In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

David Sington

Release Date:

2 November 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Remember when the whole world looked up

Plot:

The surviving crew members from NASA's Apollo missions tell their story in their own words.

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | NASA | 1960s | Moon | Alone

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Buzz Aldrin	...	Himself
Neil Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stephen Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Viola Armstrong	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alan Bean	...	Himself
Eugene Cernan	...	Himself
Michael Collins	...	Himself
Charles Duke	...	Himself (as Charlie Duke)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Lovell	...	Himself (as James Lovell)
Edgar D. Mitchell	...	Himself (as Edgar Mitchell)
Garry Moore	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harrison Schmitt	...	Himself
Dave Scott	...	Himself (as David Scott)
John Young	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language, brief violent images and incidental smoking.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French | Japanese

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Ireland:G | Australia:G

Company:

Discovery Films

Goofs:

Factual errors: Gene Cernan talks about the Apollo 1 crew (Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee) being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Only Grissom and Chaffee are buried there. White is buried at West Point.

Quotes:

Jim Lovell: [discussing the Apollo 13 accident] It was a case of survival. And certainly landing on the Moon and surviving to see the next sunrise, it's two different things. And it wasn't until I got comfortably back on Earth, that I became very much disappointed in not making a landing on the Moon.

Movie Connections:

Features "I've Got a Secret" (1952)

Very Interesting, But Armstrong Was Missed

This recently-released documentary had some fantastic footage in it, and a very personal look at many of the astronauts who went to the moon. Overall, that is a very exclusive club: only about a dozen men ever did it in the history of the world and just eight or nine ever stepped foot on it. Most of them are still alive and they discuss their adventures, insights and personal feelings here.

One gets the feeling that the rest of us will never know exactly how beautiful the moon is except to take the astronauts' words about it, because even the pictures on this DVD can't convey that. It just looks dull and gray, but the men say it was spectacular. I believe them.

Since this documentary is about 100 minutes long, you get a lot of information. You also get reminded how close two of the three men who went up on that historic first walk on the moon almost didn't get home alive.

A glaring absence in this documentary - through no fault of the film-makers, is the most famous astronaut of them all: Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon! Apparently, he did not want to be part of this film. One of the astronauts, near the very end of this documentary, mentions something briefly about Armstrong being somewhat of a "recluse" now and it "being understandable with what he's gone through." From what I've read, a lot of people have tried to make money off him in shady ways and so now he's withdrawn from the public spotlight. Still, not having his thoughts on this historic mission is a real loss to this film and makes this story seem incomplete.

After a slow first half hour, this really picks up when we travel along with Armstrong's Apollo 11 crew. Seeing slow-motion pictures of the lift-off and great shots of the earth are just awesome. The worldwide reaction to the success of this mission will bring a tear or two to your eyes.

This film, a legacy to the Apollo program and the brave men who ran it, should be in every schoolroom. It would make history a lot more interesting to students.