This One Goes to 11

Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the first human walking on the moon. It's a milestone I expected to be celebrated in the news rather more than it was. But one way it was commemorated was in a documentary film released earlier in the year, Apollo 11.

The 90-minute film is comprised almost entirely of archival footage. (The only parts that aren't are a few very brief moments of rudimentary animation to show mission progress and illustrate a few spacecraft maneuvers.) It is a straight-forward look at the mission from launch to splashdown, without adornments (acknowledging, I think, that it doesn't need any).

This approach to the making of the film is both to its credit and detriment, depending on how you look at it. Because it features no narration and no interviews, the movie doesn't really convey much of a sense of authorial intent. Sure, there is an intent here: it's in choosing to assemble it this way, and in the choices of what's shown. But if you're expecting a documentary to express a strong point of view or message, you won't find one here.

On the other hand, by presenting this so matter-of-factly, the documentary becomes the closest possible thing to having actually been alive in 1969 to witness these events. It's an expansive picture of everything from the fashions of spectators watching the liftoff to the wonders of being a quarter-million miles from Earth. And it takes you through absolutely every major moment of the flight.

What's truly remarkable about the film is just how amazing the picture quality is. I was expecting images like the famous blown-out TV broadcast of Neil Armstrong's "one small step," or the grainy video footage the astronauts sent back mid-flight. But that's only a tiny bit of what's presented. A great deal of archived film has been exhumed, including some shot in 70mm. Other footage has perhaps been cleaned-up through modern processes. But by whatever alchemy, a great deal of what you see in this movie looks like it could have been shot yesterday -- as if an expensive Hollywood blockbuster spent a lot of time and money recreating 1969 for the big screen.

Apollo 11 enjoyed a brief run in theaters earlier this year, which included a handful of screenings in IMAX. I feel truly sorry to have missed it there, because was a breathtaking, emotional spectacle even watching it at home. I was swept up in that historic journey all over again, even with as much as I've read and seen about it over the years.

I give the documentary an A-. If you're at all a fan of space travel, this look back at its golden age and greatest achievement is sure to thrill you.