This does take a while to get going, but once space-bound, it proves to be quite a compelling tale of three astronauts who find themselves stranded in their spacecraft after an oxygen tank blows up. Ron Howard now presents us with a potently claustrophobic couple of hours and the men - Lovell (Tom Hanks); Haise (Bill Paxton) and Swigert (Kevin Bacon) must work with their ground control colleagues led by Mattingly (Gary Sinese) and Kranz (an excellent Ed Harris) to try to calculate some way of getting them back to safety before their remaining oxygen and fuel runs out. Meantime, we also get a sense of the mortality of these travellers from their partners left on Earth - not least from an on-form Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell). The screenplay is based on the book by Lovell, and reeks of authenticity. There is little need to embellish it with special effects; the sets adequately convey the dangers and sense of confinement as the clock ticks down. The dialogue is strong - pithy and lively but also well based in science. That enables Hanks to turn in one of his more convincing, less quirky performances which gels well with his acting co-stars. History tells us the ending, so it is not that the film has jeopardy - it hasn't, really. What is does have is an accumulated sense of peril and it demonstrates well how adaptable and innovative the human brain can be when facing almost certain death. The production is top drawer - understated but effective, and the score from James Horner is one of his lesser known, but none the less effective for that. A really well photographed example of a well directed, strong story with an equally strong cast that is well worth a watch.

I don't know how to start the review, so I'll improvise a bit. I also don't feel like trying hard to make a good review for this movie.

The film is fine and details the hardships experienced by Apollo 13. To begin with, the camera shows us in detail the facilities, the rocket, the control room and all the personnel behind the space mission, something that will be so throughout the movie. However, in my opinion, the planes of the exterior of the rocket when they are in space are VERY typical. In addition to what was mentioned before, even if it's a trifling detail, the sounds of the alarms and walkman are attenuated so that astronauts are better heard speaking. For my point of view it is nonsense because it takes seriousness. For example, in '2001: A Space Odyssey' the alarm sounds are kept for minutes, even if they are uncomfortable. On the other hand, the soundtrack is very heard. It is the typical orchestra that accompanies patriotic scenes from war movies and video games, such as in 'Medal of Honor'. The script is not very original, It is full of threadbare phrases. The first idea was to memorize all the cliches and quote them, however, they began to be so many that I ended up saturated and forgetting the memorized ones. Especially the character played by Ed Harris. Virtually each and every one of his sentences is unnatural. Seriously, if someone spoke like that in real life, I would tell them they have a serious problem.

In short, the film is good, but the plot has a style of action widely used in the cinema so it ends up being boring. Also has too much pro-American feeling for my taste. Although it seems unimaginable that there exist movies about the space race (science fiction or not) without so much patriotic feeling, there are.

_**Cinematic account of the ill-fated Apollo mission**_

In April, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission to the moon is aborted after an explosion causes internal damage. The three astronauts and Mission Control must now focus on merely surviving and getting back alive, if possible.

Directed by Ron Howard, “Apollo 13” (1995) is a solid account of the real-life events and obviously influenced “The Martian” twenty years later, which is even better, albeit not based on historical events.

I suppose this zeroes-in on the weakness of this movie: If you’re familiar with the account you know how the story ends, which diminishes suspense. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to observe the living conditions and challenges of real-life astronauts, as well as the resolve and ingenuity of the people at Mission Control to work with what’s available and to figure out how to get the astronauts home.

The film runs 2 hours, 20 minutes. CAST: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan.

GRADE: B/B-