Apollo 11 (2019).

Review #1248: Apollo 11.

Cast: 
Buzz Aldrin, Joan Ann Archer, Janet Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, Jack Benny, Johnny Carson, Clifford E. Charlesworth, Michael Collins, Walter Cronkite, Charles Duke, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Gene Kranz, Jim Lovell, and Glynn Lunney (all archival footage) Directed by Todd Douglas Miller.

Review: 
July 20, 1969 marked the first time that man stepped foot on a planet that was not their own. It served as a key marker for over a decade of travel of manned and unmanned missions to explore beyond the planet, with Apollo 11 fulfilling the dream of having a man on the moon before the decade ended. President John F. Kennedy had remarked in 1962 about an ambition to go to the Moon before the decade had ended, stating that "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too." It has now been half of a century since the iconic landing on the Moon, and it is quite obvious why I would set my attention on a documentary like this. It is part of a quite a long line of films revolving around the missions of the Apollo program, with several examples ranging from Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11 (1969, released just months after the landing), Moonwalk One (1970, which attempts to add in some historical context and capture the mood of people on Earth), and For All Mankind (1989, which includes narration from several Apollo astronauts). The best way to do one of these is with complete cooperation with NASA and the National Archives and Records Administration, with this film utilizing footage of newly discovered 70mm footage from the launch and recovery of Apollo 11.

Of course one can't really just throw a bunch of footage together without making sure it is preserved and edited with precision (done so by director/editor Miller), and it is a great thing that one can view a movie like this and look back upon a great achievement in the history of man with craftsmanship as wonderful as this. From the very first shot involving the Saturn V rocket, the film generates plenty of curiosity and plenty of interest. Even just seeing the shots of the crowds (of which there were plenty, since its been estimated that a million people saw the launch from nearby the launch-site, whether by highway or beach) eyeing for a view at the launch is something to stare at, a look back through images and occasional voices, where a narrator does not prove necessary to have it all set in. It attempts to depict the mission from launch to splashdown in 93 minutes, and it does pretty well with making an eight day mission roll handily without seeming plodding in any one place. The Eagle landing is handled well in the editing room, with the music by Matt Morton helping alongside the view of the ship trying to make a safe landing with fuel running out (as signified by a counter) - knowing about the success of the mission doesn't make this any less thrilling to behold, where Armstrong and Aldrin had to do their job with precision and care. Of course one can't forget about Collins, a man that spent a day flying solo around the Moon, later describing his feeling not of loneliness, but of "awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation". Commander Armstrong and his commanding and lunar module pilots in Collins and Aldrin shined in the time they were required to, doing so under all the pressure one must feel when trying to land a vehicle on another surface besides the one inhabited by all; this program was an expensive one, a project that did not garner universal support - but the Moon landing was a unifying moment, where man could be one and see a great adventure reach its zenith. The film celebrates the great adventure done five decades ago with tremendous relish that honors history and the people that helped make this achievement come to life, from its trio of astronauts to the thousands of technicians and people that helped in construction, design and more (with a bunch of time spent on Mission Control and all of the people and devices that were present that day). Apollo 11 is an easy recommendation to make, whether on this fateful day or for when one wants to see how the first great adventure to the Moon came to fruition from start to finish and how it still relates to us today and beyond.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.