Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Apollo 18

(2011) ***1/2

There is a reason we have never been back to the moon. And, damn, it's shown effectively well in this movie! Number one, they really got the feel of the time period, 1973, perfectly.  The guys tapped to do a top secret mission to the moon are guys who want to go to the moon. Because that's what all astronauts in the age of the Apollo missions wanted. Unfortunately for them, there will be no heroes welcome.

The other thing this movie really nailed is the claustrophobia of space.  Sure, that sounds like an oxymoron, but that is exactly what you experience watching them go about their daily duties.  Those spaces are freaking small. However, there is nowhere else to go.  You are either in your tiny lander or in a space suit. That's it unless you want to die.

I recently read the book The Martian (loved it, btw) and a lot of it was dealing with the isolation of space.  It made me remember this movie and the (mostly) positive reviews both JPX and Octo gave in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
I agree with Octo's review which contains spoilers - although fairly warned if the reader wants to avoid them - that the "reason" we never went back could have been a little...cooler.  Yet they got so much else right in this. "Found footage" done well; a definite recommendation.

3 comments:

JPX said...

Oh cool, I'm so glad you checked this out! I was disappointed that this bombed in the theaters because it really is good at capturing the 1970s and the claustrophobia of being in a small space capsule. This would be a good double feature with 'Moon'.

AC said...

Does sound good! Well-done astronaut movies are automatically scarier for me because the setting is so inhospitable for humans.

DKC said...

Omg, I'm all excited thinking I got to three comments and it's fucking SPAM!

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...