Rating: 
Summary: Lucky Number 13
Review: After his mega success with Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks scored another winner as Jim Lovell, commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 launch. Mr. Hanks shows why he is the Jimmy Stewart of his generation as just like Mr. Stewart, Mr. Hanks has the ability to play the everyman. No matter what role he undertakes, we find Mr. Hanks believable and we can all relate to him. He portrays Capt. Lovell with understated grace and charm and we really feel for him when he comes to the realization that he will never get his chance to walk on the moon. In addition to Mr. Hanks the film boasts excellent performances by Kathleen Quinlan as Lovell's wife, Bill Paxson as Fred Haise and Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert the other Apollo 13 crew members, Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly an original crew member left out due to possible illness and Ed Harris as Eugene Krantz the head of the mission in Houston. Ms. Quinlan adds the right amount of fear and worry to her character without becoming shrill and Mr. Sinise overcomes his initial bitterness to becoming an integral part of the crew's survival. Above all, Mr. Harris gives the performance of his career. He is commanding and powerful as he vows that the ship will not be lost on his watch. Ron Howard had the always difficult task of directing a movie based on real life events. Everyone already knows what happens to the ship, but Mr. Howard expertly guides us through to the end. He supplies the film with enough tension and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. The filming of the space launch and scenes in space are amazing. In one of the grossest oversights in Oscar history, Mr. Howard was not nominated for Best Director despite his film being so. In fact Mr. Howard won the prestigious Director's Guild Award making the Oscar snub even more glaring.
Rating:
Summary: Houston, We have a winner!
Review: Not Only is the story very good for Apollo 13 which is from the co-writer: William Broyles Jr of another Tom Hanks Movie, Cast Away. The acting is top notch in this movie Tom Hanks always gives a good performance no matter how bad the movie, Kevin Bacon actually shows in this movie he's a real actor, Bill Paxton is very good too and really is an actor whose been jumping around lots of movies. Gary Sinise does extrememly good for his few minutes in this movie as Mattingly. Althought the Top Performances are the Supporting Roles: Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan steal every scene they are in in this movie. Ron Howard has crafted a classic movie. Rent it or buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Love it
Review: I first watched the movie way back when it was in theatres before I got my interest in Apollo. They fire was lit in 8th grade when I watched the movie to take up class time, the movie sparked my interest in Apollo. I bought the VHS and must have watched it 20 times or more, maybe 30, and the tape is worn out. I never get tired of it, I get chills everytime during the elation of everyone after reentry, and DVD's capabilities make the experience that much better. BUY IT, LOVE IT!!
Rating:
Summary: The very best
Review: From the other reviews you can see that this is a good movie. It gets even better if you read "Failure Is Not an Option" by Gene Kranz. Reading the book you will know how these real life heroes did what they did.
Rating:
Summary: I'd give it TEN Stars...but amazon won't LET me...
Review: Am I the only person who believes that Ron Howard was ROBBED out of not just an Academy Award nomination for this movie, but he should have WON IT?? Sure 'Braveheart' was good, but how often did Mel Gibson have to film in zero-g for 20 seconds-at-a-time? I think pulling that off alone was an amazing feat worth recognition...but the Academy felt that Ron apparently hadn't quite EARNED it--YET. How unfortunate.This movie inspired me like no film I have ever seen has. I went out and purchased a copy of 'Lost Moon' (the novel on which the movie was based by Jim Lovell) and immediately was lost within the pages of this truly amazing adventure. If you think that these three astronauts nearly bought the farm in only as many times as was described in the movie, think again. They had several other life-threatening situations just as frightening as any put in the movie, but due to the constraints that filming a movie can cause, they were only able to include just a FEW of the horrific moments that marked one of the most dramatic situations that has ever occurred in space. The astronauts and NASA were very aware that there would be no way to send a rescue to a failing spaceship almost 200,000 miles from earth...HOW would they be saved? That is what makes this an incredible adventure of the highest order. What brought these men home was a marriage of everyone who knew anything about the Apollo Missions working together in one of the most amazing cooperative units in recorded history. Sure, there have been many other instances where cooperation has worked to help build or make something great, but the enormous difference here is that these folks had to work together F-A-S-T. Time was of the essence, and failure was too frightening to think about, in fact as Mission Leader Gene Kranz was famous for saying: 'Failure Is NOT an option!' Nobody was more thankful for the successful efforts of this impressive group than Jim Lovell and his companions. Cinematically this movie is absolutely stunning, with special effects that are incredibly realistic without going overboard--effects so good that during the screening of the movie Gene Kranz asked where Ron Howard had gone to restore the footage of the launch of the giant Saturn rocket that was featured only to be totally surprised when he was informed that it had all been manufactured in a studio. You KNOW its good when you can fool the Launch Director... I STILL view the landing on the moon as the single greatest achievment of the past century, and although today it seems totally foreign to send living humans to a gigantic rock a quarter-million miles from earth, I for one would welcome a return to the moon with open arms. It would completely re-energize NASA and the entire country (if not the world), and who knows? It might end up being a first step towards sending a probe with humans to Mars...? Aside from the truly fantastic film this movie is, all of the extras that come with the DVD version are ALL so very worth passing up the VHS version entirely. Commentary from Jim Lovell himself, comparison of the movie footage with actual footage from the ill-fated flight of Apollo 13--if you are looking for a reason to purchase a DVD player, I submit that this movie allows you THE PERFECT excuse to grab one today. My absolute HIGHEST recommendation. (grab a copy of Apollo 13 the book, too--truly inspiring)
Rating:
Summary: Our Family's Favorite DVD
Review: This was the first DVD that we bought and remains our favorite after over 50 viewings. My youngest, now 5, considers this her favorite movie. It is good family viewing, with sound educational, historical and motivational themes. Thank you Tom Hanks and Ron Howard.
Rating:
Summary: The Romance of Apollo
Review: This is one of my favorite films. It is the only one I've seen that captures the romance of the Apollo program, or brings back some of the awe that I felt in 1969 when I heard those words, "Tranquillity Base here - the Eagle has landed". The film is beautifully transferred to DVD. The commentary by Jim Lovell makes it a historical document. The only hard part of watching this DVD was explaining to my 15-year-old son that we used to fly to the Moon when I was his age, but then, for some reason, just stopped going.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent movie
Review: This movie is stunning dude! The scenes are almost real, and the one liners are just awesome. Ed Harris, who plays the role of flight director, gene kranz, is my fav in this movie. He has done his role so well, that NASA could think of employing him as a real flight director for their Mars Missions. Gary Sinise is just as good. I liked the fact that the director has given a great deal of importance to detail. The slide rules that the Houston geeks use, the beatles craze during the 70's, the kind of costumes that the NASA dudes wear... And instead of relying to much on special effects, Ron Howard has captured the weightlessness scenes by taking the shots inside a free falling airplane (with the sets inside it), courtesy NASA. In summary, it's a very intelligent movie. Almost all scenes keep you atthe edge of your seats. The launch scene is supreb. if you have never seen a lauch before and if someone had told you that something wrong happens on Apollo 13, then you would probably think the rocket is going to blow up on launch... The giant Saturn V boosters, exploding as if somone had fired a missile on it, the dry ice falling of the sides of the rocket, a big ball of fire and then smoke all over the place... The director keeps you guessing when disaster is going to strike. There is another point where one of the booster engines fail, and you might think that's the glitch in Apollo 13 (this never happened on the real flight, but many scenes such as this were added to make the movie look more dramatic). Ron Howard has spent a great deal of time in capturing a "lunar" mission in superb detail. If you are a space geek like me, it is highly recommended for you.
Rating:
Summary: The Lovell's commentary is deeply moving
Review: Let me firstly say that Apollo 13 is one of my favourite films, and its appeal isn't just isolated to US audiences. Unfortunately, Australian audiences don't have access to the Region 1 DVD (unless they've got a region-free DVD player). The Region 4 version only has the commentary tracks and the trailers. But the movie is still absolutely fantastic. The strongest aspect of this DVD is definitely the commentary. It's a fascinating and delightful experience, hearing Ron Howard (the director) talk about how he made the film. It's obvious that he's a very thoughtful, intelligent and creative filmmaker. No wonder people like Tom Hanks wanted to work with him. But for me, the most powerful moment was hearing Jim and Marilyn Lovell's wonderful and deeply affecting commentary. The moment that had the most impact, was when I heard Marilyn almost tear up during the rocket launch sequence. To a normal audience, it was a moment of awe and rejoicing, but to Marilyn and the other astronaut's wives, it was a moment and sadness and fear because they might never see their husbands again. I felt great awe when I heard Jim Lovell talking us through the Apollo 13 mission. What amazed me was how cool and calm he was, whereas other men revisiting such a traumatic incident would've burst into tears. Unfortunately, the Region 4 (Australian version) isn't filled with as many features as the Region 1 (US version). So I wouldn't recommend it as a must-buy for Australian DVD enthusiasts. But that doesn't take away from the impact of seeing the Lovell's talk about their experiences.
Rating:
Summary: The Amazon.com reviewers hit the mark!
Review: With a new home theater system, I was in a quandary about whether to buy the DVD Dts or the DVD collector edition. My dts DVDs I own so far... Jaws and Twister... are amazing. After reading the Amazon reviews I went with the non-dts and wow were you guys correct. I'm sure the dts must sound great because the non-dts sounds fantastic. The extra features such as the excellent documentary and the (2) different commentaries are completely left out of the dts versions! The Amazon reviewers gave me this info. and I went with their advice. The commentaries, one by Ronny Howard and the other by Jim and Marilyn Lovell, give you tremendous insight into the film. When DVD works well it gives you a film, an experience, and insight into that experience. This Apollo 13 DVD Non-dts collector's edition is well worth the money! Other reviewers give a good analysis of the film, while I'm here to tell you that if you aren't sure which DVD to buy, read my opinion and the reviews of others and you'll go with this version! This dvd, along with The Third Man and The Abyss are the best overall dvds I own! This will give you the full experience!
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