Product: For All Mankind [VHS] (1989)
Rating: 5.0
Spectacular! (...but skip the booklet movie review)
"For All Mankind" is simply a wonderful movie with superbly transferred and restored video and audio straight from the NASA "Cold Storage Vault". The video is incredibly clear and crisp. The focus of the film is indeed the raw video taken by the astronauts themselves. This is not a "technical" documentary but rather a "Video Documentary" with narrative by the astronauts themselves. The entire movie is actual NASA video. The extras on the DVD are excellent as well and greatly enhance the movie itself. Given the many, many deservedly glowing reviews of the film itself, my only (exceedingly minor) complaint is the review in the included booklet from movie critic Terrence Rafferty. While glowing in his praise for the movie, his reasoning and choice of words are miles off-base. A movie about Apollo that is "sensuous" and "nearly erotic"? Really? His disdain for all things American is evident. He is surprised (and disappointed?) that the USSR was not first to the moon. Of the US Flag in some moon scenes, he says "has no business being there". Of US scientists, engineers and astronauts, he calls them "square", "wearing geeky glasses and ill-fitting shirts", "mostly with crew-cuts", "straight arrows". He expresses his "unfathomable" shock that a journalist(!) such as Al Reinert would be capable of making such a wonderful film on his first try. Save yourself the frustration and skip the review. Watch (and re-watch) the movie and the extras. Enjoy.