Apollo 13 Reviews

If there is one subject that makes it okay to feel old-fashioned patriotism and pride in humanity... it is surely the US space program.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

This meticulous but ultimately rather pedestrian drama gradually won me over as a minor if watchable example of the "victory through defeat" brand of military heroism that John Ford specialized in.

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Thrilling, heartwarming, scary, and superb.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

This engrossing account of the nation's most perilous moon shot embodies what many people consider to be old-fashioned American virtues in a virtually pristine state.

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Truly a director for the '90s, Ron Howard has mastered the art of spinning big, old-fashioned yarns without any discernible point of view, and his movie is curiously empty and instantly forgettable.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

A rousing, flag-waving paean to American skill and courage, Howard's polished film panders to its target audience perfectly.

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Apollo 13 remains Howard's masterpiece... It is, quite simply, one of the finest movies ever produced.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

The movie is terrific on nuts-and-bolts stuff, but nuts and bolts aren't the same as drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Overnight, Howard seems to have turned into a combination of the best aspects of Oliver Stone and Robert Altman.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4

In an age when we rely on computerized directions and GPS devices to drive to the next town, it seems an almost mythic scenario.

Full Review | Original Score: A

For a 'space movie', both the special effects and photography are surprisingly pedestrian. Where it scores is in subtly restating traditional notions of male heroism.

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A movie for the ages.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5

It may not be the best film of the year, but it's certainly made of the right stuff.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

...both fair history and a edge-of-your-seat popcorn thriller, a good example of the best work of which Hollywood is capable.

Full Review | Original Score: A-

If you don't remember the gripping events of April 1970 before seeing this film, you likely will remember them for a long time afterward.

Full Review | Original Score: 84/100

... tells a gripping true story efficiently. ... And yet, it still feels too packaged, too neat, too clean.

| Original Score: B-

Overrated yet nonetheless well done.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Playing the tough, commanding Jim Lovell is a substantial stretch for Mr. Hanks, but as usual his seeming ingenuousness overshadows all else about the role. There's not a false move to anything he does on screen.

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It seems strange now, a quarter of a century later, than mankind, with vastly superior technology, lacks the will to venture to the other planets or even to go back to the moon. What a world of wimps we have become!

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Just like the mission itself, APOLLO 13 leaves the impression of being both a success and a failure.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10