Review: A magnificent documentary, that defies conventions and exceeds expectations.
When one hears that about a documentary about the moon landing, there are certain expectations that come to the person's mind. They except there to be a narrator and various modern day interviews. None of this is present anywhere in this film. The majority is made of archival footage and audio recordings of NASA speaking to Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Director Todd Douglas Miller decided to present these historical records in a straight forward fashion. He used little of his own commentary, understanding that they were entertaining and engaging enough on their own. Watching this film, it is no wonder he decided to present the movie this way. Typical documentary conventions are never missed and the film is all the more of a cinematic experience foregoing them. Despite this film being made of various archival records, the film flows shockingly well. I never got the feeling once that I was a collection of historical documents. Rather I felt I was watching a complete and perfectly flowing narrative, like I would see in a fictional film. This is an incredible feat and should not be overlooked. The filmmakers not only found all this great archival footage and recordings, but put them all together perfectly to create one cohesive whole. More than this the footage and recordings are incredible in their own right and are just as exciting (and often even more) as anything you would see in any typical Hollywood blockbuster.
The only entering any form of commentary on the action comes from Matt Morton's musical score. At times this musical score makes this commentary in a subtle way, but at other times the music is pretty darn intense. Personally to me the music works and never feels out of place. This music is of a very emotional sort, yet it is always at the service of what we see on screen and never becomes distracting or calls too much attention to itself. The focus remains on the footage itself as it should be.
What makes the moon landing so powerful and exciting, even today when we know what happened is that it is a true testament to what humankind can accomplish. While we always think of the astronauts, this was not a mission completed by just three men as this movie shows. Watching this it becomes apparent that we as human beings can truly accomplish incredible feats when we all work together. That may sound corny, but it is true and it is something we all want to believe. This movie will certainly make you believe that and provide you with a unique and highly entertaining cinematic experience as well. Don't miss it.
-Michael J. Ruhland
No comments:
Post a Comment