Rating: 
Summary: Another great Australian film about the little guys
Review: This is a thoroughly charming Aussie comedy about a tiny Outback town's true-life role in the historical Apollo 11 moon landing... Patrick Warburton shines as a genial, all-American NASA scientist on loan to the Aussies, Sam Neill stars as the fumpferring head of the Australian science team. A nice "little" movie, about the goofy, ditzy details of everyday live, and the heartwarming foibles of the people around us. For some reason Australian directors have a knack for creating this particular brand of film -- if you liked "Last Days At The Chez Nous," "Muriel's Wedding", or "Flirting," then this is another gem you may want to check out.
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Summary: One small step for man, one giant leap for Parkes, Australia
Review: On July 20, 1969, one of the most impressive achievements in human history occurred when the entire world witnessed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first two human beings to ever walk upon an extraterrestrial world: Earth's moon. Television images were transmitted from Tranquility Base, the landing point for the Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle", using a small, low-powered television transmitter to send live pictures of the historic event back to Earth. Because the signal was so low-powered, only the largest radio-telescopes on the Earth had the necessary gain to amplify and receive the transmissions. Since the Earth rotates, multiple radio-telescope stations were used on different continents to receive the signals when they were in a position to observe the moon. (This is commonly called "line of sight".)Films such as "Apollo 13" (1995) and "The Right Stuff" (1983), as well as the TV mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998), all focused primarily upon the exploits of the astronauts during the early years of NASA, whose primary mission was, as spoken by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Of course, the astronauts were not the only people responsible for the achievements of the Apollo program; there were engineers, technicians and many other people, including a handful of people working at the radio-telescope station located in a sheep paddock in the small farming community of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. Many people are unaware that Australia played a pivotal role with the Apollo 11 moon landing back in July, 1969; but in 2000, director Rob Stitch created a wonderful and entertaining film called "The Dish" capturing the critical contribution that Australia made with its radio-telescope in Parkes. Revisiting the Parkes radio-telescope decades after the historic moon landing is the retired Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill). He thinks back to those critical days in July, 1969 when he managed the radio-telescope and was assisted by technicians Ross 'Mitch' Mitchell (Kevin Harrington), who was responsible for maneuvering the large dish antenna, and the shy Glenn Lathom (Tom Lang), who worked the receiving equipment. NASA also sent a representative, Al Bartnett (Patrick Warburton), to both coordinate the radio-telescope with NASA personnel and supervise the station during the Apollo 11 mission. At NASA's request, a local man is hired to be a security guard, Rudi (Tayler Kane), to protect the station during the mission. Prior to the Apollo 11 mission, activities at the Parkes radio-telescope are very relaxed. Cliff often climbs onto the dish to relax and smoke his favorite pipe, while Mitch and Glenn practice playing cricket on the dish. In one humorous scene during the Apollo mission, when the U.S. Ambassador (John McMartin) is leaving the station after a visit and the dish antenna is being lowered to point towards the horizon, a cricket ball rolls off the dish antenna in front of Cliff Buxton. Other fun aspects of the film involve the townspeople of Parkes, its mayor & his wife, the U.S. Ambassador and the Australian Prime Minister. Things heat up considerably at the radio-telescope one night while they are tracking and receiving signals from the Apollo 11 spacecraft en route to the moon: a power outage across the Parkes area causes all of the equipment within at the radio-telescope to shut down because a backup generator fails to come on. After power is restored, all of the eqipment comes back on, but the settings and computer program being used to determine the location of the Apollo 11 spacecraft are lost. Frantic, Glenn and Cliff try for hours to recalculate where the Apollo 11 should be so that they will know where to point the antenna when Parkes has clear line of sight again. Unable to perform their calculations fast enough using slide rules, Al looks out a window and tells them to simply try pointing the dish at the moon, which they can see with their eyes. With no other options, Mitch points the huge antenna towards the moon, then slowly moves the antenna around until they reacquire the signal from Apollo 11. Things heat up again the next day, July 20, just prior to Parkes again coming into view of the moon in time to receive the all-important moonwalk TV signals. Can the crew of the Parkes radio-telescope keep things together to receive the most important transmission of all? Watch this fun and exciting Australian film and find out! I highly recommend "The Dish" to anyone that loves the history NASA, astronomy and the Apollo moon landings, but I'm sure that most people will enjoy this film regardless. Many thanks go to the director, producer, actors and crew that brought this film to life showing the often overlooked and less glamorous people involved with the manned exploration of space.
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Summary: Lost for words. . . .
Review: . . . is what I have to say about this movie! You just have to watch and feel the emotional rush that comes from within you. Sam Neill's portrayal of the mild-mannered Cliff Buxton is so perfect that any other actor will probably not provide the same emotional impact. The supporting cast was superb as well! The DVD does not have too many extras in it but it is still "a must have!"
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Summary: Wonderful, simply wonderful.
Review: This film is simply a joy to watch. Finally, someone writes a script that shows man's heroic nature, and being successful on a grand scale!
I guess that's why it was ignored by Hollywood. I would have never known of this film had it not been for a philosopher (!) writing about his flight that this film was shown on. His review inspired me to try and find it.
If you are looking for explosions, car chases/crashes and machine guns spitting endless bullets, don't bother with this work of art. If you are looking for inspiration, for 'spiritual fuel' then go get this film immediately!
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Summary: I got it!
Review: I was born in 1962, and although I can remember the night of the moon walking, I've never really been able to put it in perspective. This movie did that for me. The plot was good, the acting was good, but for both me and my husband, the best part of this movie was what it did for us emotionally.
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Summary: Take a risk!
Review: The world is focusing its eyes on Apollo 11's crew and their attempt to set foot on the moon. Meanwhile, in a small town in southeast Australia there are a four men who work for NASA to relay signals from Apollo 11 through a gigantic satellite dish into television sets throughout the world. The men face moments of both distress and tranquility, which force them to act outside of their comfort zone. These risks lead to strong bonds between them and display how cooperation can be a triumphant salutation for hope. Sam Neill's performance as Cliff Buxton is world class and the audience is left with a strong sense of hope through a great cinematic experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming
Review: I managed to fall asleep on a friend's sofa and missed the moon landing, so I found this film not only gently entertaining but also oddly rewarding. The build-up to the Apollo 11's successful mission, as delivered by this script, is warmly personalized and made remarkably new. This is accomplished by some fine ensemble acting intercut with stock footage from around the world that is almost seamlessly blended into the narrative. Instead of looking very out of place, as most stock footage does, in this case the era is so nicely established by the costumes, the characters, the settings and especially the soundtrack, scenes shot back in July of 1969 seem very timely and appropriate. It's a credit to director Sitch that there's nothing maudlin about the film; it's low-key and sweetly amusing and yet surprisingly gripping. And it's particularly gratifying to see Sam Neill turn in an effectively low-key performance, after appearances in some pretty ghastly American films.
Recommended.
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Summary: Delightful Drama About Little-Known History Behind Apollo11
Review: "Charming" is the word that describes best this little-seen film. "The Dish" is about a small town Parkes, of which greatest pride, a big parabola (= "The Dish"), actually biggest in the southern hemisphere, was selected in 1969 by NASA as the place to receive the signal from Apollo 11, the first spaceship that reaches the moon, and to transmit this epoch-making moment all over the world! "The Dish" follows the behaviors of the people of the town (population about 7,000) where this honourable (but very responsible) task is allotted, and the scientists who work at the anntena station that (still now) stands in the middle of a sheep paddock. What makes this film very heart-warming and pleasing is the characters it gives; Sam Neil plays the chief of the institute, Cliff, always with a pipe in hand, providing much better and amusing turn than in "Jurassic Park" and other Hollywood films, and beside him, Patrick Warburton, as an American scientist sent from NASA, plays Al (who looks like Dan Ackroyd with Buddy Holly glasses), whose presence at first is disliked by the original stuff, but gradually turns out a good guy. The town's major is busy; his wife (in lemon-colored dress) chatting; and his son always watching TV. An US Ambasssador comes (at the most awkward moment); and then Prime Minister is also coming! The film gives each of these colorful characters a good, funny line or two to speak, and even love interest. Besides this great merit, to me, the film are interesting in two respects; one is the slight cultural difference between Down Under and America, which is most vividly expressed in some foul words hurled at poor Al. And more interesting is perhaps the reference to culture of the late 1960s, which is twisted with Australian humor (so I thought). One certain guitarist is introduced as "James Hendrix," and one famous TV theme song is mistaken for natinal anthem. It is almost certain that many of the events in the script are made for the dramatic purpose by the creating team behind the film (though Rob Sitch takes the credit of director, it is rather those five members of popular "Working Dog" team which include Michael Hirsh, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauto, and Stich that really should be regarded as the real genius behind the film). Still, they manage the whole drama with a pace, not too fast, not too slow, always engaging. Probably, the reality of the event was not as dramatic as the way the film shows. But "The Dish" is so delightful that no one would complain of that. And really, it is hard not to love this film, and the charming town and its people in Parkes.
Rating:
Summary: Service was good
Review: It was sent in timly manner. DVD was not in perfect condition, but I do know it was used. I had to clean some dust off the data side. However it is useable and Loved the movie. Would buy from again. Thanks
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Summary: A Wonderful Dish, Well Served
Review: If the Right Stuff was the epic story of the Space Program on a grand scale, then The Dish is the reduction of the story of the Apollo 11 landing to a very human scale. It centers around the role that a radio telescope in Australia played in receiving and relaying the actual television pictures from Apollo 11 to the Earth, and on the few people who actually struggled to get it done.
In a very quiet but moving way, it portrays how Apollo 11 did 'come in peace for all mankind', unifying humanity in a positive way as no other event in my lifetime. Sam Neil is absolutely at the peak of his fine acting abilities as the telescope's director, combining his dedication to the mission with a bittersweet sadness at the loss of his wife, and is supported by excellent performances by the cast. The directing and editing are so subtle as to make one forget it is a dramatization, and involve us in all these frail heroes. There is the initial misunderstanding and distrust between the NASA controller and the telescopes three primary Australian crew, and the artful way that Sam Neil's character overcomes it could serve as a leadership and crisis managment primer in any college curriculum.
Inevitable political grandstanding of the event and the small city of Parkes' role in it are sent up in gentle humor. One of the most elegant aspect's of this lovely "small" movie is that all of the characters are so deftly made real, and there are no shoddy charicatures.
This is a great tribute to Australian film making. If you are looking for a movie that will rejuvinate your faith in humans' ability to work together, this is it. The visual and sound quality of the DVD are very fine, with a trailer and limited cast information as the only special features.
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