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    About This Item

    Unique ID Code: 0000044651
    Added by: DVD Reviewer
    Added on: 3/2/2003 14:14
    View Changes

    Apollo 13 (UK)

    7 / 10
    4 votes cast
    Rate this item
    Inline Image

    Houston, we have a problem
    Certificate: PG
    Running Time: 134 mins
    Retail Price: £19.99
    Release Date:

    Synopsis:
    It had been less than a year since man first walked on the moon, but as far as the American public was concerned, Apollo 13 was just another "routine" space flight- until these words pierced the immense void of space: "Houston, we have a problem." Ron Howard directs Academy Award winner Ton Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris in a riveting suspense-thriller from Imagine Entertainment.

    Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingly, flight director Gene Kranz and a heroic ground crew race against time, and the odds, to bring them home.

    It`s a breathtaking adventure that tells a story of courage, faith and ingenuity that is all the more remarkable because it is true!

    Special Features:
    Production Notes
    Theatrical Trailer
    Cast and Film Notes
    Commentaries
    Interactive Menu
    Scene Access

    Video Tracks:
    Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1

    Audio Tracks:
    Dolby Digital 5.1 English
    Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 Spanish
    Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 German
    Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 Italian
    Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 French

    Subtitle Tracks:
    French
    Polish
    Czech
    Swedish
    Finnish
    English
    German
    Portuguese
    Dutch
    Danish
    Norwegian

    Directed By:
    Ron Howard

    Written By:




    Starring:
    Kevin Bacon
    Ed Harris
    Kathleen Quinlan
    Tom Hanks
    Bill Paxton
    Gary Sinise

    Casting By:
    Janet Hirshenson
    Jane Jenkins

    Soundtrack By:
    James Horner

    Music From:
    Pete Townshend

    Editor:
    Daniel P. Hanley
    Michael J. Hill

    Costume Designer:
    Rita Ryack

    Production Designer:
    Michael Corenblith

    Producer:
    Brian Grazer
    Louisa Velis
    Michael Bostick
    Aldric La`Auli Porter

    Executive Producer:
    Todd Hallowell

    Distributor:
    Universal Pictures

    Your Opinions and Comments

    5 / 10
    this was a real story that happened years ago 3 men are stuck in a spaceship going to the moon. the actors are good but this film takes a long time with some good action bits and it kept me watching

    not much on this dvd but you can listen to the peeple who made it
    posted by black_chuck on 14/3/2003 11:15
    10 / 10
    Introduction
    I couldn`t believe it when I first heard they were making a film of Apollo 13. What? Don`t you remember it? Didn`t you see it live? You weren`t even born - oh dear - the passage of time catches up with me (rather rudely I feel).

    For me being something of a space nut, the missions hadn`t got boring at the time. I was still glued to the TV for any little detail, so I followed all the missions quite avidly. Apollo 13 being no different.

    When the film came out, I wondered what it might be like. Would it be one of those shallow portrayals with an all american hero bringing home the goods against the odds?

    Luckily, it was not.

    The Plot
    It was quite an accurate portrayal of the life and times of the ill fated mission. I mean, its not a documentary, and maybe some of the events are slightly overhyped, but theres a line to be walked between history and bums on seats. The panic over the CO2 levels, and the solution is quite inspiring. The tension over available power for restart, and the general tetchyness as the lack of sleep and worry start to catch up with them is all very realistic.

    Much of the filming for the weightless scenes was done in the vomit-comet, the aircraft that does parabolic flight profiles to simulate a few seconds of weightlessness. Must have been "interesting" at least, given its well deserved nickname. Also, given you can get about a maximum of 45 seconds at a time, must have taken a few goes to capture all the footage!

    The drama is well done, and each of the trials thrown there way is coped with together with the ground crew. You can see how far we`ve come in terms of technology as you see slide rules and long hand arithmetic being done for course calculations.

    The Visuals/Audio
    Visually its a good transfer, and the sound is good to.

    The Extras
    The extras are where this film shines for me. We get two commentary tracks.

    The first by Ron Howard, goes into some of the details of filming. Some nice observations here and there. He comes over as the sort of bloke you could easily chat too. He got to drive the huge transporter vehicle for instance (and thought he might send a picture to Arnie who drives a HMMV) as one up - then hastily tells us actually he doesn`t really know Arnie. For those of use who remember him as Richie Cunningham, he`s done pretty well. I think he says somewhere he didn`t see much of the original footage as he was out filming as an actor.

    The second commentary is by Jim Lovell and his wife, and is quite insightful. He points out where the film deviates from the historical facts (usually only in minor ways) and his wife relates some of the ground story. It shows how accurate the film is for the most part.

    Summary
    I guess I`ve watched this DVD several times - and must be one of the earliest ones I bought. If you haven`t seen it - well worth doing so.
    posted by Julian Onions on 2/2/2004 12:35
    8 / 10
    It does capture the moment well. One of the Great escape stories of human history. All Sci-Fi and space movies need decent transfers for Special effects and space shots to look clear & effective, this one doesn`t let down...
    posted by Richard73 on 25/3/2005 09:36