Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was on my list of possibilities for Sundance this year but, by the time I was able to purchase tickets, every screening was sold out.  I hoped that it would eventually be released in theaters and, luckily, it has a limited run in IMAX and I was able to see it yesterday afternoon.  It is simply stunning!  This documentary shows us every aspect of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, from wheeling the launchpad into position on an enormous platform with caterpillar wheels to the splashdown of the capsule in the ocean, using previously unseen footage taken by NASA for a documentary that never came to fruition.  It is structured in chronological order as if we are watching this event happen in real time.  There is no narration; rather, the audio comes from the the NASA announcers, the technicians in the control room speaking into headsets, the astronauts in space, and the contemporary news commentary from Walter Conkrite.  I was a one-year-old child at the time of this mission so, of course, I don't remember anything about it but this documentary made me feel some of what it must have been like to watch it unfold!  There are some incredibly dramatic moments, such as the lift-off, the landing on the moon, the lift-off from the moon, and the re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.  Even though I knew the outcome of these events, I found myself holding my breath in suspense and that is due, in large part, to the brilliant pulse-pounding score by Matt Morton used in these moments.  As much as I enjoyed these dramatic scenes, I was absolutely fascinated by the more mundane moments that are also chronicled.  For some reason, I never really knew how long the mission was (I always think of it as taking place in a day or two).  It was so interesting to see the different color-coded teams who supported the astronauts around the clock and I loved hearing them check-in with the astronauts at the beginning of their shifts.  I was so surprised to see how primitive the technology was by today's standards and to see the giant binders with check-lists of tasks that had to be accomplished for the mission to succeed.  It really is overwhelming when you think about everything that had to go right to make it to the moon!  The images on the screen are simply breathtaking, especially the views in space and the images on the moon, but one of my favorite moments is when the screen is split to show all of the different departments giving the "go" for launch.  This is easily the best film that I have seen in 2019 and I urge you not to miss this incredible experience!