While this is far from the most feature-packed of DVDs, the excellence of
the movie itself and the quality of
those features that are included make it
well worth owning. The DVD includes two commentaries - one by director Ron
Howard, one by Jim and Marilyn Lovell - plus a documentary (Lost Moon: The
Triumph Of Apollo 13) and the entire film score as the background music
to the Menu screen. The commentaries are enlightening, especially to those
who want to know more about where things in the movie don't quite match up
with historical fact; both Howard and the Lovells are open and detailed about
those changes and provide some nice background information. Marilyn Lovell
doesn't talk much, but what she does say gives a little insight into what
it's like to have actors come into your life and prepare to portray you to an
audience of millions, which is something just as valuable as Jim's historical
factchecking. (I love the movie, but this is an invaluable resource to have
on the DVD - as good a job as the filmmakers did in bringing the Apollo era
to life, they did play fast and loose with some facts. That's regrettable,
but at least they take the opportunity to clear up the record somewhat.)
In addition to explaining instances where events were altered or compressed,
Howard sheds light on the making of the film, from the effects to the way he
worked with the actors to the way the film developed after the script was done
and the cast and crew started to shoot. (As much as I respect screenwriters,
it's obvious here that the director and the actors, especially Tom Hanks, had
a lot of input into the film's final form.) Unsurprisingly, Howard's an easy
going and very likable guy; he also is a smart guy who knows what he's doing,
as the movie and the commentary make clear. It was a pleasure to listen to him
talk about his realization that the story was as much about the ground crew as
the astronauts, and then how he went about getting that story across to the
audience.
The final feature is a bit of an oddity, in that I honestly don't know which
Apollo 13 the subtitle refers to - the film or the actual mission. At first it
looks like this is a typical electronic press kit piece, with footage from
interviews of the principals telling how they came together on the project.
But it soon becomes clear that this is more substantial than a promotion piece,
incorporating news footage and excerpts from the NASA archives along with
interview with the surviving astronauts and ground crew to provide a narrative
of the mission itself, occasionally interrupted by shots from the film or more
interview footage explaining how the filmmakers translated particular moments
and events to the movie. This includes some nice making-of effects shots, not
only of the weightless shots in the KC-135 but also of some of the model and
CG work that went into scenes like the launch and recovery sequences. In an
ideal world, these two subjects would have been covered in two separate
documentaries, each as long as this combined featurette, but this is still
well done. I was especially struck by footage of Gene Krantz tearing up 20
years after the fact while recalling the crew's return, immediately followed
by Ed Harris talking about his effort to recreate that feeling in the movie.
If the juxtaposition was necessary for whatever reason, at least the
documentarians made the most of it.
Reviewed by Dave
Thomer theLogBook.com staff writer
