The Dangers Of Space Flight Hollywood Style

Rating: 6/10 (28 July 2003)

I actually wanted to become an astronaut as a child but soon went off the idea when I realised going to the moon would have involved sitting in a capsule that`s basically a tin can with thousands of tons of rocket fuel strapped to my ass . In short the dangers of space flight surpassed my courage and my feelings of endeavour . It takes guts to travel through space and if you get into serious trouble aboard a space craft you`re in danger of suffering a quick spectacular death or a slow lingering one

APOLLO 13 is the Hollywood blockbuster treatment of the ill fated mission to the moon and is a testament to the courage of astronauts everywhere . The film starts with the tragic accident of an earlier Apollo mission that left three astronauts dead and then goes on to tell the tale of the Apollo 13 where an oxygen tank explodes on the module close to the moon meaning the three man crew are almost certain to suffer a slow lingering death 250,000 miles out in space . It`s a true life drama fairly well told even if it does have a few flaws . For example director Ron Howard`s camera work moves around a bit too much while having a big name star like Tom Hanks detracts slightly from the drama . It would have been totally compelling if we`d had a slightly flat directing style with unknown actors , but like I said this is the Hollywood blockbuster treatment which needs to make money at the box office , so I guess we can forgive that . Astronauts are very brave people and APOLLO 13 makes light of that fact , so it`s a success .