Apollo 13 is the true story of the NASA mission to the moon of the same name. Before I start I feel I should say that I love history. I find it fascinating. You know the saying sometimes fact is stranger than fiction? Well, in the case of Apollo 13, that is true. The successful failure of Apollo 13 is simply incredible, and the movie’s greatest strength is its accuracy in depicting the events.

Following the logs of Jim Lovell, the movie does a really good job depicting the intricacies of what actually happened on the flight. Moments like the CO2 filter problem and the computer-less burn back to Earth are almost exactly as they happened in real life. But it’s not just the faithful telling of what happened. It’s all the little details that make the movie all the more immersive. The set, props, and sound design are all designed to be reminiscent of the 70’s era. Even the news clips are from broadcasts covering the voyage in real time. Truly the movie excels in entrenching the viewer into the story, and is a docu-film through and through

Speaking of immersive, the LEM and shuttle set is spectacular. Hanks, Bacon, and Paxton do an incredible making the tiny space one that is dynamic and never dull. They are all compelling and are able to move and talk like real astronauts. The cinematography is also very impressive and compliments the actors performances. Dean Cundy and Ron Howard use multiple lenses in order to make the space bigger and smaller as needed, and the claustrophobic space allows for great shots capturing the emotions of the astronauts. They also use reference points like the windows or the tunnel to familiarize us with the space of the shuttle. It helps the audience get a lay of the land and helps the audience understand the complications of space travel.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the way the movie was able to explain the actual science of the odyssey. Everything is explained in a way that allows us to understand problems none of us besides astronauts would know. It’s a great story choice to focus on the incredible technical leaps the people on Earth and in space had to figure out to bring the men back alive.

All in all, I really enjoyed Apollo 13’s faithful depictions of real life events. I had some issue with some of the more Hollywood aspects of the movie but, I still will give it 9 Apollos out of 13.