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.

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.