I was expecting to like this more than I did. I was born in 1943, so I lived through all of the events chronicled in this film as an adult, and have seen lots of documentary coverage of those events. The subject is one that always inspires and moves me, so it seemed foolproof.
But the way this film was constructed and edited did not work for me. I found the lack of narration or exposition a drawback. Even knowing as much as I do about the events, I did not realize that only twelve men have stepped onto the moon, from 1969 through 1972 (the film tells us all of that only at the end), and at the time this was made, only nine of them were still alive (that is never mentioned). Knowing those facts up front would have enhanced my appreciation of what I was seeing. Other statistics about the program would have been useful too - cost, number of people involved, etc. Those would help put it all in perspective more.
Seven faces are a lot to keep track of, especially in the first part of the film, and especially when the editing cuts from one to another so quickly. Focusing on each of them separately, at least at first, would have been easier to follow, and to me more effective. Or the film should have used some device to identify them more clearly each time they appeared.
Nor did I learn anything surprising about the subject, but it was interesting to find out what each of the seven men has done since, and how it affected them.
I found the Columbus segment a waste of time. With some narrative background, or opinions of historians, it might have been interesting, but as presented it was just pointless.
Eugene Cernan says we should have a permanent base on the moon - "It really is the key to our future." Why? More explanation of that would have been interesting to me, as well as what each of the other men thinks about that, or where he thinks the space program should go.
Buzz Aldrin mentions that even right after the first landing, some Americans disapproved of the program. Further exploration of that would have been welcome. Not everyone (including me) thinks that the "benefits" of our space program have justified the cost, or that it makes sense to try to go back to the moon, or to Mars. In 1958, Nobel-prize winning physicist and mathematician Max Born called the space program "A triumph of the intellect, but a tragic failure of reason." I think that applies even more now.
The title tells us that the makers of this film were trying to create an emotional experience, of course, not an intellectual one, and perhaps that is the problem. The emotion should grow out of an honest description of the events, not a contrived exploitation of them. For example, I thought the music was a bit manipulative.
All in all, not a waste of time, but - at least for someone who already knows the subject pretty well - not a must-see.
But the way this film was constructed and edited did not work for me. I found the lack of narration or exposition a drawback. Even knowing as much as I do about the events, I did not realize that only twelve men have stepped onto the moon, from 1969 through 1972 (the film tells us all of that only at the end), and at the time this was made, only nine of them were still alive (that is never mentioned). Knowing those facts up front would have enhanced my appreciation of what I was seeing. Other statistics about the program would have been useful too - cost, number of people involved, etc. Those would help put it all in perspective more.
Seven faces are a lot to keep track of, especially in the first part of the film, and especially when the editing cuts from one to another so quickly. Focusing on each of them separately, at least at first, would have been easier to follow, and to me more effective. Or the film should have used some device to identify them more clearly each time they appeared.
Nor did I learn anything surprising about the subject, but it was interesting to find out what each of the seven men has done since, and how it affected them.
I found the Columbus segment a waste of time. With some narrative background, or opinions of historians, it might have been interesting, but as presented it was just pointless.
Eugene Cernan says we should have a permanent base on the moon - "It really is the key to our future." Why? More explanation of that would have been interesting to me, as well as what each of the other men thinks about that, or where he thinks the space program should go.
Buzz Aldrin mentions that even right after the first landing, some Americans disapproved of the program. Further exploration of that would have been welcome. Not everyone (including me) thinks that the "benefits" of our space program have justified the cost, or that it makes sense to try to go back to the moon, or to Mars. In 1958, Nobel-prize winning physicist and mathematician Max Born called the space program "A triumph of the intellect, but a tragic failure of reason." I think that applies even more now.
The title tells us that the makers of this film were trying to create an emotional experience, of course, not an intellectual one, and perhaps that is the problem. The emotion should grow out of an honest description of the events, not a contrived exploitation of them. For example, I thought the music was a bit manipulative.
All in all, not a waste of time, but - at least for someone who already knows the subject pretty well - not a must-see.