This week, NASA made history again when the Artemis II crew completed a journey around the moon. This time, TV and phone screens showed us a view of Planet Earth from the perspective of a small ship floating in outer space. The image made me think of movies that have depicted mankind’s turbulent journey to space. Here are three memorable movies about the space race.
[imbd.com]The film Apollo 11 opens with a magnificent image; we see gigantic metal tank tracks slowly carrying a space rocket towards its launch point. It ends with an equally thrilling scene of the Apollo space capsule reentering the planet’s atmosphere. What’s remarkable is that it’s all done free of CG and is constructed almost entirely from archival sources. Rather than tell us the story of the Apollo mission through voice-over narration and “talking heads”, which is so often the case in these documentaries, the filmmakers go for a narration-free format that utilizes striking, newly discovered 70mm footage and audio to make viewers feel as though they are experiencing the 1969 mission in real-time. That narrative choice transforms the moon landing from something that happened 50 years ago into something happening immediately before our eyes. I was fortunate enough to see the film on a huge screen, but even if you can’t see it under those ideal conditions, Apollo 11 is still one of the stronger films about the space race ★ ★ ★ ½
[imbd.com]From time to time, I will turn off the lights at night and watch space footage. I find something peaceful about seeing our planet from space. One of my go-to movies is For All Mankind, an entrancing documentary composed of footage from the Apollo missions to the moon. What’s cool about the movie is that there are no talking heads, no table-setting about America’s “race to space”. Rather, the film successfully relies on the otherworldly power of seeing rocketships blast free from the atmosphere, and the haunting beauty of the moon’s grey surface. I especially like the image of a tiny astronaut tethered to his capsule floating in space while the vastness of Earth hovers in the background. That’s what I enjoy about For All Mankind. The movie is a visual poem or a kind of space painting rather than a traditional, educational documentary. It focuses on the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual experience of space travel. ★★★1/2
[imbd.com]After viewing these documentaries that focus on the beauty and challenge of space travel, watching all these space race movies has only heightened my appreciation for First Man. Rather than giving us a rousing crowd-pleaser like Hidden Figures or Apollo 13, First Man gives us a portrait of a character who is closed off and emotionally isolated after the deaths of both his fellow astronauts and his own daughter. Even as his wife and coworkers attempt to confront Neil Armstrong about his lack of emotion, the man remains stubbornly committed to his mission. It all culminates in a breathtaking moon landing sequence, one that’s not only a bravado display of movie imagery and sound (showing a rocket launch entirely from inside the ship is a smart touch), but also provides that much-needed emotional catharsis for the Armstrong character. I particularly like the part where Armstrong and his wife must touch hands through quarantine glass. ★ ★ ★ ★
