Review of Apollo 11 (2019) by Markhreviews — 16 Mar 2019

“Apollo 11” is a powerful demonstration that less is more. It’s a tribute to those who crafted this documentary that a NASA mission - whose outcome is so well-known (spoiler alert: these guys land on the moon) - could hold an audience’s attention without resorting to any sort of contrivance (like Ryan Gosling’s angst-filled brooding, I’m looking at you “First Man”).

This is unadorned documentary film-making at its finest. There’s no voiceover by James Earl Jones. No “we were there” interviews. No contemporary astrophysicists or scientists giving us context. Director Todd Douglas Miller (2014 Emmy for “Dinosaur 13”) has had the self-confidence to simply go through an abundance of restored 65mm film and over 11,000 hours of rediscovered audio recordings and stitch together a powerful, compelling narrative.

Without seeing this movie, you may find it hard to imagine that this story could be either emotionally compelling or visually interesting. If you’re familiar with the TV broadcast footage from the lunar landing in its grainy black-and white, it’s even harder to believe this movie could hold your interest. But it does. Actually, some of the color footage is breathtaking. Composer Matt Morton’s powerful underscoring contributes to the overall mood.

What makes this documentary possible is the vast number of cameras that were deployed for every step of this mission. At lift-off, we’re given an amazingly close-up perspective of the power of the Saturn rockets. When parts of the rocket are jettisoned during the flight, there is up-close footage, including an amazing perspective from inside a discarded booster rocket that shows the capsule carrying the astronauts speeding away. On the moon, a color camera taking images one frame per second has created some shots that are simply breath-taking. One of Miller’s most effective themes is the sheer magnitude of this space mission - in size, in scope and in the scale of this undertaking. The film opens with a close-up of the giant crawler-transporter that moves the 363-foot rocket onto the launch pad. (This transport vehicle weighs over 6 million pounds and requires 30 technicians, crew and drivers to operate. Some claim it’s so large it has its own weather.) It’s an excellent metaphor for the size of this undertaking. This archival footage also captures the scope of the audience - the tens of thousands of spectators assembled in the area because they wanted to see lift-off with their own eyes. (We’re also shown, without commentary, that the hair styles and clothing choices of the late 60’s were a series of self-inflicted, unfortunate events.).

A second powerful theme is the self-deprecating understatement of all involved. At liftoff, telemetry reported that Buzz Aldrin’s heart rate was what many people experience while sleeping. When Michael Collins’ respiratory sensors stopped functioning, Collins assured Mission Control he would inform them immediately, if he stopped breathing. In its own way, this film is just as interesting as the latest films based on comic book heroes. “Apollo 11” chronicles compellingly one of the “giant leaps” in human history.