From the Earth to the Moon

Plot synopsis:
The story opens some time after the end of the American Civil War. The Gun Club, a society based in Baltimore and dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), comes together when Impey Barbicane, its president, calls them to support his latest idea. He's done some calculations, and believes that they could construct a cannon capable of shooting a projectile to the moon. After receiving the support of his companions, another meeting is held to decide the place from which the projectile will be fired, the dimensions and materials of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder they are to use.
An old enemy of Barbicane, a Captain Nicholl of Philadelphia, designer of plate armor, declares that the enterprise is absurd and makes a series of bets with Barbicane, each of them of increasing amount, over the impossibility of such feat.
The first obstacle, the money to construct the cannon (and against which Nicholl has bet 1,000 dollars), is raised from a number of countries in America and Europe. Notably, the US gives four million dollars, while England does not give a farthing, but in the end, nearly five and a half million dollars are raised, which ensures the financial feasibility of the project.
Stone's Hill in "Tampa Town", Florida is chosen as the site for the cannon's construction, predating Kennedy Space Center's placement in Florida by almost 100 years. Verne gives the exact position as 27°7' northern latitude and 5°7' western longitude (of course relative to the meridian of Washington that is 27°7′0″N 82°9′0″W). The Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon, which requires the excavation of a 900-foot-deep (270 m) and 60-foot-wide (18 m) circular hole, which is made in the nick of time, but a surprise awaits Barbicane: Michel Ardan, a French adventurer, plans to travel aboard the projectile.
During a meeting between Ardan, the Gun Club, and the inhabitants of Florida, Nicholl appears and challenges Barbicane to a duel. The duel is stopped when Ardan—having been warned by J. T. Maston, secretary of the Gun Club—meets the rivals in the forest where they have agreed to duel. Meanwhile, Barbicane finds the solution to the problem of surviving the incredible acceleration that the explosion would cause. Ardan suggests that Barbicane and Nicholl travel with him in the projectile, and the offer is accepted.
In the end, the projectile is successfully launched, but the destinies of the three astronauts are left inconclusive. The sequel, Around the Moon, deals with what happens to the three men in their travel from the earth to the moon.

Tags: historical

Review:
Occasionally, some of the scenes still bring me very close to tears.This mini-series details the history of the Apollo program from how manned spaceflight got started to the last man on the moon.
The casting was done so great that this is the first time you cannot pin leading roles in any of the episodes let alone the whole series, even with big names (Hanks, Tony Goldwyn, Mark Harmon, Adam Baldwin, Tim Daly, Cary Elwes, Jay Mohr, Stephen Root, and Lane Smith, not to mention several other big names).
Episode 12, probably one of the most emotional episodes in the series, is about Apollo 17 (the last mission on the moon) and how this mission relates to the a dream from 70 years before by a man called George Melies when he created the moving picture "Le Voyage Dans La Lune."  The performances of Hanks (his only appearance as an actor in the series), Daniel Hugh Kelley, Tom Amandes, Tchéky Karyo, Lane Smith, and Stephen Root, with the voice-over of Blythe Danner, make this episode very emotional, especially with everyone except for Karyo in interviews as their older selves.As much factual information is used while keeping any fictionalized material to a minimum, such as the TV network featuring Emmitt Seaborn (Lane Smith)anchoring the missions for the nation.This mini-series reminds me what we have worked for in our society and how we are letting that deteriorate now.
A program with a dictate set forth by President Kennedy: to get men to the moon, and return, safely, before the end of the decade.This 12-hour (12 x one-hour segments) tribute is the personal mission of two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, a man with a childhood love for the astronauts and the space program, and a man with enough clout to get this big-budget extravaganza made.Each segment is in and of itself a story, each with a different point-of-view on the major aspects of the program.
Tom Hanks has brought to life the true story of man's greatest adventure to 'land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth'.
If you have even the slightest interest in the space program, obtaining a copy of this DVD set is a must.Coincidently, Apollo 11 landed exactly 35 years ago today.
I stayed up for the entire 30 hour televised stretch, from lunar landing to liftoff, stealing a moment every now and then to go outside and gaze up in wonder at the moon, filled with awe that two human beings were actually there, living and working on its surface.
A real space junkie, religiously watching each mission after that, coaxing my Mom to let me stay home from school (recurrent cases of 'moon sickness', no doubt), clipping out every newspaper, Life, Time or Newsweek article I could find (now faded yellow with age) and trying to tape as much of the audio coverage as I could (few private individuals could afford a video recorder back then).
Although it might not seem so today, 500 years from now the moon landings will undoubtedly be remembered as the most significant event to have occurred in the 20th century.It's hard to choose my favorite E2M episode since they were all so good.
The mini series details every step of the way, touching on the Apollo 1 disaster, all the steps to getting to the Moon (staying in orbit, space walks, docking, etc), the development of the Lunar Modules, and the inevitable voyage of Apollo 11 that landed on the Moon.
This series even makes the stories of the guys who built the lunar lander, the geologists who studied the moon rocks, and the wives of the astronauts as appealing and fulfilling as the triumphs and tragedies that are better known..
From the Earth to the Moon is a stunning masterpiece that captures the triumph of a defining moment in the history of the world:  Humankind's arrival to, short exploration of, and return from, it's planetary neighbor the Moon.Tom Hanks brought together actors, writers, directors, producers, and composers of the highest caliber to deliver an accurate, outstanding, hard hitting film.From the Earth to the Moon is a 12 hour movie spanning the United States involvement in the space race from the first man in space in 1961 to the last lunar landing in 1972.
The movie teaches, gives insights, paints portraits of real people, and is simply fascinating.The stories told in From the Earth to the Moon are inspiring, captivating, funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking.
Generations from now will watch Apollo 7's lift-off to be amazed that humans could achieve such an engineering and technical marvel and scholars will debate in awe how the political, social, and economic environments of the time made such an event possible.
The best thing about this series is the fact that it will either teach or remind a great many people about the accomplishments of the race to the moon.
Michael Kamen'spoignant music, Tom Hanks' exacting production standards,outstanding performances from a range of excellent actors andspecial effects that leave one wondering what it would have lookedlike on a movie screen ---- all make this series a must-see.
It progresses through the Gemini and finally the Apollo missions all the way to the last Apollo 17 lunar landing.I learned quite a few things about the space race that I never knew before, such as: The surly nature of Alan Shepard, the fate of the astronauts wives, the fun nature of the Apollo 12 crew and the internal politics within the ranks of the astronauts themselves.
Awe at what man has accomplished, awe at the ingeinuity and the diligence that it took for us to take the mighty and unbelievable step as the journey from the earth to the moon.Tom Hanks' series can only be characterized as the definitive chronical of the space race.
Given enough time to properly dissipate the stories, enough talent to portray, and enough insight and intrigue to be accurate, he has put together episode after episode of historically credible and entertaining accounting of this.Part 1, entitled "Can We Do This?" captures the feeling of overwhelming that America experienced when faced with the daunting task of actually landing on the moon.
From the earth to the Moon tells the whole story of America's space program.
Acting a bit as television companion to Ron Howard's feature film Apollo 13, this miniseries covers the years between 1961 and 1972, this epic twelve hour miniseries covers the race to the Moon from the perspective of those in NASA who went on the missions, supported them from the ground and watched them take place.The epic cast of the miniseries is where much of its success lies.
Then there is of course executive producer Tom Hanks who acts, at the start of all but the last episode, as a sort of Chorus introducing the viewer to the story that is about to unfold.The series is also blessed with fantastic effects work.
Perhaps better then a documentary could, the miniseries' writing brings to the light of day the ambitions, dreams, egos, emotions, politics and the people behind the scenes of the Apollo mission to the Moon.
For those of us who grew up long after the fascinating events of the 1960's and already lived in a world in which shuttles and space flight were a reality, "From the Earth to the Moon" provides us with a sense of the awe and wonder which so gallantly captured that time.
Perfectly written, wonderfully acted, and beautifully placed on the screen, this mini-series is one of the greats, that when future societies dig up information on our culture, "From the Earth to the Moon" will provide a great example of what the American spirit was all about..
Perhaps the Manhatten Project would come close, but it did not have 400,000 people working together as one.To me, it is totally amazing that it was done on the tools available: Slide rules and rudimentary computers.They went to the moon on a computer that had a whopping 32K of memory if I remember correctly.Most home appliances, cell phones (not to mention computers) have much more processing power than what they used to send Apollo to the Moon.Truly an feat that will be remembered for all of history, at least I hope so.Lesson for today is to remember that given a 'impossible' task that almost anything can be accomplished if you set the human mind free and believe.
The writing, acting, directing, cinematography, visual effects, everything is so wonderful, and I'm finding myself choked up at scenes, laughing out loud and being immersed in the scenes so deeply, it's like I'm watching for the very first time.It's a shame that all features shot for TV aren't of the caliber of this series..
I believe I'm a couple of years older than Tom Hanks - and though at the age of 5, I remember thrilling to Alan Shepard's trip into space, and of course to John Glenn's orbit, by the time of Gemini, my interest in history had so trumped my interest in science that I was bored by the space program.
Although I certainly watched those grainy pictures of the moon on July 20, 1969, I have to say that I found it all dull and (except for the disasters of Apollo 1 and 13 - both of which I vividly remember) very predictable.This amazing series converted my contemporary indifference to awed fascination.
As the spotlighted review far more eloquently stated, the space program in the 1960s was one of the most extraordinary feats in the history of mankind -- and this series makes it completely absorbing, inspiring, full of extraordinary (and previously unknown to me) personal tales, humor, and just marvel at the ability of the filmmakers (including the actors) to create this amazing document.No matter whether you were then alive or have any interest in the space program, you are missing something very valuable and unique and completely enjoyable - if you fail to see this series.I've seen a number of television series that are as memorable as any movies I've ever seen - Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, I Claudius, the various Ken Burns documentaries (particularly the one on the Civil War), the Tinker-Tailor/Smiley's People series --  and this wonderful and marvelous From the Earth to the Moon.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers glossed up the positive aspects and left out a lot of the darker albeit more interesting aspects of this incredible venture.The made-for-television mini-series comes off more like a NASA press conference or a tour for fifth-graders at a museum than a stark honest depiction of the actual events leading up to the first moon missions.
The film "The Right Stuff" did a far superior job of showing the craziness, the absurdity, and some of the foolishness that comes along with these kinds of projects that involve millions of dollars and 1000's of people.Probably the strongest and most informative episodes were the following: "Spider", the episode that chronicles the design of the LEM, aka the lunar module, "Galileo Was Right" which depicts one of the later missions in which the astronauts train to become like geologists, and "Le Voyage dans la Lune" concerning the early 20th-century silent film of a voyage to the moon, which was made in France.The most disappointing of the series has to be the first landing, "Mare Tranquilitatis".
One of those was Apollo 1 and another, of course, was sitting in my living room with my parents on a hot July evening in New York watching, as man first landed and then walked on the moon.As the parent of a teenager, who has had the good fortune to be fairly well traveled, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of NASA facilities over the years with my son.
Not only does it do an outstanding job of giving a fairly factual account of the of the events surrounding mans voyage from the Earth to the Moon, but it also gives those who were not alive to witness it first hand a sense of the excitement, wonder, awe and worry a great portion of the world experienced in the 4 years between December 1968 and December 1972.Unfortunately, events such as those depicted in this series are not ones we are not likely to see again in our lifetimes.
Tom Hanks executive produced this mini-series after completing Apollo 13 as a way of detailing the entire Apollo program.
Sure there are some areas that some viewers have found where cinematic hiccups occur, but if you just watch the show and lose yourself in the story, there is little chance of anyone, space program follower or not, that you can't help but enjoy this outstanding series.
all of it comes together so well - and maintains its continuity through 12 wonderful episodes.I would highly recommend this awesome mini-series to those who know little about the Apollo program as well as to those who consider themselves experts.Everyone will enjoy this series from start to finish.
In the beginning of episode 8 about Apollo 13 Tom Hanks laments that Americans had become bored with the space program.
The whole history of getting a man on the moon, from the Mercury program through Gemini to the Apollo missions are chronicled.
I didn't know many details about the early space program other than the fact that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.
The Apollo 13 episode was the weakest but all I do is insert the movie in here when I watch the series.
Everything that was put into something of this magnitude adds up to be one of the greatest stories telling of a nearly unrivaled triumph."We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.""From the Earth to the Moon" captures the essence of the Space Race, and while I myself was not alive for it, after viewing this, it certainly feels like I was..
This series looks at the stories behind the stories of the Apollo moon landings, and is not your usual linear documentary.
Tom Hanks who produced this series is a "space nut" and it shows with its absolutely incredible effects that will make you believe you are there every step of the way.Tom's aim was to have you say after every episode "I didn't know that", and I believe he achieved that.
I was 5 at the time of the first moon landing so most of the events were a blur, thus I loved watching this series.If you didn't live through it, and you want to know why we should have made such a monumental effort, you should watch this series to understand what humanity can really do when it puts its differences to the side and focuses on a common purpose.The only reason this set isn't totally perfect is that the superb original music was never released.
Not since the 1960's the era of Gemini and Apollo, has the entire story of the quest to land a man on the moon has been told.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."This is a drama with documentary-ish elements mini-series of 12 episodes about the space race of the 1960's from USA's perspective, that gave us one of the biggest achievements in mankind's history, landing man on the moon.
Just one more reason to love the guy.The series covers different aspects, different major events and different people involved in the whole ordeal, from Kennedy's wish and promise to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, to the last apollo mission in the 70's.
For example velcro was invented in this time.The characters of this miniseries are some amazing people with the likes Armstrong, Jim Lovell, Alan Shepherd and all of the other amazing astronauts of the Apollo space program..
Check it outI absolutely love everything about this series, being a big fan of Apollo 13 & Tom Hanks This is an excellent piece of work, it is entertaining, a must for anyone interested in the space race, a nostalgic step back in time for those of us who were around the day Neil Armstrong took that famous step.
From the Earth to the Moon is the story of the latter and specifically the Apollo program that led mankind to make its first steps on the surface of another world.
The story of the space race in the 1960's has always fascinated me and as I write this I can think of no single achievement in human history that rivals the moon landing.
The mini-series is great and probably, along with the film Apollo 13, is the best story of the thousands of people who participated in the greatest journey of mankind's history, but the show never really reaches the highs that it could (I'm looking at you "The Original Wives Club"), but thankfully never reaches the lows either.
One of the decisive moves in the American History was the Apollo Mission to the Moon.HBO has always been successful in providing us Miniseries with riveting experience.Last time I felt like this was in case of 'Band of Brothers'.'From the Earth to the Moon' portrays NASA's Space Program from its conception to its ultimate dream of sending man to the moon.Through the set of twelve episodes we are immediately emerged into the life of the extraordinary team which will make it viable for the man to make the ultimate dream achievable for the generations to remember.Each Episode starts with Kennedy's memorable speech and a short note from Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks not only is the best actor we have today he is proving he knows what people want to see in films, Earth to the moon is one of the two best mini series ever made along with Lonesome dove, you are captivated from the first moment to the last of every episode.
I understand that Tom Hanks had already done the Apollo 13 movie, but that episode was brutal.
From the 1st manned Mercury to Apollo 11 which traveled " from the Earth to the moon" in Episode 6.