MovieRob’s Birthday Bash of Favorites 2020 (#26 of 47) – Apollo 13 (1995) – Encore Review 3

January is my birthday month, so I decided that I would try and do something quite unique and special for this milestone in my life. I will be turning 46, so I decided to watch 47 (46+1 for good luck) of my all time favorite movies in a random order over the course of this month. I have reviewed every one of these films already, but I will now give new perspectives on them all. Every one of these films received a 10/10 scoring from me. Some of these reviews will contain spoilers so if you have never seen them before, I recommend that you read some of my previous reviews of the film that were spoiler free before reading on…

Hope you enjoy!

This is film #26 of the 47.

Let’s continue with… Apollo 13 (1995)

Initial Viewing Memories – I saw this in the theater when it came out and was amazed at how thrilling such a story could be. Being a fan of the US Space Program, I was fascinated to watch this story unfold.

“Let’s work the problem people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.” – Gene Kranz

Number of Times Seen – Too many to count (Theater in 1995, DVD, 4 Feb 2002, 15 Nov 2013, 29 Sep 2014, 14 Dec 2017 and 15 Jan 2020)

Link to original review – Here, Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – On the third Apollo mission to the Moon in 1970, something goes wrong and the three astronauts along with the minds of mission control on Earth must do all they can to bring these men home safely.

My Take on it – Amazing film that was able to bring this story of three astronauts getting trapped in space to a place where it became widely known to mainstream audiences.

The story is done so well and allows for things to be quite thrilling throughout which helps make things even more interesting to watch unfold.

The cats is superbly led by Tom Hanks who is able to show a calm demeanor throughout as he tries to keep a level head during all of the deliberations on how to save their lives.

The supporting cast is also excellent with Kevin bacon, Ed Harris, Gary Sinese, Bill Paxton, Kathleen Quinlan and many others chipping in to help keep this story so rich and enjoyable throughout.

The music by James Horner is exquisite and helps give this film an even more epic feeling throughout.

Ron Howard does an amazing job directing this film and takes what could have been a very boring generic story and turns it into something so unforgettable.

The film has a very patriotic theme that runs throughout which helps make things even more poignant to watch as the story unfolds before our eyes.

The special effects are done really well and help make things seem so realistic and genuine the whole way through which helps raise the level of plausibility throughout.

Such an amaizng movie that somehow lost Best Picture that year to Braveheart (1995) (which is also a great movie, but this one is so much more powerful and compelling to watch)

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – When the real Jim Lovell saw the film, he found the CGI work so convincing that he firmly believed that the filmmakers had uncovered some hitherto unseen NASA footage. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (no change from original review)