This is the 50th anniversary of the year 1969. Noted for many events. The Mets. The Jets. Woodstock. The night Teddy Kennedy took a midnight swim looking for his drowned girlfriend.
And, of course, the first man to step on the moon. A moment in my childhood I will never forget. And it is all recaptured by one Todd Douglas Miller in this ingenuous look at the Apollo 11 mission. The fact that this production comes from CNN Films is even more remarkable given their shoddy journalistic practices. You will be captivated by every single frame.
This is not a documentary that bombards you with talking heads. Note all the audio on the footage is what tells the story. This film includes some never-before-seen images of that special July week from blast off to recovery. You are on the launch tower. You are in the bleachers with Johnny Carson (!!) waiting to see the rocket leave. You are in the command capsule. You are bouncing around the lunar surface. Whoever in NASA that had the great idea to keep cameras rolling all the time should be given a Pulitzer Prize.
The voices that tell the story are all real time NASA employees as well as the astronauts themselves. Once in a blue moon, you get some CBS narration from Walter Cronkite. But, most of the time, the audio comes from the people making this all happen. Real people who were given a mission by President John F.Kennedy and are living the dream. It is so human that one comical moment has the NASA folks talking about that dopey Teddy Kennedy had just done. Ironically, the Mary Jo Kopechne accident happened the same weekend of the moon landing.
If "Apollo 11" is not the winner of next year's Oscar for Best Documentary, I will storm the Academy. This is 93 minutes you must see. I'm going again for sure.
LEN'S RATING: Four stars.
Dinner last night: Chopped salad.
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