Apollo Thirteen Essay, Research Paper

Apollo 13 was filmed in 1995 by director Ron Howard, and Universal Studios. The lead characters where Jim Lovell played by Tom Hanks, Fred Haise played by Bill Paxton, Jack Swigert played by Kevin Bacon, Ken Matingly played by Gary Sinise, Gene Kranz played by Ed Harris, and Marilyn Lovell played by Kathleen Quinland. The Apollo 13 space mission was put together to fast and destined to have major mistakes in it. Originally Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Ken Matingly are scheduled to be the astronauts to run the mission, but Ken gets exposed to the measles, and must be replaced by Jack Swigert. This incident happens way to close to the launch date, and the other astronauts become very uncomfortable with the whole situation. Eventually the launch date arrives, and everything on the launch goes smoothly. Although just after they reach space the cryogenic tank explodes and the action begins. The capsule is loosing oxygen, and energy, and the moon landing must be aborted. Instead of turning the space pod around and coming straight home, the team at NASA decides that they only have enough fuel to use the moon’s gravitation to slingshot Apollo 13 around the moon and back to earth. Although many minor problems arise throughout the mission, the biggest are the loss of fuel and oxygen. During on point in the mission the carbon Dioxide readings were dangerously high, and the team at NASA had to design a fitting that allowed a square vent to be placed on a round venting system. During reentry the astronauts and team at NASA were unsure of whether or not the heat shield had been damaged during the explosion. The whole world watched on television and waited in silence for a sign that Apollo 13 had made it back to earth. At first it looked like they didn’t make it but eventually Jim Lovell breaks the radio silence to signify that they made it.

This film was nominated for nine academy awards including best sound, film editing, best art direction, best effects, best music, best picture, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best writing. The film won two Academy Awards for bet film editing, and best sound. This film was very historically accurate, and everything was the way it really happened, except instead of saying “Houston we have got a problem,” Tom Hanks said “Houston we have a problem” because the real phrase was copy righted.

This film was very successful in illuminated on the Apollo 13 space mission. I was not alive during the actual Apollo 13 mission, and therefore did not know that much about it. This film did a great job of showing the actual events, and characters that had to deal with those events. The desperation of the three astronauts was evident throughout the film. The film showed how hard NASA worked to bring the men back to earth when many thought that it was not possible. The film also showed how the astronaut’s families reacted to the mission, and how the whole world watched and prayed for their safe return. This film showed every aspect of the Apollo 13 space mission with great detail, and thoroughness.

I though that this was a good film. I liked how the script and plot stuck to the actual events and didn’t try to embellish the information to make it a better movie. The zero gravity footage made the film very realistic and was worth the extra effort on the parts of the actors and director. The film was also had an exciting plot that made it easy and interesting to watch. The actors that where chosen for the parts were perfect. Tom Hanks did an excellent job with his character as well as Ed Harris. There is nothing about this film that I did not like.