Apollo 13 (1995) * * * *

Directed by:  Ron Howard

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

Funny how things work.   The April 1970 Apollo 13 mission to the moon didn't seem to generate much excitement.    The TV broadcast from inside the shuttle was scrapped midway through due to a perceived lack of public interest.    Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 and a "been there, done that" attitude seemed to permeate the public.     However, two days into the Apollo 13 mission, an oxygen tank exploded which crippled the shuttle and left the astronauts and NASA flight control in an unprecedented predicament:  How to return the shuttle and its crew home safely.     After the explosion, Apollo 13 suddenly gained the public's interest.    How could it not?

Even though we all know by now the crew returned safely, Apollo 13 is still a suspenseful, deeply moving film.    One of the reasons why is simply the gravity of the situation.   The astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Bacon) were marooned in cold, deep outer space.    NASA couldn't just simply send up another shuttle to get them.    With help of ground control, the crew had to deal with myriad issues.    Among those were having to shut off electricity in order to conserve power (and wondering if the shuttle would be able to start up again), overworked carbon dioxide scrubbers which cease functioning and the astronauts having to build new ones out of onboard materials, and the shuttle needing to enter Earth's orbit at just the right angle in order to avoid being burned up or skipping off into space.   The lunar module was used as a makeshift lifeboat to keep the crew alive, but the astronauts still could freeze to death because the heater had to be shut down in order to save power for reentry.   It seemed Murphy's Law was in full effect for this Apollo 13 mission.    

The pivotal role in Apollo 13 is not any of the astronauts, but that of Gene Kranz (Harris), the NASA ground control leader who declares, "We've never lost an American in space, we sure as hell aren't going to do it on my watch.  Failure is not an option," in the face of this unprecedented shit storm.  Kranz maintains authority and poise despite mounting issues with the crew and its disabled ship.  Harris' Oscar-nominated performance is the best in a movie teeming with strong performances.  An even bigger star in the film is the Oscar-nominated visual effects.   They reflect the cold emptiness of space and how far it really is between the Earth and the moon, much like the visuals of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  

Apollo 13 is engrossing because of the inherent drama of astronauts who may never be able to get home again.    It's bad enough if you're marooned in the middle of the ocean or on a desert island (as Hanks was in Cast Away), but imagine being marooned in space, which at the time was still mostly uncharted and space travel was in its infancy.   In one key scene, Kranz is discussing alternative plans with the manufacturers of the lunar module.  The designer says, "It was designed to land on the moon."   Kranz replies, "I don't care about what something was designed to do, I care about what it can do."    Thanks to the creativity and sheer will of all involved, the crew got home safely.   It's thrilling to watch ordinary men do extraordinary things to make that happen.