Apollo 11 (2019)

Elevator Pitch: In 1961 President John F. Kennedy announced a programme of space exploration to terminate in the planting an American flag on the moon, and so the work was done and the Saturn V rocket with the various components of the moon landing system on the top was launched, made its way to the moon, the first moon walk took place, the two astronauts returned to the command module and in time they returned to earth.

Content: The rocket is trundled along on a massive tracked carrier to the launch pad. The rocket takes off – stunning – contemporary diagrams are shown telling us how the command module and the lander are reconfigured for action, while travelling at 26,000 mph. Indeed there are readouts on the screen showing us time, speed and distance, the most arresting during the landing on the moon as we see the fuel running out. We also visit of mission control in Houston and the crowds watching both the take-off and return.

A View: This is not quite a drama because we know that the mission is successful, and also that a number of other landings followed, but it is still riveting. The overall impression I got was that it was absolutely crazy, and we have to face it, the only reason it was done was to extend the finger to the Russians, but I saw the original landing on TV and don’t remember feeling like that at the time. In conclusion, I agree with the critics who tell you to get out there and buy a ticket for a showing at the largest screen you can find.

Additional Info: At the time the Russians were also engaged in moon exploration using unmanned probes, and on the same day as the Americans landed a Russian probe, Luna 15, crashed into the surface.