My Favorite Tom Hanks Movies - Apollo 13




Apollo 13 is one of those real life dramas that makes you stop and realize just how brave you need to be to venture into space, as well as needing to be able to react quickly in any situation and to be able to think outside the box.

The movie covers the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which was to be the 3rd manned landing on the moon, and features Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon as respectively as astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert.

This drama is expertly directed by Ron Howard who as always pays great attention to accuracy and detail, and brings to life the emotions of people around the world waiting for news updates after the mission went horribly wrong.

The movie captures the mood at Cape Canaveral during the launch, as well as showing Jim Lovell's Mom trying to watch the coverage from her nursing home, only to find that the launch had been bumped for a sporting event.

After a perfect launch, all is going well until an explosion damages the Apollo craft, making a lunar landing impossible.  Furthermore the craft is losing oxygen and the batteries are running low, so it's up to the crew, backup astronaut Ken Mattingly (played by Gary Sinise) and scientists at NASA to find a way to bring the three astronauts home alive.

The drama runs high, and although we all know the outcome of this true story, we are still left fingers clenched as the astronauts head for home, and we are also left marvelling at how man ever made it to the moon with the technology of the time.

I was in my mid teens when the Apollo 13 mission took place, and remember listening to the news broadcasts and hoping that they would all come home in one piece. I have since beet to Kennedy Space Center several times and seen a few Shuttle launches, and never cease to marvel at these great achievements.

For me Apollo 13 is not only one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies, it's also one of my favorite movies of all time.  It has an excellent cast, including Ed Harris and Chris Ellis in Mission Control in Houston, and I highly recommend it.

Top 25 Tom Hanks Movies

Apollo 13 on IMDB.com

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