Apollo 13 [Blu-ray]

I love this movie. I don’t care for the language and they could have left this part out and it would have made it a better movie. But it is a great movie. Helps you see what the astronauts see and do in the shuttle. And it helped to understand what they felt and saw in Apollo 13. What seems to be a good factual movie. Good acting.

This movie is a dramatization of the very real events of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission that was supposed to land astronauts on the moon for the third time. Of course, on the way to the moon, there was an explosion that caused the oxygen tanks to leak out into space, endangering the life of the crew, at which point the mission became a scramble to get the crew back to Earth safely. The movie was directed by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell, the mission commander of Apollo 13. The movie also starred Kevin Bacon as Apollo 13 backup Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert, Bill Paxton as Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, Ed Harris as White Team Flight Director Gene Kranz, and Gary Sinise as Apollo 13 prime Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly who was supposed to be the pilot on the mission but was scrubbed and replaced with Swigert. The movie is a pretty standard docudrama. Howard, who is a big space enthusiast, was a stickler for getting the technical details correct. While he did change some things for dramatic effect, including the most famous line from the movie, "Houston, we have a problem" (Lovell really said "Houston, we've had a problem"), much of what was shown in the movie happened the way it did in real life. The movie was adapted from Lovell's book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, and he served as a consultant on the movie. For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. The extras include two different commentary tracks, one by Ron Howard, and one with Jim and Marilyn Lovell. There is also a one-hour making-of documentary, a 48 minute TV special that discussed the space race between the USA and the Soviet Union, and a twelve-minute segment from the show Dateline about the movie. So, a lot of bonus material for those who like going through the extras. Overall, the movie is wonderful. It is well written and very well acted, with Hanks and Sinise as the standouts (but the entire cast does a great job). While it is a period piece, and it is made to look as much as possible as things looked at the time of the mission, the movie is timeless and holds up even twenty-plus years after it was made. Whether you are interested in the movie because you are a fan of Ron Howard or one or more of the actors, are into the history of the space program, or are just looking for a good drama to watch, I highly recommend this.

Great Movie! Ended up buying it

Does not get better than this. GREAT MOVIE.

No problem with this film though! Tom hanks and Ron Howard made an absolute gem. Will make you proud to be an American again. The 4k uhd version goes next level. Crank up the sub, dim the lights and get the popcorn. I won’t ruin the ending for you - they may or may not make it back to earth!

Content / Quality of Movie: ***** (wish it went higher) Presentation: *** (see below) If you are reading this you likely have already seen Apollo 13, perhaps many times, and are looking for information on the Blu-Ray release (and may be tired of wading through reviews of the DVD version - Amazon really should separate DVD and Blu-Ray reviews but that is another rant for another day). See next paragraph for the technical details but I must first sing the praises of this wonderful film. This has always been one of my favorites. Ron Howard's direction is near-perfect and the cast is terrific. The movie does a wonderful job of almost moving the viewer back in time to when the events of that ill-fated mission occurred. As one of the characters notes this really was NASA's finest hour and this movie puts you squarely in the middle of it - both in that fragile ship out in space and on the ground in mission control. This is one of those films that after watching it you expect to turn on the TV and see updates about the ongoing mission - it is that immersive. My favorite extra feature is the commentary track by the director. I don't often watch a whole movie through with commentary track on but this one is well worth it, offering insights into Howard's direction style which meshed perfectly with the subject matter of this film. Almost all the actors in the movie got to know the people they were portraying and Howard was open to changes in dialogue to add authenticity to the production. This I think allowed the actors to really immerse themselves in their roles and that additional measure of commitment shows through in every scene. Can you imagine Hitchcock (also one of my favorites) directing this film? His style would not have been nearly as effective as Ron's, though there might well have been more intrigue and perhaps one or two of the mission control people would have gone missing. Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind seeing that version at all, either. Anyway, digital special effects are also very well done but were not allowed to detract from the story. I am amazed that it was possible to find so many varied angles to allow the cramped command and lunar modules to at once be confining but not claustrophobic - a really wonderful bit of cinematography. All in all, in my opinion one of the best films made in the last 50 years - heck, one of the best ever. Now about the presentation. Picture and sound quality to me were fantastic (though I have never seen the HD-DVD version which another reviewer feels was better.) Extra features include the above-mentioned director's narration which is terrific. The movie played well (eventually) on my Sony player - and there's the rub as they say. I was amazed at how long the load process was, at least a couple minutes then the question of what language to select, a couple more minutes then the question of whether or not I want to post comments on it to my Facebook site or some such - NO I JUST WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE ALREADY!! When the menu screen finally arrives over on the right is an animated ad for a current release - so that is obviously what was taking so long to load. I shudder to think how long it would have taken over a DSL or (gulp) a dial-up connection. I do hope they remedy this with a future release without so much wait time but in the end it was a "small price to pay" to watch this great film.

Kurz & Knapp + Top Regie + Top Cast + Super spannend + Top Musik/Score + Nicht langweilig + Gut umgesetzt +/- Ein paar Effekte wirken veraltet Fazit: Houston wir haben ein Problem! Den Spruch kennt wohl jeder. Keine Ahnung wie oft ich den Film schon gesehen habe. Früher auf VHS, dann auf DVD, Blu-ray und jetzt auf 4K Blu-ray. Immer wieder gut. Auch wenn man weis wie der Film oder die Story endet, ist der Film so gut inszeniert, dass er immer wieder spannend ist. Das macht einen guten Film aus. Man fiebert von Anfang bis Ende richtig mit. Dazu kommt der super Cast. Bin sowieso ein Tom Hanks Fan und ist einer seiner besten Filme. Bill Paxton RIP, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise & Ed Harris sind auch meine Favoriten. Einfach ein Zeitloser Klassiker. Für mich alle paar Jahre ein Genuss.

Another banger tom hanks movie. Always loved this one. Its looks and sounds outrageously good on 4k. Its like watching it for the first time again. Very happy to have this in my collection.

Avec Apollo 13, Ron Howard nous livre un film d'aventure ô combien prenant, servi par un casting 5 étoiles (Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris et Kevin Bacon). Ce film nous montre tous les déboires qu'a eu la mission Apollo 13 pour revenir sur Terre. Même si l'on connait la fin, on ne peut s'empêcher d'être pris par le suspens que nous offre ce récit palpitant. Une histoire qui a tenu en haleine toute l'Amérique et le monde entier. Un film que je vous recommande fortement et dont on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde. Oscar du meilleur montage !!! Oscar du meilleur son !!! Oscar du meilleur film !!! Oscar du meilleur acteur dans un second rôle !!! Oscar de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle !!! Oscar de la meilleure direction artistique, Oscar des meilleurs effets visuels , Oscar de la musique de film , Oscar du meilleur scénario adapté !!!

Comprato il 4 dicembre 2021 e visto solo a maggio del 2023. Film molto ben fatto, come sempre consiglio di vedere i contenuti speciali perché danno una chiara idea della creazione del film e il cercare di essere più attinenti possibili alla realtà della tragedia quasi sfiorata, ma evitata per la bravura tecnica di tutti (astronauti, tecnici ed ingegneri della NASA), nel risolvere problemi al limite delle prossibilità tecniche disponibili in quelle condizioni. La qualità del film in 4K non si discute. I contenuti speciali presenti nel Blu Ray sono molto interessanti, sono in inglese ma si possono mettere i sottotitoli in italiano. I titoli del menù NON corrispondono a quelli della copertina e sono presenti quattro contenuti speciali su cinque indicati. APOLLO 13: VENTI ANNI DOPO non c'è. 1) LOST MOON (La luna perduta): IL TRIONFO DELL'APOLLO 13 - Durata un'ora Il racconto del regista, attori, produttori e astronauti sulla "creazione" film e vari aspetti di confronto sulla reale vicenda e come sono state ricreate le stesse situazioni. 2) CONQUISTARE LO SPAZIO: La luna e oltre - 54 minuti Vengono raccontate con immagini reali le missioni spaziali Apollo e delle missioni su altri pianeti compiute dalle sonde spaziali e dei rover su Marte, dei fallimenti e dei telescopi spaziali. Molto interessante un'ottima panoramica della storia della conquista dello spazio 3) I 13 fortunati: LA STORIA DEGLI ASTRONAUTI - 12 minuti Interviste agli astronauti e in particolare alla moglie di Jim Lovell, Marilyn che è poi è una protagonista importante nel film interpretata da Kathleen Quinlan. 4) COMMENTO al film di Rod Howard (non l'ho abilitato) Consigliato a tutti gli amanti del genere e del Blu Ray Prezzo buono

La edición alemana B014LS5XL2 es la remasterizada con los subtítulos en castellano y el audio en español latino. La imagen es mucho mejor que en la edición española. Los extras y comentarios son los mismos que antes y ahora lleva un documental más. Todo está subtitulado en castellano.