it wasn't just a movie, this was history. a true story. all this actually happened. that's what was really amazing.

Director Ron Howard achieved the impossible with this movie. He took a true story that (most) people knew how it would turn out and still made it nail-bitingly exciting and had you cheering at the end.

My father was on the engineering team that designed the heat shield for the Apollo program. I saw the Apollo modules at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum a few years ago. Pretty damn cool. Good work, dad. RIP. 👋

A lot of the dialogue between the astronauts and Mission Control is taken verbatim from actual recordings, and the crazy thing is how *calm* the astronauts sound. The actors' worry and fear were added for dramatic effect, because Ron Howard didn't think people would believe how calm they were IRL. There were actually a few more things that went wrong IRL that he also didn't include because he thought it would be too unbelievable.

After the astronauts were back on the carrier, Tom Hanks' character is congratulated by a Navy officer. Than officer was played by the real Jim Lovell who was (and is) a retired Navy Captain. After this movie came out Lovell became a celebrity all over again. And he's still with us at age 95.

Dear Jay this was not just a movie, it really happened. Older people, like me, remember it as if it was yesterday. I remember watching a late night news programme with bated breath as we were told either the module would re-appeared from behind the moon or disappear into deep space. I also remember watching as we waited for the module to appear over the sea. Like Amber I can't watch it without tears in my eyes.

I just googled this: it took 2 minutes longer than anticipated to hear from Apollo 13 (that wasn’t done in the film for dramatic reasons;) this incredible true story required no additional drama 🎉 Everyone deserved a medal for their work ❤

My mom worked for Playtex in the 60's they got the contract to develop the Apollo space suits. It was in Delaware where my Dad was stationed in Dover. We got to go there and see the astronauts get their fittings done and get pictures and patches from them. She was so proud when they walked on the moon in something she had been a part of. Great times. 🌕

What makes this such a great movie, is that many of us knew the story and the outcome, but it’s still exciting. The Martian is a fun one as well.

"If they could make a washing machine fly, my Jimmy could land it." One of my favorite quotes from any movie.

I was five years old when this happened. My parents had friends at the house watching the return. When they learned the astronauts were safe they all yelled and screamed with joy. I've never forgotten the look of happiness on my dad's face.

"omg my grandpa used to have a TV built into a box" I almost pissed myself. Yeah we all did.

I watched the re-entry live as a kid with my family. We were told we should hear from them after 3 minutes of blackout during re-entry. When it was way past the 3 minutes without hearing anything, we though they were lost. All of the sudden without communication we saw the parachutes open, then the voice of the pilot. We applauded in our own home. I still remember it vividly.

This is a movie based on the real life Apollo 13 mission. I’m friends with Captain Jim Lovell’s nephew and am honoured to have been given a book signed by the great man himself (Tom Hanks played him in the movie). Jim and Marilyn are still alive and still married. Jim is 95 years old.

I was (ironically) 13 years old in 1970, and I remember these events as if it was yesterday. I cannot begin to explain just how the world held its breath. For those days the fear of these men never coming back was very very real. It really was a frightening week of my life. The world came together like Id never known before, or since. Ron Howard did a brilliant job directing this film, the acting was astounding. It really caught the flavour and the tension of those 7 days in 1970.

This wasn't just "based" on a true story. It is a true story. They ended it the way it ended in real life.

Love this movie. Went to see it in the cinema with friends. When we came out I commented, “Amazing how they still kept you on the edge of your seat even though you knew how it would all turn out.” Our friend said, “What do you mean?” “You know, from watching it on the news.” They looked shocked, their eyes went wide and they gasped, “What? You mean that really happened?“

This was not a movie to "end sad." This was history!

"Every time i see him he's LT Dan". That's why he formed the LT Dan band and does great work supporting US Service veterans.

For context about the vest: Gene Kranz (the actual flight director at NASA at the time), his wife would make him a new vest for every mission. I love the background voice when he puts it on saying, “I guess we can go now”

Tom Hanks produced a 12-part HBO mini-series telling the story of the Apollo program from the 1960s to the 1970s called From the Earth to the Moon. The acting is incredible. Each episode is like watching Apollo 13. One of the best miniseries I’ve ever watched.

Our next door neighbor back in the 80s and early 90s was a retired aeronautical engineer with NASA. Even after we moved, (still the same general area) he remained a great friend until his death. He worked on everything from Gemini to the Space Shuttle, including Apollo 13. An absolutely fascinating man to talk to. He had a room set up in his house with awards, news clippings, and memorabilia that he accumulated over his life. Just a great, great man.

Ron Howard is a master at building suspense. Even if you know they're going to make it, this movie has you on the edge of your seat. Incidentally, this is a Howard family reunion of sorts. Sy Liebergot (Mission control; you get a good close-up of him at 17:59) is played by Ron's brother Clint Howard; and Blanch Lovell ("If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could fly it") is played by Jean Speegle Howard, mother to Ron & Clint.

Being at a launch is incredible. After about 8 seconds, the sound reaches you. The vibration is so strong. You can feel the rumble through your chest and body. It's so loud. You don't hear the sonic booms. This was filmed in the " vomit comet" , so the weightlessness was genuine. No children special effects.

My grandfather, who died a couple months ago, worked on the Apollo missions. He first worked on the second stage of the Saturn V rockets, and later he worked on the command modules. I have nothing but admiration for the things they achieved.

My daughter works at KSC as an aerospace engineer, the last 8 years of shuttle program. I was fortunate to be present for several launches and also space shuttle landing OMG Incredible. My son in law was working when they filmed this movie and said that you can't meet a better human being than Ron Howard. He went around and introduced himself to everyone and was so impressed with the workers, talking with them extensively. He was the star struck one. Love you both Great people

I work here at the cape for one of the rocket companies. Seeing a launch never gets old, it brings out that awe and wonder inside your inner kid every time. Counting down the anticipation and anxiousness, seeing the engines light as the rocket lifts off and you cheer for it to push further. The raw power you feel as the sound hits you in your chest and shakes you to your core and the sound crackles the sky and watch as it climbs higher and higher. There’s really not much like it.

I saw this film in the cinema when it first came out. When they mentioned the chance of a typhoon warning in their landing area, the whole cinema groaned out loud. And most of us knew the story and knew they made it back safely but this film is so brilliant it still built the tension.

Ed Harris who plays the part of the flight director who keeps the whole group on task and focused was in another absolutely great space film --- The Right Stuff (the movie not the tv show) -- he plays John Glenn and if you havent seen that movie its a real must see --- I always regretted that I didnt go see it on the big screen --- Wow what a movie

Two things: The Captain on the aircraft carrier was played by the REAL Jim Lovell. And the stuff falling off the rocket at launch was ice. Most of the rocket is tanks filled with freezing cold liquid fuel. Love watching you two. Keep up the great work!

This was such a great part of our history guys. Tom Hanks has so many more great movies for you to react to. "Philadelphia" with Denzel Washington, "Sleepless in Seatle & You've Got Mail" with Meg ryan. These are all great movies guys

With how much y’all love Tom Hanks (as do I), you will LOVE Cast Away. He’s incredible in it and I cry every time I hear “Wilson!!!!” Also, since y’all love music so much you need to see That Thing You Do! which was written & directed by, as well as starred Tom Hanks! It’s a classic. Another funny, and older one he’s in is The Money Pit but I suggest That Thing You Do! and Cast Away the most. You’ll really love them both.

Absolute banger of a movie. Based on the true story of Apollo 13 and how close we came to losing the entire crew. Everything you will see on screen is period accurate. From the cars to wallpaper, you name it. While I have no doubt that they took some liberties with various dialogue (Let's be honest,they have no way to know what the wives, children, etc were saying behind the scenes), I believe that they kept as close to the actual events as possible. Love this movie

You might like the movie Hidden Figures from 2017 if you haven't seen it already. It is another movie based on true events from the NASA Apollo days. I was around back then and I had never heard the story until the movie came out. Loved it. Thank you both for your always quality reactions.

I met Jim Lovell right before this movie came out at a trade show. Was not aware of the entire story and afterwords was embarrassed that I didn't acknowledge what he accomplished. Thankfully, I met him again when he was walking around welcoming people at a restaurant he owned in Chicago a few years later. I was able to give him the proper respect this time.

I’m 71. I remember this so well, we never left the TV. And we shed more than a few tears.

You REALLY need to watch the movie 'Hidden Figures'. There was someone involved in the Apollo 13 event who made the re entry calculations not covered in this movie because at the time it was made their involvement was still classified. Hidden Figures is not about Apollo 13 but about how this person become such an important person at NASA. It's also a really great movie.

Another good one is The Right Stuff about the original 7 Mercury astronauts. That movie hits home with me because I was a kid growing up in Cocoa Beach in the 50s & 60s and Cocoa Beach was a very small town. John Glenn, Alan Shepard and all visited our schools and our cub scout meetings. I never realized how huge National heroes they were until that movie came out. To us local kids they were just neighbors who happened to have cool jobs. We moved away in 1964 so I missed out of the Apollo launches.

For the schoolteacher in the channel, Here's a quick and dirty breakdown of the Apollo spaceflights Apollo 7 made the first manned test of the Command/Service Module (or CSM) in Earth Orbit Apollo 8 took the CSM all the way to Lunar Orbit, testing out the maneuvers and photographing potential landing sites Apollo 9 tested the Lunar Module (or LM, which they pronounced "Lem") in Earth Orbit, testing both descent and ascent stages (the LM was basically two pieces) Apollo 10 took the CSM-LM combo to Lunar Orbit, and tested the approach maneuver and landing abort modes, to ensure safe emergency return Apollo 11 made the historic first landing on the Moon in the "Sea of Tranquility" Apollo 12 had a more specific landing, aiming for an unmanned probe (Surveyor III) which had been sitting on the surface for several years Apollo 13 was supposed to be the first truly exploratory mission to an area of suspected geologic interest in the Fra Mauro hills. Obviously, this didn't happen Apollo 14 went on to accomplish Apollo 13's objective, and was significant for the return of America's first astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, to spaceflight Apollos 15, 16, and 17 each aimed for trickier landing sites, volcanic ridges, mountain ranges, and deep valleys, exploring more vast areas with the help of the Lunar Rover Though Apollo's 18-20 were cancelled, the hardware was already built, so some of it was repurposed for other missions A Saturn IV-B booster stage (the third part of the launch rocket) was modified into the Skylab Space Station, and Apollo CSM's would make three visits over the course of two years, the last staying a full three months on board. The final Apollo to fly was the symbolic finish to the Space Race, called the "Apollo-Soyuz Test Project", where an American Apollo spacecraft and Russian Soyuz 19 docked together and the two rival nation crews came together and shook hands in orbit. After this mission in 1975, NASA would not reach space again until the very first Space Shuttle flight in 1981. Its kinda funny, the United States claimed victory in the Space Race with the moon landings, only to give Russia a six year long spaceflight monopoly after the program's conclusion. While Russia didn't reach the moon, they weren't idle. We may have had Skylab, but they had no less than four successful manned space stations (a couple more less-than-successful) and then finally piecing together what would become "Mir" (not sure if you recall that one), and after that, the International Space Station (ISS). These Russian stations were actually quite integral to this development, as the core module of ISS is of the same design as Mir's core, and four Salyut stations that came before it. I'd love to go into detail on those, but KZfaq would surely nab me on word count before long. There is just so much to research though, and every bit of it deserving of their own films or series' Project Mercury (USA), Vostok (USSR), Voskhod (USSR), Gemini (USA), Apollo (USA), Soyuz (USSR), Salyut (USSR), Space Shuttle or STS (USA), and it all goes on and on

I remember this like it was yesterday. Watched all of the launches as a kid (big space nerd) and this one had everyone glued to the TV/radio/newspaper as the whole nation was fearing for these 3 astronauts. The fact that they figured out a way to survive and bring themselves back home is truly amazing. Remember, they are also travelling through space at around 17,000 mph.

Mom kept us home from school that Friday. For them to get back alive was nothing short of miraculous. The real Jim Lovell has a cameo on the recovery ship dressed as a naval officer. Another excellent movie on the American space program was the 1983 movie "The Right Stuff". Ed Harris, who played Gene in Apollo 13, plays John Glenn in the movie. Amazing movie.

Watched all this LIVE on T.V. in school... Back then these were a BIG THING, so they brought t.v.'s into the classrooms so we could watch.

I lived through this as a kid and can still remember the radio silence and the relief when they reconnected.

I remember I saw this movie about a year after it came out. I rented it and brought it to my parents’ house on Thanksgiving weekend. We watched together, and my parents didn’t realize most of this, though they were young parents when this happened. Both my parents have since passed, but this film reminds me of that family moment, when we enjoyed watching it together ❤

One of my all-time favorites... I think this is Ron Howard's best movie. Despite knowing the outcome of the mission and despite seeing this movie now dozens of times, my hands imprint into the arms of my chair while watching this. I get nervous and tense EVERY... SINGLE... TIME. How is that possible? This movie is a masterpiece.

HIDDEN FIGURES is a must watch!!! Great movie about amazing African American Women who were instrumental in the space program and figuring out the math to get the space ship up and back and getting the new computer going and WE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THAT TILL THIS MOVIE!! It’s a great movie you’ll love it!!! Give these women their credit!!!

One of my favorite parts in the movie was when the grandma talked to the kids. Everyone was worried about her. And she turned out to be the strongest one of them all.

Jay made me laugh saying he was not sure if this was going to end badly. It was a true story so there was only one way it could end. Tom Hanks has been real smart hooking up with Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg for a lot of his movies. I’m old enough to have been glued to the TV for this and the Moon Mission but I’m still on the edge of my seat when I watch this. This had an incredible cast. Even Ron Howard’s father and brother were in it. You should check out Hidden Figures(true story) and The Martian(Not a true story). Both good movies about space.

I remember this. I was in my first year of High School, in New Zealand, where I grew up. We were glued to the TV, the radio, anything, to learn what was happening. The whole world stopped and waited, even the Russians. The experts said that it was highly unlikely that they could get home. It was an amazing time!

‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘The Right Stuff’ are two great films about the early days of the NASA space program that you should check out.

I love this movie. It brings back so many memories and as an adult I see the incredible skill and teamwork they had. I used the problem solving with the items on the craft as an illustration with my work team I was supervising on how to work together. They didn't get it. As an Army kid, I understand the mission mindset, many civilians do not. This movie is like old home week for me along with Ron Howard's great directing and a cast. I also feel for the wives. Being a military spouse is tough enough but to be in the spotlight during something like this is beyond. This is also shown in the movie "The Right Stuff".

Fred Haise is played by Bill Paxton, who is indeed in the movie Twister. Great actor. Rest in peace.

In the 80s it was still common for schools to bring everyone into the assembly room to see space shuttle launches. So, when the Challenger disaster happened, millions of children across the country, including myself, were at school and saw it happen live.

The reason they can make movies like this and they’re so real, amazing and surprising to us today is that these great events in American history aren’t taught anymore. The unbelievable things that men like this have done in the service of our country deserve to be recognized remembered and respected. There are superheroes in America. They may live right next door to you.

I'm an electrical engineer, and the "four more amps" scene stuck in my mind long before I chose that major in college. It might be the best example of the trope of "break the rules to solve the problem". And I love it every time I can pull off anything even remotely comparable by any stretch of the imagination. Since you enjoyed Apollo 13, I have to recommend "The Martian". It's 100% fictional vs. Apollo 13 being based on a true story, but it hits the same crucial dramatic notes of the realistic danger of space travel.

Ron Howard’s Dad was the priest. His mother was Lovells Mom and his brother was one of the analysts at the Houston Command Center

Fun fact: The woman who played Jim Lovell’s (Tom Hanks) mother was in fact Ron Howard’s (the director of this film) mother. Ron Howard’s brother, Clint Howard, is also in the film. He played the technician monitoring the Environmental panel that told them they had to shut the react valves. So glad you chose this movie to react to, it’s a banger! For more about the early space program, watch Hidden Figures with Kevin Costner (starred in Dances with Wolves).

Another great film about the space program is The Right Stuff from 1983. It's essentially a history of how it developed and the early launches. It's a long film (3 hours) but well worth a reaction.

When I saw this movie I relived a week of my life. We were riveted to the TV until the guys got home. So many people worked so hard to make it happen. For the movie Ron Howard pulled out all the stops, even putting the mock CM and LM in the Vomit Comet. Those weightless scenes were real. It was so fun watching you guys react to it! Your responses remind me of what we all felt at the time.

I was a kid when this happened. We lived in a rural area and only got 4 TV stations, which would end their broadcast day around midnight. This was the first time that some stations reported 24 hours a day. Great reaction. Thanks.

When Apollo 13 came out in theaters I didn't go see it. My thinking was why am I going to go see a film when I already know what happens. When I saw it years later I was so impressed with it. It is an ensemble cast and every performance is nearly flawless, the direction and production is incredible. It is just a great American film and I realized why sometimes you go see something even when you already know what happens.

I watched this in the theater when it first came out. A large portion of the audience was my age or older so most of us saw this happen in real time on TV. Even though we all knew how it turned out there was so much cheering and clapping when they splashed down. Shows how well made this movie was. The same tension was felt as when it happened. Also, there was laughter when they pulled out the slide rules. We learned how to use them in HS.

Apollo 13 is just a amazing story and they did a fantastic job telling the story in this movie. I’m glad you finally got the chance to watch this movie

Kinda guessing you guys didn't know this was a true story. Enjoyed the reaction. Lived near Space Coast for almost 2 decades, and had the pleasure of seeing tons of launches of many different types of vehicles, from Space Shuttle to general satellites. Saw them from work, the beach, getting gas, and yes, made many trips to viewing areas. Each one makes you smile and leaves you just a bit awestruck.

I was 7 years old when these events took place. I was completely enamored with the entire Space Program for my whole short life. To this day, I still have my scrapbook with all my newspaper clippings every Apollo mission. I am 61 years old now. And I still remember how the entire world came together to pray for the safe return of these astronauts. Every news clip in this film is from actual broadcasts. The fact that this is a true story, and they made it back is nothing short of a miracle. Especially if you know anything about the mathematics involved. I had an uncle who was a physicist who actually worked on the Apollo program. I'm not going to pretend I understood all the math, but it is very precise. As always I really appreciate Amber feels everything. Thoroughly enjoyed this reaction.

In the 60s my grandfather worked in construction at Cape Canaveral. He was there for some fatalities early in the Apollo program. As kids we would visit the grandparents during a rocket launch and watch it from Cocoa Beach. I still associate the sight of those rockets with the smell of Coppertone lotion and the endless amounts of sand that we kids somehow wore all the way from the beach to the bathtub.

Fun fact: jack black’s mom was one of the engineers of the LM system that got the crew of 13 home. She actually corrected an issue with the LM guidance system from the hospital when she went into labor with him. That system saved these guys.

I met Jim Lovell at a company event where he discussed the problem solving techniques that they used both on the ground and in the command module. Absolutely thrilling and an honor to hear it from the man who was there.

There’s some amazing facts about the technology back during the Apollo program. The latest phones typically have 4GB of RAM. That is 34,359,738,368 bits. This is more than one million (1,048,576 to be exact) times more memory than the Apollo computer had in RAM. The iPhone also has up to 512GB of ROM memory. That is 4,398,046,511,104 bits, which is more seven million times more than that of the guidance computer. The processor of a modern smartphone is 100,000 faster than Apollo 13s.

We lived it. We watched every launch & re-entry. My boyfriend's sister's husband was a NASA Scientist in Houston during this. 1967+ You have more technology in your cell phone then they had. •I kept my son home from elementary school so we could watch the Challenger Launch Together like my family used to do. Oh No! It was horrible. 1986 •My son went to a launch at Cape Canaveral. 1996 •When my son was in college I was at his apartment sleeping on his couch and I heard a noise and jumped up and turned the TV on...... Columbia blew up on reentry and my son got up and we watched. 2003

I will always watching space launches , been doing it since 1957 on tv . the world prayed for them ...

The guy at the first meeting talking about "we need to save power", called a "steely-eyed missile man", also saved Apollo 12, which was struck by lightning on launch and damaged its primary signal control electronics, so all anyone could see was garbage data. They were about to abort until John Aaron, the engineer with glasses, said "Try SCE to 'aux'." and astronaut Al Bean, who was a last-minute replacement, was the only one who knew what that meant, which was a switch above his head. It saved the entire 2nd landing on the Moon.

It tells a lot about the state of public schools when grown adults did not even know about Apollo 13. It is sad. As soon as they took it off TV, that's when people began to forget all about it. The great thing about the movie is that you get to see the inside story of what happened in the ship that we could not see and knew nothing about. I lived in Florida where I could see the launches without leaving my home. That was great .... until Challenger. I stood outside my home and watched the Challenger launch ....... and then blow up mere minutes after launch. Everyone around me was trying to figure out happened, but I realized what it was. I ran back into the house and looked at the TV (yes, the big box TV just like in the movie) where I had left on the news and heard my greatest fear confirmed: Challenger had exploded. No survivors. It was the saddest moment, and yes, I cried. The space program was one of the greatest achievements we have done as a country, and our own government basically cancelled it. We got lulled into a false sense of security, that it would just be the same ole same ole, launch after launch. And then Apollo 13 happened, then the Challenger happened, and there were other space capsules that blew up before Apollo 13 and didn't make it. But no one remembers much of it. There are even people who claim we never went to the moon. It's so sad, the condition we have fallen into. This is what happens when ALL of history is not taught, and taught accurately!. I am so glad you guys got to watch this and see real history. Now I challenge you to watch the movie "Hidden Figures." That will be a REAL eye opener for y'all! One of my very favorite movies, along with Apollo 13. You will be blown away, gauranteed. 👍

Since you asked: I was actually at several launches, but in the control center for the payload (satellites, I was working on the mission control system). This is of course not comparable to a manned flight, but the mission control people are generally always cool and problem solving oriented. There are a lot of procedures for all kinds of situations prepared, but of course you cannot foresee everything, so they are actually trained for quick problem analysis and coming up with solutions. One time we had a satellite successfully launched, after separation from the rocket got the first signal, the operators tried to command it to startup its operation mode but it refused all commands. After 3 ground station contacts (low earth orbit sats are only visible for limited time, in this case about 8 minutes, then its usually gone for 30 min to 1.5 hours), the operators got creative and brought it to accept the commands. They actually used a hack in the mission control software that I added for test purposes, which was undocumented and I had even forgot about. But they still remembered it and used it to patch the outgoing commands on the fly so that the satellite did accept them, so a quite creative solution. There is actually also a real story about Apollo 12, the mission right before the one in the movie: on the launch the rocket flew through clouds and was strike by a lightning. Almost all alarms went off and there was total chaos, until one operator told the crew to "turn SCE to AUX" (SCE = signal conditioning equipment). At first they didnt even know where this switch was as it was right behind the shoulder of one of the astronauts in the command module. They switched it and could continue the flight including landing on the moon. Also a very creative and fast solution to fix a problem that would otherwise most probably have caused a mission abort. There are now t-shirts and coffee mugs with "set SCE to AUX" in the space community as an insider joke. I love this movie and it is apart from a bit of dramatisation and quite some simplification for the sake of the viewers quite accurate. The real Jim Lovell is the Navy officer that shakes Tom Hanks hand at the end of the movie.

It ended the way it ended; this is history. I remember as these events were unfolding, we didn't know what was going on for a while. It is a testament to the human mind and spirit that disaster was averted and those men got home.And a reminder that astronauts areen't merely "rocket jockies"; they are brilliant, highly trained men & women with diverse knowledge of many fields of science & math. Ron Howard's movie captured all of that brillantly, and even knowing the outcome, the tension comes back.

Great reaction to one of my favourite movies. It always lifts me up to see what people are capable of in the direst of circumstances. Also I love Ed Harris's role as Gene - best mission commander you could wish for; "We're not gonna lose these men - so find me a way to make it happen."

When you talk about the math involved, I highly recommend you watch the movie Hidden Figures. It's about three of the women who manually calculated the trajectories of the original space missions and continued on into the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. In one famous scene, which was essentially real, John Glenn - the first American to orbit the earth - refused to fly unless "the girl" - mathematician Katherine Johnson - manually confirmed the calculations of the then new IBM computer.

I was a teenager when this happened. I remember hanging on hoping every hour. I remember a lot of people didn't hold out much hope. It was stressful and it brought the world together briefly.

22:46 This heartbreaking scene still brings me to tears. To be so close to your dream and have it taken away. Worst feeling ever. Apollo 13 is still my all time favorites. LOL

What makes this even more fun to discuss is all the research you can do on the mission and what really happened. This is a great film to watch with your girls.

Great reaction to an amazing true story! It really is something to see them do math by hand but that was because it was actually faster to use pen and paper than to use the computers at the time. It's hard to wrap your head around JUST HOW MUCH computers have improved, but the iPhone in your pocket is about 1,000,000 times more powerful than the computers on board Apollo 13. That's crazy to try and make sense out of that. Cheers.

😊 I lived through this historical event, knew the ending even before I watched this movie, and this movie still had me so emotional throughout the whole movie. Not only was the acting top notch, Ron Howard did a great job directing this movie. "Willow" is a great movie directed by Ron Howard too. Check that one out.

I remember seeing this as a small child with my Mom when it was in theaters. The entire theater stood up and gave an ovation when it was over.

One of the coolest parts of this is that the zero g scenes weren’t special effects. They were actually filmed in zero g. Absolutely fantastic. (And Kathleen Quinlan is one of the most elegant actors around.)

The launches were from Florida. Flight Control, which takes over the flight after the launch, was, and is, in Houston. Having lived through this, I can tell you that the entire world was united in watching this unfold. It was incredibly stressful for millions of people.

One of those very RARE perfect movies….everything works here and it doesn’t miss a single note.

I was a little kid during the Apollo program, and it captivated me. I studied the history, I knew the story of Apollo 13, and this movie has me on the edge of my seat every time I watch it. An amazing film.

It always amazes me how many reactors don't know that Apollo 13 actually happened so you go into the movie KNOWING that they're going to make it back, but HOW is the suspenseful part of watching the movie.

I was 10 years old. I remember crying my eyes out when the cameras picked up those parachutes heading towards the ocean. The whole world was watching this unfold. I can still remember the tension. I cannot CANNOT imagine what their families went through.

i swear, that darling little boy's "was it the door?" makes my eyes well up every single time.

If you like this, you'd probably also like the HBO miniseries "From The Earth To The Moon", produced by Tom Hanks. It is basically the follow-up to this moving, and covers the overall early space program (up until the Shuttle). I think it's twelve one hour episodes long, each one covering a mission/theme. It's really good.

I saw the launching of ‘Challenger’ in June 1983. It was Sally Ride (1st American woman in space) first time into space . They flew out of Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If you want to know what it was like, you need to listen to ‘Countdown’ by Rush. It explains it perfectly. (It’s an adrenaline rush and it’s deafening) Sadly that same shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986 and I remember watching it blow up live on tv and it was so sad, it still makes me sad and that was 37 yrs ago.

My husband worked at Cape Canaveral during the space shuttle era. We would just go outside, look up and watch the launches. I had my kindergarten outside for recess when Challenger launched. We were just so use to watching launches that it was no big deal to us. That all changed in an instant. Right before our eyes, the shuttle blew up. It was devastating to watch.

I remember watching all this unfold when I was 12 years old. The entire world held its breath waiting for a signal upon re-entry. My Mom was in tears for days prior to their arrival watching the news.....

Thanks for recognizing Bill Paxton from Twister. I've always enjoyed him as an actor. So sad how he passed. RIP

Our finest hour was the single biggest moment of the film and you just brushed over it. The rescue of the Apollo 13 astronauts IMO was the finest hour for all of humanity.

As a Houstonian it’s the command center NASA has in Houston, the launch sites were always in Florida until they got shut down following the space shuttle Columbia explosion. That was the last shuttle to launch out of Florida.

Now go watch "The Right Stuff" which also had Ed Harris... the Mission Control boss... as one of the astronauts.

Not sure if you guys noticed, but the actress that played Mary Haise, Fred's wife, is Tracy Reiner. She played Betty 'Spaghetti' Horn from A League of Their Own, which was directed by her mother Penny Marshall.

I remember this just like it was yesterday. Gene Kranz was a true leader. He, the technicians at NASA, and the astronauts all came together for a common goal of getting the capsule back to earth.