Apollo 13 - To the Edge and Back

Starring:Barbara Lovell, Gene Kranz, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Mary Haise, John Aaron, Alexei Leonov, Jack Swigert, Marilyn Lovell (II), Sy Liebergot, Susan Lovell
Director: Rob Whittlesey, Noel Buckner
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Produced a year before Ron Howard's film of the doomed space mission hit Hollywood, To the Edge and Back brings the real faces of the Apollo 13 saga to the forefront. Astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise talk about the flight (Jack Swigert died in 1982) while the technicians, including mission operations director Chris Kraft and flight director Gene Kranz, recall the moon shot and the near-fatal explosion. It's still hard to make the story fill an hour, so there's time to examine the space race in general and show previous missions. The "showing" part is the program's weakness. Ron Howard used no real footage in his film, which was smart since there really isn't a lot of interesting footage, just the usual launch and TV transmissions. Simple computer animations fill in the gaps, yet even the money shot--a still picture of the damaged spacecraft--is not shown. Still, this is a key document for those digging to see the "real" behind the story. It works as a wonderful "extra" to the Oscar-winning Hollywood film. --Doug Thomas
Description
"I could see a gaseous substance escaping... That's when it definitely occurred to me that we were in deep trouble... Very shortly, we'd be completely out of oxygen. These were the thoughts of James Lovell and the rest of the crew of Apollo 13 as they heard the ominous explosion that robbed them of most of their oxygen, food and water - 200,000 miles from Earth.

Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back tells the gripping, true story of the catastrophic flight of the Apollo 13 and the heroic struggle to bring the astronauts back alive. With first-hand accounts from the pilots, their families, and the people of mission control, it documents a thrilling struggle against time and all odds and serves as a reminder that, in the words of James Lovell, "We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it."

Special DVD features include: scene selections and closed captions.

Amazon.com

Produced a year before Ron Howard's film of the doomed space mission hit Hollywood, To the Edge and Back brings the real faces of the Apollo 13 saga to the forefront. Astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise talk about the flight (Jack Swigert died in 1982) while the technicians, including mission operations director Chris Kraft and flight director Gene Kranz, recall the moon shot and the near-fatal explosion. It's still hard to make the story fill an hour, so there's time to examine the space race in general and show previous missions. The "showing" part is the program's weakness. Ron Howard used no real footage in his film, which was smart since there really isn't a lot of interesting footage, just the usual launch and TV transmissions. Simple computer animations fill in the gaps, yet even the money shot--a still picture of the damaged spacecraft--is not shown. Still, this is a key document for those digging to see the "real" behind the story. It works as a wonderful "extra" to the Oscar-winning Hollywood film. --Doug Thomas

Description

"I could see a gaseous substance escaping... That's when it definitely occurred to me that we were in deep trouble... Very shortly, we'd be completely out of oxygen. These were the thoughts of James Lovell and the rest of the crew of Apollo 13 as they heard the ominous explosion that robbed them of most of their oxygen, food and water - 200,000 miles from Earth.

Special DVD features include: scene selections and closed captions.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4 x 3 Full Screen.

Customer Reviews:

MUCH better than the movie!!!.......2007-02-18

I saw this when it first showed on public television and was so incredibly moved by it. The footage and interviews are great. VERY WELL done! Then when I saw the Ron Howard movie I was SOOOO disappointed...the movie doesn't do the actual story justice. Buy this documentary and learn a valuable life-lesson: No matter how many things go wrong, keep trying and never give up hope!

The Real Apollo 13.......2007-01-10

A 90-minute documentary telling the story of Apollo 13 from the point of view of those who experienced it; with testimony from Jim & Marilyn Lovell, Gene Kranz and others with a first-hand role.

Concentrating on events as they happened, the film does as much justice as possible to the story within the time allotted: more detail in the causes of the explosion would have been welcome, but difficult to squeeze in.

Overall, well worth seeing.

As gripping as the mission itself..........2005-08-10

One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. If you're a space buff, and haven't seen this, get it. Told by the people who actually lived the experience, "Apollo 13: To The Edge And Back" is very well written and presented. Originally produced during the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, this documentary was an influence on Ron Howard during the production of his movie "Apollo 13". "To The Edge And Back" also covers a little of the history of the U.S. space program and the causes and motivations for going to the moon. The technical aspects are clearly explained in terms the layman can easily understand. If you could only have one Apollo 13 documentary, let it be this one.

Superb documentary.......2005-07-01

Though I love the movie Apollo 13 to death, I have to express an appreciation for this documentary, which covers the mission gone awry without the overdramatization that occurs in spots in the movie and manages to be almost as thrilling. This is in fact a great companion piece to the film, to get a notion of both what they got right (a surprising amount) and what they got wrong. Any space geek should have both in their library.

Far better than the movie.......2005-03-30

Nothing in the tamer "Apollo 13" movie lives up to the extraordinary tension and power of this documentary. Many things not covered in the thatrical film are here, so much so that my wife and I kept looking at each other with open mouths, wondering, "How much ELSE could go wrong?!?" It was while watching this presentation that we realized how truly heroic and ingenious the NASA folk were. We were limp from excitement after watching, "To the Edge and Back".

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