Everyone knows the details of the Apollo 11 mission. But it's a whole different ballgame to see it firsthand.
This is the basic crux of Todd Douglas Miller's Apollo 11, a simply titled documentary that carefully and methodically follows the 1969 mission of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins that captured the imagination of the entire planet. Much like Peter Jackson's recent They Shall Not Grow Old, this film is primarily concerned with a method of re-contextualization, a way of bringing history into a cinematic present. While Miller never faced the unenviable responsibility of translating decades-old footage into something novel, the filmmaker's ambitions are no less admirable, nor is the challenge less daunting. Here, Miller has essentially condensed a staggering event into 90 minutes, crafting a narrative without the assistance of interview recordings or much additional exposition. It's blunt and maybe even simplistic, yes, but the "wow" factor is undeniable- especially the earth-bound footage, which achieves a clarity I didn't know was even possible with modern restoration techniques.
The film is a rather direct chronicle of the mission, beginning with the moments just before Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins boarded the enormous vessel to the moon. Miller, who edited and compiled the footage for the film (the end credits list everyone responsible for the original footage as cinematographers), focuses on three planes of action: the actual rocket, the mission control room, and the spectators watching in awe as mankind ventured into the great beyond. Pushed forward by countdown clocks that lead into each new event, Miller moves from the tension around the launch to the spectacle of the astronauts' journey in space, eventually showcasing the details of the landing itself. And in a touch that you likely wouldn't see in a more conventional space movie, the action in Apollo 11 continues long after Armstrong steps foot on the moon, documenting both how the astronauts made it back home and how they were greeted all around America.
If there's a consistent theme woven throughout, it's the visualized concept of immense size and gargantuan scope. Before a single line of expository dialogue establishes where we are in the Apollo timeline, Miller starts the film with footage of the rocket being moved into place on what looks like the world's biggest tank. Later, there's a remarkable shot of the control room that seems to go on for ages, tracking through rows and rows of essential equipment that emphasizes in no uncertain terms just how much manpower- and brainpower- this mission required. By highlighting the manifestation of scale in two different ways, the film shades the mission to the moon as an achievement of human ingenuity assisted by monumental tech that overshadows this humanity at every turn. It's thousands of individual brains, all making sure that one enormous bomb doesn't go off at the wrong time.
Of course, Miller's film is entering a marketplace where fictionalized depictions of the Apollo missions have been immensely popular for decades, from Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff to Damien Chazelle's recent First Man. For those who marveled over Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Neil Armstrong, much of the facts of Apollo 11 will be familiar- I knew exactly what Armstrong would say during the landing thanks to Chazelle's attention to detail in his biopic.
This familiarity isn't inherently a bad thing, but having already seen such a gripping, complex psychological portrait of Armstrong and the mission, there were a few times where I was trying to keep my brain from wandering off. Like the aforementioned They Shall Not Grow Old, there's always a weird tension in play between the awesome nature of the footage and the somewhat sluggish nature of the execution, creating a bizarre sense of guilt on the part of any viewer who hasn't totally given themselves over to the film. You're watching real footage of one of the most spectacular events in human history, but seeing it play out from a side camera on the rocket just isn't as thrilling as watching it through Armstrong's eyes. It's an interesting test case in the difference between documentation and dramatization- after such a great fictional account, even the real thing can't compare.
That being said, there's no denying Apollo 11's skill as both a historical document and a moving evocation of human achievement. Some of the most remarkable footage in the film comes from the final act, when massive celebrations are taking place all around the country, uniting a world fractured by one of the most challenging decades in American history (there's a brief mention of Vietnam in newsreel footage). In many ways, Apollo 11 delivers what some detractors hoped First Man would achieve: an epic and rousing reminder that, 50 years ago, we accomplished the impossible and lived to tell the tale. Even if its thrills are more subdued than I expected, Miller's documentary portrait commands your admiration.
THE FINAL GRADE: B (7/10)
This is the basic crux of Todd Douglas Miller's Apollo 11, a simply titled documentary that carefully and methodically follows the 1969 mission of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins that captured the imagination of the entire planet. Much like Peter Jackson's recent They Shall Not Grow Old, this film is primarily concerned with a method of re-contextualization, a way of bringing history into a cinematic present. While Miller never faced the unenviable responsibility of translating decades-old footage into something novel, the filmmaker's ambitions are no less admirable, nor is the challenge less daunting. Here, Miller has essentially condensed a staggering event into 90 minutes, crafting a narrative without the assistance of interview recordings or much additional exposition. It's blunt and maybe even simplistic, yes, but the "wow" factor is undeniable- especially the earth-bound footage, which achieves a clarity I didn't know was even possible with modern restoration techniques.
The film is a rather direct chronicle of the mission, beginning with the moments just before Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins boarded the enormous vessel to the moon. Miller, who edited and compiled the footage for the film (the end credits list everyone responsible for the original footage as cinematographers), focuses on three planes of action: the actual rocket, the mission control room, and the spectators watching in awe as mankind ventured into the great beyond. Pushed forward by countdown clocks that lead into each new event, Miller moves from the tension around the launch to the spectacle of the astronauts' journey in space, eventually showcasing the details of the landing itself. And in a touch that you likely wouldn't see in a more conventional space movie, the action in Apollo 11 continues long after Armstrong steps foot on the moon, documenting both how the astronauts made it back home and how they were greeted all around America.
If there's a consistent theme woven throughout, it's the visualized concept of immense size and gargantuan scope. Before a single line of expository dialogue establishes where we are in the Apollo timeline, Miller starts the film with footage of the rocket being moved into place on what looks like the world's biggest tank. Later, there's a remarkable shot of the control room that seems to go on for ages, tracking through rows and rows of essential equipment that emphasizes in no uncertain terms just how much manpower- and brainpower- this mission required. By highlighting the manifestation of scale in two different ways, the film shades the mission to the moon as an achievement of human ingenuity assisted by monumental tech that overshadows this humanity at every turn. It's thousands of individual brains, all making sure that one enormous bomb doesn't go off at the wrong time.
Of course, Miller's film is entering a marketplace where fictionalized depictions of the Apollo missions have been immensely popular for decades, from Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff to Damien Chazelle's recent First Man. For those who marveled over Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Neil Armstrong, much of the facts of Apollo 11 will be familiar- I knew exactly what Armstrong would say during the landing thanks to Chazelle's attention to detail in his biopic.
This familiarity isn't inherently a bad thing, but having already seen such a gripping, complex psychological portrait of Armstrong and the mission, there were a few times where I was trying to keep my brain from wandering off. Like the aforementioned They Shall Not Grow Old, there's always a weird tension in play between the awesome nature of the footage and the somewhat sluggish nature of the execution, creating a bizarre sense of guilt on the part of any viewer who hasn't totally given themselves over to the film. You're watching real footage of one of the most spectacular events in human history, but seeing it play out from a side camera on the rocket just isn't as thrilling as watching it through Armstrong's eyes. It's an interesting test case in the difference between documentation and dramatization- after such a great fictional account, even the real thing can't compare.
That being said, there's no denying Apollo 11's skill as both a historical document and a moving evocation of human achievement. Some of the most remarkable footage in the film comes from the final act, when massive celebrations are taking place all around the country, uniting a world fractured by one of the most challenging decades in American history (there's a brief mention of Vietnam in newsreel footage). In many ways, Apollo 11 delivers what some detractors hoped First Man would achieve: an epic and rousing reminder that, 50 years ago, we accomplished the impossible and lived to tell the tale. Even if its thrills are more subdued than I expected, Miller's documentary portrait commands your admiration.
THE FINAL GRADE: B (7/10)
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