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- 1995
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 20 m
- 1995
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 20 m
Summary Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingle (Sinise), flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and a heroic ground crew race against time -- and the odds -- to ...
Directed By: Ron Howard
Written By: Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger, William Broyles Jr., Al Reinert
- 1995
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 20 m
- 1995
- PG
- Universal Pictures
- 2 h 20 m
Apollo 13
78
8.1
Where to Watch
Summary Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingle (Sinise), flight director Gene Kranz (Harris) and a heroic ground crew race against time -- and the odds -- to ...
Directed By: Ron Howard
Written By: Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger, William Broyles Jr., Al Reinert
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
78
77% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
23% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
78
77% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
23% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It's a nail-biter and knuckle whitener of the first rank: a super real life techno thriller that reduces the fantasies of Tom Clancy and his clones to ground zero.
Ron Howard's film of this mission is directed with a single-mindedness and attention to detail that makes it riveting.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 246 User Ratings
8.1
88% Positive
216 Ratings
216 Ratings
11% Mixed
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
1% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 246 User Ratings
8.1
88% Positive
216 Ratings
216 Ratings
11% Mixed
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
1% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Apollo 13 is humanized by Hanks's reassuring portrait in courage, by Harris's nicotine-stained fingers and Quinlan's lacquered French twist.
The film, despite its raggedness, is stirring. In the end, this failed mission seems like the most impressive achievement of the entire space program: a triumph not of planning but of inspired improvisation.
The lean and efficient screenplay, based on the book "Lost Moon," by Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, is full of the terse poetry and dry humor of people in crisis.
Self-conscious about its heroism with portrayals that lean toward the glib and the professionally uplifting, the film milks our sympathies too readily to be emotionally convincing.
And as film, Apollo 13 is dull… Partly it's because there are no characters, no room for any substantive character development… Apollo 13 is staffed with human puppets. [31 July 1995]
Apollo 13 is a truly masterpiece, because of it's cool mix of true history, serious work, suspense, gorgeous interpretation, intelligent direction and great story-telling. This fantastic film could become some kind of boring for the future audiences (and it is now), but it's not them fault. And that's why this film is the best of 1995.
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The film fulfills in accurately and truthfully reproducing the events of a lunar mission that went wrong and became a race against time to bring astronauts home and alive. The actors also fulfill their task; but it feels that it is due to generate suspense.
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This movie tells the story of the Apollo 13 mission, one of the most famous missions to the Moon, not because of it's success but because it almost became a disaster.
The script is based on actual facts and could be somewhat boring for those who don't know the theme but, since everything was barbarously simplified, anyone understands it quickly. Unfortunately, this effort to synthesize and simplify has made the plot unrealistic, predictable and forced, especially if we take into account the jokes around number 13 and other minor situations like that. The plot gives great attention to how the astronauts was prepared and chosen, as well as how NASA sweated to bring them back. In this field, the film is engaging and leaves the audience stuck to the screen. Another issue that it tackles, in obvious criticism, is the initial lack of interest from the media in that mission, but this is ancillary. The film has some special effects but they're not attractive or stunning except for scenes in zero gravity. Personally, I didn't have any problem with that, I think it leaves more room for drama.
As for actors we need to consider the following: the cast is full of stars (Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris...) but the film definitely doesn't know what to do with them. Hanks is the protagonist but is misused and spends more than half the film's length wishing for the Moon and trying to control his flight colleagues. Ed Harris, in a supporting character, shines almost as much as him and holds the final half of the movie in an excellent performance, but within the standards the actor has accustomed us to. The rest of the cast does not shine and there are several supporting actors who end up being demoted to extras with lines.
In conclusion: it's a satisfactory movie but its far from being really good. The blend of a strong cast, a script reduced to the basic and an uninspired direction is as inefficient as a Ferrari engine in a Beetle.
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Production Company
Universal Pictures,
Imagine Entertainment
Release Date Jun 30, 1995
Duration 2 h 20 m
Rating PG
Tagline Failure is not an option.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Wins & 9 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 4 Nominations
Awards Circuit Community Awards
• 2 Wins & 14 Nominations
