When? apollo 13 Hit theaters in 1995, audiences were captivated by the entertaining retelling of one of NASA’s most dramatic missions. But what made the film so compelling was that the man at the center of the real-life story helped make sure the details were right.
Drama directed by Ron Howard, which is ranked on IMDb The greatest historical films of all timeIt earned widespread praise for its authenticity and received nine Academy Award nominations, winning two Oscars.
The real Jim Lovell helped bring the story to life
Instead of just handing over the rights to your story to the astronauts. Jim Lovell played an active role in bringing apollo 13 on the big screen.
After collaborating with journalist Jeffrey Kluger on a 1994 book Lost Moon: The Dangerous Journey of Apollo 13Lowell worked closely with Howard throughout production to make the film as accurate as possible.
He even welcomed Tom Hanks to his Texas home and flew the actor in his private airplane while helping him prepare to play the veteran astronaut. Hanks also spent more than four hours aboard NASA’s famous “Vomit Comet,” the aircraft used to simulate weightlessness, to better understand what astronauts experience during space flight.
Lovell originally hoped to have Kevin Costner play him due to their physical resemblance, but Hanks’ performance was ultimately approved.
accuracy was the top priority
The production went to remarkable lengths to recreate the Apollo 13 mission.
Astronaut Fred Haise consulted with the sound department to ensure that the spacecraft’s alarms and instruments sounded authentic, while engineers painstakingly built replicas of the command and lunar modules, recreating nearly every detail of the originals.
The focus on realism was in stark contrast to the earlier 1974 television film about the mission, Houston we have a problemwhich Lowell criticized as “disrespectful” to the astronauts and mission control team because it took significant creative liberties with the true story.
By comparison, Lowell praised Howard’s approach.
“Ron Howard really followed it,” he later joked, adding that any other filmmaker would have “put this thing on Mars with David Bowie or something like that.”
apollo 13 It remains one of the most famous space films of all time and is earning praise for balancing Hollywood storytelling with historical accuracy. the film holds a It has a 92% critics score and 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. And it is regularly included in lists of the greatest films ever made.
