Apollo 13-Its Not Rocket Science
Subtract a couple of failures here and there, such as Edtv and Ron Howard's directing career has been fairly consistent. Apollo 13 is definitely one of his best efforts and he did receive a Academy Award nomination for his work. What is particularly admirable about Apollo 13 is that it focuses on the true story of a overlooked piece of history. Up until the release of Apollo 13 most Americans and movie goers around the world were largely unaware of the fact that the thirteenth Apollo mission almost never made it back to earth from the moon in one piece.
Apollo 13 does a fantastic job in giving audiences some clue what being on an Apollo mission must have been like. No quality film can really make the grade without strong or fantastic performances from its actors and Apollo 13 is no exception. Tom Hanks, who at this point still cared about doing a good job on the films for which he took a paycheck, turns in a great performance in Apollo 13 as Jim Lowell. In fact, much of the success of the film must be attributed to the simply exceptional cast and their exceptional performances. Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris all bring their “A-games” and are simply not just showing up looking for a way to pay for a larger Malibu mansion or newer Ferrari.
Howard and crew manage to pull off what is increasingly rare in Hollywood, a great film. Everything works from the fine script and visual effects to the score and cinematography that add a great polish to the final work. Again, Howard must be congratulated for Apollo 13 as he realizes that he has a strong, compelling script that doesn't need to be dressed up more than is called for on the page. All these elements combine to make Apollo 13 and its characters and situations feel real and substantial to viewers as compared to the formulaic manipulations of so many other films.
Impressively, Apollo 13 cost in the neighborhood of $50-$60 million dollars, which is a very reasonable budget for the final product on the screen. Somewhere around $50-$60 million goes in and roughly $300 million comes out and the final product is something everyone can be proud of? Apollo 13 could teach a lot of the old dogs taking up space, collecting paychecks for doing nothing and humiliating desperate women on casting couches in studios office all over LA that it can be done, it just takes a little imagination in terms of what scripts get made, who you hire and how hard you work. Its really not rocket science, no matter what you tell yourself.
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