right. He passed away in 2013.
Wow, cool story. The Apollo program and those preceding were absolutely incredible. The sacrifices, tireless work and brilliant innovations that had to happen in a short period of time to achieve humans greatest achievement is an inspiring beautiful and tragic story all in one package. Not to mention the horrific murder of one of our greatest Presidents who was an instrumental part of this timeless story. I wish I was around to have experienced it all. Except for the murder of JFK.
Hey Daniel and Sam, Fun fact: the Navy Captain that greets the astronauts at the end is the real Jim Lovell. He's still going strong at 95! ------- This movie is based on Jim Lovell's memoir "Lost Moon". -------- Gene Kranz wrote a memoir entitled "Failure is not an Option". ------ The only movie dramatics was at the beinging when Kevin Bacon was messing up. He was actually flawless on the practice runs according to Jim Lovell.
I mean the movie shows a fair amount of dramatics, but that's expected. During the "problem" they are all panicking and scrambling.... I've heard the actual radio footage... Lovell sounds like he's asking them to pass the salt at dinner. Astronauts have all the fear and panic trained out of them, always have. They dealt with this pretty calmly from what I've been able to find.
They actually did take over 4 minutes during re-entry, before they could communicate by radio again. It took longer than normal, because they came in at a shallower angle than usual, so they were in that "plasma" phase longer. This wasn't taken into account real time, so it really was that dramatic.
It wasn't just that. The crew was concerned that using the radio might use up power that would be needed to fire the parachute pyros. So they agreed to not use the radio until the main chutes had opened. But they failed to inform Mission Control of their decision ahead of time.
No, the Lunar Lander (the thing they docked with) wasn't already up there. It was on the same rocket and was right behind the Command Module. That's why they had to disconnect, turn around and dock with the lander.
Though - VERY early in the planning, there was the notion that they would boost the materials for an entire SPACE STATION into orbit. Build everything THERE, and send it to the moon! (That was Werner Von Braun's idea - he was a LITTLE AMBITIOUS... ) Then some genius realized - "Hey wait... Instead of doing all that, why don't we just build ONLY what we need to land on the moon. A tiny little ship. And lob THAT along with the main ship. Dock and undock after landing and ascent in lunar orbit. No muss, no fuss and Bob's your uncle." Eventually NASA saw the wisdom in this plan and went with it. One side effect of this is that they actually designed the engine of the C/SM (The main ship) to be powerful enough to land on the moon and lift off again with the ENTIRE SHIP instead of having an ascent stage. That engine was actually OVERPOWERED for the job it ultimately DID do. But hey - it's already designed and the prototypes are built. We know it works. May as well use it!
@@logandarklighter Cant find any info on that. I know they wanted to land the whole thing on the moon instead of a lander and CM but they didn't like the weight or the 60 foot ladder. Von Braun after Apollo missions wanted a station and a shuttle for the moon and mars but then came the budget cuts.
I was 14 when this happened and living in Dallas, Texas. I cannot emphasize how accurate this movie is right down to the astronaut having to spit out his gum into the hand of one of his handlers. This gripped the nation and the Televisions were on in school that week all week. Remember, this was only the third trip to the moon using computers that were not as powerful as a 1980 calculator. They used slide rules and pencils to get these guys home. Yes, it really took 4 minutes and the classroom erupted when we knew they were safe. This was a long week for everybody. While television no longer broadcast all the time concerning space flight, for most Americans it was a great source of pride. Well, the coverage was everywhere when this happened. I remember conversation everywhere you went was dominated by speculation on the astronauts fate. Apollo 1 was still fresh in everyone's memories as we learned a tragic lesson on not using pure oxygen in the module. And only 9 months earlier I and all the world had watched Armstrong step foot for the first time on the moon. Even I and my sister got a glass of champagne as we toasted man's first step on the moon. Now we, and the world, watched helplessly as each day new problems had to be overcome by NASA to get these boys home safely. At the time, most of us did not know how much NASA and the astronauts had to overcome to just get them back towards earth let alone home safe. This time in my memories of the space program is as etched into me as was the 1st landing. For it was a victory in it's own right. God Bless Ron Howard and his commitment to historical accuracy with this movie.
You're the same age as me John! Man, I cannot tell you how terrified I was while waiting for news of their re-entry. I'm Australian and had followed the Apollo missions religiously. I had scrap-books filled with every news report and anything to do with it. I drove my Mother absolutely nucking futz with letting me sit up late at night so that I could keep up with any new info. As an Aussie, I'm proud to say that we had a lot of assistance to offer keeping NASA in contact with those heroes in space for every Apollo mission. What a time to be alive!
@@Scottie_S Yes! You did! You guys were one of only three stations on the planet to track and relay telemetry and voice data. Well Done! We love our brothers and sisters down under!
If you haven't seen it, I *highly* recommend a movie on Netflix called "Apollo 10 1/2". It's an animated (rotoscopoed) film that is ostensibly about a boy who fantasizes that he is chosen for a NASA mission. But what it *really* is, is a story about what it was like to grow up in Houston in the 1960s at the height of the space program. I think anyone who came of age in that era would love it.
One of my favorite movies of all time. A great follow up would be "The Right Stuff," about the early days of the space program, with a great all-star cast.
Absolutely. "The Right Stuff" focuses on the original Mercury 7 Astronauts and was a great film. Another entry you should review is HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon", produced by Tom Hanks, which covers aspects of the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Oh yes yes yes...The Right Stuff is a must see for movies about Space. Also Ed Harris plays John Glenn. You also might like a newer film Hidden Figures which ties into the Apollo 13 mission.
I will upvote and reply to everyone who recommends The Right Stuff (1983). I can't believe the reaction channels haven't picked-up on that movie, especially the channels that loved Apollo 13.
Accoring to Jim Lovell, his wife really did lose her wedding ring down the drain (she was able to get it back though). Unfortunately, America mostly went right back to not caring about NASA or the Moon landings. Here's hoping the Artemis missions get us back to the Moon in 2025 as planned. A Bill Paxton playlist (RIP) would be awesome!
tom hanks run of movies in the 90's was maybe the most dominant decade by an actor ever. A League of Their Own, Sleepless In Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story 2, Castaway, The Green Mile. My goodness.
@@javiazar 90's were very good, but the 70's going back to the late 60's was the golden age. come on. The Godfather, Star Wars, The Sting, Jaws, Close Encounters, Rocky, Cuckoos Nest, Network, Butch Cassidy, Apocalypse Now, Alien, All the Presidents Men, Patton, 2001..... Robert Redford, Paul Newman Faye Dunaway, Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman... it's not close my friend.
Since you’re a Bill Paxton fan I recommend an underrated gem called ‘Frailty.’ Not only did Bill Paxton star in it, he directed it too! Such a good movie.
Nobody ever reacts to Frailty and A Simple Plan. Hell, A Simple Plan barely even exists on RUclips when it comes to clips. Nobody ever reacts to "good" movies where you truly want to see what another human thinks of it. Reactions start with RoboCop, The Thing, The Fly, etc, let's see them bug out, and literally almost every channel starts with those. But can we get A Simple Plan, Party Monster, I Melt With You, Angus, SubUrbia, nobody reacts to anything I LOVE. What about Wired? The Garbage Pail Kids Movie? Masters of the Universe? Who cares about reactions to "popular movies" where everyone you know has seen it? Idk, I will say this, TBR and Samantha are my favorite reactors and my day is made everytime they release a new video. My favorites for anyone looking for some A+ material are their reactions to Karate Kid 3 and Arachnophobia.
As a Baby Boomer I salute Ron Howard for capturing the look and the feel of that era. Although I have seen this movie many times, the suspense never seems to fade. Very nostalgic as well.. Walter Cronkite.. Dr. Jules Bergman..
WOW, Samantha a regular engineer in mind. She nailed every problem before the resolution was even announced. From re-entry ( 26:08 ) to from solving shit I dont even understand lol ( 27:07 ) Great reaction guys and I hope to be on your ship If i ever leave orbit!
I know Daniel is an engineer and Sam is a chemist or Biologist. But Sam is incredibly smart and intuitive in breaking down clues. That's why her reactions are so amazing.
tom hanks produced a hbo mini series around the same time as this movie called From the Earth to the Moon. Its loaded with incredible actors and gives a great overall education on americas space program in 60s and early 70s. No one on youtube has reacted to it yet.🤞
It was very clever the way they retold the story of Apollo 13. Instead of just rehashing the story, they made it about the changes happening in journalism, from the knowledgeable to the sensational.
You can listen to the real audio of the accident here on RUclips. The thing that surprised me the most about the real audio is that no one ever sounds rattled or even raises their voice.
This is a perfect movie. I knew the outcome of this movie, the first time I saw it in the theater, and I was still on the edge of my seat the entire time. I've seen it 100 times since, and I'm still on the edge of my seat the entire movie.
The news broadcasting was actual footage. The whole world was watching this unfold. Crazy to think it was only 66 years from flight at Kitty Hawk to landing on the moon.
53 years later and we have only advanced far enough to have a computer in our pockets so we can "leave a mean comment on RUclips, while on the toilet taking a sh*t"(credit Louis)
"Apollo 13" was really a family reunion for Ron Howard. His Brother, Clint is one of the guys at mission control, he's the guy that says "the Odyssey is dying. From MY chair, here, this is the last option". Jean Speegle Howard, his Mother plays Jim Lovell's mother. And Rance Howard, his father plays the priest that comes to the Lovell homestead while they are all watching and hoping that the astronauts all come home safe.
Your comment on what it must've been like to watch Armstrong walk on the moon struck a chord. I was 11 when this happened and I still remember my whole family watching at my grandparents house. I still remember my grandfather saying (after Armstrong stepped down) "what would they do if something came out from behind those rocks".
As Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon, feeling the tension in the room, Grandad shouted, "Look out, it's gonna get 'em!". Everyone jumped! Grandad had a great sense of humor. People would probably deny it now, but people didn't know & halfway expected some Moon monster to jump out from behind a rock and attack Neil Armstrong. I was almost 6 years old and was totally into the space program. I remember being disappointed, that they didn't name the command module & lunar module Charlie Brown & Snoopy, like they did on Apollo 10. ...Exciting times.
In "From the Earth to the Moon" - the miniseries, based on the Apollo missions, they were talking about what to say for Apollo 11 when they land and Armstrong steps onto the moon. Michael Collins (the Command Module Pilot for 11) said if you have any balls, you'd (talking to Armstrong) say "Oh my god, what is that thing!" and cut the mic. lol
I was 7 years old, allowed to stay up all night to watch the landing (in glorious black and white, remember?), truly happy to have witnessed such a wondrous thing.
i was almost 10 when this happened. i have a strange special attachment to this movie. my dad was the asst. city foreman for Western Union and was assigned to mission control in Houston. when the explosion happened he was called out to work to make sure the Telex and Twixt machines stayed operational. he was there til after splashdown. in the movie's view he would have been one of the guys in the back of mission control. he said it was very emotional when they finally heard them on the radio. i've always loved this movie and tear up every time i watch it. he brought me home several flight patches from different Apollo missions. miss you dad.
Many astronauts weren't just celebrities, but war heroes as well. The people most likely to be astronauts back in the 50s and 60s were people who were both college educated and were fighter aces during WW2 or Korea.
I doubt most of the astronauts were fighter aces...they were required to have a certain amount of hours in jet aircraft and a degree in engineering. In fact, I don't believe any American astronaut has been a fighter ace.....
This is one of those movies I can go back and watch over and over again and I still feel incredibly choked up / tense no matter how many times I've seen it. I've watched it hundreds of times, and I still go through all the emotions. That's when you know a movie is amazing. Obviously an All-Star cast, some of the best character actors in the business, incredible production. I think the most devastating line in the movie for me is when the little boy asks, "was it the door?" because you know what he's really asking is, "is my daddy going to be okay?" and it just breaks me. The way everybody works together to bring them back, I think that's why I watch this movie so often; because it makes me feel good about human beings. We need that.
The Right Stuff (1983) and First Man (2018) are some other great historical drama space movies. The documentary Apollo 11 (2019) is also an excellent watch after Apollo 13, it's 99% real footage, a lot of it restored from 70mm film that looks amazing.
Seconded for The Right Stuff, they *have* to watch that one! Your other picks are excellent as well. I even liked the TV series of The Right Stuff that Disney+ made, even though it was cancelled after one season.
Loved The Right Stuff and Apollo 11. I'm not so fond of First Man because I think it's too dark and tense regarding the mood. That just wasn't the case in reality.
Yes, Apollo 13's radio blackout during landing really did last a minute or so longer than expected. Yes, Mission Control really did break out into applause when they saw the images of the capsule with three good parachutes. The movie's dramatic license was in putting those two events together; in reality the radio was already back before the parachutes deployed.
This was one of those films that most people, at the time of its release, had seen these events unfold live and/or lived and learned about this historic event. Yet, like other history-based films (like Miracle, Secretariat, The Right Stuff, etc.), people, knowing full well what would transpire, still came to the theaters, watched, were amazed, learned things, stayed on the edge to the end, and enjoyed the show. IJS. :) Enjoyed your reactions. Kudos for not initially looking up this event before viewing. That strength of will is also appreciated.
The LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) is actually attached to the upper stage of the rocket, so when they separate their Command Module (named Odyssey) and service module from the final section, they turn back around and dock with the LEM, which is sitting in a protective shell that’s part of the final stage
Check out how they filmed the weightless scenes. They used an Air Force training jet called the vomit comet that did actual free fall. Pretty wild. Great movie!
One of my favorite moments in the film is when Deke Slayton gets on the line. Fred goes “It’s Deke…” and Jack immediately says “They don’t know how to do it.” Deke Slayton was one of the Mercury 7. The scene is great, because Deke directly talking to the astronauts meant that they knew they were pretty much screwed. My other favorite moment is when they realized they were still on VOX (basically Hot-mic’ing). I actually had a pretty similar thing happen to me when I was overseas. That look that Tom Hanks gives when he realized they could hear him was perfect! Internally it basically goes like “Oh dear Lord! How long has it been on and what did I say?!” As always, love you guys and I’m so thrilled you guys finally got to see this! It’s one of my favorite films and I tear up at the end every single time!
The 4-minute re-entry time seems melodramatic, but it makes sense. They were still coming in shallow, so their angle took longer to pass into the atmosphere. I can't even imagine how long it would have felt to Mission Control and to the astronauts' families.
Hey Daniel and Sam, I have to say this is the most stressed I've ever seen both of you. This movie added about 10 creases to each of your eyebrows and foreheads. ----- It took Jim Lovell's description of the churned-up alge to give you guys the hope to power on. ----- I have seen this flick about 40 times and I need to be reminded of the anxiety and stress I myself had watching the crew of Apollo 13 try to survivie. ----- Super great awesome reaction. I truly love it.
It's absolutely insane that this really happened (and that it had a happy ending!) and yet no one talks about it nowadays, or even knows about it. You'd think this would be something at least taught in history lessons. Going to space was monumental enough, but to then suffer such a catastrophe and still turn it around and come home safely is such an inspirational event.
Well, the public's interest in the space program was waning at the time so they needed a cliffhanger to get people back on board...hence, 'Houston we got a problem'...
Funny story, one of the people that got to see a test screening of this film before it was released, on his comment card said the movie was unrealistic as the crew in NO WAY could have survived! lol
They definitely did teach it when I was in school, which was about ten years after the actual event, but I suppose it's just old news to people these days, half of whom think the moon missions were a hoax.
Right. People often say putting a man on the moon was the greatest achievement man has ever accomplished. I disagree. I think it was getting Apollo 13 back home.
According to Lovell's book Fred had a kidney infection, not the measles. I've also seen that Jack Swiggert was as much of an expert on the command module as Ken. That switch and the argument before the CO2 thing were dramatized because, per Ron Howard, there are only so many scenes of sweaty guys doing math that you can put in a movie.
After this movie Tom Hanks and HBO did a mini series called 'From the Earth to the Moon' covering the exploits of the Apollo missions. I always find it a good companion to this movie. =)
As a young kid in the 70s, I would write letters to NASA and they'd send pictures. We were working in our maintenance bay at Minot AFB, ND in '86 listening to the radio when Challenger exploded. A day I'll never forget.
“When will we be going back? And who will that be?” That quote always gave me hope, and goosebumps! Especially now with NASA’s Artemis 2 mission coming up next year or so, which is gonna send a crew of astronauts back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. So excited for that!
Was working at Blockbuster when this one hit VHS. One morning a grandmotherly type was returning it, and said that when she showed it to her grandson, his reaction was "No wonder they had so much trouble, Forrest Gump was driving!"
Pretty amazing that the computing power that sent men to the moon was the equivalent to a Nintendo gameboy. The phone in your pocket has more computing power than the mission control room in the movie.
Jim Lovell wrote a novelization of his experience and called it Lost Moon. That was adapted into this film. The Navy officer that Tom Hanks shakes hands with at the end is the real Jim Lovell.
Did you watch the movie with Jim and Marilyn's commentary? If not, go back and give it a go. They're such a lovely couple and provide such great substance to the movie!
I was 13 when this occurred and lived in a small country town in Australia. Every church in the town had its doors open for anyone who wanted to pray at any time. I have seen this film many times and I shed a tear every time at the finish.
I remember most of the Gemini and Apollo missions and watching them on TV live growing up, including the actual footage shown in the movie as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The movie was based on events out of Jim Lovell's book and most of them are all true including his wife losing her ring so the movie is pretty close to actual events. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out in 1996, fully knowing and remembering seeing the outcome of the mission in real life played out on TV (once they knew they had enough interested viewers) and all the missions that came after thru Apollo 17.... and I was still at the edge of my seat because at that time I didn't know all the behind the scenes drama that was happening that was described in Lovell's book. And every time I watch a reaction of new reactors viewing the movie, I still feel the anxiety watching the drama. There were so many issues that were overcome where those men could have died in that mission if not for the extraordinary effort of the support teams working together to get them home. I can't imagine what it must feel for the both of you to see this movie NOT knowing what will happen and not being familiar with the NASA missions of that generation. It made it all the more impactful for me to see your reactions. You should check out the movie "The Right Stuff" which was about the selection of the first Astronauts for the Mercury missions in the early days of the space race. It is more about the personalities of the selected individual astronauts and their training and early failures, and it is a more dramatized version but still a good movie.
One of my favourite films. Despite knowing the outcome, the minutes waiting on re entry is still some of the most tense minutes of film I’ve ever seen. Also, Gene Kranz is the epitome of a leader….never in question that he is in charge, but he didn’t try to take over or micro manage. Allowed all the experts to be experts, advised what he needed and let them tell him what they could provide. Rolled with it every time they got a new problem. Knew that the team effort was important
Kranz locked the door to mission control during the landing of Apollo 11 - he said those doors are not going to unlock until one of three things happen. One, we land on the moon. Two, they crash or three, they abort. Wow... amazing man.
Glynn Lunney (portrayed as nothing more than a no dialogue right hand man to Gene) was just as responsible, if not more so than Gene for rescuing that mission. I get that Ron Howard may have only wanted one boss man seen in Ed Harris in the movie, but that wasnt the reality. Everyone went to Glynn for direction and was said to have shown amazing leadership during that rescue
@@paulinegallagher7821 well yes, it’s a pity they didn’t make more of Glynns role in the Movie, I know Ken Mattingly spoke very highly of him. Although it does demonstrate what I meant about Gene, as lead flight director, he was in charge, but let others do what they needed to do.
This movie demonstrated the brilliance of those men both in space and on Earth. To work their way through those issues under that pressure - where death was on the line - is absolutely amazing. Nice review.
If you guys loved Kevin Bacon in this, check out Clint Eastwood’s Boston murder mystery drama, ‘Mystic River’. He is paired with Larry Fishburne as State Police...awesome stuff. Tim Robbins and Sean Penn are incredible in that too. Fantastic reaction guys, start to finish.
Little Known Fact...if you find yourself in the middle of Kansas, stop by the Kansas Cosmosphere. The actual Odyssey (Apollo 13 command module) is on full display there. The museum is outstanding - it contains one of the largest combined collection of American and Soviet/Russian space artifacts in the world. Great reaction and glad you watched it!
Brilliant film. My dad was an aerospace engineer during this time period. They had the clothing details down. Taking my dad to see this movie was one of the best father son experiences I ever had. Can you believe this lost Best Picture to Braveheart?
This all took place one month before my high school graduation. It was so intense and the whole nation was glued to the news of the rescue attempt. So glad that this movie was made so that other generations can experience it like we did and to see how a team works together in dire situations to save lives. Great review!
6:50 This actually happened to Mrs. Lovell. They did over-dramatize it for the film, though, and she was successfully able to fish the ring out of the drain. 7:32 Very little, if any. 8:30 Yes, Jim was the only one of the three that had actually flown in space before. 9:14 The "tower" is actually a powerful rocket motor that's designed to yank the capsule away from the rocket if it decides to blow up. After second stage ignition, they're going too fast to survive doing that, so there's no reason to keep it around any more. 9:43 Well, all the stuff they've left behind until now was going too slowly to orbit, so it would have all fallen back into the atmosphere. 10:40 Yes, the lander is too delicate to withstand launch if it were exposed, so it's kept in a compartment in the third stage just behind the service module. But that's also the direction the service module's engine points, so after they're on the way to the moon, they separate from the third stage, turn around, and dock again so the lander is attached to the front of the capsule. It was _not_ "already out there". 12:14 There was supposed to be 20 missions, but the budget for the last three was cut, so Apollo 17 was the last one. 17:22 LEM: Lunar Excursion Module. 19:03 That drawing isn't to scale. Earth is a tiny marble compared to the distance to the moon, and even if it were possible to land on the near side (it isn't, just to be clear), it would only save them about 10 minutes. 31:44 Surprisingly enough, that wasn't invented for the film. Apollo 13 really did take 4 min. 15 sec. to reacquire signal, the longest of any Apollo mission. 33:03 That guy in white on the left, shaking Lovell's hand? That's the _actual_ Jim Lovell, making a cameo.
A fictional and fun space based movie from my childhood is "SPACECAMP" (1986). The cast is actually stacked, but the movie bombed because it was made in 1985 and the terrible accident to the Shuttle Challenger occurred in January 1986. It was a lose-lose, but they released it in summer of '86. More people should check it out.
I remember watching that when I was pretty young (must have been at least 9 years old, but probably a bit older than that). I think I enjoyed it as a fun movie, but even back then I thought it was a little bit implausible! 😆
Jim Lovell used to own a restaurant in the area that my grandmother went to. She said they had talked several times and that he was a nice guy. Apparently there was a really high end art piece hanging that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had given him.
To explain the 1st "docking procedure" -- The CM (Command Module) & the Service Module (the "SBC" which contains the main engine, thursters & oxygen tanks) are mounted at the top of the Saturn rocket assembly, but the LEM (the Lunar Excursion Module, or simply the Lunar Lander) isn't designed to handle the extreme stresses of liftoff in the same way, so the LEM is "stowed" in a relatively safer holding area right underneath the SBC within the Final Stage of the Saturn (being designed as a series of breakaway rocket sections or "stages" which power on, burn, shut down then detach in sequence). The trick is that, once the Final Stage finishes its burn, the astronauts have to successfully detach the SBC + CM from the Final Stage, maneuver it to pull a 180 turnaround, then approach the open end of the Final Stage to dock w/ the LEM in order to pull it out ... since the whole point of the Apollo missions is to land a spacecraft on the Moon. Had the tank-explosion disaster never happened, The SBC-CM-LEM Apollo 13 setup would have proceeded as planned into Lunar orbit, from which the LEM would have detached & descended to the Moon's surface. Once the astronauts aboard the LEM had concluded their business (which would've included collecting a bunch of Moon rocks) they would've blasted off the Lunar surface (using explosive charges instead of the LEM engine, because there wouldn't be enough fuel left for another burn) & made a rendezvous w/ the SBC-CM for yet another docking procedure before leaving Lunar orbit for the return trajectory to Earth. (Speaking purely as a science geek who grew up during the 1970s & 1980s & practically inhaled every bit of information about the NASA space program.)
I was lucky that my family followed the US space program fairly closely and we watched the broadcasts. Watching the Apollo 11 mission will forever be in my memory. Apollo 13 was an emotional roller coaster. The space program was deeply inspirational to so many people.
just gotta say you really have become great reactors - for me one of the top ones. great choice of movies/shows, great reactions themselves, no massive overreacting. you get the tone and humor of the stuff you watch really fast. good theories, good analysis and you pick up on quite a lot of stuff. really impressive and all that without appearing fake at all - pretty much the opposite from my perspective. you seem to become more confident and knowledgable with every new reaction while also enjoying it. thx for sharing!
Ron Howard directed this movie, his brother Clint was one of the guys in the control room and his dad was the priest and his mother played Toms mother ( or grandma I forgot) !!!
This is such an excellent movie. I don't think any other cast could have made this movie, everyone is on the very top of their game here. Tom Hanks rightfully gets the most credit here as the lead, but my fav is Ed Harris just blwing it out of the park as the mission commander. This will be our finest hour hits so well every single time.
Funny thing: Although the events were pretty much as dramatic as shown, the people involved were in reality too professional for it to have looked that way if they translated it to the movie 1:1. They didn't shout at each other, they followed the procedures calmly, they spoke one at a time. It is incredible how everybody kept their cool if you listen to the original audio and looked at the footage.
I oddly enough just finished watching Generation Kill yet again and agree. Hearing the actual audio in such a situation and the professionalism in these scenarios over comms never ceases to amaze me.
This came out in 1995, and I wonder if it was made today if they would've used over the top special effects and CGI to make it... like you said, it felt so real so I am so glad they didn't have that kind of technology available to make it, because I think it would've taken away from the realness of it. This is easily one of my top five favourite movies, I have watched it probably 20 times in my life and even though I know what is coming I still feel that anxiety and I cry every time at the end. Especially when Gene finally relaxes and has to wipe a tear away; he was probably one of my favourite characters. So glad you finally watched it and loved it too! Since you love Tom Hanks, I would LOVE to see you react to Philadelphia if you haven't already seen it, it's a phenomenal movie and Tom Hanks won awards for his performance.
Funny thing: In "Forrest Gump", Lt. Dan told Forrest, "If you're gonna be a shrimp boat captain, then I'm an astronaut." A couple of years later, they both play astronauts in "Apollo 13".
If you want another Ron Howard movie, check out 'Backdraft'. Loaded cast, but I don't know how many you'll recognize outside Kurt Russel. It's mostly forgotten because critics hated it. But without 'Backdraft', Howard wouldn't have been hired to direct 'Apollo 13'. My late father-in-law was a fire fighter and I asked him how accurate it was. He said it was the most terrifying movie he had seen.
I had to look it up when you wondered how many people watched the moon landing in 1969. It was estimated that 650 million watched it worldwide. I was 12 at the time, so no way I was going to miss it. Great reaction you two. I remember Apollo 13 being on the news constantly one the news hit about the trouble.
The little tower at the tip of the rocket that shoots off is the launch escape system. It's attached to the command module and has powerful rockets attached to it. If on the launch pad or during the ascent there's an emergency, the system shoots off with the command module (and the crew) and gets them away from the main rocket. The tip is ejected once the rocket reaches a certain altitude where it wouldn't help anymore.
Ron Howard also directed Willow, which is up there as a top fantasy movie ever. It has Warick Davis and Val Kilmer in it. As an actor, Ron Howard was also in Americana Graffiti, George Lucas's amazing and underrated coming of age story about California car culture. That movie also has Richard Dreyfus in it and Harrison Ford has a small part. Highly recommended. It is smaller in scope that some of his other movies, but if you like great soundtracks, American Graffiti has one of the best ever.
TBR, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHEN YOUNGER FOLKS PEOPLE OF YOUR GENERATION REACT TO THIS MOVIE!! RON HOWARD DID A FANTASTIC JOB TELLING THIS STORY!! I WAS 12 YEARS OLD WHEN THIS WAS GOING ON AND I WAS A HUGE FAN OF THE SPACE PROGRAM!! I HAD A SCALE MODEL OF THE SATURN 5 ROCKET, WHICH WAS ABLE TO HAVE THE STAGES SEPARATE AND IT ALSO HAD A LEM (LUNAR EXCURSION MODULE)! MY PERSONAL OPINION IS THAT THE FEAT OF BRINGING THESE ASTRONAUTS HOME ALIVE WAS MORE INCREDIBLE AND HISTORIC THAN EVEN LANDING ON THE MOON ITSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! THIS MAY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE GREATEST PERIODS IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!
If you ever watch the movie "That Thing You Do" (with Tom Hanks, naturally, and his wife and son too), be sure to watch for Apollo 13 Easter eggs - there are many!
I remember the Saturday morning when the space shuttle Columbia was returning to earth. Unknown at the time was that some of its heat shield tiles had been damaged on take off. I was listening to the broadcast on the radio as Columbia reentered the atmosphere and lost radio contact like normally happens. There was the usual wait for signal, but the silence went on past 3 minutes, then past four minutes. Finally, after several more minutes it became obvious something had happened. Columbia had exploded and all aboard were killed.
If you're Bill Paxton fans you'll want to see A Simple Plan. It's probably his best movie -- and it's a great movie on its own merits. Would make a great reaction video.
I was 11 when this happened and was glued to the news listening to every detail. I read Jim Lovell's book about it. It still didn't spoil the movie for me. And every time I seeit I am on the edge of my seat - it's that well done!
You start to see how incredibly resourceful these men, these heroes were in that spacecraft and on the ground. Most of the early astronaughts were formerly test pilots. Fearless men taking their lives in the jet planes every day. There were deaths and tradgedy as well as success and fame. If my memory served JohnGlenn was a test pilot who became the first man in space. A lot of kids in my era wanted to grow up to be astronaughts. It was extremely stressful to experience that time when the people of earth communally held their breath and bowing our heads praying for the safe return of these boys.
The more you watch this, the more emotional it gets. You know exactly how it ends, yet that intensifies the feelings. I challenge anyone to see this more than once and not get teary at the end when the parachutes open and announce that they are still alive.
- LEM is the Lunar Excursion Module, or Lunar Module for short. It's the part of the ship that was going to actually land on the Moon. For Apollo 13, the names of the Lunar Module & the Command Module were the Aquarius & the Odyssey. Other Apollo missions had different names for their Modules. - After APOLLO 13, Tom Hanks helped co-produce a miniseries called FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON that covered most of the Apollo program. As mentioned in the series, the LM & the Commond Module were made by two different companies (if I'm not mistaken), which is why the CO2 scrubbers didn't fit each other. - There's also FOR ALL MANKIND on AppleTV+, which is an alt-history "what if Russians got to the Moon first and the Space Race never ended" show which saw Earth put multiple bases on the Moon, and a manned mission to Mars by the 90s. - This movie was a HUGE hit when it came out. I still remember the VHS stands at K-Marts stacked from top to bottom with tapes of this movie :D
Authenticity was a major priority in making this movie, leading to filming in actual zero gravity conditions and leaving the technical engineering dialogue as is without slowing the action to inform viewers what every little thing meant, just the major points.
While the lines are often word for word, their delivery is usually more emotional than it was in reality IIRC, in reality there was no hectic talking or screaming. But as changes go this is fine, as it helps making clear to the audience how dangerous the situation is.
Ron Howard directed another excellent fact-based movie called "Thirteen Lives" about the rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach from a cave in Thailand. It was released just last year.
19:25 Ken Mattingly and several members of 13's Backup Crew were in the Simulator running different power up scenarios. In reality (and contrary to how he was portrayed here), the 'best' person that Lovell and Haise could have aboard during this Flight WAS Jack Swigert. Not only did he actually write the Emergency Procedures Manual for the Apollo Command/Service Module, when he was chosen as an Astronaut he specifically requested assignment as a Command Module pilot. That is Dedication right there. Proud to call Jack Swigert as a fellow Coloradan.
Listening to Jim and Marilyn's commentary on this movie is wonderful. The part that Jim said was not accurate was the yelling/anger at each other during the argument about the 'stirring of the tanks'. He said that they had no problems with each other, but Ron said to Jim that he wanted to create some 'drama' at that moment. Aside from that, it was pretty much accurate. Jim also has a part in the movie at the end, where he shakes Tom Hank's hand after recovery.
Tom Hanks mostly only makes great movies but this (along with the rest of the excellent cast) is one of the best. Not just one of his best, but one of THE best movies. The 90s was all about disaster movies and along with the other blockbusters like Titanic and Twister, Apollo 13 got it spot-on and is as good today as it ever was. Fantastic film-making.
I always feel awe when I watch this movie. I feel awe at what mankind is capable of with teamwork. To me that's what this movie is really about. It's about what we can do when we bend every sail towards a single goal. I think in an era of rampant cynicism and nihilism it behooves us to remember that we are capable of remarkable things if we but try.
Fun fact: The part where they improvised the CO2 scrubber cartridge fix was the direct inspiration for the British television show Junkyard Wars. Two contestant teams would be taken to a junkyard full of all kinds of stuff and given an objective like build a trebuchet in 3 days. They'd each get an expert to help them.
Hey Daniel and Sam, Tom Hanks is so dynamic in his acting ability.------- No matter what role he plays, makes us care for the character and thus the story. ---------- What an amazing talent. Matthew McConahey, Robin Williams, and Jim Carey are all similar in that way as well.------- You should next dive down the rabbit holes those actors have created.
If you like Ron Howard’s direction, I would suggest A Beautiful Mind with Russel Crowe. Many people thought he should have won best actor that year even though Denzel had a great performances in Training Day.
Denzel had never won a Best Actor Oscar (Supporting for Glory) and Crowe had just won it a year or two earlier for Gladiator. Crowe should have also won for The Insider IMHO.
My father was one of the engineers who designed that heatshield. We watched this on TV, and all my dad kept saying during that 3 minutes of silence was "The shield'll hold. The shield'll hold". He was right. He passed away in 2013.
right before _/ non-moving earth exploded on the internet
Wow, cool story. The Apollo program and those preceding were absolutely incredible. The sacrifices, tireless work and brilliant innovations that had to happen in a short period of time to achieve humans greatest achievement is an inspiring beautiful and tragic story all in one package. Not to mention the horrific murder of one of our greatest Presidents who was an instrumental part of this timeless story. I wish I was around to have experienced it all. Except for the murder of JFK.
So many things can go wrong on a space mission.
Respect to all the engineers that made this even possible.
Well, he is one of many who saved their lives with his quality of service combined with the folks at NASA. God bless him for it.
I love that. Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you have that memory with your dad ❤
Hey Daniel and Sam, Fun fact: the Navy Captain that greets the astronauts at the end is the real Jim Lovell. He's still going strong at 95! ------- This movie is based on Jim Lovell's memoir "Lost Moon". -------- Gene Kranz wrote a memoir entitled "Failure is not an Option". ------ The only movie dramatics was at the beinging when Kevin Bacon was messing up. He was actually flawless on the practice runs according to Jim Lovell.
There was a comment that it wasn't Jim that said "Huston..." Do you know?
@@RobertH-ol6mw That one I have to check up on.
I mean the movie shows a fair amount of dramatics, but that's expected. During the "problem" they are all panicking and scrambling.... I've heard the actual radio footage... Lovell sounds like he's asking them to pass the salt at dinner. Astronauts have all the fear and panic trained out of them, always have. They dealt with this pretty calmly from what I've been able to find.
@@lethaldose2000 Cool,I wish I remember which one the commenter attributed it to, I had forgotten until now, still an amazing movie!
Lovell's book was entitled "Lost Moon"
You know a film like this is good when it's a true story and you know how it ends, but it still keeps you at the edge of your seat.
Agreed!
Quite true.
They actually did take over 4 minutes during re-entry, before they could communicate by radio again. It took longer than normal, because they came in at a shallower angle than usual, so they were in that "plasma" phase longer. This wasn't taken into account real time, so it really was that dramatic.
On the plus side, they came down almost directly on top of the carrier.
It wasn't just that. The crew was concerned that using the radio might use up power that would be needed to fire the parachute pyros. So they agreed to not use the radio until the main chutes had opened. But they failed to inform Mission Control of their decision ahead of time.
No, the Lunar Lander (the thing they docked with) wasn't already up there. It was on the same rocket and was right behind the Command Module. That's why they had to disconnect, turn around and dock with the lander.
Though - VERY early in the planning, there was the notion that they would boost the materials for an entire SPACE STATION into orbit. Build everything THERE, and send it to the moon! (That was Werner Von Braun's idea - he was a LITTLE AMBITIOUS... ) Then some genius realized - "Hey wait... Instead of doing all that, why don't we just build ONLY what we need to land on the moon. A tiny little ship. And lob THAT along with the main ship. Dock and undock after landing and ascent in lunar orbit. No muss, no fuss and Bob's your uncle."
Eventually NASA saw the wisdom in this plan and went with it.
One side effect of this is that they actually designed the engine of the C/SM (The main ship) to be powerful enough to land on the moon and lift off again with the ENTIRE SHIP instead of having an ascent stage. That engine was actually OVERPOWERED for the job it ultimately DID do. But hey - it's already designed and the prototypes are built. We know it works. May as well use it!
@@logandarklighter Cant find any info on that. I know they wanted to land the whole thing on the moon instead of a lander and CM but they didn't like the weight or the 60 foot ladder. Von Braun after Apollo missions wanted a station and a shuttle for the moon and mars but then came the budget cuts.
@@logandarklighter A Nazi scientist ambitious? Nein!!!
I was 14 when this happened and living in Dallas, Texas. I cannot emphasize how accurate this movie is right down to the astronaut having to spit out his gum into the hand of one of his handlers. This gripped the nation and the Televisions were on in school that week all week. Remember, this was only the third trip to the moon using computers that were not as powerful as a 1980 calculator. They used slide rules and pencils to get these guys home.
Yes, it really took 4 minutes and the classroom erupted when we knew they were safe. This was a long week for everybody. While television no longer broadcast all the time concerning space flight, for most Americans it was a great source of pride. Well, the coverage was everywhere when this happened. I remember conversation everywhere you went was dominated by speculation on the astronauts fate. Apollo 1 was still fresh in everyone's memories as we learned a tragic lesson on not using pure oxygen in the module. And only 9 months earlier I and all the world had watched Armstrong step foot for the first time on the moon. Even I and my sister got a glass of champagne as we toasted man's first step on the moon.
Now we, and the world, watched helplessly as each day new problems had to be overcome by NASA to get these boys home safely. At the time, most of us did not know how much NASA and the astronauts had to overcome to just get them back towards earth let alone home safe. This time in my memories of the space program is as etched into me as was the 1st landing. For it was a victory in it's own right. God Bless Ron Howard and his commitment to historical accuracy with this movie.
You're the same age as me John! Man, I cannot tell you how terrified I was while waiting for news of their re-entry. I'm Australian and had followed the Apollo missions religiously. I had scrap-books filled with every news report and anything to do with it. I drove my Mother absolutely nucking futz with letting me sit up late at night so that I could keep up with any new info.
As an Aussie, I'm proud to say that we had a lot of assistance to offer keeping NASA in contact with those heroes in space for every Apollo mission. What a time to be alive!
The goal is to first return to the moon and then go to mars.
Incredible story, thank you so much for sharing it with us!
@@Scottie_S Yes! You did! You guys were one of only three stations on the planet to track and relay telemetry and voice data. Well Done! We love our brothers and sisters down under!
If you haven't seen it, I *highly* recommend a movie on Netflix called "Apollo 10 1/2". It's an animated (rotoscopoed) film that is ostensibly about a boy who fantasizes that he is chosen for a NASA mission. But what it *really* is, is a story about what it was like to grow up in Houston in the 1960s at the height of the space program. I think anyone who came of age in that era would love it.
No matter how many times I've seen this movie, I still end up on the edge of my seat during the re-entry scene.
“Well, don’t you worry honey. If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it.”
My favorite line.
Mine is "and you, sir, are a steel hosted missile man."
And the great part about her, is that the actress was Ron Howard’s mother. Lol
@@timcook6566 I did not know that. Learned something new today
"This is Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong."
"Are you boys with the space program, too?" 😂
One of my favorite movies of all time. A great follow up would be "The Right Stuff," about the early days of the space program, with a great all-star cast.
Absolutely. "The Right Stuff" focuses on the original Mercury 7 Astronauts and was a great film. Another entry you should review is HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon", produced by Tom Hanks, which covers aspects of the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Add October Sky to that and you have a great trilogy
👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
Oh yes yes yes...The Right Stuff is a must see for movies about Space. Also Ed Harris plays John Glenn. You also might like a newer film Hidden Figures which ties into the Apollo 13 mission.
I will upvote and reply to everyone who recommends The Right Stuff (1983). I can't believe the reaction channels haven't picked-up on that movie, especially the channels that loved Apollo 13.
Accoring to Jim Lovell, his wife really did lose her wedding ring down the drain (she was able to get it back though). Unfortunately, America mostly went right back to not caring about NASA or the Moon landings. Here's hoping the Artemis missions get us back to the Moon in 2025 as planned. A Bill Paxton playlist (RIP) would be awesome!
tom hanks run of movies in the 90's was maybe the most dominant decade by an actor ever.
A League of Their Own, Sleepless In Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story 2, Castaway, The Green Mile.
My goodness.
What an iconic filmography.
I think the 90s was the golden age of cinema, and it's not even close.
@@javiazar 90's were very good, but the 70's going back to the late 60's was the golden age. come on.
The Godfather, Star Wars, The Sting, Jaws, Close Encounters, Rocky, Cuckoos Nest, Network, Butch Cassidy, Apocalypse Now, Alien, All the Presidents Men, Patton, 2001..... Robert Redford, Paul Newman Faye Dunaway, Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman... it's not close my friend.
Castaway was released in December of 2000.
I guess you never heard of Clark Gable or Rudolph Valentino ?
The most impressive fact about this is that they had to invent most of the character drama in this. The real guys stayed cool through the whole thing
Yes Maddenly was upset about being bounced but when asked to help he was right there
They did have one minor blow up. But, yeah, a crucial factor in astronaut selection was people that wouldn't flip out.
Absolutely.
@@RossM3838 Ken Mattingly was actually in Mission Control both during launch and when the accident occurred.
@@willis32 Jim Lovell's wife really did lose her ring down the shower drain.
However, the hotel staff retrieved the ring from the drain's trap.
Since you’re a Bill Paxton fan I recommend an underrated gem called ‘Frailty.’ Not only did Bill Paxton star in it, he directed it too! Such a good movie.
Very good recommendation. I love a simple plan. very good underrated film
Yes a really good movie
Frailty is brilliant. Well done for suggesting it!
Frailty is amazing! I love that film! Frailty and A Simple Plan are definitely two underrated films in the many Bill Paxton gems!
Nobody ever reacts to Frailty and A Simple Plan. Hell, A Simple Plan barely even exists on RUclips when it comes to clips. Nobody ever reacts to "good" movies where you truly want to see what another human thinks of it. Reactions start with RoboCop, The Thing, The Fly, etc, let's see them bug out, and literally almost every channel starts with those. But can we get A Simple Plan, Party Monster, I Melt With You, Angus, SubUrbia, nobody reacts to anything I LOVE. What about Wired? The Garbage Pail Kids Movie? Masters of the Universe? Who cares about reactions to "popular movies" where everyone you know has seen it? Idk, I will say this, TBR and Samantha are my favorite reactors and my day is made everytime they release a new video. My favorites for anyone looking for some A+ material are their reactions to Karate Kid 3 and Arachnophobia.
As a Baby Boomer I salute Ron Howard for capturing the look and the feel of that era. Although I have seen this movie many times, the suspense never seems to fade. Very nostalgic as well.. Walter Cronkite.. Dr. Jules Bergman..
You do know that Ron Howard was around then also right? The music man? The Andy Griffith Show? Happy Days? American Graffiti?
WOW, Samantha a regular engineer in mind. She nailed every problem before the resolution was even announced. From re-entry ( 26:08 ) to from solving shit I dont even understand lol ( 27:07 ) Great reaction guys and I hope to be on your ship If i ever leave orbit!
Maybe she Is an actual engineer
That's why this is the best movie and episodic show reaction channel. Everything is on point, even the discussions afterwards.
@@chadwickvon8019 yea I think both may have law degrees, i know Dan has travelled for Business if my recall is correct
I know Daniel is an engineer and Sam is a chemist or Biologist. But Sam is incredibly smart and intuitive in breaking down clues. That's why her reactions are so amazing.
She's a steely eyed missile man!
tom hanks produced a hbo mini series around the same time as this movie called From the Earth to the Moon. Its loaded with incredible actors and gives a great overall education on americas space program in 60s and early 70s. No one on youtube has reacted to it yet.🤞
It was very clever the way they retold the story of Apollo 13. Instead of just rehashing the story, they made it about the changes happening in journalism, from the knowledgeable to the sensational.
Great miniseries!
Wow, I forgot about that and gotta watch it. I just this week remembered Band of Brothers existed and finally started it this week.
"From the Earth to the Moon" is one of HBO's best miniseries, a must for any space enthusiast or history buff. I still have the DVD.
I did not know about the series but am about to go and binge on it. Thanks, for the heads up!
You can listen to the real audio of the accident here on RUclips. The thing that surprised me the most about the real audio is that no one ever sounds rattled or even raises their voice.
This is a perfect movie. I knew the outcome of this movie, the first time I saw it in the theater, and I was still on the edge of my seat the entire time. I've seen it 100 times since, and I'm still on the edge of my seat the entire movie.
That comes from the film putting you into the characters' point of view. Well done on the writers and director.
The news broadcasting was actual footage. The whole world was watching this unfold. Crazy to think it was only 66 years from flight at Kitty Hawk to landing on the moon.
53 years later and we have only advanced far enough to have a computer in our pockets so we can "leave a mean comment on RUclips, while on the toilet taking a sh*t"(credit Louis)
"Apollo 13" was really a family reunion for Ron Howard. His Brother, Clint is one of the guys at mission control, he's the guy that says "the Odyssey is dying. From MY chair, here, this is the last option". Jean Speegle Howard, his Mother plays Jim Lovell's mother. And Rance Howard, his father plays the priest that comes to the Lovell homestead while they are all watching and hoping that the astronauts all come home safe.
And Bryce Dallas Howard is somewhere in the crowd during the farewell scene
Nepotism much?
Your comment on what it must've been like to watch Armstrong walk on the moon struck a chord. I was 11 when this happened and I still remember my whole family watching at my grandparents house. I still remember my grandfather saying (after Armstrong stepped down) "what would they do if something came out from behind those rocks".
your grandpa is right, it sure as hell gives someone something to think about.
As Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon, feeling the tension in the room, Grandad shouted, "Look out, it's gonna get 'em!". Everyone jumped! Grandad had a great sense of humor. People would probably deny it now, but people didn't know & halfway expected some Moon monster to jump out from behind a rock and attack Neil Armstrong.
I was almost 6 years old and was totally into the space program. I remember being disappointed, that they didn't name the command module & lunar module Charlie Brown & Snoopy, like they did on Apollo 10. ...Exciting times.
In "From the Earth to the Moon" - the miniseries, based on the Apollo missions, they were talking about what to say for Apollo 11 when they land and Armstrong steps onto the moon. Michael Collins (the Command Module Pilot for 11) said if you have any balls, you'd (talking to Armstrong) say "Oh my god, what is that thing!" and cut the mic. lol
If you buy the hype, in about 3 years we'll see someone walk on the moon again.
I was 7 years old, allowed to stay up all night to watch the landing (in glorious black and white, remember?), truly happy to have witnessed such a wondrous thing.
i was almost 10 when this happened. i have a strange special attachment to this movie. my dad was the asst. city foreman for Western Union and was assigned to mission control in Houston. when the explosion happened he was called out to work to make sure the Telex and Twixt machines stayed operational. he was there til after splashdown. in the movie's view he would have been one of the guys in the back of mission control. he said it was very emotional when they finally heard them on the radio. i've always loved this movie and tear up every time i watch it. he brought me home several flight patches from different Apollo missions. miss you dad.
Every time I watch this movie or watch a reaction I still give out a cheer and get teary eyed when the chutes open, thanks again y’all
Many astronauts weren't just celebrities, but war heroes as well. The people most likely to be astronauts back in the 50s and 60s were people who were both college educated and were fighter aces during WW2 or Korea.
I doubt most of the astronauts were fighter aces...they were required to have a certain amount of hours in jet aircraft and a degree in engineering.
In fact, I don't believe any American astronaut has been a fighter ace.....
This is one of those movies I can go back and watch over and over again and I still feel incredibly choked up / tense no matter how many times I've seen it. I've watched it hundreds of times, and I still go through all the emotions. That's when you know a movie is amazing. Obviously an All-Star cast, some of the best character actors in the business, incredible production. I think the most devastating line in the movie for me is when the little boy asks, "was it the door?" because you know what he's really asking is, "is my daddy going to be okay?" and it just breaks me. The way everybody works together to bring them back, I think that's why I watch this movie so often; because it makes me feel good about human beings. We need that.
The Right Stuff (1983) and First Man (2018) are some other great historical drama space movies. The documentary Apollo 11 (2019) is also an excellent watch after Apollo 13, it's 99% real footage, a lot of it restored from 70mm film that looks amazing.
"The Right Stuff" is excellent.
Seconded for The Right Stuff, they *have* to watch that one! Your other picks are excellent as well. I even liked the TV series of The Right Stuff that Disney+ made, even though it was cancelled after one season.
Apollo 11 from Neon Films is probably the single best documentary made about the Apollo program. Seeing it in IMAX was amazing
The Right Stuff is a must watch!!!!! Ed Harris is in that one as well. Stacked cast!
Loved The Right Stuff and Apollo 11. I'm not so fond of First Man because I think it's too dark and tense regarding the mood. That just wasn't the case in reality.
Yes, Apollo 13's radio blackout during landing really did last a minute or so longer than expected. Yes, Mission Control really did break out into applause when they saw the images of the capsule with three good parachutes. The movie's dramatic license was in putting those two events together; in reality the radio was already back before the parachutes deployed.
This was one of those films that most people, at the time of its release, had seen these events unfold live and/or lived and learned about this historic event. Yet, like other history-based films (like Miracle, Secretariat, The Right Stuff, etc.), people, knowing full well what would transpire, still came to the theaters, watched, were amazed, learned things, stayed on the edge to the end, and enjoyed the show. IJS. :)
Enjoyed your reactions. Kudos for not initially looking up this event before viewing. That strength of will is also appreciated.
The LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) is actually attached to the upper stage of the rocket, so when they separate their Command Module (named Odyssey) and service module from the final section, they turn back around and dock with the LEM, which is sitting in a protective shell that’s part of the final stage
The "Lunar Excursion Module" was renamed to just the "Lunar Module" before its first flight, but the pilots kept calling it the LEM.
@@kevinhodgson2990 Well, if you're trying to pronounce LM quickly it'll come out as EL EM or LEM so it makes sense that everyone kept saying "LEM"
Check out how they filmed the weightless scenes. They used an Air Force training jet called the vomit comet that did actual free fall. Pretty wild. Great movie!
Still brings tears to my eyes watching this movie. To know that it really happened is even more impactful. Another Ron Howard directed gem!
One of my favorite moments in the film is when Deke Slayton gets on the line. Fred goes “It’s Deke…” and Jack immediately says “They don’t know how to do it.” Deke Slayton was one of the Mercury 7. The scene is great, because Deke directly talking to the astronauts meant that they knew they were pretty much screwed.
My other favorite moment is when they realized they were still on VOX (basically Hot-mic’ing). I actually had a pretty similar thing happen to me when I was overseas. That look that Tom Hanks gives when he realized they could hear him was perfect! Internally it basically goes like “Oh dear Lord! How long has it been on and what did I say?!”
As always, love you guys and I’m so thrilled you guys finally got to see this! It’s one of my favorite films and I tear up at the end every single time!
You two should also check out the film, The Right Stuff from 1983. It has a star cast in that one too and one actor from this movie.
I thought you were gonna say Space Cowboys from 2000 , but your recommendation is also great!
That is an excellent movie, all but ignored by RUclips reactors.
The 4-minute re-entry time seems melodramatic, but it makes sense. They were still coming in shallow, so their angle took longer to pass into the atmosphere. I can't even imagine how long it would have felt to Mission Control and to the astronauts' families.
Great reaction. The "Admiral" that Tom Hanks was shaking hands with at the end of the movie was the real Jim Lovell.
Actually, he played the Captain.
Lovell retired as Captain and didn't feel it was appropriate to play an Admiral.
@@tanisdevelopment Cool. I totally respect that!
Hey Daniel and Sam, I have to say this is the most stressed I've ever seen both of you. This movie added about 10 creases to each of your eyebrows and foreheads. ----- It took Jim Lovell's description of the churned-up alge to give you guys the hope to power on. ----- I have seen this flick about 40 times and I need to be reminded of the anxiety and stress I myself had watching the crew of Apollo 13 try to survivie. ----- Super great awesome reaction. I truly love it.
It's absolutely insane that this really happened (and that it had a happy ending!) and yet no one talks about it nowadays, or even knows about it. You'd think this would be something at least taught in history lessons. Going to space was monumental enough, but to then suffer such a catastrophe and still turn it around and come home safely is such an inspirational event.
Well, the public's interest in the space program was waning at the time so they needed a cliffhanger to get people back on board...hence, 'Houston we got a problem'...
Funny story, one of the people that got to see a test screening of this film before it was released, on his comment card said the movie was unrealistic as the crew in NO WAY could have survived! lol
They definitely did teach it when I was in school, which was about ten years after the actual event, but I suppose it's just old news to people these days, half of whom think the moon missions were a hoax.
No one? I don't know anyone who doesn't know about this.
Right. People often say putting a man on the moon was the greatest achievement man has ever accomplished. I disagree. I think it was getting Apollo 13 back home.
33:02 The captain shaking hands with Tom Hanks is the actual James Lovell. He served as an advisor for the film and made this cameo appearance.
Now you really need to see "The Right Stuff" and then the Tom Hanks produced "From Earth to the Moon" Iconic series/movies.
According to Lovell's book Fred had a kidney infection, not the measles. I've also seen that Jack Swiggert was as much of an expert on the command module as Ken. That switch and the argument before the CO2 thing were dramatized because, per Ron Howard, there are only so many scenes of sweaty guys doing math that you can put in a movie.
After this movie Tom Hanks and HBO did a mini series called 'From the Earth to the Moon' covering the exploits of the Apollo missions. I always find it a good companion to this movie. =)
The miniseries was excellent- well worth anyone’s time. Love the reaction, keep’em coming!
As a young kid in the 70s, I would write letters to NASA and they'd send pictures. We were working in our maintenance bay at Minot AFB, ND in '86 listening to the radio when Challenger exploded. A day I'll never forget.
“When will we be going back? And who will that be?” That quote always gave me hope, and goosebumps! Especially now with NASA’s Artemis 2 mission coming up next year or so, which is gonna send a crew of astronauts back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. So excited for that!
I love that scene with Jim's mom. She ain't scared at all.
It was Ron Howard's mom irl. She was great.
One of my favorite lines in the movie.
Was working at Blockbuster when this one hit VHS. One morning a grandmotherly type was returning it, and said that when she showed it to her grandson, his reaction was "No wonder they had so much trouble, Forrest Gump was driving!"
Pretty amazing that the computing power that sent men to the moon was the equivalent to a Nintendo gameboy. The phone in your pocket has more computing power than the mission control room in the movie.
Plus human brain power!
And slide rulers 😁👍
Jim Lovell wrote a novelization of his experience and called it Lost Moon. That was adapted into this film. The Navy officer that Tom Hanks shakes hands with at the end is the real Jim Lovell.
Did you watch the movie with Jim and Marilyn's commentary? If not, go back and give it a go. They're such a lovely couple and provide such great substance to the movie!
33:03 is the timestamp to see Jim Lovell.
The real Jim Lovell was supposed to play as an admiral, but Lovell insisted on being his own rank of Captain.
I was 13 when this occurred and lived in a small country town in Australia. Every church in the town had its doors open for anyone who wanted to pray at any time. I have seen this film many times and I shed a tear every time at the finish.
I remember most of the Gemini and Apollo missions and watching them on TV live growing up, including the actual footage shown in the movie as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The movie was based on events out of Jim Lovell's book and most of them are all true including his wife losing her ring so the movie is pretty close to actual events. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out in 1996, fully knowing and remembering seeing the outcome of the mission in real life played out on TV (once they knew they had enough interested viewers) and all the missions that came after thru Apollo 17.... and I was still at the edge of my seat because at that time I didn't know all the behind the scenes drama that was happening that was described in Lovell's book. And every time I watch a reaction of new reactors viewing the movie, I still feel the anxiety watching the drama. There were so many issues that were overcome where those men could have died in that mission if not for the extraordinary effort of the support teams working together to get them home. I can't imagine what it must feel for the both of you to see this movie NOT knowing what will happen and not being familiar with the NASA missions of that generation. It made it all the more impactful for me to see your reactions. You should check out the movie "The Right Stuff" which was about the selection of the first Astronauts for the Mercury missions in the early days of the space race. It is more about the personalities of the selected individual astronauts and their training and early failures, and it is a more dramatized version but still a good movie.
One of my favourite films. Despite knowing the outcome, the minutes waiting on re entry is still some of the most tense minutes of film I’ve ever seen.
Also, Gene Kranz is the epitome of a leader….never in question that he is in charge, but he didn’t try to take over or micro manage. Allowed all the experts to be experts, advised what he needed and let them tell him what they could provide. Rolled with it every time they got a new problem. Knew that the team effort was important
Kranz locked the door to mission control during the landing of Apollo 11 - he said those doors are not going to unlock until one of three things happen. One, we land on the moon. Two, they crash or three, they abort. Wow... amazing man.
Glynn Lunney (portrayed as nothing more than a no dialogue right hand man to Gene) was just as responsible, if not more so than Gene for rescuing that mission. I get that Ron Howard may have only wanted one boss man seen in Ed Harris in the movie, but that wasnt the reality. Everyone went to Glynn for direction and was said to have shown amazing leadership during that rescue
@@paulinegallagher7821 well yes, it’s a pity they didn’t make more of Glynns role in the Movie, I know Ken Mattingly spoke very highly of him. Although it does demonstrate what I meant about Gene, as lead flight director, he was in charge, but let others do what they needed to do.
@@jackhagens8964 actually, Glynn was chief of flight directors from 1968, which made his diminished role in the film even more inexplicable.
This movie demonstrated the brilliance of those men both in space and on Earth. To work their way through those issues under that pressure - where death was on the line - is absolutely amazing. Nice review.
33:04 You see that elderly man who's shaking hands with Tom Hanks?
That's the real Jim Lovell. That's his cameo.
If you guys loved Kevin Bacon in this, check out Clint Eastwood’s Boston murder mystery drama, ‘Mystic River’. He is paired with Larry Fishburne as State Police...awesome stuff. Tim Robbins and Sean Penn are incredible in that too. Fantastic reaction guys, start to finish.
Ooof, that movie is a heart wrencher
@@SteelJM1 Another Kevin Bacon heart wrencher is Taking Chance.
Little Known Fact...if you find yourself in the middle of Kansas, stop by the Kansas Cosmosphere. The actual Odyssey (Apollo 13 command module) is on full display there. The museum is outstanding - it contains one of the largest combined collection of American and Soviet/Russian space artifacts in the world. Great reaction and glad you watched it!
Ed Harris fighting back the tears of joy was my fav moment
Brilliant film. My dad was an aerospace engineer during this time period. They had the clothing details down. Taking my dad to see this movie was one of the best father son experiences I ever had. Can you believe this lost Best Picture to Braveheart?
To Braveheart... Yes i can understand that.
Two of the best dramatic films of all time. Just bad timing for them to come out in the same year.
yea well HOW about SAVING PVTE Ryan losin to THAT shakespeare in Love? HOllywierd does some strange things
@@michaelceraso1977 It was another year, but yes, it was a disaster.
A crime!
The officer that Tom Hanks spoke to in the silent slo-mo was the actual James Lovell. A great cameo.
This all took place one month before my high school graduation. It was so intense and the whole nation was glued to the news of the rescue attempt. So glad that this movie was made so that other generations can experience it like we did and to see how a team works together in dire situations to save lives. Great review!
This brings me back to my childhood! I’d always watch this with my family!
it was even better live when it actually happened
@@jeremylarson6267I’m not old enough for that 😂
I was about 11; neighbors got a new puppy (cocker spaniel) same week; named it Apollo
6:50 This actually happened to Mrs. Lovell. They did over-dramatize it for the film, though, and she was successfully able to fish the ring out of the drain.
7:32 Very little, if any.
8:30 Yes, Jim was the only one of the three that had actually flown in space before.
9:14 The "tower" is actually a powerful rocket motor that's designed to yank the capsule away from the rocket if it decides to blow up. After second stage ignition, they're going too fast to survive doing that, so there's no reason to keep it around any more.
9:43 Well, all the stuff they've left behind until now was going too slowly to orbit, so it would have all fallen back into the atmosphere.
10:40 Yes, the lander is too delicate to withstand launch if it were exposed, so it's kept in a compartment in the third stage just behind the service module. But that's also the direction the service module's engine points, so after they're on the way to the moon, they separate from the third stage, turn around, and dock again so the lander is attached to the front of the capsule. It was _not_ "already out there".
12:14 There was supposed to be 20 missions, but the budget for the last three was cut, so Apollo 17 was the last one.
17:22 LEM: Lunar Excursion Module.
19:03 That drawing isn't to scale. Earth is a tiny marble compared to the distance to the moon, and even if it were possible to land on the near side (it isn't, just to be clear), it would only save them about 10 minutes.
31:44 Surprisingly enough, that wasn't invented for the film. Apollo 13 really did take 4 min. 15 sec. to reacquire signal, the longest of any Apollo mission.
33:03 That guy in white on the left, shaking Lovell's hand? That's the _actual_ Jim Lovell, making a cameo.
I have seen this movie over a hundred times and that 4 minute scene STILL gets me misty eyed. Great reaction!
A fictional and fun space based movie from my childhood is "SPACECAMP" (1986). The cast is actually stacked, but the movie bombed because it was made in 1985 and the terrible accident to the Shuttle Challenger occurred in January 1986. It was a lose-lose, but they released it in summer of '86. More people should check it out.
I remember watching that when I was pretty young (must have been at least 9 years old, but probably a bit older than that). I think I enjoyed it as a fun movie, but even back then I thought it was a little bit implausible! 😆
and to my surprise, it was the first film Juaquin Phoenix appeared in, as the little boy who befriended the silly robot.
I would seriously recommend watching the making of this movie, it is as amazing and fascinating as the movie is.
Jim Lovell spoke at my college graduation 3 weeks before this movie came out. Was a great speech about perseverance.
Jim Lovell used to own a restaurant in the area that my grandmother went to. She said they had talked several times and that he was a nice guy. Apparently there was a really high end art piece hanging that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had given him.
To explain the 1st "docking procedure" --
The CM (Command Module) & the Service Module (the "SBC" which contains the main engine, thursters & oxygen tanks) are mounted at the top of the Saturn rocket assembly, but the LEM (the Lunar Excursion Module, or simply the Lunar Lander) isn't designed to handle the extreme stresses of liftoff in the same way, so the LEM is "stowed" in a relatively safer holding area right underneath the SBC within the Final Stage of the Saturn (being designed as a series of breakaway rocket sections or "stages" which power on, burn, shut down then detach in sequence).
The trick is that, once the Final Stage finishes its burn, the astronauts have to successfully detach the SBC + CM from the Final Stage, maneuver it to pull a 180 turnaround, then approach the open end of the Final Stage to dock w/ the LEM in order to pull it out ... since the whole point of the Apollo missions is to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
Had the tank-explosion disaster never happened, The SBC-CM-LEM Apollo 13 setup would have proceeded as planned into Lunar orbit, from which the LEM would have detached & descended to the Moon's surface. Once the astronauts aboard the LEM had concluded their business (which would've included collecting a bunch of Moon rocks) they would've blasted off the Lunar surface (using explosive charges instead of the LEM engine, because there wouldn't be enough fuel left for another burn) & made a rendezvous w/ the SBC-CM for yet another docking procedure before leaving Lunar orbit for the return trajectory to Earth.
(Speaking purely as a science geek who grew up during the 1970s & 1980s & practically inhaled every bit of information about the NASA space program.)
I was lucky that my family followed the US space program fairly closely and we watched the broadcasts. Watching the Apollo 11 mission will forever be in my memory. Apollo 13 was an emotional roller coaster. The space program was deeply inspirational to so many people.
just gotta say you really have become great reactors - for me one of the top ones.
great choice of movies/shows, great reactions themselves, no massive overreacting. you get the tone and humor of the stuff you watch really fast. good theories, good analysis and you pick up on quite a lot of stuff. really impressive and all that without appearing fake at all - pretty much the opposite from my perspective. you seem to become more confident and knowledgable with every new reaction while also enjoying it.
thx for sharing!
Ron Howard directed this movie, his brother Clint was one of the guys in the control room and his dad was the priest and his mother played Toms mother ( or grandma I forgot) !!!
This is such an excellent movie. I don't think any other cast could have made this movie, everyone is on the very top of their game here.
Tom Hanks rightfully gets the most credit here as the lead, but my fav is Ed Harris just blwing it out of the park as the mission commander. This will be our finest hour hits so well every single time.
Funny thing: Although the events were pretty much as dramatic as shown, the people involved were in reality too professional for it to have looked that way if they translated it to the movie 1:1.
They didn't shout at each other, they followed the procedures calmly, they spoke one at a time.
It is incredible how everybody kept their cool if you listen to the original audio and looked at the footage.
I oddly enough just finished watching Generation Kill yet again and agree. Hearing the actual audio in such a situation and the professionalism in these scenarios over comms never ceases to amaze me.
This came out in 1995, and I wonder if it was made today if they would've used over the top special effects and CGI to make it... like you said, it felt so real so I am so glad they didn't have that kind of technology available to make it, because I think it would've taken away from the realness of it. This is easily one of my top five favourite movies, I have watched it probably 20 times in my life and even though I know what is coming I still feel that anxiety and I cry every time at the end. Especially when Gene finally relaxes and has to wipe a tear away; he was probably one of my favourite characters. So glad you finally watched it and loved it too! Since you love Tom Hanks, I would LOVE to see you react to Philadelphia if you haven't already seen it, it's a phenomenal movie and Tom Hanks won awards for his performance.
I love the scene with HAnks telling Sinise he’s not going those two are such great actors
Funny thing: In "Forrest Gump", Lt. Dan told Forrest, "If you're gonna be a shrimp boat captain, then I'm an astronaut." A couple of years later, they both play astronauts in "Apollo 13".
This is definitely a favorite - thank you guys for letting me experience it with you. Champion couple.
If you want another Ron Howard movie, check out 'Backdraft'. Loaded cast, but I don't know how many you'll recognize outside Kurt Russel. It's mostly forgotten because critics hated it. But without 'Backdraft', Howard wouldn't have been hired to direct 'Apollo 13'.
My late father-in-law was a fire fighter and I asked him how accurate it was. He said it was the most terrifying movie he had seen.
The re-entry into Earth's atmosphere was the scariest part of the movie they would have been burned to ashes if that heat shield failed
For me, this movie never gets old. I could watch it any time.
Same!
I had to look it up when you wondered how many people watched the moon landing in 1969. It was estimated that 650 million watched it worldwide. I was 12 at the time, so no way I was going to miss it. Great reaction you two. I remember Apollo 13 being on the news constantly one the news hit about the trouble.
The little tower at the tip of the rocket that shoots off is the launch escape system. It's attached to the command module and has powerful rockets attached to it. If on the launch pad or during the ascent there's an emergency, the system shoots off with the command module (and the crew) and gets them away from the main rocket. The tip is ejected once the rocket reaches a certain altitude where it wouldn't help anymore.
Ron Howard also directed Willow, which is up there as a top fantasy movie ever. It has Warick Davis and Val Kilmer in it.
As an actor, Ron Howard was also in Americana Graffiti, George Lucas's amazing and underrated coming of age story about California car culture. That movie also has Richard Dreyfus in it and Harrison Ford has a small part. Highly recommended. It is smaller in scope that some of his other movies, but if you like great soundtracks, American Graffiti has one of the best ever.
Don't forget Happy Days!
TBR, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHEN YOUNGER FOLKS PEOPLE OF YOUR GENERATION REACT TO THIS MOVIE!! RON HOWARD DID A FANTASTIC JOB TELLING THIS STORY!! I WAS 12 YEARS OLD WHEN THIS WAS GOING ON AND I WAS A HUGE FAN OF THE SPACE PROGRAM!! I HAD A SCALE MODEL OF THE SATURN 5 ROCKET, WHICH WAS ABLE TO HAVE THE STAGES SEPARATE AND IT ALSO HAD A LEM (LUNAR EXCURSION MODULE)!
MY PERSONAL OPINION IS THAT THE FEAT OF BRINGING THESE ASTRONAUTS HOME ALIVE WAS MORE INCREDIBLE AND HISTORIC THAN EVEN LANDING ON THE MOON ITSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! THIS MAY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE GREATEST PERIODS IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!
If you ever watch the movie "That Thing You Do" (with Tom Hanks, naturally, and his wife and son too), be sure to watch for Apollo 13 Easter eggs - there are many!
I remember the Saturday morning when the space shuttle Columbia was returning to earth. Unknown at the time was that some of its heat shield tiles had been damaged on take off. I was listening to the broadcast on the radio as Columbia reentered the atmosphere and lost radio contact like normally happens. There was the usual wait for signal, but the silence went on past 3 minutes, then past four minutes. Finally, after several more minutes it became obvious something had happened. Columbia had exploded and all aboard were killed.
If you're Bill Paxton fans you'll want to see A Simple Plan. It's probably his best movie -- and it's a great movie on its own merits. Would make a great reaction video.
Things to watch:
• October Sky
• The Right Stuff
• From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)
I was 11 when this happened and was glued to the news listening to every detail. I read Jim Lovell's book about it. It still didn't spoil the movie for me. And every time I seeit I am on the edge of my seat - it's that well done!
You start to see how incredibly resourceful these men, these heroes were in that spacecraft and on the ground. Most of the early astronaughts were formerly test pilots. Fearless men taking their lives in the jet planes every day. There were deaths and tradgedy as well as success and fame. If my memory served JohnGlenn was a test pilot who became the first man in space. A lot of kids in my era wanted to grow up to be astronaughts. It was extremely stressful to experience that time when the people of earth communally held their breath and bowing our heads praying for the safe return of these boys.
The more you watch this, the more emotional it gets. You know exactly how it ends, yet that intensifies the feelings. I challenge anyone to see this more than once and not get teary at the end when the parachutes open and announce that they are still alive.
- LEM is the Lunar Excursion Module, or Lunar Module for short. It's the part of the ship that was going to actually land on the Moon. For Apollo 13, the names of the Lunar Module & the Command Module were the Aquarius & the Odyssey. Other Apollo missions had different names for their Modules.
- After APOLLO 13, Tom Hanks helped co-produce a miniseries called FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON that covered most of the Apollo program. As mentioned in the series, the LM & the Commond Module were made by two different companies (if I'm not mistaken), which is why the CO2 scrubbers didn't fit each other.
- There's also FOR ALL MANKIND on AppleTV+, which is an alt-history "what if Russians got to the Moon first and the Space Race never ended" show which saw Earth put multiple bases on the Moon, and a manned mission to Mars by the 90s.
- This movie was a HUGE hit when it came out. I still remember the VHS stands at K-Marts stacked from top to bottom with tapes of this movie :D
Authenticity was a major priority in making this movie, leading to filming in actual zero gravity conditions and leaving the technical engineering dialogue as is without slowing the action to inform viewers what every little thing meant, just the major points.
A lot of the dialogue is literally word for word from the transcripts from NASA.
Didn't they film all the scenes in the zero-gravity plane dubbed Vomit Comet? 😄 All these parabolic flights, how the hell did they make it?
@@cherrypi_b, yes they did. I believe that was the first movie to be filmed that way. Must have been a ton of fun.
And they only get zero gravity 30 seconds at a time in that plane. Hope nobody forgot a line! Thats a $100k blooper.
While the lines are often word for word, their delivery is usually more emotional than it was in reality IIRC, in reality there was no hectic talking or screaming.
But as changes go this is fine, as it helps making clear to the audience how dangerous the situation is.
Ron Howard directed another excellent fact-based movie called "Thirteen Lives" about the rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach from a cave in Thailand. It was released just last year.
I second that motion. One of the best movies of 2022.
I haven't seen Thirteen Lives yet and can't wait to see it!
Dude, ive been waiting all day for this! this is one of my favorite films, awesome reaction as always!
19:25 Ken Mattingly and several members of 13's Backup Crew were in the Simulator running different power up scenarios. In reality (and contrary to how he was portrayed here), the 'best' person that Lovell and Haise could have aboard during this Flight WAS Jack Swigert. Not only did he actually write the Emergency Procedures Manual for the Apollo Command/Service Module, when he was chosen as an Astronaut he specifically requested assignment as a Command Module pilot.
That is Dedication right there. Proud to call Jack Swigert as a fellow Coloradan.
Listening to Jim and Marilyn's commentary on this movie is wonderful. The part that Jim said was not accurate was the yelling/anger at each other during the argument about the 'stirring of the tanks'. He said that they had no problems with each other, but Ron said to Jim that he wanted to create some 'drama' at that moment. Aside from that, it was pretty much accurate. Jim also has a part in the movie at the end, where he shakes Tom Hank's hand after recovery.
Tom Hanks mostly only makes great movies but this (along with the rest of the excellent cast) is one of the best. Not just one of his best, but one of THE best movies. The 90s was all about disaster movies and along with the other blockbusters like Titanic and Twister, Apollo 13 got it spot-on and is as good today as it ever was. Fantastic film-making.
I always feel awe when I watch this movie. I feel awe at what mankind is capable of with teamwork. To me that's what this movie is really about. It's about what we can do when we bend every sail towards a single goal. I think in an era of rampant cynicism and nihilism it behooves us to remember that we are capable of remarkable things if we but try.
Fun fact: The part where they improvised the CO2 scrubber cartridge fix was the direct inspiration for the British television show Junkyard Wars. Two contestant teams would be taken to a junkyard full of all kinds of stuff and given an objective like build a trebuchet in 3 days. They'd each get an expert to help them.
Hey Daniel and Sam, Tom Hanks is so dynamic in his acting ability.------- No matter what role he plays, makes us care for the character and thus the story. ---------- What an amazing talent. Matthew McConahey, Robin Williams, and Jim Carey are all similar in that way as well.------- You should next dive down the rabbit holes those actors have created.
If you like Ron Howard’s direction, I would suggest A Beautiful Mind with Russel Crowe. Many people thought he should have won best actor that year even though Denzel had a great performances in Training Day.
Denzel had never won a Best Actor Oscar (Supporting for Glory) and Crowe had just won it a year or two earlier for Gladiator. Crowe should have also won for The Insider IMHO.