Moon Shot (1994) (TV)

Director:

Kirk Wolfinger

Writers:

Jay Barbree (book)
Howard Benedict (book)

Release Date:

7 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The greatest adventure of mankind

Plot Keywords:

Skylab | Space Race | Astronaut | Competition | Biblical Passage

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win

Cast

Barry Corbin	...	Narrator / Deke Slayton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alan Shepard	...	Himself (archive footage)
Deke Slayton	...	Himself (archive footage)

Runtime:

USA:188 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

TBS Productions Inc.

The Real Stuff

It's ironic that the film Star Wars premiered only a very few years after the last Apollo flight. Of course, Star Wars became one of the greatest commercial successes in film history. The Apollo program died, because people weren't interested anymore. Perhaps many of us like to fantasize about space more than really doing something about going there. However, there was a time when that wasn't so. Moon Shot is an absolutely superb documentary about how the space program went from a short flight of fifteen minutes to man walking on the moon in less than a decade. Through interviews with some of the astronauts from that period, it also shows that people who ventured into space were just that-real people. They were not named Darth or Luke, nor were they the offspring of intergalactic royalty. The didn't wear capes or spandex costumes or use the Force. Rather, they were named Al or Gus or John or Neil. They came from working class backgrounds in many cases (John Glenn's father was a plumber). They had families, mortgages, and car payments. They worked hard, and sometimes made mistakes. They also did great things. By telling what happened, and having some of them tell what happened, Moon Shot is a wonderful chronicle of their accomplishments.