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	...	Self
Neil Armstrong	...	Self (archive footage)
Stephen Armstrong	...	Self (archive footage)
Viola Armstrong	...	Self (archive footage)
Alan Bean	...	Self
Eugene Cernan	...	Self
Michael Collins	...	Self
Charles Duke	...	Self (as Charlie Duke)
John F. Kennedy	...	Self (archive footage)
Jim Lovell	...	Self (as James Lovell)
Edgar D. Mitchell	...	Self (as Edgar Mitchell)
Garry Moore	...	Self (archive footage)
Richard Nixon	...	Self / US President (archive footage) (as Richard M. Nixon)
Harrison Schmitt	...	Self
Dave Scott	...	Self (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 landing | moon | 1960s | nasa | astronaut | 

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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

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

The 1202 alarm was not a programming error in the Apollo Guidance Computer, but rather a hardware design bug, already documented by Apollo 5 engineers. Since the 1202 alarm had occurred only once during testing, NASA decided to go with the radar hardware with known problems instead of using untested newer alternatives with unknown problems.

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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 To Scale: The Solar System (2015)

User Reviews

Very Interesting, But Armstrong Was Missed

This recently-released documentary had some fantastic footage in it, and a very personal look at many of the astronauts who went to the moon. Overall, that is a very exclusive club: only about a dozen men ever did it in the history of the world and just eight or nine ever stepped foot on it. Most of them are still alive and they discuss their adventures, insights and personal feelings here.

One gets the feeling that the rest of us will never know exactly how beautiful the moon is except to take the astronauts' words about it, because even the pictures on this DVD can't convey that. It just looks dull and gray, but the men say it was spectacular. I believe them.

Since this documentary is about 100 minutes long, you get a lot of information. You also get reminded how close two of the three men who went up on that historic first walk on the moon almost didn't get home alive.

A glaring absence in this documentary - through no fault of the film-makers, is the most famous astronaut of them all: Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon! Apparently, he did not want to be part of this film. One of the astronauts, near the very end of this documentary, mentions something briefly about Armstrong being somewhat of a "recluse" now and it "being understandable with what he's gone through." From what I've read, a lot of people have tried to make money off him in shady ways and so now he's withdrawn from the public spotlight. Still, not having his thoughts on this historic mission is a real loss to this film and makes this story seem incomplete.

After a slow first half hour, this really picks up when we travel along with Armstrong's Apollo 11 crew. Seeing slow-motion pictures of the lift-off and great shots of the earth are just awesome. The worldwide reaction to the success of this mission will bring a tear or two to your eyes.

This film, a legacy to the Apollo program and the brave men who ran it, should be in every schoolroom. It would make history a lot more interesting to students.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French Japanese

Release Date:

2 November 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

In the Shadow of the Moon

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,281, 9 September 2007

Gross USA:

$1,134,358

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,161,369

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