Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11 (1969).

Review #1249: Footprints on the Moon: Apollo 11.

Cast: 
Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Pierre Jalbert (voice of Jules Verne), with narration by Wernher von Braun. Directed by Bill Gibson.

Review: 
It should only make sense that I cover two documentaries on the subject of the Apollo 11 mission given today's date being the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, with the first documentary released about the landing being the easiest choice, released in September of 1969. However, it languished in a fair bit of obscurity - despite being distributed by 20th Century Fox (with production by Barry Coe), the film did not receive a DVD release for four decades (with only occasional showings on television, although it is fairly easy to find it on the Internet for viewing nowadays. The easiest thing to say is that this works fairly well for viewing as a curiosity piece, whether for a science class or for days like this. It certainly covers its own bases of the Apollo 11 mission in its span of 95 minutes, with occasional sprinkles of narration from noted aerospace engineer von Braun or snippets of Jules Verne (voiced by Jalbert, most known for his work on the 1960s series Combat!) that make this an engaging sit just as one should expect for a great lunar adventure like this. Von Braun does well with carrying the weight of the adventure scope with clear expression. The references to Verne come off well (given his notable work From the Earth to the Moon - written in 1865) to accompany the gravity of the moment. One will see moments like the rocket launch, the landing of the Eagle, and quite a few moments of the astronauts in the vessel and of course the first step - it surely must have proved fascinating to see it on a big screen only a few months after seeing it on a television screen. Nowadays, you can see plenty of iconic (and not so iconic) moments on the Internet, and it is the freedom to search and look for these kind of things that make for such enduring power for films like these. One could argue that if you've seen one moon landing film, you've seen them all, but the real interest is in how the film gets to that point and makes it something to follow with interest instead of just showing you the moment without any sense of real context or mood. In that sense, the film succeeds with clear intent. This is the only credit listed for both Coe and Gibson as producer and director, respectively, while being the first film edited by John F. Link, who eventually became known work on films such as Commando (1985) and Die Hard (1988). One key highlight involves how the crew would drink water while on the mission, involving a water dispenser, with one ensuing shot being the water floating. It really is a case of having to see it for yourself when it comes to the landing on the Moon, whether through a re-enactment in First Man (2018) or documentaries such as this or Apollo 11 (2019) - one won't have their patience tested, since the eyes will be too busy being in amazement of the enormity of a mission like this that executes without many hitches that hopefully might inspire one to look into the stars tonight and smile. You'll certainly come out of this one with enjoyment, that is for sure.

This ends the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary doubleheader - I hope you folks enjoyed these reviews. I don't normally cover documentaries, but I felt it was necessary in this case to do something that featured the three icons of this historic mission, and it can be interesting to compare the two films in how they depicted the mission then and now.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.