In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

The crew members of NASA's Apollo missions tell their story in their own words.

Director:

David Sington

Stars:

Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Stephen Armstrong

6 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Buzz Aldrin	...	Himself
Neil Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stephen Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Viola Armstrong	...	Herself (archive footage)
Alan Bean	...	Himself
Eugene Cernan	...	Himself
Michael Collins	...	Himself
Charles Duke	...	Himself (as Charlie Duke)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Lovell	...	Himself (as James Lovell)
Edgar D. Mitchell	...	Himself (as Edgar Mitchell)
Garry Moore	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard M. Nixon	...	Himself / US President (archive footage)
Harrison Schmitt	...	Himself
Dave Scott	...	Himself (as David Scott)

Storyline

In the 1960s, US President John F Kennedy proposed landing a man on the moon before the decade was finished. This film has interviews with most of the surviving astronauts of the Apollo program who were making ready to make that great voyage with an army of experts determined to make the endeavor possible. Through training, tragedy and triumph, we follow the greatest moments of one of Humanity's great achievements.

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Plot Keywords:

moon | 1960s | nasa | astronaut | spacecraft accident | 

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Taglines:

Remember when the whole world looked up

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language, brief violent images and incidental smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French Japanese

Release Date:

2 November 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Dans l'ombre de la lune

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,281, 9 September 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,134,049, 23 December 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Discovery Films, FilmFour, Passion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Of all the astronauts who appeared in the film, only Buzz Aldrin demanded to be paid.

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Goofs

Gene Cernan talks about the Apollo 1 crew (Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee) being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Only Grissom and Chaffee are buried there. White is buried at West Point.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael Collins: I kind of have two moons in my head, I guess, whereas most people just have one moon. I look at the moon just like everybody else who's never been there, and you know, there it is, and I've always thought it was interesting. Whether it's full or a sliver, or what have you. But every once in a while, I do think of a second moon, you know, the one that I recall from up close. And yeah, it is kind of hard to believe that I was actually up there.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Shoot 'Em Up/Eastern Promises/Fierce People/The Brothers Solomon/In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

User Reviews

The human side of the Moon

There have been many documentaries about the technical issues of getting to the Moon, but this one focuses more on how the astronauts felt about it all. At turns funny (Buzz Aldrin admits he relieved himself right before stepping on the Moon because it was about the only spare time he was going to have for the next two hours), inspiring (Jim Lovell talking about reading from Genesis while orbiting the Moon), and poignant (several of the astronauts talk about the Apollo 1 fire), it's a riveting piece of film-making.

The footage itself switches between the "talking heads" of the astronauts and imagery depicting what they're talking about, loosely following the chronology of the space age, from Kennedy's declaration of the ambition to go to the Moon to the later Apollo missions with the lunar rover. There aren't any revelations in the mission footage, but then all that's been combed over many times. However, it's well put together and everything is tied in.

I got to see this film at a special showing at the Goddard Space Flight Center. When the film was over, the auditorium full of space geeks gave the director a standing ovation. I think it was well-deserved. While he humbly noted "It's you rocket scientists who really did this - I just put a film together," perhaps - as he also noted - this film will help inspire another generation as we take the next great leap into space, this time to Mars.