Runtime: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Who should see it? Anyone interested in space exploration.
Edited and directed by Todd Douglas Miller, Apollo 11 showcases restored never-before-seen footage of the famed lunar landing. With the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing quickly approaching, it's only fitting that a documentary about the Apollo 11 mission would be released this year. On July 20th, I expect to be decked out in red, white, and blue ready to celebrate by watching a double feature of First Man and Apollo 11 before the day's over. Yes, Apollo 11 is a fitting companion-piece to First Man that's also well worth seeing in IMAX, and I'll elaborate on that momentarily.
Last year I reviewed my very first documentary after seeing Won't You Be My Neighbor? in theaters. I then watch three of the Oscar-nominated documentaries ahead of that ceremony but didn't review them because of the time crunch. However, this year I'm going to make an effort to watch more films I usually wouldn't see in theaters. Central among those being documentaries. Given that First Man was my favorite film of last year, I was intrigued by the prospects of an Apollo 11 documentary. So since it had a warm reception at Sundance and will only be in theaters for a limited week-long IMAX engagement, I figured it would be worth a trip to the multiplex. Boy was I right.
First and foremost, I must say the picture restoration here is PHENOMENAL. 65mm film is restored to a pristine, crisp image with all the grain cinephiles could ever hope to see in IMAX. At first glance, you'd think most of this was captured within the past decade because the picture quality is that good. Most of all, I'm amazed at how much footage was even available to Miller, as there were plenty of shots I'd have thought were impossible to capture at the time (notably some tricky aerial perspectives of the rocket). Nevertheless, it's all authentic archival footage, and it looks incredible!
Unlike most other documentaries, Apollo 11 doesn't employ narration or interviews as a framing device for the feature. Instead, audiences will watch the mission play out in various stages and hear actual commentary from mission control, a news-broadcast, or the astronauts themselves. Viewers will witness the real-life events unfold in a condensed hour and thirty-three minutes. This can make the experience feel a bit cold at times since there's no supplemental material to pad out the runtime and provide an additional perspective, but that also stands out as a novelty of the documentary.
I think it pairs nicely with First Man because the two films explore similar subject matter through vastly different means. First Man depicts a personal account of those events while Apollo 11 details an objective perspective. Also, if you were one of those who needed to satisfy your primal urge to see the planting of the American flag, this doc has you covered.
As I mentioned earlier, Apollo 11 will only be in theaters for a limited week-long IMAX engagement, so if this piques your interest, blast off to see it in theaters before it's gone because this documentary's out of this world!
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