44 - "Apollo 13" (1995)

     "Houston, we have a problem." That was the catchphrase in summer 1995. These are words that were spoken by astronaut Jim Lovell on the real life space flight of Apollo 13 in 1970. On their way to the moon, a mechanical malfunction occurs on the space craft which threatens the lives of astronauts Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert. They are unable to land on the moon and must utilize every resource they have available to stay alive and somehow make it back to Earth. Back on the ground, members of NASA work round the clock to help out in anyway they can. While I was not around in 1970, I have talked to several people who were about this event and it was a major television event of the time. People watched and prayed, day and night, as updates came about the mission. We know that it ends successfully, so why see the movie. Yes, the outcome is not in doubt but this is still a must-see movie. Tom Hanks had won the previous two Best Acting Oscars for his turns in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. How he was not nominated for this film also is beyond me. He is the leader of the ill-fated voyage but Kevin Bacon (Swigert) and Bill Paxton (Haise) more than hold their own with Hanks. Ed Harris picked up a Supporting Actor nominee as Gene Kranz, the head of NASA's operation on the ground. The great Gary Sinise is Ken Mattingly, an astronaut who was supposed to be on the flight but was left off because he might possibly get the measles (he never did). Mattingly was instrumental to the success of the mission, working on the ground in a simulator to help out his friends in space. The acting in this movie is top of the line. Ron Howard, one of the best directors of the past 20 years, is at the top of his game here. Some of the special effects shots, especially those of the rocket lifting off, are the best to ever grace the big screen.  Apollo 13 is a triumphant example of film-making at its best.