The Sky at
Night
Apollo 11 – A
Night to Remember
2009
Documentary
Britain
Acorn Media
(BBC)
Colour with
B&W historic footage
Reviewer: Bob Estreich
“I
believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before
this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to
the earth”
- President John F Kennedy 25th
March 1961
Sir
Patrick Moore, renowned British astronomer, narrates the launching of the
Apollo 11 spaceflight that culminated in man first stepping on the moon. The
DVD comprises many film clips of the period and includes the live footage of
the landing. It also includes information on the little-known Russian mission
that may have been designed to reach the moon ahead of the U.S. astronauts, but
crashed into the moon instead.
Because
the lead-up to the takeoff is minimal the film of the events has an immediacy
lacking in many documentaries. Interspersed throughout the documentary are a
number of short interludes where we are shown the astronauts’ escape tunnel in
the event of a malfunction on the launching pad, a tour of the capsule (a poor
quality film, likely due to the incredibly cramped conditions in the capsule)
and other relevant and interesting sidelines. Sir Patrick’s narration during
the early part is also fairly brief, leaving the footage and radio
conversations to tell most of the story. Much of the footage shows the effects
of time and the lower technology of those days. The footage could have been
cleaned up but I am glad it wasn’t – the quality of film gives a look of
authenticity that remastered footage would not have.
Sir
Patrick gives a lot of detail about the moon’s surface as the module orbits
above it. The critical minutes of the approach and landing are covered in real
time and the tension is obvious. Following the landing, and while the
astronauts catch up on their sleep, we are treated to a fascinating tour of an
astronaut’s suit including its waste disposal systems.
The
next day’s work on the moon, the liftoff and the return to earth are then
covered in detail..
The
landing was a technological triumph. The documentary shows NASA at the peak of
its success. Unlike The Wonder Of It All, reviewed earlier, this
documentary concentrates more on the history and less on the people. As such it
is a valuable record of the event. As a BBC documentary it tends to have the
independent examination of history that some U.S documentaries lack, but it
still contains a certain feeling of amazement that the whole project actually
worked.
Extras:
an interview with Gilbert Fielden in which he explains the predicted structure
of the moon, Patrick Moore examines the structure of the craters of the moon,
biographies of the astronauts and a Patrick Moore biography.
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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and
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