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Apollo 13 (Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Ron Howard
Actors: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris
Studio: Universal Studios
List Price: $12.98
Buy Used: $3.87
You Save: $9.11 (70%)
Rating:  332 reviews
Format: Ac-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 140 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD20023D
ISBN: 0783219695
UPC: 025192002328
EAN: 9780783219691
ASIN: 0783219695
Theatrical Release Date: June 30, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, when the Apollo 13 crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton play (respectively) astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise in director Ron Howard's intense, painstakingly authentic docudrama. The Apollo 13 crew and Houston-based mission controllers race against time and heavy odds to return the damaged spacecraft safely to Earth from a distance of 205,500 miles. Using state-of-the-art special effects and ingenious filmmaking techniques, Howard and his stellar cast and crew build nail-biting tension while maintaining close fidelity to the facts. The result is a fitting tribute to the Apollo 13 mission and one of the biggest box-office hits of 1995. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com
Relying primarily on actual footage shot by NASA and by news organizations, this video documents the drama of the aborted Apollo 13 mission, in which three astronauts came close to losing their lives in space. The actual recording of commander Jim Lovell telling Houston about the "problem" made famous in the Hollywood version of Apollo 13 is presented, and the scenes showing distressed engineers in the actual control room in Houston are in some ways much more dramatic than anything seen on the big screen. This is, after all, reality, with real people scrambling under intense pressure to save real lives. Besides the footage inside mission control, the video also showcases invaluable flight footage shot by the astronauts aboard the crippled spaceship. This video takes an essentially chronological approach, but the technique of using the crew's postflight news conference to serve as narration, while it is at first confusing, serves a useful purpose. This is a no-frills production, but the excitement as NASA engineers mobilize and the whole world watches the news about the stricken spaceship is so gripping that any flourishes would only seem to get in the way. --Robert J. McNamara
Product Description
For the crew of apollo 13 it was a dream trip of a lifetime. Their mission was to stroll the moons surface and collect data. That is until a sober message came from space: houston we have a problem. The world watched in silence for four days as the crews worked around the clock to bring the space capsule back. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/22/2008 Starring: Tom Hanks Kevin Bacon Run time: 103 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Ron Howard
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Great movie, great DVD, great price - how can you go wrong? January 5, 2009
Craig MACKINNON (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)
It seems impossible to think that an Oscar-nominated film (in several major categories) could be considered "under-rated." But this is certainly the case with Apollo 13. Perhaps Ron Howard's best film, it is an exciting, harrowing, and ultimately rewarding film-watching experience that doesn't let you down on repeated viewings. Howard brings out the most in his cast - the casual viewer will be surprised at the depth and nuance the performances of Gary Sinese and Bill Paxton. This is also Kevin Bacon's breakout role (with Mystic River). I would even go so far as to say this might be Tom Hanks greatest performance - yes, even better than "Philadelphia", "Forrest Gump", or "Saving Private Ryan" (it is most similar to the last, perhaps unsurprisingly as his Apollo 13 character is an Air Force officer). But the performances are only part of the puzzle. The filming - much of it in sets built for microgravity filming in a NASA training plane - is a remarkable feat of cinematic sleight of hand, and I am still shocked and dismayed that Howard did not win the "best director" Oscar. There has never been a movie that uses special effects so effectively as this one.
The story is likely well-known to most: the 3rd American mission to the moon suffers a catestrophic failure when a fuel cell blows up, leaving the three astronauts aboard with little power and no hope of rescue. Howard dishes out the drama in stages, as first the oxygen tanks leak out, to the temperature dropping, to erratic course corrections, to gradual poisoning of the atmosphere on the ship by respired carbon dioxide. He does not neglect the peripheral members of the NASA team, and pays special attention to Lovell's wife and family. The IMAX version, some 15 minutes shorter, is also included on this Anniversary Edition. It's instructive to note that the longer version is a more effective film, since he spends more time developing the relationships that allow us to care for the characters.
For those that have seen the movie many times, I would direct them to the making-of features as a reason to buy this bargain-priced DVD. Of most interest to me was the audio commentary by Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell. He is candid about where the film fails to accurately portray either the science or the details of the actual mission, while Ron Howard's commentary explains why these changes were made cinematically (as an example - the film shows Mattingly in the simulator exclusively, while in reality there were three simulators and teams of astronauts working in them all simultaneously). Lovell's wife Marilyn (portrayed by Kathleen Quinlin in the film) is also part of the commentary, and her input is equally valuable. One amusing part is the discussion of miniskirts:
Jim: "Hey, they dressed Kathleen in miniskirts through this whole movie. Did you really wear them that much?"
Marilyn: "Well, it was the style at the time..."
To sum up, this is a 5-star movie on a 5-star DVD.
"I look up at the moon and wonder: 'When will we be going back, and who will that be?'" December 30, 2008
Steven K. Szmutko (EWING, NJ USA)
APOLLO 13 is one of those wonderfully crafted films, where the climax carries no surprise, no plot twists, no unexpected revelations, yet is immensely satisfying.
Directed by Ron Howard, the splendid cast led by Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Bill Paxton, Kathleen Quinlan and a host of others, combine in an absorbing, riveting story of the space program's finest hour - the triumph of human ingenuity in the face of overwhelming technical failure.
The crew of Apollo 13 faces certain death, when a catastrophic explosion in the service module threatens to transform the command module into a floating sepulchre. By their wits, and that of the dedicated ground crew, they use the lunar module as a lifeboat, while a cadre of dedicated professionals devises a way to bring the fragile craft back to earth.
The technical aspects of the film are splendid, and Mr. Howard recreates the images and feelings of those heady days of the space program. The widescreen presentation is the only way to go. Special effects complement the story perfectly: they are wholly satisfying without the gratuitous excess so common in more recent movies. The pacing and dialogue are impeccably timed as the NASA team - crew and support - overcome challenge after challenge in the desperate drive to bring Lovell (Hanks), Haise (Paxton) and Swigert (Bacon) home to earth.
The drama succeeds on many levels. First, the actors in large roles and small are thoroughly believable - even when incidents and events are heightened for dramatic effect, they are completely credible. Second, the dialogue (for anyone familiar with engineers, pilots, corporate managers, bureaucrats, etc.) is realistic. Third, the writing is crisp, the timing perfect and the interplay among all levels of characters is exact.
The Special Edition has a number of exceptional features, including Ron Howard's commentary, Jim and Marilyn Lovell's audio, and the intriguing documentary on the making of the film.
APOLLO 13 is, in my opinion, Ron Howard's best work - and given his other films, that is really saying something.
 Apollo 13 December 28, 2008
Julie Gehring (Salem, Oregon)
The DVD doesn't work. It's an HD DVD and we tried it on 3 DVD players in our house. I'm very disappointed that it is defective.
"Houston,we have a problem!" December 14, 2008
Amaranth (Northern California)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Apollo 13" is a cinematic classic. It was one of Ron Howard's first films, and still has resonance today. The Apollo 13 mission was ill-fated from the start. One of the crew was grounded,assumed to be ill. Jim Lovell's (Tom Hanks) wife lost her wedding ring. Yet the mission still went on.
"Apollo 13" shows the gripping adventure on board the spaceship. It was a life and death struggle. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon skillfully depict the crew's loyalty and squabbling. Their struggle to orbit the Moon- as well as return home alive- captured the world. People united in prayer. It's an inspirational story. Ed Harris is great as the grounded crewmember who famously said,"Failure is not an option!"
"Apollo 13" is powerful and inspiring. It launches the soul.
Great Movie November 13, 2008
Samuel R. Darr (Gainesville, FL USA)
This movie is just superb. The story is great, acting is great, and the historical accuracy is perfect. I loved the attention to detail that went into this movie. Definitely a must see even if you're not a space or NASA buff.
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