movie review of apollo 13

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Common sense media reviewers.

Thrilling, heartwarming, scary, and superb.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The team works together to find a way to solve the

Jim is heroic and brave, as are the other members

Very tense, characters in serious peril.

One or two oblique references, including one to "t

Fairly frequent profanity includes "s--t," "damn,"

Drinking at party, lots of smoking.

Parents need to know that it's a good idea to prepare younger kids beforehand by telling them what Apollo 13 is about; you may want to reassure them, since it is a true story, that the astronauts end up coming home all right. Be prepared for some very tense scenes when the characters are in peril, and note…

Positive Messages

The team works together to find a way to solve their problem, save themselves, and emerge from a terrible situation. Teamwork, perseverance, and courage are themes.

Positive Role Models

Jim is heroic and brave, as are the other members of the team. On the downside, there's not much diversity; all of the professionals are white males.

Violence & Scariness

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One or two oblique references, including one to "the clap." A demonstration with a beer bottle sliding into a glass has sexual undertones. There's a scene where Jack and his girlfriend are in the shower together; some moaning.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Fairly frequent profanity includes "s--t," "damn," "bitch," "ass," "goddamn," and what sounds like "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that it's a good idea to prepare younger kids beforehand by telling them what Apollo 13 is about; you may want to reassure them, since it is a true story, that the astronauts end up coming home all right. Be prepared for some very tense scenes when the characters are in peril, and note that everyone in Mission Control is a white male (and they smoke a fair bit, which is accurate for the era). Fairly frequent profanity includes "s--t," "damn," "bitch," "ass," and what sounds like "f--k." A demonstration with a beer bottle sliding into a glass has sexual undertones. There's a scene where Jack and his girlfriend are in the shower together; some moaning. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (25)
• Kids say (57)

Based on 25 parent reviews

CSM review sucks

Great movie, what's the story.

Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks plays real-life astronaut-hero Jim Lovell in this true story of the APOLLO 13 mission to the moon that almost left three astronauts stranded in space when an oxygen tank exploded. Mission Control, thousands of miles away from the stranded astronauts, must figure out a way to get the men home in one piece.

Is It Any Good?

In addition to the thrilling story, masterful performances, and impeccable technical authenticity, this movie is a heartening story of the triumph of smart guys with slide rules. It should be called "Smart and Smarter," a relief in this era of movies about characters who triumph by being dumb. Even though viewers know the Apollo 13 mission turned out all right, even though the technical material is dense and the action is confined to a space smaller than an elevator, the tension is breathtaking, as the astronauts and the mission control team in Houston try to think their way back home. Everything from duct tape to the cover of the flight manual to one of the astronaut's socks is used in this pre-McGuyver story, where mission control asks simply, "What's good on that ship?" and builds from there.

The legendary "Failure is not an option," said by Gene Kranz, head of Mission Control, when most people were certain the astronauts would never make it back, is worth discussing. So are the changes since you were your children's age. Note that everyone in Mission Control is a white male (and they all smoke all the time). They are amazed that a computer is small enough to fit into one room. And you may have to explain why adults who watch the movie laugh when the engineers take out their slide rules -- for kids today, they are more exotic than an abacus.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the way that Mission Control solves the problems happening thousands of miles away by re-creating the conditions inside the spaceship Apollo 13 . Point out how the adults handle the strain, sometimes losing their tempers or blaming one another (or trying to escape blame), but mostly working very well together.

Discuss the real-life event that inspired the movie. Ask older family members if they remember the event. Kids who want to learn more can go to the library or conduct Internet research.

How do the astronauts and mission control team demonstrate teamwork , perseverance , and courage in Apollo 13 ? Why are these important character strength s?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 30, 1995
• On DVD or streaming : December 1, 2002
• Cast : Bill Paxton , Gary Sinise , Tom Hanks
• Director : Ron Howard
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Adventures , History , Space and Aliens
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 140 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : language and emotional intensity
• Last updated : February 4, 2024

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; 'Apollo 13,' a Movie for the Fourth of July

By Janet Maslin

• June 30, 1995

THE line of dialogue that will be best remembered from Ron Howard's absolutely thrilling new "Apollo 13" is a slight variation on the truth. "Houston, we have a problem," says one of this film's three endangered astronauts, although "Houston, we've had a problem" is what Jim Lovell actually said. It's a small but important change, one more way that "Apollo 13" unfolds with perfect immediacy, drawing viewers into the nail-biting suspense of a spellbinding true story. You can know every glitch that made this such a dangerous mission, and "Apollo 13" will still have you by the throat.

Better even than Mr. Howard's sure hand with this fascinating material is his film's unexpected restraint. "Apollo 13" understands the difference between movie bravado and real courage, and it celebrates the latter in inspiring ways that have almost gone out of style. With Tom Hanks, wonderful again, as the Everyman in the driver's seat, "Apollo 13" isn't afraid of the stone-cold fear at the heart of this tale or of the intricate group effort needed to see it through. This film and its brave, believable characters are uplifting in ways that have nothing to do with a voyage to outer space.

We take it for granted today that there have been a hundred manned American space flights, and that an astronaut can remain in orbit almost unnoticed for a three-month stretch. But the weeklong adventure of the Apollo 13 crew unfolded in a very different atmosphere. In April 1970, the space program still aroused strong emotions: attention had begun to wane after the previous year's moon walk, but the nation found itself desperately receptive to the astronauts' unforeseen display of heroism after their flight became so perilous. "Apollo 13" doesn't mention Vietnam, but it doesn't have to. The war-weary climate of that time enhances this film's wishful, stirring faith in American know-how.

Like "Quiz Show," "Apollo 13" beautifully evokes recent history in ways that resonate strongly today. Cleverly nostalgic in its visual style (Rita Ryack's costumes are especially right), it harks back to movie making without phony heroics and to the strong spirit of community that enveloped the astronauts and their families. Amazingly, this film manages to seem refreshingly honest while still conforming to the three-act dramatic format of a standard Hollywood hit. It is far and away the best thing Mr. Howard has done (and "Far and Away" was one of the other kind). Equally sound was casting his own mother (Jean Speegle Howard) as Jim Lovell's mother, a real corker. "Are you boys in the space program, too?" she sweetly asks the film's Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

"Apollo 13" makes it unsurprising that Jim Lovell ("no stranger to emergencies he," a television commentator says) would come from sturdy stock. Mr. Lovell is presented as a quietly gung-ho commander, the kind of man who tells his wife (played brightly and affectingly by Kathleen Quinlan) that he's going to the moon as if that's great news. For Mr. Lovell, on whose memoir, "Lost Moon" (written with Jeffrey Kluger), the film is based, it actually was: he had come tantalizingly close to the moon on the Apollo 8 flight and enthusiastically looked forward to a lunar landing. Instead, on a mission whose original flight plan was abruptly aborted, he was lucky to come home alive.

The science behind "Apollo 13" is detailed and specific, and the film conveys it with superb simplicity. Easy as it would have been to sling showy high-tech jargon, the screenplay (credited to William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert) is gratifyingly terse and clear. With a pitch-perfect ear for NASA syntax ("Come on, rookie, park that thing"), the film stays informative while dealing with arcane facts that became matters of life and death. You may see no more dazzling display of ingenuity all year than the authentic way the film's NASA technicians scramble with cardboard and duct tape to make a square peg fit a round hole.

In terms of realism, nothing else here comes close to the staggering fact that some of the film's zero-gravity scenes were shot aboard a KC-135 NASA plane on a steep parabolic orbit that earned it the nickname "vomit comet." Some may feel that Mr. Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton, who play the astronauts so expertly, deserve something better than the usual end-of-the-year recognition for having even taken these roles.

These three stars (and their terrific backup teammates on the ground, especially Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly, an astronaut benched at the last minute because of a measles scare, and Ed Harris as the nail-spitting flight commander, Gene Kranz) capture an extraordinary verisimilitude. No film about space travel has done a more realistic job of conveying the strangeness and exhilaration of such exploits, not to mention the terror summed up by Mr. Bacon's Jack Swigert: "If this doesn't work, we're not going to have the power to get home."

Crippled by the explosion of one of its oxygen tanks as it neared the moon, the spaceship Odyssey experienced sudden electrical failures that forced the astronauts to shut it down. They took refuge in their lunar exploration module, the Aquarius, which was neither built nor programmed to bring three men back to earth. Computer readjustments, navigational problems, lack of heat in space, fear of incineration on re-entry, condensation that made the flight "a little like trying to drive a toaster through a car wash": all these troubles are grippingly dealt with in cinematically unconventional ways. When the guys in this film frantically get out their slide rules, they're executing a gutsier rescue than the maneuvers of any cape-wearing cartoon superhero.

Thanks largely to Mr. Hanks' foursquare presence here, the empathy factor for "Apollo 13" is through the roof. This actor's way of amplifying the ordinary side of an extraordinary character remains supremely fine-tuned. Playing the tough, commanding Jim Lovell is a substantial stretch for Mr. Hanks, but as usual his seeming ingenuousness overshadows all else about the role. There's not a false move to anything he does on screen. Once again, he gives a performance that looks utterly natural and is, in fact, subtly new.

The other principal performances are equally staunch, giving vivid, likable impressions of characters whose rough edges have been only slightly smoothed. (The fact that Gene Kranz liked to start his day listening to John Philip Sousa marches, as reported in Andrew Chaikin's lucid Apollo overview, "A Man on the Moon," is the kind of thing not dealt with by Mr. Harris's tight, steely performance.)

Also notable about "Apollo 13": James Horner's rousing music, convincing rocket scenes that don't come from NASA and an authentic glimpse of the role of television reporting during the Apollo crisis. The news media can be faulted for some of the behavior seen here, but Mr. Howard doesn't waste time taking those potshots. Truly, "Apollo 13" has better things to do.

"Apollo 13" is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It includes very mild profanity and very brief sexual situations. Children old enough to follow its story should love it -- and they'll find out how to go to the bathroom in space. APOLLO 13 Directed by Ron Howard; written by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert, based on the book "Lost Moon," by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger; director of photography, Dean Cundey; edited by Mike Hill and Dan Hanley; music by James Horner, with vocal performance by Annie Lennox; production designer, Michael Corenblith; costumes by Rita Ryack; produced by Brian Grazer; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 135 minutes. This film is rated PG. WITH: Tom Hanks (Jim Lovell), Kevin Bacon (Jack Swigert), Bill Paxton (Fred Haise), Gary Sinise (Ken Mattingly), Ed Harris (Gene Kranz), Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell) and Jean Speegle Howard (Blanch Lovell).

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Apollo 13 Reviews

Apollo 13 is not just a thrilling rescue movie; it is a testament to the power of human spirit and the remarkable capabilities of the scientific community.

Full Review | Dec 11, 2023

...deliberately-paced yet consistently engaging...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 26, 2023

Howard’s movie heartrendingly brings that idea to life by focusing not only the men on the mission, but the families and colleagues they left behind.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 29, 2022

Since life is stranger than fiction, director Ron “Opie” Howard had the good sense to stick to the true facts of this 1970 NASA nightmare.

Full Review | May 13, 2022

Apollo 13 captures the wonder of space travel with the wide-eyed zeal of a 10-year-old: They really were heroes, these guys, and the movie shows you why.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 18, 2021

...Apollo 13 is a cinematic masterpiece...

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 30, 2020

[A] compelling look back at the most action-packed American space mission of all time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 6, 2020

Dust off your DVD/Blu-ray or stream Apollo 13 to watch a master craftsman, his players, and crew coalesce to provide one helluva of a ride.

Full Review | May 24, 2020

This film is a tribute to the all-American values of tenacity, teamwork, ingenuity, and--as is the case for all teams on dangerous missions--selflessness and brotherhood.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 17, 2020

Five days summarized in two hours and twenty of pure spectacle that rises, by own merit, as one of the best productions that Ron Howard has signed throughout his career. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Sep 4, 2019

James Horner's score is so good.

Full Review | Jun 18, 2019

APOLLO 13 is...A-OK. In an era when cinematic heroics seem to be defined by bullets and brawn, it is a pleasure to see a movie in which the good guys triumph by using their brains!!!

Full Review | Jan 5, 2018

Tom Hanks is on his way to becoming the American Everyman, an exemplar of boyish goodwill and quiet moral force.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 22, 2014

Ron Howard's pop-entertainment you-are-there space thriller is easily the most rousing film of the year. And it might make real spaceflight just as nifty as Star Wars for youngsters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 22, 2014

The special effects are as spectacular as anything in Star Trek, but Howard shows wise restraint in not inflating the drama and tension inherent in the true story.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2013

Even if you know how it all turned out (and you should), this amazing journey is harrowing and exhilarating.

The film succeeds brilliantly at organizing great gobs of information into powerful drama.

Partially filmed in genuine weightless conditions, Ron Howard's movie is a technical tour de force.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 30, 2013

Hanks is a terrific choice for the lead because he can appear strong and military without slipping over into Sgt. Rock corniness.

Apollo 13, one of the most exciting adventure movies of the year, proves that science history can be just as thrilling as science fiction.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 30, 2013

Apollo 13 (United States, 1995)

For those too young to recall the tragic events of November 22, 1963, one of the most stark and enduring images of a lifetime came on a frigid afternoon in January 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up while skyrocketing heavenward. By that time, shuttle flights had become routine, and few gave much thought to the possibility of something going wrong. After the accident, NASA was forced to re-evaluate its plans while everyone who had watched considered their own mortality. Not since April of 1970 and Apollo 13 had the United States' space program encountered this kind of disaster -- except in that case, no lives were lost.

The Apollo program was first announced in 1961. The climax came on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped out of Apollo 11's lunar module and issued his famous quote. Nine months later, with astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) aboard, Apollo 13 left the launch pad. Since moonshots were now regarded as commonplace, none of the three networks chose to air Lovell's first broadcast to Earth, preferring instead the likes of I Dream of Jeannie (which, ironically, featured a strong fictional image of NASA). However, when an explosion left the crew with a dwindling oxygen supply and failing power, television took notice, as did the entire world. This is the story told by Ron Howard ( Parenthood, Far and Away ) in Apollo 13 , his best movie to date.

Perhaps the most impressive feat of this film is sustaining white-knuckle tension even though the chain of events is well-known. The conclusion of the mission is a matter of recent historical record, yet recalling how it ends does nothing to lessen the excitement or dampen the emotional impact of several key moments. Such deft film making is a prime reason why Apollo 13 is an unqualified success.

It's not the only reason, however. During the 140-minute running time, we are essentially given three stories: the astronauts' struggle to stay alive, the controlled chaos at NASA as experts are forced to come up with unexpected solutions, and the trauma faced by the families of the men whose lives are in danger. With inserts of news footage from the time (much of which features Walter Cronkite), Apollo 13 attains a level of verisimilitude few current features can match.

Scientifically, Apollo 13 is accurate, even though at times things seem more like science fiction. Additionally, with a script that relies on Lovell's account, this movie takes fewer liberties with the facts than many other productions based on true events. Apollo 13 has tremendous appeal because the story is only 25 years removed from the nightly news, and many of the details still linger.

The effective, understated special effects never upstage any of the fine performances. All three actors playing the astronauts -- Hanks, Paxton, and Bacon -- have gotten under their characters' skins. Ed Harris exudes a palpable intensity in a supporting performance as Mission Controller Gene Kranz, the coordinator of the teamwork that goes into saving the space craft. Gary Sinese, reunited here with Forrest Gump co-star Tom Hanks, plays Ken Mattingly, the member of Lovell's team who, after being refused medical clearance to fly, plays a crucial role in the rescue.

Howard has a firm grasp on what he's attempting. The little details are all right. Among its many successes, Apollo 13 offers the simple wonder of taking the audience to a strange place. Many movies these days are content to tell a story mechanically, without actually transporting the viewer somewhere else. Not so here. We are with Lovell, Haise, and Swigert through every harrowing mile of their journey, and when Lovell dreams of setting foot on the moon, we understand his loss.

The villain here is the vastness of space -- an antagonist that refuses direct confrontation. There isn't a traditional bad guy to be found, but Apollo 13 needs no such useless embellishment. The basic human drama of the situation raises the heartbeat far more than all the explosions of Die Hard with a Vengeance or the contrived submarine warfare of Crimson Tide . Reality has a taste the likes of which fiction can rarely match. Those who recall that week in April 1970 will enjoy seeing the full story unfold; those who are too young to remember will get a feeling not only of what the individuals endured, but how the country as a whole reacted. While the events of this motion picture may depict NASA's finest hour, the release of Apollo 13 represents Ron Howard's.

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Where to Watch

Tom Hanks (Jim Lovell) Bill Paxton (Fred Haise) Kevin Bacon (Jack Swigert) Gary Sinise (Ken Mattingly) Ed Harris (Gene Kranz) Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell) Mary Kate Schellhardt (Barbara Lovell) Emily Ann Lloyd (Susan Lovell) Miko Hughes (Jeffrey Lovell) Max Elliott Slade (Jay Lovell)

NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.

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Apollo 13 Review

22 Sep 1995

140 minutes

There’s no denying the power and exhilaration pumping through the heart of Ron Howard's truly excellent docu-drama detailing the incredible story of NASA's ill-fated third lunar landing mission in 1970. Hanks plays Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 whose childhood dream of setting foot on the moon was so cruelly obliterated by an unfortunate accident three days into the mission. A routine stirring of the oxygen tanks on board the spacecraft, caused an explosion which left the Apollo 13 effectively crippled, and the three astronauts - Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert - in serious danger of not making it home.

It took the combined efforts of the crew in the ship and the hundreds of NASA staff back in Mission Control Houston to get the men safely - and against all odds - back to earth, their improvisational brilliance turning what looked on the face of it to be a national disaster into perhaps the greatest triumph in US space exploration history. From such rich, stirringly heroic source material, Ron Howard - working from a jargon-heavy, yet surprisingly comprehensible script by William Broyles Jnr. and Al Reinert, based on Lovell's memoirs - has constructed a dynamic, urgent tale that grips despite prior knowledge of the eventual outcome. And any liberties taken with accuracy - and there are only a few - are taken solely to increase the film's dramatic tension.

Hanks' determined, square-jawed portrayal is the film's solid centre around which the rest of the cast orbit, but it's a film that hinges less on his performance than on the succession of tricky and mostly untried manoeuvres needed to pilot the ship home. And in the confines of the spacecraft, Hanks, Paxton (never better) and Bacon (very good) operate like a real team, the Oscar-winner graciously sharing the best lines with his co-stars rather than hogging them all to himself. Down in Mission Control, Ed Harris - a shoe-in for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination - stands out as resolute mission controller Gene Kranz who barks, "No American has ever died in space, and they're sure as hell not going to on my watch!" with spine-tingling conviction.

Howard is a director known for his excess sentimentality, and while there are a few too many cuts back to the Lovell household - where his wife, children and friends sit praying in front of the telly - he comes up trumps, managing to keep the domestic drama pretty much in check, never losing sight of the gripping story unfolding in space.

Without using even a single frame of NASA footage, Howard has crafted an authentic, awe-inspiring visual spectacle, from the explosive launch of the Saturn 5 rocket, through to the zero gravity footage filmed on board the appropriately named "Vomit Comet".

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Apollo 13 (1995) Film Review

Reviewed by: Angus Wolfe Murray

Lost in space is a sci-fi standard. What else can go wrong out there? Real life doesn't work like that. As Gene Kranz ( Ed Harris ), flight director at mission control, says, "Failure is not an option."

When three astronauts are trapped in a weightless capsule 200,000 miles from home, with oxygen running out, carbon dioxide levels rising, power sources shut down, condensation building up and temperature falling, every detail is a matter of life and death, every decision possibly fatal.

Apollo 13 is a team effort, devoid of star performances and rich in character. CGI effects could have faked the whole thing. They don't. What happened on Jim Lovell's 1970 aborted moonshot is recreated to exact specifications. Even NASA's control room at Houston was built to scale on a Californian studio lot.

It is a stirring example of what Hollywood can do in the hands of a director who is not prepared to compromise authenticity, nor shy away from spending what it takes to achieve a perfect assimilation of the real thing. The tautness of the screenplay, the understanding of the objective, the belief in the project, the integrity of the players and the quality of the technical crew add flavour to the mix.

Ron Howard has made a two-and-a-half-hour movie of almost unrelenting tension. The script does not let itself become bogged down in astronautical jargon, nor clogged with prelaunch family sentiment. The team is introduced without fanfare, the science treated with respect and the pace never allowed to falter. Tom Hanks plays Lovell, bringing an air of familiarity to a situation that is far from normal.

Once the accident occurs and an explosion cripples the spacecraft, it becomes NASA's business to bring the boys back. Howard crosscuts between the trapped men, one of whom has a high fever, and mission control, where rigid minds are forced to improvise under intense pressure, and home scenes of unbearable fortitude, not to mention the persistent, intrusive TV coverage.

The ensemble cast is magnificent, with Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell), Gary Sinese (astronaut-in-waiting) and Harris particularly memorable. Whenever anyone complains that Hollywood movies are nothing but expensive effects imposed upon bland product, remember Apollo 13. It is a very fine piece of work.

Read more Apollo 13 reviews:

Director: Ron Howard

Writer: Bill Broyles, Al Reinert

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Mary Kate Schellhardt, Emily Ann Lloyd, Miko Hughes, Max Elliott Slade, Jean Speegle Howard

Runtime: 140 minutes

Country: US

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Release details.

• Duration: 140 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Ron Howard
• Screenwriter: Bill Broyles, Al Reinert
• Kevin Bacon
• Bill Paxton
• Gary Sinise
• Kathleen Quinlan

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This past Saturday, July 20th, the world celebrated a half-century since the first time man landed on the moon. It was an incredible day of commemorating one of humanity’s greatest technological accomplishments. In honor of that feat, please enjoy this belated review of Ron Howard’s classic historical thriller Apollo 13 . 

Content Guide

Violence/Scary Images: Sequences of suspense and near-death experiences, no gore.

Language/Crude Humor: Some language throughout including s*** and g**d***.

Sexual Content: Nothing depicted, some innuendo and an offscreen sex scene.

Other Negative Content: None.

Positive Content: Themes of problem solving and survival.

Apollo 13 movie image Tom Hanks

Last week I was blindsided when I found out that the previous Saturday was the 50th anniversary of the first landing on the Moon by Apollo 11. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that given that there was a time in my life that I would’ve likely had that date written on my calendar months in advance. I was raised in the romance of the space race by my father who taught me all about the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1957 and 1969 to put the first man on the moon. I probably should’ve gotten the hint that in the past year we got two well-made movies about the moon landing with Damien Chazelle’s First Man and CNN’s documentary Apollo 11 . 

My daftness aside, I’ve spent the past few days revisiting some of my favorite space race movies in honor of mankind’s greatest technological accomplishment. Among them is Ron Howard’s 1995 historical thriller Apollo 13 . Maybe there were more appropriate picks to revisit on such an anniversary than the film about America’s only failed mission to the moon but I had two reasons to justify this error. The first was that Apollo 13 is one of my all-time favorite films. The second is that there’s a certain irony to watching a movie about the irrelevancy of the space program after having forgotten the anniversary. 

Irrelevancy is a huge theme in the film after the movie’s opening. Apollo 13 was planned to be the third moon mission in April of 1970 less than a year after Apollo 11 yet the public had already gotten so bored with manned space flight that no major network planned to broadcast NASA’s live TV broadcasts with the crew. At the film’s beginning, major politicians are already starting to push to end the Apollo program with their third flight. Perversely, the thing that get’s the eyes of the public back on Apollo 13 is the morbid drama that played out.

At first, things seem quite normal (although as flight commander Jim Lovell says, there is nothing normal about landing on the moon) when halfway on their journey a massive explosion rocks the spacecraft and starts spewing oxygen into the vacuum of space. The explosion has the secondary effect of slowly draining the ship’s electricity in addition to the ship’s oxygen supply which leaves the crew with the task to shut down the dying spacecraft days from the earth before life support goes out. From here on out the story follows the desperate attempt of the three astronauts and the men on the ground at Mission Control as they have to work their way through engineering problems and find a way to get the crew back to Earth safely.   

The film is based on the book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 which was co-written by the ship’s commander Jim Lovell. Naturally, the movie version of Lovell is played by the ever immortal Tom Hanks. Part of what makes the story work so excellently is its dedication to playing out the events as they happened. There is some hyperbole such as the scenes involving drama between the astronauts which didn’t happen but other than that the movie is played out remarkably similar to how the events of the actual Apollo 13 disaster occured. The movie relies entirely on real human drama as it transpired in real life.  

Apollo 13 is also one of the most spectacular special effects films ever made. Much like the then-recent Jurassic Park , the movie’s blend of CGI and practical effects is deeply engrossing in a way most modern films overreliant on CGI aren’t. Part of this is thanks to how the film executed much of the effects. CGI is only used for shots of the spacecraft’s exterior and they’re all very well composed. For the film’s anti-gravity scenes, the production had to shoot all of the segments aboard Apollo 13 in anti-gravity simulators which involve flying a KC-135 aircraft at an extremely low angle at high speed to simulate weightlessness for several second intervals. This is the same method that NASA uses to train its astronauts for zero gravity. The method only creates weightlessness for approximately 23 seconds which means that all of the takes had to be recorded quickly. In the final cut, the effect is indistinguishable from seeing the actual actors floating in space. 

There’s probably a light critique that could be made about the script overall. It’s not a story crafted around traditional character arcs which makes the film feel strange at times. Ron Howard is a workman by most standards as his highly eclectic filmography has shown. When he has a good script he makes great movies but when he has a bad script he’s unable to elevate the material. Certainly,  Apollo 13 does feel the sting at times of being produced via functionality rather than auteur intent. That said, it’s a story fundamentally about how highly trained and intelligent people act when their backs are against the wall. It’s not a traditional morality play as much as it is a series of puzzles and practical problems that have to be worked out.

In that, it’s immensely suspenseful. The movie does a good job expressing at every point just how high the dramatic stakes are if the characters fail at any step of the process. One wrong move means flying off into deep space forever, suffocating to death or burning up in reentry. For what it is, Apollo 13 is a uniquely memorable and effective film and one of the best stories ever told about the space race. 

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

A movie about astronauts — Pauline Kael once called them walking apple pies — raises visions of flag-waving and the gung-ho sentimentality we expect from director Ron Howard ( Cocoon, Parenthood ). Well, surprise. Howard lays off the manipulation to tell the true story of the near-fatal 1970 Apollo 13 mission in painstaking and lively detail. It’s easily Howard’s best film.

Cmdr. Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) and co-pilots Jim Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) are on their way to a lunar landing — the third in NASA history — when a tank of compressed liquid oxygen explodes in the spacecraft. To avoid death by freezing or suffocation, the three men squeeze into the ship’s lunar lander, basically a tin can that might keep two men alive for two days. It will take four days to get them back — that is, the men aren’t incinerated on reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Houston, we have a problem,” Lovell tells mission control, headed by Gene Kranz (Ed Harris in ironman mode). It’s a typical understatement from Lovell, whose 1994 book, Lost Moon (written with Jeffrey Kluger), formed the basis of the screenplay by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert. Hanks gives another great performance — instinctive and assured. He humanizes the hardware and the space-speak, shows feeling in Lovell’s scenes with his children and wife, Marilyn (a touching Kathleen Quinlan), and subtly draws us into the heartache of a dedicated man who won’t fulfill his dream to set foot on the moon. There is nothing showy in the Philadelphia and Forrest Gump mode in what Hanks does here, yet his acting as the unassuming Lovell ranks with his most impressive work.

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Bacon and Paxton also do wonders in fleshing out their characters with an assist from script doctor John Sayles. Gary Sinise is superb as Ken Mattingly, the pilot whose exposure to measles knocked him out of the flight in favor of the less-experienced Swigert. Sitting in a flight simulator, Mattingly tries to figure out a way to get his buddies home. Though the trio’s safe return is historical fact, Howard and editors Michael Hill and Daniel Hanley build nail-biting tension in the crosscutting from ship to mission control. The you-are-there feeling is intensified by cinematographer Dean Cundey’s documentary realism. It all adds up to a triumph of stirring storytelling and heart-stopping suspense.

Howard doesn’t soar to the satirical heights of The Right Stuff, Philip Kaufman’s film of the Tom Wolfe best seller about the space program. But his view is cleareyed The public grew cynical about the space program when the government used it as a costly political PR tool, and boredom set in after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969. Boredom was never in the picture for those who risked their lives exploring a dream. In honoring a failed mission, Apollo 13 celebrates the rebel part of the American character that won’t accept boundaries. Bob Dole may not see this as the right stuff. That’s no excuse for the rest of us.

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, apollo 13: the imax experience.

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At a time when screens and theaters grow smaller and movie palaces are a thing of the past, the new practice of re-releasing films in the IMAX format is a thrilling step in the opposite direction. Ron Howard's " Apollo 13 ," which opens today at the IMAX theater at Navy Pier, looks bold and crisp on the big screen, and the sound has never sounded better--perhaps couldn't have ever sounded better, because IMAX uses some 70 speakers.

Although it takes place largely in outer space, "Apollo 13" isn't the kind of adventure saga that needs the bigger screen so its effects play better. "Star Wars," which is headed for IMAX theaters, fits that definition. "Apollo 13" is a thrilling drama that plays mostly within enclosed spaces: The space capsule, mission control and the homes of those waiting in suspense on Earth.

The film re-creates the saga of the Apollo 13 mission, which was aborted after an onboard explosion crippled the craft on its way to the moon. In a desperate exercise of improvisation, crew members and the ground support staff figure out how to return the craft safely to Earth, cannibalize life-support from both the mother capsule and the lunar landing module, and navigate into a terrifyingly narrow angle between too steep (the craft would burn up in the atmosphere) and too shallow (it would skip off and fly forever into space).

Tom Hanks , Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon play astronauts Jim Lovell , Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, respectively. On Earth, the key roles are by Gary Sinise , as the left-behind astronaut Ken Mattingly, who uses a flight simulator to help improvise a solution; Ed Harris , who is cool-headed flight director Gene Kranz, and Kathleen Quinlan , as Lovell's wife, Marilyn, who tries to explain to their children that "something broke on Daddy's spaceship." The movie has been trimmed by about 20 minutes for the IMAX release. Filmed in widescreen, it has been cropped from the sides to fit the IMAX format. Neither change bothered me. Although I am an opponent of pan-and-scan in general, I understand when it is used to maximize a different projection format. The detail and impact of the IMAX screen essentially creates a new way of looking at the film.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Apollo 13: The Imax Experience (2002)

Rated PG intense situations

135 minutes

Bill Paxton as Fred Haise

Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert

Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly

Ed Harris as Gene Kranz

Kathleen Quinlin as Marilyn Lovell

Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell

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Apollo 13 (1995)

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At first, it seemed the perfect mission--too perfect, even, to make headlines. After three days in space, three Apollo astronauts--Jim Lovell (two- time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon)--were finally approaching a long-cherished destination. Apollo 13 was going to the Moon.

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Apollo 13 Parent Guide

A routine trip to the moon turns into anything but a routine voyage..

Originally intending to land on the lunar surface, Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) are forced to scrap their flight plan when an explosion destroys part of their vessel. This movie is based on the true events of the Apollo 13 Moon Mission.

Release date June 29, 1995

Run Time: 140 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by donna gustafson.

In April of 1970, a nation was asked to pray for three brave astronauts struggling to return to earth in a wounded spacecraft. Even though I was a child at the time, I remember, as will most others who witnessed those perilous events, calling on God in their behalf. Perhaps that accounts for my feelings of a personal connection to this conquest over catastrophe story.

At the time I didn’t understand the complexities of the situation. Now, thanks to the remarkable efforts of director Ron Howard, the tale of the ill-fated Apollo 13 space mission comes to life in amazingly accurate detail.

Back on the ground, Mission Control scrambles to find innovative solutions to an ever-increasing list of problems standing in the way of bringing the boys home. Insufficient power, carbon dioxide poisoning, and probable heat shield damage are just a few of the obstacles pushing the limits of their ingenuity, stamina and faith.

Needless to say, the life and death struggle of the astronauts, the helplessness of the watching family members, and the desperation of determined NASA employees make this drama too intense for young viewers. Other concerns for parents will be the inclusion of many mild to moderate profanities, cigar and alcohol use (one character drinks to drown his disappointment), implied sexual relationships outside of marriage, and a brief but innuendo-loaded explanation of how the lunar and command modules dock in space.

Older audiences however, will find lots to appreciate about this well-crafted film. Although it sometimes takes artistic license with interactions between personalities, it pays strict attention to the technicalities and timelines, even using the actual transcripts to generate the script’s dialogue. Proving fact is more compelling than fiction; Apollo 13 offers a great look at space history, sure to whet your family’s appetite for this subject. Remember, we may have been raised in the days when man walked on the moon - but our kids missed it.

About author

Donna Gustafson

Apollo 13 parents' guide.

When Apollo 13 launched into space, many people regarded the procedure as routine and therefore, not very interesting. Why do repeated feats sometimes get taken for granted? How does that change when emergencies arise? Have we seen the same sort of attitudes over other amazing achievements like the space stations, the Mars rovers, and shuttle missions?

Check out NASA’s site for more information about the Apollo 13 disaster/triumph .

The most recent home video release of Apollo 13 movie is June 2, 2015. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Apollo 13: 20th Anniversary Release Date: 2 June 2015 Apollo 13 releases in a 20th Anniversary edition (Blu-ray/Digital Copy) with the following extras: - Blu-ray version of the movie newly restored and re-mastered from high resolution 35mm original film elements. - Feature Commentaries with Director Ron Howard and Jim and Marilyn Lovell - Apollo 13: Twenty Years Later - Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 - Conquering Space: The Moon and Beyond - Lucky 13: The Astronaut’s Story - Theatrical Trailer - U-Control: The Apollo Era - U-Control: Tech-Splanations

Home Video Notes: Apollo 13—15th Anniversary Edition Release Date: April 13, 2010 Apollo 13 releases on Blu-ray in a 15th Anniversary Edition . This 2-disc package offers: - Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 - Conquering Space: The Moon and Beyond - Lucky 13: The Astronaut’s Story - My Scenes - Feature Commentary with Director Ron Howard - Feature Commentary with Jim and Marilyn Lovell - D-BOX - Pocket BLU U Control -  BD Live - Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), DTS 5.1 Surround (Castilian Spanish), DTS 5.1 Surround (Latin Spanish), DTS 5.1 Surround (French European), DTS 5.1 Surround (Italian), DTS 5.1 Surround (Hungarian), DTS 5.1 Surround (Czech) - Subtitles: English SDH, French Canadian, Italian, Castilian Spanish, Latin Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese and Greek -Picture: Widescreen (2.35:1)

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Related news about Apollo 13

Take to the skies with an astronaut movie.

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Home Video Releases for June 2

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• NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
• This Hollywood drama is based on the events of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, astronauts Jim Lovell , Fred Haise and Jack Swigert find everything going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit. However, when an oxygen tank explodes, the scheduled moon landing is called off. Subsequent tensions within the crew and numerous technical problems threaten both the astronauts' survival and their safe return to Earth. — Jwelch5742
• On board a NASA spacecraft that is on route to the moon, three astronauts experience problematic difficulties that put their lives in danger. They must do everything to get back to Earth safely before they experience more damage that could potentially kill them. — RECB3
• A movie based on what was to be the third lunar-landing mission. This film shows the trials and tribulations of the Apollo 13 crew, mission control, and families after a near-fatal accident cripples the space vehicle. A mission that couldn't get TV airtime because space flights had become routine to the American public suddenly grabbed the national spotlight. This is a tale of averted tragedy, heroism and shows a testament to the creativity of the scientists who ran the early space missions. — FMJ_Joker
• It had been less than a year since man first walked on the Moon, but as far as the American public was concerned, Apollo 13 was just another "routine" space flight--until these words pierced the immense void of space: "Houston, we have a problem." Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingly, flight director Gene Kranz and a heroic ground crew race against time--and the odds--to bring them home. — Robert Lynch <[email protected]>
• US Space mission culminates in Apollo 11 mission with Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. It's July 20, 1969. Astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) is having a party at his house to celebrate the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Astronaut Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) is Jim's colleague & a smart mouth. Astronauts Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) are scheduled to fly on Apollo 14 with Lovell. The space program is under budget constraints once the US citizens realize that they have beaten the Russians to the moon. But then the primary Apollo 13 crew is sidelined when Allen Shepard develops an ear infection. Jim & his crew are moved up 6 months & will fly Apollo 13. Three months before the launch, Lovell, Haise and Mattingly spend time in the simulator and practice docking with the lunar excursion module (LEM). The technicians shut down some of the Thrusters without warning to see how Mattingly would handle this during an actual flight. Mattingly is caught off guard for a moment, but he manages to complete the procedure successfully. Marilyn, Jim's wife is suspect of the unlucky # 13, but Jim shrugs her off. He is too determined to walk on the moon. Its his childhood dream. Two days before the launch, Lovell is approached by Deke Slayton and the Flight Surgeon (Christian Clemenson) who tell him that backup crew member Charlie Duke has been diagnosed with measles; this means all the astronauts have been exposed. Lovell says he's had the measles. Slayton says, "Ken Mattingly hasn't.". Flight surgeon predicts that Mattingly will get sick in flight & Jim's choice is to fly without Mattingly (with Swigert) or not at all. Jim decides to take his shot at the moon. When Mattingly finds out he is upset. He is sure he is not going to fall sick. Swigert enters flight simulations and can't get the re-entry right. The crew synchronization is all shot up. April 11th is launch day & Swigert is very nervous. At Mission Control in Houston, lead Flight Director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) also gets suited up for the mission. As the leader of the White Team, it's a NASA tradition for him to wear a white vest with the mission insignia. Kranz goes through the Pre-flight checks and launch readiness as the astronauts are strapped into the Command Module Odyssey. Apollo 13 lifts off on time at 1:13 as the crowd applauds. Mid-flight, engine 5 develops a snag and Jim consider the abort button, but then gets the go ahead from Mission Control to continue. Jim thinks that the mission snag. Swigert then performs a complicated maneuver to dock the service module to the lunar module & does do flawlessly. Jim doesn't have a lot of faith in him. After a routine mid-flight broadcast, CapCom gives Swigert some "housekeeping procedures" to do, including stirring the oxygen tanks. Swigert does so. There's an explosion in an oxygen tank. The spacecraft is violently shaken. Several alarms go off. Lovell asks what he did. He says he just stirred the tanks. In Mission Control, EECOM and Guidance are surprised when their computer screens flicker. CapCom exchanges a confused look with Kranz and says, "This is Houston, say again please?" Lovell says, "Houston, we have a problem." The explosion has caused the oxygen tanks to suddenly empty. Tank 2 is gone & Tank 1 supply is falling rapidly. It's a quadruple failure with fuel cells 1 and 3 failing as well. Jim looks out the window and can see oxygen spewing out of the tanks. In Mission Control Kranz is stunned & calls each team to call in their support crews. He knows it will be a tough task to bring the crew home with no oxygen. At this point Kranz receives recommendations to shut down the errant fuel cells to isolate the fuel leakage. Cells shut down cannot be revived & module can't land with one fuel cell. This effectively means no Moon landing on this mission. The leak is in the command module, so Jim orders the Lunar Module to be powered up. CM is down to 15 mins of O2. The CM will be powered down & if the flight guidance data is not transferred to LM before the power down, Apollo 13 will effectively be flying blind & will be lost. Working swiftly, LM is powered up & guidance data transferred in time. LM was not designed to fly with the CM on its back. Kranz holds a staff meeting to discuss options to bring the module home. The CM engine is considered out of action. CM will only be used for re-entry (although no one knows if the shield is intact). The LM engine will thrust the craft slingshot around the moon and head home. The only issue is that O2 runs out at the halfway mark. At this point Mattingly is informed about the disaster on Apollo 13 & he heads to Mission Control to help out. His job is to figure out how to power up the CM with 8 amps of power. Kranz uses the rest of the team to design a air filter with only material that Apollo 13 has in the spacecraft. Meanwhile LM has limited power, so everything is shut down the radars, cabin heater, instrument displays, guidance computer, the whole smash. Swigert thinks the CM is coming in towards Earth too fast & will skip right off. He thinks Mission Control is not telling them this. Jim agrees but says that's a problem for the future. In the face of death, the astronauts have a heated argument, with Haise practically blaming Swigert for all their troubles. Meanwhile the CO2 levels inside the modules keep rising. The engineers at mission control finish the filter & relay the instructions to Jim. The Astronauts build the filter & immediately the Co2 levels start to go down. At least they won't die because of lack of air. Mattingly is still in the simulator trying to figure out the power-up procedure. He uses too much power and has to start over. Haise falls sick in the CM & has 104 fever. The CM is freezing cold. Kranz receives news that the spacecraft trajectory is too shallow & a course correction is required, but CM cannot be powered up yet. So, it's a blind burn. Jim figures out that they can use the Earth as a reference and steer the engines manually. Mattingly describes the sequence he wants to use for re-entry. Aaron says they don't have enough power, and they have to trade off some of the systems. Mattingly says they need all the systems he's mentioned. They argue about it, and Mattingly says he'll find more power. Jim begs Mission Control to get the procedure up to them because they "can't throw things together at the last minute." He says, "We're all a little tired up here. The world's getting awfully big in the window." Mattingly says that since the LEM draws back-up power from the CM, they should reverse the flow to get more power to the CM. There's no procedure for this, but Young and Aaron agree to try. Mattingly and Aaron work out the procedure and rush to flight deck to relay the same to Jim. Swigert looks at the condensation on the instrument panels and worries about them shorting out. He says, "It's like trying to drive a toaster through a car wash." Swigert successfully powers up the CM. He says, "We got her back up, Ken. Boy, I wish you were here to see it." Mattingly says, "I'll bet you do." Haise says, "Way to go, Jack." Swigert smiles. The crew jettisons the Service Module, getting their first look at just how much damage the explosion caused. Lovell exclaims, "One whole side of the spacecraft is missing!" He reports that a panel is blown out right up to the heat-shield. A news anchor on TV says that the heat builds up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit on a lunar re-entry flight. "If the heat-shield is even slightly cracked, the extreme cold could have split it wide open. Worst of all, if the pyrotechnics that control the parachutes have been damaged, the chutes may not open at all, causing the spacecraft to hit the water not at a gentle 20 miles per hour, but at a suicidal 300." The team moves from the LM to the CM. They jettison the LEM; Lovell stares after it. Haise swallows hard and says, "She sure was a good ship." Mattingly says, "Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you." The crew of the aircraft carrier USS Iwo Jima is shown getting ready for the recovery operations. The Mission Control room is extremely crowded with people waiting for the re-entry. RETRO tells Kranz the trajectory is still slightly shallow and asks if they should tell the crew. Kranz asks if there's anything they can do about it. RETRO says not now. Kranz says, "Then they don't need to know, do they?" It's almost time for entry interface. Lovell says, "Gentlemen, it's been a privilege flying with you." The CM flies toward Earth in a fiery cloud. Mattingly keeps trying to talk to the crew. INCO says it's been three and a half minutes, then four. Everyone else is quiet and solemn. Then they see the CM on the screen. The parachutes have deployed successfully. The next second, they hear Lovell say, "Hello, Houston? This is Odyssey. It's good to see you again." There's loud applause in Mission Control. After splashdown, Lovell shakes hands with Haise and Swigert. Before a Navy diver comes to retrieve them from the CM, he says, "Houston, we're at stable one, the ship is secure. This is Apollo 13, signing off." Kranz exclaims, "Good job!" in a choked voice and gives a thumbs-up with both hands. Other people in the room continue to applaud. In the following months, it was determined that a damaged coil built inside the oxygen tank sparked during our Cryo stir and caused the explosion that crippled the Odyssey. It was a minor defect that occurred two years before

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