Apollo 13 (1998, DVD)

It's hard to believe that over 30 years ago we lived in an era when American astronauts were not confined to flying in Earth orbit on the now-grounded Space Shuttle; from July 1969 to December 1972, 12 men walked upon the dusty, rocky surface of the moon, almost 250,000 miles and three days away by way of an Apollo spacecraft.

Had everything gone according to plan, that number would have been 14, had it not been for a hidden design flaw in the command module's wiring near the oxygen tanks which caused a near-fatal explosion as Apollo 13, the third lunar landing scheduled for April 14, 1970, headed for Earth's single natural satellite. That the three astronauts survived is not only a tribute to their bravery and skill as former test pilots, but also to the resourcefulness of the engineers and support personnel on the ground at NASA's Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

Apollo 13, Ron Howard s 1995 recreation of the star-crossed April 1970 manned mission to the moon, is a riveting and stirring film about courage and ingenuity in the face of great peril.

Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan, Xander Berkeley and Ed Harris, Apollo 13 begins with a flashback sequence set in January of 1967, when the three crew members of Apollo 1 died in a tragic launch pad accident. As Walter Cronkite does a voiceover, there is a quick segue to Houston July 1969, where veteran astronaut Jim Lovell (Hanks) is throwing a moon-landing party to watch Neil Armstrong be the first man on the moon. (According to the director s commentary, this scene was written and shot to introduce the major characters of the drama and to give the viewer some idea of what life was like in the astronaut community during NASA s Apollo heyday.)

After a tender moment with his wife Marilyn (Quinlan) and a scene at Cape Kennedy in which Lovell explains to a skeptical politician the necessity of continuing the manned moon landings at least up to Apollo 14 (a mission he is slated to command), fate intervenes. Al Shepard, the commander of Apollo 13, is grounded when an ear infection flares up, and Lovell and his crew, lunar module pilot Fred Haise (Paxton) and command module pilot Ken Mattingly (Sinise) are moved up the slot to take over.

For Marilyn, the news is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, she s aware that this will be her husband s final mission in space, so she s proud and supportive. On the other hand, she has a bad feeling about this flight, and her anxiety comes to the fore in this exchange:

MARILYN: Thirteen. Why does it have to be Thirteen?
LOVELL: Because it comes after Twelve, hon.

Lovell might have been nonchalant about the mission s unlucky number, but Apollo 13 was dogged by bad luck even before it lifted off the pad at 1313 hours on April 10, 1970. A few days before liftoff, command module pilot Mattingly was grounded when another astronaut came down with the measles (he d never been exposed, so ground controllers were afraid he d get sick in space). Lovell was forced to choose between flying with a replacement, Jack Swigert (Bacon) or holding out for Mattingly and being bumped off the flight altogether.

There were other little omens of ill luck involving Lovell s Corvette and Marilyn s wedding ring; critics later lambasted Howard for coming up with such hokey scenes, but according to Jim and Marilyn Lovell in their separate audio track, these events actually did occur.

Despite some minor errors in the details and a few things done intentionally for dramatic license, the depiction of an Apollo moon shot is about as accurate as a movie made for entertainment can be. Hanks and Quinlan even stayed with the Lovell s to capture their characters qualities and motivations. Bacon and Paxton are wonderful as Lovell s two crewmates, and Ed Harris portrays Flight Director Gene Krantz as a logical and determined engineer/administrator. Watching him go from grim realization that the mission has been jeopardized by an explosion ( We just lost the moon. ) to firm decisiveness ( We ve never lost an American in space flight and we sure aren t going to lose one on my watch. Failure is not an option.), one sees that the moon landings depended as much on the ground controllers and engineers in Houston as they did on the astronauts in the spacecraft.

With a stirring score by James Horner and top notch special effects, Apollo 13 is one of director Howard s finest offerings. It is fast paced, incredibly well-written and acted, and it is a fine tribute to the men and women who worked for a decade to get us to the moon and back.

The DVD presents the film in its original widescreen format, with English, Spanish, and French soundtracks. English and Spanish subtitles are also provided, as are two commentary tracks -- one by director Ron Howard, the other by Jim and Marilyn Lovell. Extra features include the theatrical trailer (which features music from another James Horner score, "Clear and Present Danger") and the documentary "Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13."