In
cinematic terms, you can think of it as a prequel to either First Man or
Apollo 13. There is about to be wall-to-wall programming commemorating
the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon on PBS and
the Smithsonian Channel (but somehow the History Channel never heard of it),
but in a clever shift of focus, this film chronicles the previous Apollo
mission that arguably did the most to make the Moon Landing possible. Veteran
astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders explain how it
happened, step-by-step in Paul J. Hildebrandt’s documentary First to the
Moon, which releases today on DVD.
Lovell
and Anders attended the Naval Academy, whereas Borman was a West Point
graduate, so there was definitely a little rivalry there. Nevertheless, they
managed to work quite well together during the course of Apollo 8. Their
mission is somewhat overshadowed in many Americans’ minds by the successful Moon
Landing, but the feat of completely orbiting the Moon was immensely significant
at the time. In fact, Apollo 8 was moved up to beat a comparable Russian
mission.
The
Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to blast off atop the new Saturn 5 rockets
and they were the first to lay unaided eyes on the Moon’s surface. They also
brought back the iconic Moonrise photograph that was the subject of
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee’s terrific short doc. Best of all, they did it all before
the Soviets could.
Borman,
Lovell, and Anders all discuss Apollo 8 and their careers with NASA and the
military at great length on-camera. As it happens, the first half-hour or so is
devoted to their exploits as test pilots and Naval aviators. That might be too
much of a good thing for some viewers, but it definitely establishes their
personalities and their “right stuff” background.
Of
course, most space program junkies would want more material rather than less,
so the relatively long two-hour and one-minute running time will be A-OK with
them. In fact, Hildebrandt manages to shoe horn an awful lot of interesting
stuff into the film. It is all fascinating, except maybe for some of Anders’ New
Age ruminations. (There are times when he sounds like he is reading the lyrics
of Kansas’s “Dust in the Wind.”)
Hildebrandt
clearly knows his stuff, having previously helmed the important Fight for Space,
which provides a timely warning of the potential costs for allowing our
contemporary space program to atrophy into essential nothing. Sadly, Apollo 8
just seems so long ago, in so many ways. That is why well-produced
documentaries about the golden age of space exploration are always worth your
time and attention. Just like Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11, Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, and Last Man on the Moon, First
to the Moon helps stir the remnants of our national idealism and our shared
spirit of adventure. Highly recommended, First to the Moon releases
today on VOD.
