Apollo 13

This movie with Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell came out in 1995. It is about the disastrous Apollo 13 flight and based on the book ‘Lost Moon’ by Jim Lovell. Apollo 13 was the third flight scheduled to land on the moon and so got little prior attention from the press. That changed dramatically after an oxygen tank exploded on the spacecraft on the way to the moon. Instead of landing on the moon the three astronauts and ground control have only one objective left which is to bring the astronauts back safely to Earth. The movie largely depicts the events as they really took place. So even though the outcome is known from the start the movie is still very gripping and the tension almost tangible as the astronauts struggle with one hurdle after another in their battle to return to Earth alive. Most of the action takes place in the confined space of Apollo 13 and at the Houston Space Centre. As such it has many qualities of a traditional play with basically only 2 scenes and only a handful of actors. At heart this is a simple yet classic story of a group people using their wits and ingenuity in a race against time to rescue 3 astronauts ‘lost’ in space. The fact that it really happened makes it extra worthwhile watching.