Apollo 11
{4.5/5} “Be advised, lots of smiling faces in this room and all over the world, over.”
Apollo 11, released in 2019
The Apollo 11 mission landed on the Moon and returned to Earth in 1969. Thousands of people camped out to witness the spacecraft’s launch live. Hundreds of people were involved on the day, getting the astronauts launched. Dozens of reporters reported the event to the world. A couple of hours before launch, there was a leaking valve that needed to be fixed. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited in the spacecraft.
This documentary is for anyone interested in space and human ingenuity. It’s filled with stunning footage from the time and partially narrated with Walter Cronkite’s TV narration from the time.
It’s mostly about the visuals and the interaction between the astronauts and officials on the ground. In addition to footage shot by the documentary team, there’s also footage shot by the astronauts themselves.
The music is a bit distracting at times, being too loud compared to the voices — I recommend you turn captions on. A few more things could have been explained.
They were mostly serious but they did joke around a bit. I like how the astronauts were able to express their joy at the beauty of the Moon and their appreciation of what they were undertaking.
Directed by Todd Douglas Miller (Dinosaur 13).