Excellent recreation of a factual drama-in-space.

Rating: 9/10 (17 August 2006)

As if to prove that the number 13 is truly unlucky - as superstitious people have been telling us for years - the 13th Apollo space mission was a catalogue of disastrous mishaps from start to finish. Ron Howard directs this film version of the events surrounding the ill-fated mission with great attention to the technical detail, making it almost documentary-like in approach. But while some documentaries are rather cold and distant, Howard remembers to keep the emotional drama in his film tense and involving, just as it must have been as the events unfolded for real back in the spring of 1970.
Astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) has long dreamed of setting foot on the moon, and gets his chance when chosen to be a member of the Apollo 13 moon landing mission in 1970. The three man team also includes Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton). During their flight to the moon, the three astronauts make regular live transmissions that they believe will be televised down on Earth. However, their TV slot has been axed without them knowing it, as no-one seems particularly interested any more in the rather dull and technical terminology associated with space travel. The mission is destined to become the centre of everyone's attention, however, when a routine oxygen tank procedure goes awry and leads to an explosion. The Apollo shuttle is suddenly marooned in space, with little power, little control and little air. The objective of landing on the moon is replaced with the sole aim of getting the astronauts back home alive. In Houston, scientists struggle against the odds to plan a way to bring the astronauts back to safety, working around the clock to solve various logistical problems facing them. Meanwhile, Lovell's wife Marilyn (Kathleen Quinlan) must hold together her family as they face the terrifying possibility of losing their beloved Jim. And aboard the shuttle itself, the three astronauts endure several days of unrelenting doubts and fears as their very lives hang by a thread.
Apollo 13 is a superb recreation of the true story. Its most impressive achievement is that it manages to generate genuine gnawing tension in spite of the fact that most viewers already know the outcome. The performances are first-rate throughout, with Hanks, Bacon and Paxton exceptional as the endangered space travellers, Quinlan totally convincing as Lovell's distraught wife, and Ed Harris in commanding form as the mission controller sweating it out down in Houston. William Broyles Jr and Al Reinert provide an excellent script, which makes absolute sense of the potentially confusing technical dialogue, and also explores the emotional toll of the ordeal realistically and effectively. The final scene especially, in which communication is lost as the astronaut's re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, is so taut that you can feel your heart thumping inside your chest. The film is a celebration of human determination  some have criticised it for its unapologetic flag-waving and patriotism but such criticisms seem, to me, to be missing the point. This is not so much about America conquering the odds, more a film about the human spirit in general conquering the odds. And that's a message that we should all take from the film with open arms. Apollo 13 is an outstanding film indeed.