Nova - To the Moon

Starring:Nova
Studio: Wgbh Boston
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
The mission was impossible. The odds were astronomical. The results were spectacular. NOVA presents the fascinating story behind the Apollo space program, including the most remarkable feat in human history--the historic walk on the moon in 1969. Meet the unsung heroes, experience the dangers and discover a broader range of Apollo perspectives than any space documentary ever produced.

In this expanded two-hour special, you'll see rare footage, explore little-known facts and enjoy rare insightful interviews with the NASA scientists, engineers, geologists and astronauts who made the dream of walking on the moon a reality. Share the vivid recollections of Apollo astronauts Gene Cernan and Frank Borman, plus legendary Flight Director Gene Kranz. Hear courageous tales from the pioneering Gemini space program. And explore how past lunar discoveries continue to produce exciting revelations.

System Requirements:

Running Time 120 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
This engaging two-hour documentary from NOVA detailing America's space program was produced for the 30th anniversary of the first moon shots. While no 120-minute film can tell all the stories of the space program, To the Moon is more comprehensive than other similar videos. The film details the method that Americans used to reach the moon: lunar orbit rendezvous (one ship circles the moon while another lands). This concept wasn't even on the drawing board at NASA, and the video chronicles the struggle of engineers and astronauts to work out a solution. The space footage focuses on Gemini missions that rehearsed rendezvous in space and the most extravagant Apollo missions (numbers 8, 11, 13, 15, and 17). The film reunites several astronauts for fresh perspectives on the importance of the program, including the knowledge gained about the geology of the moon. Generation X actor Liev Schreiber (Scream 2) supplies the narration for this video, which is a great companion to the From the Earth to the Moon miniseries. --Doug Thomas

Average customer rating:

Excellent
The one I always go back to ...
Many decades later, still worth celebrating
Most fantastic outline of Apollo program out there
TO THE TOP OF MY COLLECTION

NOVA - To the Moon
Starring: Nova
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Race to the Moon (History Channel)
For All Mankind - Criterion Collection
From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition
Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back
Apollo 11: Men on the Moon

ASIN: B00004U2MS
Release Date: 2000-08-08

Product Description

The mission was impossible. The odds were astronomical. The results were spectacular. NOVA presents the fascinating story behind the Apollo space program, including the most remarkable feat in human history--the historic walk on the moon in 1969. Meet the unsung heroes, experience the dangers and discover a broader range of Apollo perspectives than any space documentary ever produced.

In this expanded two-hour special, you'll see rare footage, explore little-known facts and enjoy rare insightful interviews with the NASA scientists, engineers, geologists and astronauts who made the dream of walking on the moon a reality. Share the vivid recollections of Apollo astronauts Gene Cernan and Frank Borman, plus legendary Flight Director Gene Kranz. Hear courageous tales from the pioneering Gemini space program. And explore how past lunar discoveries continue to produce exciting revelations.

System Requirements:

Running Time 120 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

This engaging two-hour documentary from NOVA detailing America's space program was produced for the 30th anniversary of the first moon shots. While no 120-minute film can tell all the stories of the space program, To the Moon is more comprehensive than other similar videos. The film details the method that Americans used to reach the moon: lunar orbit rendezvous (one ship circles the moon while another lands). This concept wasn't even on the drawing board at NASA, and the video chronicles the struggle of engineers and astronauts to work out a solution. The space footage focuses on Gemini missions that rehearsed rendezvous in space and the most extravagant Apollo missions (numbers 8, 11, 13, 15, and 17). The film reunites several astronauts for fresh perspectives on the importance of the program, including the knowledge gained about the geology of the moon. Generation X actor Liev Schreiber (Scream 2) supplies the narration for this video, which is a great companion to the From the Earth to the Moon miniseries. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-01-06

This is one of the best shows on the Apollo program and I have seen and read about everything out there. It has great interviews and information not found any where else. This is Nova at its greatest, bravo!

The one I always go back to ..........2006-12-15

I am an avid collector of dvds and books on the early space program thru the Apollo program. This is the dvd that I watch over and over again. Very well done, and well worth having.

Many decades later, still worth celebrating.......2006-09-10

. . . and this DVD clearly is a celebration of mankind's most daring, technological achievement to date. If it were possible to have filmed a historically accurate documentary about the building of the great pyramids of Egypt, THIS DVD would still be #1 in my collection.

The history of getting "To the Moon" is a fascinating subject and my hat goes off to the first generation of Americans who actually did it! This DVD produced by PBS for NOVA is indeed a celebration of that generation's most outstanding achievement.

Other reviewers have already said most that can be told about "To the Moon", and I too am tempted to give five stars. But not quite, as I am quite surprised that such a video could have been produced, supposedly in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the first Moon landing, without including ANY interviews with Neil Armstrong, "the first Man" not only go "to the Moon", but first to set foot on a celestrial body in outer space. My God, Armstrong is practically a national treasure, a real American space hero, and deserving much more than just a passing mention (via archival footage) in this DVD. I don't recall hearing his famous words, "That's one small step for Man . . . one giant leap for Mankind" even being mentioned during the segment on Apollo 11.

So, in some respects this documentary is seemingly lacking in certain aspects of the MOST historical events that should be celebrated on the 30th anniversary on the first landing.

This video is actually much more than that; in fact, many other most publicized Moon missions, Apollo 8, 13, 15 and the last, 17, are covered, plus some of the Mercury and Gemini mission as well. Sadly, there was no mention of the earliest and perhaps most noteable U.S. achievement in space, the first Earth orbital fight, yet all three Gemini space walks were included. How could John Glenn's Mercury flight been skipped over?

Nevertheless, this DVD warrants very high praise for what it does cover, all of which were significant contributions to America's venture into space; Apollo 13's "successful failure" notwithstanding. This DVD pretty much tells the whole story, from the late 50s, to the last Apollo mission in December 1972, and does so admirably. There is even rare footage of Eisenhower and Kennedy's earliest contributions to the space race that I have never seen before in any other related documentary film.

I would have awarded it five stars if not for the omissions mentioned. Most other space documentary films have their own set of flaws too. Still, "To the Moon" rates right up there with the best of them.

If however, one wishes to truly savor each and every important sequentially historical event of the space program, especially during the Apollo era, and one has 12 hours to do so, I whole heartedly recommend the HBO miniseries "From The Earth To The Moon". That miniseries is an exceedingly high quality, TV dramatization, yet historically accurate, and provides vastly more in-depth (and memorable) treatment of this subject matter.

Better yet, invest 14 hours of your time and watch both these history of early manned space flight DVDs, as they certainly are well worth watching.

Most fantastic outline of Apollo program out there.......2006-01-11

I have studied the early space programs extensively and could tell you a lot of little-known details about the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and the men and women who made them possible. I thought, at best, this film would give me some neat pictures and videos assembled in ways I'd never seen before.

I was amazed.

There were interviews with people and astronauts I'd never seen before, talking about things I'd only read news releases about. For a real space nerd like me, I was absolutely blown away at how detailed and comprehensive this film was.

Sure, they overlooked Apollo missions 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16 - and I'm sure a lot of people will gripe about that. But the point of this film was to explain the Apollo program in its entirety, which it did, and as such is a fantastic introduction to American space history for everyone, and is a fantastic film even for us know-it-all-space nerds.

TO THE TOP OF MY COLLECTION.......2005-07-31

This dvd ranks at the top of my list on NASA/APOLLO moon landing documentaries. It shows how Dr. John Houbolt was a instrumental part of getting man to the moon with his insistance on LOR (with a animated explanation of each) It has great computer animated explainations of the Saturn V and gives some detail of the hold-down arms on the Saturn V launch pad. It has more insightful astronauts interviews than other video. It rank tops in my in my collection with "Moon Shoot" by Deke Slayton. This video is just the "nuts and bolts" of the Apollo era and leaves out the fluff. "Just the facts" type video with great footage and animation for explanations. I would definetly get this video for any one who is a serious Apollo collector or who wants to get educated on the entire Apollo program in just two hours.

NOVA: Apollo 13 - Journey to the Moon, Mars and Back

Average customer rating:

MUCH better than the movie!!!
The Real Apollo 13
As gripping as the mission itself...
Superb documentary
Far better than the movie

NOVA: Apollo 13 - Journey to the Moon, Mars and Back
Starring: Sy Liebergot , Marilyn Lovell (II) , Barbara Lovell , Gene Kranz , and Jim Lovell
Director: Noel Buckner , and Rob Whittlesey
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

NOVA - To the Moon
Apollo 13: The Real Story
Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition)
The Race to the Moon (History Channel)
From the Earth to the Moon - The Signature Edition

ASIN: B000GIXLTI
Release Date: 2006-08-29

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

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." To the Moon: The mission was impossible. The odds were astronomical. The results were spectacular. NOVA shares the fascinating inside story behind "one giant leap for mankind." This expanded two-hour special shares vivid recollections of Apollo astronauts Gene Cernan and Frank Borman, and introduces you to legendary Flight Director Gene Kranz and other unsung heroes. Rare interviews and amazing footage capture America's full-thrust effort to be the first to the moon. MARS Dead or Alive: Go inside NASA's risky field trip to the red planet in this tense and dramatic behind-the-scenes chronicle of the $820 million Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project. Beginning a year before launch, NOVA's cameras follow MER scientists and engineers through a gauntlet of potentially fatal problems. Then, seven months later, experience the final nail-biting minutes of the journey, as Spirit successfully lands on Mars and begins sending back its first spectacular images of the Martian landscape.

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".

Saturn's Titan - Voyage to the Mystery Moon

Average customer rating:

Saturn's Titan - Voyage to the Mystery Moon

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Product Description

What hides beneath the clouds of Titan? When the best scientific minds in Europe and America collaborated, they created a probe to make the billion-mile trek to finally reveal the moon's secrets. This NOVA documentary explores this satellite of Saturn in impressive detail with footage of the surface. With its similarity to ancient Earth, Titan may hold the key to how life began on the third rock from the sun.

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