i just finished watching this movie and it still amazes me how incredible this story is. this is one of those rare moments of a degrading society that i am actually proud to be human...
<strong>That's Tom Hanks for you. </strong><hr></blockquote>
it's not so much the actors portrayal as the concepts behind the whole situation. the ability to get those men back alive in such a terrible situation is astounding. a small tin box was all they had to work with and yet they made it back using only their brains. im a huge fan of NASA, but yet it's still amazing that this story is true...
<strong>I thought I liked Castaway but it got upsetting near the end because he lost Winston so I can't watch it anymore as I know what has to happen.</strong><hr></blockquote>
It is a powerful movie, huh? Just like Forest Gump. And they are both from the same director.
Dunno about anyone else here but I remember the real event. I was about 12-13 years old. The space program had become kind of routine until this happened. The TV coverage was practically non-stop. We all watched and waited...it really was scary. When they dropped into the blue sea there was a collective sigh of relief and cheers. One of those great events.
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.
<strong>i just finished watching this movie and it still amazes me how incredible this story is. this is one of those rare moments of a degrading society that i am actually proud to be human...
<strong>Dunno about anyone else here but I remember the real event. I was about 12-13 years old. The space program had become kind of routine until this happened. The TV coverage was practically non-stop. We all watched and waited...it really was scary. When they dropped into the blue sea there was a collective sigh of relief and cheers. One of those great events.
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.</strong><hr></blockquote>
exactly. i wasnt there, but i can still feel how powerful it must have been...
look around at the crap that goes on in this country. our priorities are in the wrong place. all we care about is ourselves. watching this movie reminding me that it is still possible to care about others and that we have so much potential. i hope we dont waste it by destroying our own world...
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ya, it happened on my dad's 17th birthday. We were watching the fox special on why it was fake and he tried to explain to us all the emotion and the feelings and stuff and how you could tell it wasn't fake. I wish I lived in a time where there was something like that to be proud of.
I wish I lived in a time where there was something like that to be proud of.</strong><hr></blockquote>
exactly. you put it into words better than i did. our generation has nothing worth remembering aside from obvious disasters. nostalgia and pride in one's own history cannot exist if the only thing noteworthy in daily news is the latest absurd lawsuit or sports scandal. it's somewhat depressing...
Apollo 13 was pretty good, but like all Ron Howard movies, some scenes should have been cut a little more. Ron Howard just loves to make a scene 5 minutes too long. It happened it A Beautiful Mind. It even happened in The Grinch. Oh God, EDTV. Notwithstanding, he still deserved his Oscar this past year. ABM was pretty damn good.
Zemeckis, on the other hand is pretty good about knowing how long a scene should be to be useful. Forrest Gump was a pretty long movie, but it didn't seem long at all. Cast Away is the same. And who doesn't love Back to the Future?
"Apollo 13" is DEFINITELY on the short list of "favorite all-time movies" (right up there with "Jaws", "Goodfellas", "Glengarry Glen Ross", etc.).
Saw it at the theater when it first came out and have rented it on video or DVD and have watched it on USA or TNT probably 8-10 times over the years.
I love everything about it, especially the fact that it contains some of my absolute favorite actors (Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Bill Paxton).
Oh yeah, and who doesn't dig Tom Hanks?
I was born in 1969, so I missed out on all the Mercury and Gemini program and was, of course, too young to even be aware of Apollo and keep up with it. But starting in 3rd grade or so, I developed this HUGE interest in NASA and the space program of that era (1960's-early 70's), which was sparked, no doubt, by the dual influences of seeing "Star Wars" in 1977 and taking a school field trip to the Huntsville Space Center (in Alabama) around that same time (probably fall of 1977, after having seen "Star Wars" and suddenly realizing that "HEY, we don't have laser cannons and hyperdrive, but we HAVE been into space...COOL!".
For the next several years, I totally immersed myself in this stuff, checking out every book I could on the subject and reading about the subject as much as I could. Naturally, for about 3 years or so, every book report, oral report, science project, etc. I had to do in school involved NASA, the space program, etc. in some way. I made posters, charts, mocked up a space suit with cardboard boxes, vacuum hoses, gardening gloves and white long-john underwear!
The crown jewel? I had a white jacket that my mom bought me. Had lots of snaps, zippers, etc. and I thought looked pretty cool. On a return trip to the Huntsville Space Center, I purchased three patches from the gift shop: an American flag, the blue familiar NASA patch and the round Apollo XI mission logo patch and my mom sewed them onto that white jacket in the proper, "NASA-like" locations (left sleeve, right and left chest).
This movie IMMEDIATELY brought all that back to me when I first saw it and made me remember all that stuff again!
The old footage of Cronkite rendered speechless and teary-eyed at the Apollo XI moon landing, the great attention to detail in the cars, clothes, hair of the time, the whole tech-is-cool approach this movie carries, etc.
You pulled for these guys and even though I've seen it a ton, I STILL feel all cramped and antsy when they realize their situation.
When they're all shivering and that tape recorder's batteries are low (and the song it's playing is draaaaaaaging) makes you feel so bad for them.
And when they come back through the atmosphere and lose contact and go beyond that window that "we should've heard from them by now", I STILL sit there going "come on...come on, answer!"
And when it shows them pop through with the parachutes and everyone is cheering, well the lump in my throat is genuine and never gets any smaller or less real with repeated viewings.
This is, to me, one of those "gem" movies that - like the ones I listed earlier - I can watch a few times a year (and do) and always find something new and different, or notice something new or discover a detail or something cool or funny or interesting going on in the background or in some throwaway line or piece of dialog.
Definitely one of the movies I'll get around to purchasing on DVD for my own permanent library.
You know what though... I can't really think of anything realistic the space program might accomplish that would grip the nation like that again. Hell, any kind of news. It seems that only news that makes me feel ill could move me to such a degree now.
Maybe world peace or successful first contact with friendly aliens...but that's not going to happen...
The only time I can get really psyched for something is when Italy plays in the World Cup or UEFA Cup.
I was 15 or 16 when Desert Storm happened so I remember getting all stoked for 'my first real war'. How naive. Ah well. Guess after living in NYC for most of my life prior to that, and living off GI Joe and the constant droning of an immenent USSR attack and fallout shelter drills... well, whatcha expect?
actually, I still remember being rallyy psyched when the Mars Explorer (or whatever that little rover thingy was called) landed and all went well and we got to drive around the planet for a bit. that was cool
too bad for the 'Face on Mars' though... was really hoping in it
Comments
<strong>That's Tom Hanks for you.
it's not so much the actors portrayal as the concepts behind the whole situation. the ability to get those men back alive in such a terrible situation is astounding. a small tin box was all they had to work with and yet they made it back using only their brains. im a huge fan of NASA, but yet it's still amazing that this story is true...
<strong>I thought I liked Castaway but it got upsetting near the end because he lost Winston so I can't watch it anymore as I know what has to happen.</strong><hr></blockquote>
It is a powerful movie, huh? Just like Forest Gump. And they are both from the same director.
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.
<strong>i just finished watching this movie and it still amazes me how incredible this story is. this is one of those rare moments of a degrading society that i am actually proud to be human...
[ 09-01-2002: Message edited by: _ alliance _ ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
"...degrading society..."
???
<strong>Dunno about anyone else here but I remember the real event. I was about 12-13 years old. The space program had become kind of routine until this happened. The TV coverage was practically non-stop. We all watched and waited...it really was scary. When they dropped into the blue sea there was a collective sigh of relief and cheers. One of those great events.
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.</strong><hr></blockquote>
exactly. i wasnt there, but i can still feel how powerful it must have been...
<strong>
"...degrading society..."
???</strong><hr></blockquote>
look around at the crap that goes on in this country. our priorities are in the wrong place. all we care about is ourselves. watching this movie reminding me that it is still possible to care about others and that we have so much potential. i hope we dont waste it by destroying our own world...
You mean "Joe versus the Volanoe" didn't do it for you?<hr></blockquote>
Actually I love that flick, it's the best of the "pre-Forrest Gump" Tom Hanks movies IMHO. But I've always liked stuff that was a bit offbeat.
<strong>
The same as the Moon landing...and anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot (or wasn't born yet). It was one of those events that truly exists...you felt it.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ya, it happened on my dad's 17th birthday. We were watching the fox special on why it was fake and he tried to explain to us all the emotion and the feelings and stuff and how you could tell it wasn't fake. I wish I lived in a time where there was something like that to be proud of.
<strong>
I wish I lived in a time where there was something like that to be proud of.</strong><hr></blockquote>
exactly. you put it into words better than i did. our generation has nothing worth remembering aside from obvious disasters. nostalgia and pride in one's own history cannot exist if the only thing noteworthy in daily news is the latest absurd lawsuit or sports scandal. it's somewhat depressing...
Zemeckis, on the other hand is pretty good about knowing how long a scene should be to be useful. Forrest Gump was a pretty long movie, but it didn't seem long at all. Cast Away is the same. And who doesn't love Back to the Future?
Saw it at the theater when it first came out and have rented it on video or DVD and have watched it on USA or TNT probably 8-10 times over the years.
I love everything about it, especially the fact that it contains some of my absolute favorite actors (Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Bill Paxton).
Oh yeah, and who doesn't dig Tom Hanks?
I was born in 1969, so I missed out on all the Mercury and Gemini program and was, of course, too young to even be aware of Apollo and keep up with it. But starting in 3rd grade or so, I developed this HUGE interest in NASA and the space program of that era (1960's-early 70's), which was sparked, no doubt, by the dual influences of seeing "Star Wars" in 1977 and taking a school field trip to the Huntsville Space Center (in Alabama) around that same time (probably fall of 1977, after having seen "Star Wars" and suddenly realizing that "HEY, we don't have laser cannons and hyperdrive, but we HAVE been into space...COOL!".
For the next several years, I totally immersed myself in this stuff, checking out every book I could on the subject and reading about the subject as much as I could. Naturally, for about 3 years or so, every book report, oral report, science project, etc. I had to do in school involved NASA, the space program, etc. in some way. I made posters, charts, mocked up a space suit with cardboard boxes, vacuum hoses, gardening gloves and white long-john underwear!
The crown jewel? I had a white jacket that my mom bought me. Had lots of snaps, zippers, etc. and I thought looked pretty cool. On a return trip to the Huntsville Space Center, I purchased three patches from the gift shop: an American flag, the blue familiar NASA patch and the round Apollo XI mission logo patch and my mom sewed them onto that white jacket in the proper, "NASA-like" locations (left sleeve, right and left chest).
This movie IMMEDIATELY brought all that back to me when I first saw it and made me remember all that stuff again!
The old footage of Cronkite rendered speechless and teary-eyed at the Apollo XI moon landing, the great attention to detail in the cars, clothes, hair of the time, the whole tech-is-cool approach this movie carries, etc.
You pulled for these guys and even though I've seen it a ton, I STILL feel all cramped and antsy when they realize their situation.
When they're all shivering and that tape recorder's batteries are low (and the song it's playing is draaaaaaaging) makes you feel so bad for them.
And when they come back through the atmosphere and lose contact and go beyond that window that "we should've heard from them by now", I STILL sit there going "come on...come on, answer!"
And when it shows them pop through with the parachutes and everyone is cheering, well the lump in my throat is genuine and never gets any smaller or less real with repeated viewings.
This is, to me, one of those "gem" movies that - like the ones I listed earlier - I can watch a few times a year (and do) and always find something new and different, or notice something new or discover a detail or something cool or funny or interesting going on in the background or in some throwaway line or piece of dialog.
Definitely one of the movies I'll get around to purchasing on DVD for my own permanent library.
Maybe world peace or successful first contact with friendly aliens...but that's not going to happen...
Wars are so passe'...
The only time I can get really psyched for something is when Italy plays in the World Cup or UEFA Cup.
I was 15 or 16 when Desert Storm happened so I remember getting all stoked for 'my first real war'. How naive. Ah well. Guess after living in NYC for most of my life prior to that, and living off GI Joe and the constant droning of an immenent USSR attack and fallout shelter drills... well, whatcha expect?
too bad for the 'Face on Mars' though... was really hoping in it