Apollo 11 (2018) It finally made it to a theater close by and it was worth the wait. It really took me back to a time and place that are mere shadows in the depths of my memories. No pretentious narration, no talking heads. They let the actual footage and audio tell the story.

The graphics explaining the spacecraft maneuvers and trajectory bore an amazing resemblance to the early Atari vector graphic arcade game Lunar Lander. A game that drove me mad as I don’t think I ever made a successful landing. I wonder if Neil and Buzz ever played it? 😃

I have to give the filmmakers credit for sticking with footage strictly from this mission. I’m sure the temptation to use exciting shots from the later missions, (which had more film and video footage) to fill in the gaps must have been great.

With the 70mm screening of 2001 I saw last year still fresh in my mind, I was stunned there were two shots that are eerily similar. All the more mind blowing that these shots are the real thing.

Seeing guys in the crowd watching the launch wearing red RCA hats got me a bit choked up. AFAIK, my dad never had a hat like these, (the style seems very unusual for the era) and I wonder if he would have known or worked with these gentlemen on the earlier manned programs? I will probably never know.

Spotting two well known celebrities chatting with each other in the VIP crowd, (the film does not go out of it’s way to identify them) was great fun.