Apollo 13

source: Apollo 13

To my mind, "Apollo 13" is Ron Howard's masterpiece. That it is a largely factual retelling of an historic event makes it even more remarkable. I was riveted from beginning to end. Tom Hanks, as Jim Lovell, and Gary Sinese, as Ken Mattingly, were perfectly cast. Nobody puts images on film that tell a story dramatically and well better than Ron Howard. In this connection, the reason that the sequences showing the astronauts floating were so effective is that the actors really were weightless. Howard arranged to have airlines fly parabolar orbits so that a little more than twenty seconds of weightlessness could be achieved, during which time he filmed the weightlessness sequences. 10 out of 10. Highly recommended.

... and for this movie especially! Sure, most boards are just anonymous posters trash-talking (or hero-worshipping) various actors and directors, but the D-Boards for 'Apollo 13' were full of SOLID TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE by RKIs, and many, many teachable moments. All those years of patronizing IMDb, enduring their ads, supporting their sponsors, and now... KNIFE IN THE BACK, eh wot? =:O

A taut and polished studio film from Ron Howard that manages to be quite suspenseful even though we all know the ending from the start. The film is a lean recreation of the Apollo 13 space mission that met with disaster and almost didn't make it back home. Tom Hanks gives one of his many appealing performances as leader of the mission, while Ed Harris gives a muscular, intense performance as head of mission control. Kathleen Quinlan was inexplicably nominated for an Oscar for playing Hanks' anxious wife -- her role consists of nothing but sitting around looking worried. As by-the-numbers and mainstream as they come, but still one of Howard's better efforts. Grade: A-

I remember listening to the news on the radio that the lives of the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 was in danger as there had been an explosion and that they were losing oxygen. Not understanding what this meant as I was ten year old child, I immediately put the question to my father and he explained it to me. I ran to the nearest window in the room and looked up to see if I could see it. Because I couldn't I presumed that something had happened and prayed that they returned safely. After that I never heard of Apollo 13 until the movie was released. In the days during the Aplllo missions, it was something exciting to hear about men being put on the moon. The movie portrays the excitement of the mission launch and not to mention the first landing on the moon by a human - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Only reason I dont give it 10, is due to a little lacking. Just a fraction of a little lacking.... It has a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes. They could have shortened it to 2 hours straight. Other than that its a perfect movie

Apollo 13 is a film of inspiration. Based on the true story of the Apollo that didn't make it to the moon (after 11 and before 17). The stars (Tom Hanks,Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Kathleen Quinlann, and Ed Harris) and director Ron Howard all make this film great. Not to mention the fantastic effects, the story, and other things. Well done in terms of cinema and humanity. A+

"Failure is not an option". Though not much happened, efforts where huge, in the story too and from the actors too. Ed Harris was amazing, the kind of mentality that you need in these situations. Let's not forget Tom Hanks and his old friend Gary Sinise. Almost cried at the ending. Well done! Well deserved nominations!

Who can stand up and say he/she's not fascinated by this subject? While these guys are heading to where everyone dreams to be, after just a few minutes we see that this movie isn't supposed to serve reality but to be a box office hit. There are so many emotional scenes which I guess never happened in the real mission. I liked the lingo that's everywhere in the picture, at least they had a good space travel advisor (well that's before you read the goofs section:-). But anyway as the production said: "Certain characters and events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes", so here's the catch. 7 out of 10.

If you sit down to watch a Ron Howard movie you know exactly what's gonna show up in the screen: good and healthy Americans doing things that are so incredible and so heroic. Howard is a demagogue, he's rather predictable and knows just what the masses want. He always have a big budget, nice actors, and he knows how to shoot so at least his movies are entertaining. And so it is "Apollo XIII", the odyssey of three astronauts whose spaceship breaks down and leaves them stranded in the space. At the end of "Apollo XIII" you'll be proud of being American, even if you're not!! Welcome to the wonderful, wonderful life of Ronnie Howard. *My rate: 6/10