8 Days: To the Moon and Back (2019)

Eight days, three hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds. That's the total duration of the most important and celebrated space mission ever flown - Apollo 11 - when we first stepped foot on the moon... See full summary »

Director:

Anthony Philipson

Writer:

Philip Ralph

Stars:

Patrick Kennedy, Jack Tarlton, Rufus Wright

Cast

Credited cast:
Patrick Kennedy	...	Michael Collins
Jack Tarlton	...	Buzz Aldrin
Rufus Wright	...	Neil Armstrong

Storyline

Eight days, three hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds. That's the total duration of the most important and celebrated space mission ever flown - Apollo 11 - when we first stepped foot on the moon. Eight days that created some of the most iconic images in human history and changed the way we think about our place in the universe forever. But what was it really like for those three men in that high-tech tin can through each of those extraordinary eight days? 8 Days, a feature-length drama documentary to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, will bring the real story of the mission as it happened. With access to hours of declassified cockpit audio recorded by the astronauts themselves, 8 Days will use cutting-edge digital effects and dramatised performances to create a stunning 21st century visual journey to bring the original audio to life. Until now we've only glimpsed inside Apollo 11 with a handful of iconic stills and a few precious minutes of movie footage. But what if we could step ...

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Plot Keywords:

apollo 11 | apollo program | u.s. space program | lunar landing | reenactment | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

bbc website Press article

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 July 2019 (USA)

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Studios, BBC TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

At about 1 hour in the documentary Armstrong and Aldrin are taking photographs on the moon. The typical sound of a camera's shutter and film transport is heard. This is impossible in a vacuum.

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Connections

Featured in Jeremy Vine: Episode #2.139 (2019)

User Reviews

interesting approach

This unusual documentary essentially recreates visuals to match actual audio recordings of the astronauts on their moon excursion. It's an engrossing story and it's fun to see how it played out from beginning to end (fun enough that's it's worth watching both this and Apollo 11, which covers the same territory).

The only thing I didn't care for was the gimmicky transitions. Sometimes when flicking through scenes one hears the sound of a TV getting staticky, other times film footage will run out to the marked-up end. I don't see the point in any of that; it just annoyed me. But that's a small thing.