Apollo 11

[wilson]

I saw the new Apollo 11 documentary on Imax last night. It was utterly spectacular. The director, Todd Miller, discovered a trove of previously unseen footage and unheard audio, and pieced numerous threads together to tell a first-person story of the moon landing from the perspective of not only the three astronauts who executed it, but also the many background figures who designed, built, and helped to pilot the craft. There is no narration, no flashback, no interpretation...just a visceral ongoing tale of the real moments in which the landing occurred. In a number of instances, the screen is split, occasionally into as many as ten frames, to show the work and reactions of multiple people to the same moments or events. It really surprised me that NASA had the foresight to film not only the more notable aspects of the ship and landing itself, but also the more seemingly mundane dimensions of the story, like the crowds on hand to watch and the support staff huddled around old computer terminals.

The imagery was surprisingly rich and crisp, and this was one film that I think really benefited from the scale of the Imax format. It runs on Imax through the end of this week, and then goes to regular theaters. I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the story...it does a great job of immersing you in the experience in a totally new way, even if you already know a lot about the topic.

Here are a couple of good reviews:
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/03/film-review-apollo-11/
(https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/03/film-review-apollo-11/)https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/apollo-11-2019
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/making-the-mind-blowing-apollo-11-doc-802297/ (https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/making-the-mind-blowing-apollo-11-doc-802297/)

[JStuart]

I saw the new Apollo 11 documentary on Imax last night. It was utterly spectacular. The director, Todd Miller, discovered a trove of previously unseen footage and unheard audio, and pieced numerous threads together to tell a first-person story of the moon landing from the perspective of not only the three astronauts who executed it, but also the many background figures who designed, built, and helped to pilot the craft. There is no narration, no flashback, no interpretation...just a visceral ongoing tale of the real moments in which the landing occurred. In a number of instances, the screen is split, occasionally into as many as ten frames, to show the work and reactions of multiple people to the same moments or events. It really surprised me that NASA had the foresight to film not only the more notable aspects of the ship and landing itself, but also the more seemingly mundane dimensions of the story, like the crowds on hand to watch and the support staff huddled around old computer terminals.

The imagery was surprisingly rich and crisp, and this was one film that I think really benefited from the scale of the Imax format. It runs on Imax through the end of this week, and then goes to regular theaters. I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the story...it does a great job of immersing you in the experience in a totally new way, even if you already know a lot about the topic.

Here are a couple of good reviews:
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/03/film-review-apollo-11/
(https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/03/film-review-apollo-11/)https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/apollo-11-2019
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/making-the-mind-blowing-apollo-11-doc-802297/ (https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/making-the-mind-blowing-apollo-11-doc-802297/)

Saw it last weekend in IMAX, and was equally impressed. I was a rising freshman in college that summer, and remember the TV vigil and listening to Uncle Walter for all the NASA coverage. My wife commented that they must have filmed some of it recently to 'fill in the blanks' of the liftoff, but indeed, this is recently discovered 70mm film (saw it described as 65mm in another review!) film from 1969, magically restored and 'could' be mistaken for digital recreation, but it is not. It's wonderful.
The liftoff sequence is made for IMAX, and -if there aren't vibrator devices in the seats- one feels the power of the rockets from the speakers.
The narration is simply the Cap Com audio at that time, discussing the events as they happened, and that allows one to be immersed in a time fifty years ago.
Can't recommend it highly enough. A visual feast.
I have the Discovery Channel DVD's, "when we left Earth' (Thanks, Faustus!) covering the entire space era, and the Apollo 11 section has some of this video, but nowhere near as crisp and clear.
Thanks, Wilson, for posting this.
JStuart

[accfanfrom1970]

Bad timing in Richmond. All the IMAX theatres are showing captain marvel, Apollo11 is just in smaller non-IMAX theatres.

[howardlander]

Bad timing in Richmond. All the IMAX theatres are showing captain marvel, Apollo11 is just in smaller non-IMAX theatres.

Too bad. We went to the imax at Southpoint in Durham last weekend and it was great.

[cspan37421]

Hopefully a good antidote to the dreadful (IMO) First Man, which I walked out on about 2/3 of the way through. And by walk out, I mean walking from my family room to my living room to check DBR.

[Wander]

Much better than Apollo 18.