It is an awful, awful movie. First of all, they made everything surrounding Neil depressing, morose, and dark. I get it - his daughter died young. That does not mean that he never smiled or joked again. Even, for example, the press conference that we have actual video of! I watched the videos of it that are available and do not see him ever say like a robot, "I'd rather have more fuel" when asked about what he would take in his personal kit. Even if he did say it, I'm sure he said it as a joke. He made other joking comments. If you watch the actual press conference, Aldrin is the one who sounds like a robot. From all the videos I've seen of Armstrong, he is a very normal, smart person with a good sense of humor.
Secondly, is how they portrayed all things in cockpits. That's one of the reasons I was interested in watching this, because it supposedly had good detail of the cockpits. I've never ridden a rocket, but did have an entire career as a fighter pilot, and the way they shook the cockpit around every time they did anything in the air was ridiculous. Yes there was some turbulence in the X-15 on the B-52 and after launch, but nothing like what they showed. Gemini launch? Actually if you read about it, it was one of the smoother rides. If things get really shaken like the idiotic director showed, the pilots/astronauts wouldn't have been able to read any instruments or flip any switches, ever. They over-dramatized the Gemini 8 spinning which was at about one revolution per second and the movie showed about three. There is no way they would have survived three revs per second. I've done two in a jet and all I had to do was hang on to the controls. They even screwed up the Moonlanding, shaking the lunar lander around like it was in turbulence. There's no turbulence on the moon! And astronauts describe the rockets as quite smooth. And again they changed history, by showing Armstrong taking over to avoid landing in a gigantic crater. Do you think NASA didn't know enough to plan a landing other than in a gigantic crater? He actually took over manually because the landing zone turned out to be in a field of boulders that weren't visible in photos taken to scout landing zones. There is a limit to dramatic license, especially with such a significant and well-documented point in history.
Thirdly, and worst of all, the idiotic director used the ridiculous 'The Office' camera technique. The entire film was taken using unstabilized handheld cameras stuck in peoples' faces, and swinging around from one subject to another, as if that made it feel more personal. At least in The Office they made a joke out of it because the camera people were part of the story. Are we supposed to think that there were camera people in Neil's home and inside the cockpits? Can we not just enjoy the show and not pretend like it's a home-movie? They even shook the camera violently for the Apollo 11 launch long after it had cleared the tower. One of the reasons I wanted to watch it was to see the inside of the craft, but you couldn't see anything because the camera was always shaking. I read a first-hand account by an astronaut that described the Apollo launch like "riding a train on bad tracks." This director made it look like a train that had just derailed in a field of bolders.
Best director Oscar for the film? Just shows you how meaningless the Oscars are. I think an AV nerd right out of high school would have done a better job.
Secondly, is how they portrayed all things in cockpits. That's one of the reasons I was interested in watching this, because it supposedly had good detail of the cockpits. I've never ridden a rocket, but did have an entire career as a fighter pilot, and the way they shook the cockpit around every time they did anything in the air was ridiculous. Yes there was some turbulence in the X-15 on the B-52 and after launch, but nothing like what they showed. Gemini launch? Actually if you read about it, it was one of the smoother rides. If things get really shaken like the idiotic director showed, the pilots/astronauts wouldn't have been able to read any instruments or flip any switches, ever. They over-dramatized the Gemini 8 spinning which was at about one revolution per second and the movie showed about three. There is no way they would have survived three revs per second. I've done two in a jet and all I had to do was hang on to the controls. They even screwed up the Moonlanding, shaking the lunar lander around like it was in turbulence. There's no turbulence on the moon! And astronauts describe the rockets as quite smooth. And again they changed history, by showing Armstrong taking over to avoid landing in a gigantic crater. Do you think NASA didn't know enough to plan a landing other than in a gigantic crater? He actually took over manually because the landing zone turned out to be in a field of boulders that weren't visible in photos taken to scout landing zones. There is a limit to dramatic license, especially with such a significant and well-documented point in history.
Thirdly, and worst of all, the idiotic director used the ridiculous 'The Office' camera technique. The entire film was taken using unstabilized handheld cameras stuck in peoples' faces, and swinging around from one subject to another, as if that made it feel more personal. At least in The Office they made a joke out of it because the camera people were part of the story. Are we supposed to think that there were camera people in Neil's home and inside the cockpits? Can we not just enjoy the show and not pretend like it's a home-movie? They even shook the camera violently for the Apollo 11 launch long after it had cleared the tower. One of the reasons I wanted to watch it was to see the inside of the craft, but you couldn't see anything because the camera was always shaking. I read a first-hand account by an astronaut that described the Apollo launch like "riding a train on bad tracks." This director made it look like a train that had just derailed in a field of bolders.
Best director Oscar for the film? Just shows you how meaningless the Oscars are. I think an AV nerd right out of high school would have done a better job.