“Houston, we have a problem!“Aside from Neil Armstrong’s historic sentence during the moon landing, this is probably the best-known radio message from a NASA astronaut. It was sent by Commander Jim Lovell during the Apollo 13 space missionwhich did not go as planned due to an explosion on board.
Director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) took this true story and released it in 1995 Nerve-wracking drama with a top-class cast to the cinemas. Apollo 13 is on TV tonight.
True story on TV: What is Apollo 13 about?
Less than a year after the first manned moon landing with the Apollo 11 mission, a new crew of astronauts is set to embark on the journey to Earth’s satellite. Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) are selected, although the latter has to be replaced by John Swigert (Kevin Bacon) just four days before the start.
However, this is not the only unforeseen incident during the mission: after a successful start, a serious accident occurs later than suddenly The spaceship’s oxygen tank explodes. The three men’s lives are in danger; landing on the moon is no longer an option.
From then on, the entire ground control staff, including flight director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris), works towards a single goal: getting the Apollo 13 crew back to Earth safely. A race against time begins.
Apollo 13 offers high tension and stars in great spirits
Diligent director Ron Howard has directed almost 40 films to date, but with Apollo 13 he created one of his most successful and best. The space drama grossed over $355 million worldwide and was released in 1996 nominated for a total of nine Oscars. The film even emerged as a winner in the sound and editing categories, which very well reflects the technically brilliant implementation of the true story.
But Apollo 13 is also completely convincing on a story level. Although the outcome of the mission may be common knowledge, the film creates one enormous suspensewhich is hard to escape. One of the reasons for this is that Howard always stays very close to his characters, whether in the spaceship or on the ground, and makes their fears and needs palpable at all times.
Of course, this works even better when you have stars like Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris who are happy to play. The excellent cast skillfully fills the characters with life and ensures that, despite their obvious pathos, they feel like real people instead of hero decals feel.
When is Apollo 13 on TV?
If you want to go on a space mission with Tom Hanks and Co., you should tonight on October 27th RTL2 turn on. Apollo 13 initially orbits there 8:15 p.m and again at 1:10 a.m. Alternatively, the film is currently available to watch as a streaming flat rate from MagentaTV or as a purchase and rental option from various providers.