Apollo 13

45 years ago today man supposedly walked one the moon, while Apollo 13 is not about the infamous landing, it certainly seemed appropriate and right off the bat it really captivated me with the whole NASA setting and what space travel meant to the world back then. Obviously amidst the beauty of the setting comes the near disaster of the actual mission with a barrage of miscalculations and hoops the crew need to jump through. If anyone has seen Speed then the stream of action follows that kind of pattern: Command says 'Son you've got a big obstacle ahead of you,' protagonist clears obstacle everyone celebrates at how they overcame the odds until command then says 'Buddy, there's an even BIGGER obstacle now.' I fall for it every time as viewer, sometimes it's a trope that is eye-rollingly obvious, but while it was quite transparently done in Apollo 13 I was always on the edge of my seat. How are they going to build a carbon filter? How will they re-enter the atmosphere without a heat shield? When will they run out of urine bags? These are all questions that tense our muscles and ultimately make us cheer for our heroes at the climax of the movie. While it felt just a tad overly-patriotic at times, it certainly is a story that is worth celebrating and ergo, a movie worth watching.

In short, if your looking for Gravity the 90's edition then this is your film.