Apollo 11 was warmly and enthusiastically-received at the SXSW Film Festival. It is a remarkable documentary that takes us back in time 50 years ago to one of the greatest technological achievements in world history. I was born 6 months after the Apollo landing, so it is literally a journey to the time of my birth. It was a very dark time in our history when the country was divided by civil rights and the Vietnam War and yet the moon landing was a joyous unifying optimistic moment of technological triumph that brought the country and the world together.
The documentary captures the moment with the original archival video and audio tapes of the time - most of them filmed by NASA itself. There is no real suspense for the audience in that we all know exactly what happens and yet it takes us back to that moment when know one knew if the mission would succeed or if the rocket would blow up and kill the astronauts on the launch pad. The only narration is provided by some of Walter Cronkite's news live broadcasts on CBS and mission control's audio. You can't always tell what you are seeing or clearly understand the audio, but that's fine, because it lends to the authenticity that takes us back to these incredibly dramatic moments. Space is truly our final frontier and captures our imagination like little else. But the real events are more powerful and dramatic and science fiction films can truly capture. This is a must-see documentary for anyone who believes we can still dream big and achieve great accomplishments.
The documentary captures the moment with the original archival video and audio tapes of the time - most of them filmed by NASA itself. There is no real suspense for the audience in that we all know exactly what happens and yet it takes us back to that moment when know one knew if the mission would succeed or if the rocket would blow up and kill the astronauts on the launch pad. The only narration is provided by some of Walter Cronkite's news live broadcasts on CBS and mission control's audio. You can't always tell what you are seeing or clearly understand the audio, but that's fine, because it lends to the authenticity that takes us back to these incredibly dramatic moments. Space is truly our final frontier and captures our imagination like little else. But the real events are more powerful and dramatic and science fiction films can truly capture. This is a must-see documentary for anyone who believes we can still dream big and achieve great accomplishments.