Ron Howard's shining hour

Rating: Null/10 (28 August 2001)

When the real Apollo 13 launched in April, 1970, I was an 8-year-old space program fanatic; I followed every detail of the Apollo missions I could get my hands on - still do, in fact. As such, I KNEW what happened w/ Apollo 13. So I originally saw this movie w/ the intent of picking apart its glaring flaws.
Boy, was I WRONG!
Not only was the movie highly accurate from a technical & historical standpoint, but Howard's direction of this tale I knew so well STILL had me on the edge of my seat for the duration. My hat is off to Ron Howard!
***WARNING - SPOILER AHEAD**** As a further testimony to just how gripping this movie is: Shortly after buying this movie on video, I showed it to my Sister-In-Law, who was not even born yet when Apollo 13 flew. The poor thing was a nervous basket case from the instant the Service Module blew until Lovell's voice was heard at splashdown.