in the shadow of the moon

i do enjoy seeing a good documentary on the big screen
especially one such as this with footage best seen in large format
this is a nostalgia trip into deep space during the 1960's
documenting the various apollo trips and moon landings
the film opens in the early 1960's with some background footage
firstly introducing the various crew members as test pilots, etc
and importantly also showing footage of john f kennedy
making the pledge to congress to land a man on the moon
this before the end of the decade a few short years away
bringing to mind failed pledges of u s presidents since then
(i.e. just about everything promised by the incumbent president)
but in the early 1960's earnest optimism seems to abound
not to mention an almost sycophantic loyalty to the main man
and so nasa responds to the challenge and goes to work
the film documents a few failings along the way but not much else
for it's then a fast forward to the end of the decade
there are 10 talking heads featured in the film
each one an astronaut who went to or walked on the moon
they are seen in close-up then and now as they tell their stories
slightly disappointing is the omission of the reclusive neil armstrong
though he is spoken of in reverential terms by his peers
the historical footage used in the film is of an amazing quality
we see in great detail the launch of the apollo 11 mission
in itself a mind-boggling test of physics and engineering skills
then once free of the earth's atmosphere the film also changes
for now it is a very gentle journey of discovery with the astronauts
these quite humble men then describe their feelings of what they see
adding a whole new dimension to some familiar photos and footage
michael collins description of the fragility of earth is quite moving
as is the on-board talk as they watch the earth rising over the moon
as they descend to the moon's surface it becomes quite tense
we know the outcome but for me this is a new adventure
a sense of travelling with the astronauts to this strange place
then comes footage of the armstrong and aldrin on the moon's surface
including of course the most famous lines quoted by neil armstrong
footage of subsequent lunar landings by other missions is mixed in
just incredible scenes in amazing detail of a quite eerie place
then in equal detail we see the departure and return to earth
again highlighting the sheer scale of the physics involved
e.g. they return to earth at 39,000 feet per second
again we know the outcome but it's easy to sense the elation
as the 3 astronauts in apollo 11 become heroes on earth
and subsequently travel the world on a goodwill mission
deliberately reinforcing this human (not american) success story
fulfilling john f kennedy's pledge but now with nixon in power
a bit of footage of the vietnam war making for a sobering comment
and for me pointing to a time when the world changed forever
this film also has a beautiful and totally appropriate soundtrack
just the most amazing film that everyone should see