Challenger: The Final Flight (2020)

“In America, we learn from our setbacks as well as our successes. And although the lessons of failure are hard, they are often the most important on the road to progress. We’ve learned in these past few months that we’re frail and fallible. But we have also learned that we have the courage to face our faults and the strength to correct our errors. This has been a difficult passage for America, but we will go on, just as the crew of the space shuttle Challenger would have wanted us to. We’ll simply do what has to be done to make our space program safe and reliable and a renewed source of pride to our nation. We’ve suffered a tragedy and a setback. But we’ll forge ahead, wiser this time and undaunted. as undaunted as the spirit of the Challenger and her seven heroes.” – Ronald Reagan

Number of Times Seen – 1 (26 Nov 2020)

Brief Synopsis – Documentary about the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 and its crew who all died in the worst space disaster in the US Space Flight up until that time.

My Take on it – I have always been a fan of the US space program and have always been interested in learning so much about it, so whenever I find a new film to watch about the space race, I pounce on it.

I recall watching the Challenger Disaster live when it happened and it will always have a strong impact on my life.

This documentary is able to give a very comprehensive look at the events leading up to the disaster, the events during the explosion and the events that followed afterwards.

The interviews in this film allow the viewer to get so much insight into everything that happened because of the broad spectrum of people interviewed.

WE get to see things from the perspective of other astronauts, family members and close friends of the Challenger 7, NASA officials and engineers, celebrities and politician associated with the space program and most importantly from the astronauts themselves via rare footage of them before the disaster.

The film is 3 hours long, yet they find ways to keep things so fascinating to watch based on the way that it all plays out.

It’s so interesting to see how people can reflect on events from 35 years ago in such an eye opening fashion which is able to give us such a unique perspective on the events surrounding that tragic events that will forever be etched into the minds of school children like myself who watched history happen.

Bottom Line – Such a powerful documentary that is so comprehensive in the way it shows the subject. The film is able to give us interviews with so many people connected to this disaster which is able to give so much insight into everything that happened. They get to tell us things from the perspectives of other astronauts, family members, NASA officials, engineers, celebrities and politicians associated with the space program and most importantly, the seven astronauts themselves via home footage. The story is set up really well and despite the 3 hour runtime, things stay so fascinating from start to finish. The way that some of these people reflect on events from 35 years ago is so eye opening as we get to see how things played out before, during and after this terrible tragedy. Highly Recommended

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The footage of Challenger disintegrating includes the sound of an explosion. This clip has been used in several other documentaries and the sound was dubbed in. The official NASA video had no audible explosion only a burst of static as communication was interrupted. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)