Search - Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) on DVD

B.J. W. (analogkid01) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/5/2025...

"It's no miracle. We just decided to go."

Thirty years ago, one of the finest films ever made was released in theaters: Ron Howard's 1995 masterpiece "Apollo 13."

There are some amongst the younger generations who would watch the film and think "wow, cool story bro," completely oblivious to the fact that the entire thing is true and actually happened in the summer of 1970. I can say this with complete confidence because I've met at least one young person who presumed the whole thing was fictional.

So if you don't know the story: Apollo 13, the seventh of the 11 crewed Apollo missions, experienced a crippling explosion of one of its oxygen tanks a couple of days into its journey to the Moon. The crew of three (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and rookie Jack Swigert) had to scramble along with Mission Control to somehow get their wounded spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth safely.

"Failure is not an option."

First, the technical aspects of the film: Howard, along with his cast and crew, became obsessive students of the Apollo program and its machinery. Tom Hanks has related stories of studying Command Module and Lunar Module schematics in preparation for his role. To achieve the effect of weightlessness in space, Howard built sets in the "vomit comet," the KC-135 airplane that's specifically used for zero-g training (for 25 seconds at a time). Could they have just relied on wires on sound stages? Sure, and they did for a couple of sequences. But they went the extra mile and it paid off fantastically.

"If they have a problem with that, they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home on Friday."

Second, the script. Written by William Broyles and Al Reinert, the screenplay is based on Lovell's own biographical account, "Lost Moon." My only real nitpicks with the film are the occasional references to pop culture at the time - the Beatles breaking up, emphasizing President Nixon, that sort of thing. It provides cultural context but feels ham-fisted. But the characterizations of the key players are beyond reproach. Lovell is stoic and buries his own disappointment; Haise is a good-natured country bumpkin until he cracks under the pressure; Swigert swaggers from one scene to the next, protecting his ego as the "newbie" to the best of his ability - especially since he's the one who threw the fateful switch.

"Gentlemen, what are your intentions?"

Meanwhile, on the ground, Ed Harris's portrayal of chief flight director Gene Krantz earned him one of the film's shamefully few Oscar nominations (see note 1), and Marilyn Lovell (Katheen Quinlan) struggles to keep the family together despite the fraying of her own nerves. Gary Sinise turns in one of the best performances of his career as the luckiest unlucky bastard in the solar system, Ken Mattingly. Mistakenly grounded by the flight surgeon following a misdiagnosis of measles, Ken (along with steely-eyed missile man John Aaron) ultimately saves the crew by his tireless work in the simulator. Also, wonderful casting of the Mission Control team - including Ron Howard's brother Clint, and a cameo by Gabe Jarret of "Real Genius" fame!

"Houston, we have a problem."

So how do you build tension in a film when you already know how the story ends? You focus on the people (their strengths and weaknesses) and the technological assets and liabilities. We knew the story, but knew nothing about Lovell's life, Swigert's bachelorhood, Haise's growing family, Krantz's vests, the TV stations' indifference, the fuel cells, the center engine cutoff, the course correction, the oxygen scrubbers (rest in peace Ed Smiley), or the four-minute re-entry. The devil was truly in the details.

"We're proud, happy, and thrilled!"

My impression is that Apollo 13 was perceived as a nerds-only kind of film. Howard and crew were able to balance the technology and humanity to give the story a more universal appeal, which contributed to its box office success. It made way more than its budget back, and earned numerous award nominations, but very few wins. I'm not convinced the front-runners in 1995 (Braveheart, Babe, The Usual Suspects, Se7en), while decent films, really stand the test of time the way Apollo 13 has.

And also, it has to be said: Apollo 13 is a story of incredible heroics. These were men (yeah, men - NASA blundered by taking a shameful amount of time in diversifying their astronaut corps, but that's another tirade for another time) who leapt headfirst into the void in the name of exploration and scientific progress for the good of all humanity. There was no profit to be immediately gained, and very little narcissism in their efforts. They weren't too concerned about "clicks" or "views" or "influencing" anyone, they just went and did it. You can make a case that the whole effort was entirely political ("Gotta beat the Russians to the Moon!"), sure, but it's the sort of endeavor that we seem to have lost an appetite for over time. If there's no money to be made, we don't bother doing it anymore. You want to make America great again? Watch Apollo 13.

(1) Yes, the film received 9 Oscar nominations, and won two. Far too few for a film of this caliber.

Sharon F. (Shar) from AVON PARK, FL
Reviewed on 2/2/2022...

I found this movie to be very informative and exciting to watch. Great all-star cast.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 1/1/2021...

Classic space true story plotline with Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. A must watch for NASA and space travel fans!

Don't buy anything but the Special Edition DVD

tropic_of_criticism | 02/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Others have remarked well enough on the virtues of _Apollo 13_ as a film. What makes the Special Edition DVD worth its purchase price, however, are the tons of extras that you get. The story of the making of _Apollo 13_ is at least as interesting, if nowhere near as harrowing, as the actual moonshot itself, and this DVD gives you hours of material to walk you through that process. Anyone who's interested in filmmaking will be riveted by both the Ron Howard running film commentary and the hour-long "Making of" documentary. Perhaps even more intriguing is the Marilyn and Jim Lovell audio track, in which you get to hear how Lovell feels about Howard and Hanks made his movie. This is made all the more interesting and informative for the filmmaking student in that _Apollo 13_ wasn't just the retelling of Lovell's real-life experience, it's also the film version of his book. Getting his perspective both as narrative object and storyteller is fascinating, as are Marilyn's observations on Kathleen Quinlan's Academy-nominated performance. Combine all this with the superb technical brilliance of the encoding here, and you've got a DVD that's entirely worth the surprisingly modest price."

Good movie, good extras, nice price

K. Gittins | CA USA | 05/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Failure is not an option!". So says mission-control director Gene Kranz, played by Ed Harris, as mission control devises a way to get the astronauts safely home. Although initially viewed as a disaster (explosion in spacecraft which forces cancellation the the moon-landing mission), in reality it is a story of success due to resourcefulness. The astronauts must return to earth and splash down safely with only enough electrical power to run a coffee pot.Probably the best of director Ron Howard's movies, it is well acted by stars Tom Hanks (as Jim Lovell), Kevin Bacon (Jack Swigert), and Bill Paxton (Fred Haise) as the three space-bound astronauts, Gary Sinise (mission-bumped astronaut Ken Mattingly), Ed Harris (mission control Gene Kranz), and Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell). The movie was nominated for 9 Oscars including best picture, writing, supporting actor (Harris), supporting actress (Quinlan), music, and visual effects, and won for editing and for sound. There are a lot of special effects thoughout the movie, including the entirely-recreated lift-off sequence from a bird's-eye viewpoint. The weightlessness scenes were achieved by filming in a KC-135 airplane that did a series of parabolic climbs and dives, allowing about 25 seconds of filming at a time.An exciting 220 minute movie about one of the most-watched successful rescues in history, the DVD contains a good "making of" documentary, a commentary by director Ron Howard, and another by Jim and Marilyn Lovell. "Bill Paxton's home movies" were never located, and the "comparison with NASA footage" and the "extensive exploration of special effects" were brief parts of the "making of", not separate items. Text-based production notes and cast/crew blurbs, and a trailer. Undocumented feature is the isolated score which plays in its entirety at the main menu (can skip forward, but not backward, however). The 2.35:1 wide-screen movie has 56 (!) chapters. Highly recommend for fans of any of the actors listed above, the space program, or adventures in general."With all due respect, sir, I believe this will be our finest hour" - Gene Kranz"

A fine release with a few wrinkles

A. J. Thomas | Ohio | 04/15/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this is easily a five-star film. It's handsome, taut, and thoroughly engaging.



For picture and audio quality, this Blu-ray is obviously superior to prior releases. There is moderate film grain to the transfer, giving it a natural feel. The special effects (i.e. the launch sequence) receive the greatest benefit and the clearest visuals, but on the whole the film is beautifully rendered and, for these benefits, the Blu-ray is worth picking up.



I do concur, however, that this disc has some slight issues. It takes too long to load -- I timed it at roughly two minutes on my slim PS3. This is mildly annoying but comparable to other Universal and Disney releases. I was more annoyed that after waiting for the BD-Java to load, selecting "English," waiting for more loading, waiting for the menu to animate, and selecting the film that I was treated to a "social BLU" splash page asking me if I wanted my Facebook status updated. What aggravated me was that this admittedly brief interruption occurred after I had already selected to play the film, and it would seem that it will occur every time I choose to do so; it was an unwanted and, in my opinion, rather lame attempt to add "interactivity," if having your Blu-ray player post that you're watching a film on your Facebook wall can be considered as such. I would rather that this option could be turned off BEFORE I select to watch the film, and that this setting could be saved. Additionally, advertisements for other Universal products pop-up in the background of the menus, presumably for "shopping convenience" but really an irritating marketing gimmick. These so-called bonuses serve to make the general experience of navigating this disc feel very clunky.



Overall, the content in this package (which carries over most of the content from the last two-disc DVD) is fantastic, but the design of the disc's menus and bonuses suffers from baffling and annoying gimmicks that are mildly aggravating but hardly ruin the experience; you'll forget about the hiccups once the film starts and you're engrossed. If you are a fan of the film and have the necessary equipment to benefit from the technical improvements in this release, it is highly recommended.



But, Universal? In the future, either streamline your gimmicks or leave them off the disc. We purchase these to watch the films, not to update our social networks."