Houston, we have a problem. Over-rated.

Rating: 3/10 (13 October 2005)

Apollo 13 suffers from the fact that it was regarded highly as a film and is, in my opinion, very much over-rated. Apollo 13 is based on a true story about the space mission. I do believe that it was successful in getting the mainstream interested about the history of space missions and space exploration in general. In that sense, it did not fail. It also did not fail in the sense that it did capture an audience and bring about the timeless quotation: "Houston, we have a problem." Yes, they *did* have a problem, and I am speaking about the film here and not the mission.
The problem with Apollo 13 is the slow pace of the film and the length of it. Yes, it is based on a true story, but that does not mean that it has to be so boring a dry. (A lot of the technical speak went over my head as a 16-year-old.) In terms of overall art direction or cinematography, the film was average. In short, it was just a very dry film and a long film to sit through. (The fact that it was rated highly and that the ending is well-known also probably did not help matters.) Overall, my personal opinion of this film is similar to the most famous quotation in the film: "Houston, we have a problem."