The Dish - Verloren im Weltall (2000)

A remote Australian antenna, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing.

Director:

Rob Sitch

Writers:

Santo Cilauro (conceived and written by), Tom Gleisner (conceived and written by)

Stars:

Sam Neill, Billy Mitchell, Roz Hammond

3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Neill	...	Cliff Buxton
Billy Mitchell	...	Cameron
Roz Hammond	...	Miss Nolan
Christopher-Robin Street	...	Damien
Luke Keltie	...	Graeme
Naomi Wright	...	Melanie
Ben Wright-Smith	...	Nicholas
Beverley Dunn	...	Secretary (voice)
Grant Thompson	...	Mr. Callen
Bille Brown	...	Prime Minister
Bernard Curry	...	Newspaper Reporter
Kevin Harrington	...	Ross 'Mitch' Mitchell
Tom Long	...	Glenn Latham
Patrick Warburton	...	Al Burnett
Roy Billing	...	Mayor Robert 'Bob' McIntyre

Storyline

In the days before the July 19, 1969 space mission that marked humankind's first steps on the moon, NASA was working with a group of Australian technicians who had agreed to rig up a satellite interface. That the Aussies placed the satellite dish smack dab in the middle of an Australian sheep farm in the boondocks town of Parkes was just one of the reasons that NASA was concerned. Based on a true story, The Dish takes a smart, witty, comical look at the differing cultural attitudes between Australia and the U.S. while revisiting one of the greatest events in history.

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Plot Keywords:

nasa | moon walk | satellite dish | australia | falling in love | 

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Taglines:

Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. (Flash version)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dish - Verloren im Weltall

Filming Locations:

Crawford Productions, Box Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$70,612 (USA) (16 March 2001)

Gross:

$2,252,970 (USA) (6 July 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Working Dog, Distant Horizons, Dish Film Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 97 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station south of Canberra had a 26m dish and is referred to during the movie. It was actually Honeysuckle which supplied the first 8 minutes of footage of the moon landing before Parkes took over. You can see the flicker on the screen if you watch the original footage as they change receiving dishes. Sadly little is left of Honeysuckle TS which also controlled Skylab.

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Goofs

Young Billy repeatedly refers to the Apollo launch vehicle as the 'Saturn V rocket' (pronouncing it as in the letter). The 'V' was the Roman numeral for 5 and was always pronounced as the number.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Worker: Excuse me sir, I'm afraid you've come in the wrong way.
Cliff Buxton: I'm sorry...
Worker: Yeah, this is the old entrance. The visitors center is back out and around to the left.
Cliff Buxton: Right well, I'll wander out then.
Worker: Well worth it. Some amazing times.

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Crazy Credits

John Glenn (III), Neil Armstrong (I), Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (II) are credited by announcers in the flashback preceeding the Apollo 11 flight.

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Connections

Referenced in Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

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Soundtracks

A Taste of Honey
(1962)
Written by Bobby Scott / Ric Marlow
© 1962 Songfest Music Corp., 1950 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019
Sole selling agent George Pincus & Sons Music Corp.
International copyright secured, made in USA
Administered by Universal Music Publishing Australia Pty Limited

User Reviews

What a Pleasant Surprise...

Once and a while a true surprise comes along. A film that is pleasantly surprising and enjoyable. Well, that's what "The Dish" is. It never takes itself too serious and never takes itself too lightly. It is just right.

It is centered around the true story of the largest satellite dish in the world, found in the middle of a sheep paddock in Australia. The dish, at one time, broadcast the Apollo 11 moon landing to the world, and this is the story of the problems the men who ran the dish went through.

Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton lead the group of four that manage the dish; the characters are all nice and pleasant and likable. No one is unlikable in this film.

Sam Neill is a great actor; I've liked him in films since "Dead Calm," but my real respect for his performances rose after he brought Dr. Allen Grant to life in "Jurassic Park."

Patrick Warburton, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated comedic actors in Hollywood. He always gets throwaway roles ("MIIB," "Big Trouble,"=etc...), but in this film he gets a leading role (sorta) and handles it excellently. He proves he really can act--serious or comedic--in films.

One thing that is so nice about "The Dish" is that it doesn't try to really prove anything extremely memorable. It's not trying to be the next big hit. It sticks to the facts while presenting some great actors and a twist of humor. And because of this, it is, possibly, one of the most pleasant film experiences I've had in recent years. Sometimes it's nice to sit back, relax and just watch a movie.