Operation Avalanche

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source: Operation Avalanche

Matt Johnson previously directed The Dirties which was shot for less than $10,000, blew away audiences at Sundance and nabbed an exclusive distribution from Kevin Smith's company. I personally was very impressed with the gritty independent style of the film, and it left me wanting more from the filmmakers. With Operation Avalanche, Johnson is 2 for 2, delivering another solid film through his directorial style and performance. I'm not sure whether the film was shot digitally or on 16mm, but the cinematography throughout the film thoroughly immersed me in that 1960s environment. The other actors, Owen Williams and Josh Boles deliver authentic performances as CIA agents faking the moon landing. The film's dramatic tension is key here; scenes which are otherwise simple moments in an operation are brought to life by the film's unique staging and editing methods. In terms of historical accuracy, it's obvious that the film is merely faction, that is, taking archive footage of real people working at NASA in the 60s and seamlessly blending them into the narrative while still maintaining many details from the moon landing conspiracies. The script is structured in such a unique way that it's apparent how powerful editing can negate a bigger budget. Johnson has proved again that he knows the mockumentary format and how to keep a viewer on edge throughout a film. Even though the dialogue in the movie was mostly improvised, it feels completely organic. The film's real strength is in its tension, specifically the car chase at the climax of the film. Its staging and execution solidified it as one of my favorite all time chase scenes in a movie, without a doubt. I can't wait to see what Johnson and co. make next!

This film is exactly what I thought of the moon landing when I saw it on TV while at camp on the dining room TV.I thought it was a hoax and still do for there were no surprises.I was also once in a very primitive television studio at university.I was amazed how reality can be changed with unsophisticated equipment.

To be honest I am only reviewing the first ten minutes of the movie, because I couldn't stand watching it after ten minutes. It's really a pity. After I read the introduction on the back cover of the DVD, I was really intrigued and wanted to watch it. Unfortunately the movie is low budget and poorly edited. The camera is shaky. It's not that costly to get a steadycam to stablize the camera. I don't know about you, but it's painful to watch a shaky movie. They may have thought that since some shaky movies were successful, let's save some money and hire a cheap cameraman and editor. But the novelty has worn out for me. If they have a good story, then somebody please re-make it into a higher quality movie. Otherwise it's like cooking up a good dish and then pour hot pepper into it to make it "better" and end up making it unedible.

Matt Johnson is one of the most inspirational filmmakers today. Although i didn't love his first movie The Dirties, his directing style is really interesting. i liked the dirties but I thought it had a lot of problems. So I thought maybe with a bigger budget he could do a better movie so I was excited for Operation Avalanche. I saw the movie yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. Some parts are awesome and incredible. Some parts are stupid and boring. But let's talk first about the good parts. I liked the score and the soundtrack a lot it captured the time period very well. They also captured the sixties feeling in this movie. I was always looking for some time inconsistencies but I couldn't find anything. It had great cinematography some shots were amazing. The improvised scenes in Nasa felt real and genuine. And the scene with Stanley Kubrick was just mind blowing. But by far the best moment in the movie is the car chase near the end of the movie. This was the best car chase scene i've seen since Children of Men it was so amazing and I think it was filmed in one take, which makes it even more impressive. But sadly the movie had it's negatives. On IMDb it is credited as a Thriller and for a thriller it is really boring. I don't mind slow-paced movies, but some scenes in this movie go on for far to long. It had one scene in the middle of the movie were they used special effects and it just looked fake and laughable. There was a fight scene that you couldn't take seriously, but it was meant to be. And you have the same problem like in all his movies: the acting. It isn't usual that a movie has so many things it does well but also so many stupid moments. I really hope his next movie will be better because i like Matt Johnson as a person and I think he is very inspirational. I really wanted to love this movie. I can say that i at least liked it better then The Dirties so he has improved. I would give this movie a 7/10

Normally the "we faked the moon landings!" conspiracy theory makes my blood boil. That is even more true when people go out and make 'documentaries' trying to prove it to actually be the case. That said, the idea had produced some good fiction in its time including the 1970s conspiracy thriller classic Capricorn One. Added onto that list as well is this film, a indie made period thriller with a neat twist. That neat twist is that it looks and feels like a documentary being made in the 1960s. Operation Avalanche which claims to be a documentary following a group of CIA recruited filmmakers led by Matt Johnson (playing a fictional 1960s version of himself) whom, upon discovering NASA is behind schedule, convinces his bosses to let him and his team stage the Apollo 11 moon landing. If nothing else, it is a great way to bring to life an old idea. In fact, it is the documentary style nature of it that is what make this film. Johnson and many of his lead actors are playing fictional versions of themselves and (as the DVD extras reveal) there was a large amount of improvisation of dialogue going on, something which is evident. Evident not in a bad way but in that it means that there is always the sense that these are people in the heat of the moment. The reactions to things are never over the top but range from the comedic to the panicked, all of which are believable as the events taken on an increasingly darker tone. Yet the film has more going for it than just a good idea. Despite being indie made, the film features some of the finest period production values for a film set in the 1960s that I can recall seeing in recent memory. There are cars, clothes and yes even sets. It is sets that are among the most impressive elements of the film including the construction of the one that represents the Eagle lunar module on the Sea of Tranquility. As a NASA buff, I was impressed by the level of detail put into the film's NASA focused elements right down to recreating moments from a couple of later Apollo landings. It's impressive to say the least. The highlight of this film though might be in its cinematography and effects. The film has the look and feel of 16mm 1960s film in its look, containing the right amount of grain and an occasional washed out look to it. The camera-work as well plays well with the found footage format but also manages to avoid much of the shakiness that has become an all too frequent part of the genre. Indeed, it is to the credit of the filmmakers that they find just the right balance to make it believable but also not a frustrating (and for some even nausea inducing experience). The effects meanwhile are subtle and impressive, often finding ways to put the actors into real-life NASA footage including an impressive sequence in Mission Control where the footage works brilliantly with the scene playing out. The most impressive sequence of the entire film might well be the CIA filmmakers visit the set of Kubrick's 2001 in the UK complete with Stanley Kubrick himself. It's something that sets this film apart from both many indie films but conspiracy thrillers as well. All of which makes Operation Avalanche an impressive piece of work. It's an incredibly well made piece of work combining a period film with a thriller plot told in a documentary style. That also helps make the outrageous premise believable, presenting an (on the surface at least) idea of how it might have happened. If you enjoy conspiracy theories or the found footage genre, this is well worth a watch. Just remember, it ain't real...

I gave it 3 stars for the premise. The acting, directing & writing is horrible. Namely Matt Johnson. He ruined the movie in every way possible. It was like watching a bunch of 12 year olds trying to make a movie in their garage at home. Both on screen & the crew behind the scenes were clueless Jr high school mentality & totally unaware just how clueless they truly are. IRL, the real moon photos prove the scenes were falsified. I'm an engineer, scientist & photo expert. This movie was just moronic. It made me nauseous to watch these morons. Save your money. This movie has no redeeming qualities. It is so bad, I couldn't bear to watch the deleted scenes. Capricorn One is much better. Great actors, excellent story & wonderful filmography. Everything this movie is missing. Matt Johnson needs to get out of the film business & never show his face on the screen again, much less write or direct. He bombed out on every aspect he touched. The movie is so bad, it is painful to watch. Even their personal assumptions are clueless on every issue. This is a subject which is of interest to me. It could have been a good movie if properly written with a good crew, good director & decent actors. All of which this film was missing. These actors weren't just bad. They were offensive with Matt Johnson as the worst. It certainly is no thriller. The reviewer who said it was Bill & Ted meeting Dumb & Dumber hit the nail on the head. The entire crew who created this film were a bunch of clueless morons. You can see this by watching them on the special features if you can tolerate it after suffering through the movie. Boring, disappointing, moronic, bad acting, bad directing, bad writing, clueless crew and a waste of money.

WOW... I have been a moon landing skeptic for most of my life, reading, watching and arguing over the details of whether or not we really DID land on the moon. I want to believe, I really do. I'd hate to think that our government would have lied to us, but what better distraction from the issues that were happening at the time, then something like a moon landing? Think about it, JFK, RFK, and MLK all murdered, a war no one wanted, civil rights clashes, riots, Kent state, Manson, you name it, it was all happening. What better way to distract people from all that? This movie is a perfect dialog on exactly that, distracting people away from the truth, and showing that faking the moon landing could've in fact been 'plausible'. When I first started watching it, I thought that maybe it deserved a bigger budget, better production, well known actors, but no. I think that would've watered down the story, and missed the mark. The people who made this movie did a fantastic job. I don't know what the budget was for this but, the look and feel puts the audience right in the time line of the late 60's. The sets, the vehicles, the locations all perfect to transport you to that time period. If there was ever a movie adaptation book worth writing it would be for this movie. Touching on the Stanley Kubrick conspiracy was also genius. For years his involvement has been mentioned, and it was tastefully included here. Well done. Showing that not only was the reason the moon landing could've been faked, possible. The creators show you HOW it might have been done, in a very believable way. This movie felt like it should have been THE X-Files movie.

I think the director thinks the moon landing was a hoax, and he was too afraid to made it as a film, so the "documentary style" was his solution. Finally exists a movie about the "Moon Landings" since Apollo 13. You really think you are in the 60's based on what you see, but shows every character thinking as in the 21st century. Good performance but no very convinced. A second part running nowadays and correct the mistakes that I have mentioned, will be more attractive to the public. I hope this will be the first of more movies talking about those days.