Spacecraft Films on DVD

Fans of the "space race" from the 1960’s will love this new DVD library from 20th Century Fox.

The collection consists of four titles, at least initially, each of which is a three disc set. Alas, we only received the first disc from each title and that left us salivating for more. This is a hint, good people at Fox!

The four titles are: Project Gemini - a Bold Leap Forward, Apollo 8 - Leaving the Cradle, Apollo 11 - Men on the Moon, and The Mighty Saturns - Saturn 1 and 1B. Each is presented in its original 4x3 aspect ratio, which isn’t 16x9 TV compatible, and features very good Dolby Digital audio.

If your only memories of this exciting time in human history are from such movies as “The Right Stuff” and “Apollo 13,” you’ve made an excellent start. But this collection isn’t Hollywood-ized versions of the truth, it’s as close to the unvarnished truth as you’re likely to find. And if you’re a rabid space fan, you’ll find lots here that you probably haven’t seen before.

It’s terrific!

Since we only received the first disc of each title we can’t really do a full review, but we will tell you that each of these sets is well worth the money, judged upon what we've seen.

Project Gemini (which was always mispronounced as “Geminee,” and is here, too) is probably the least well known of the NASA projects. Sandwiched between the groundbreaking single-person Mercury missions (the subject of “The Right Stuff”) and the legendary Apollo missions that put humanity on the moon, it was America’s two-man series where space flight began to be perfected. It was during project Gemini that the US first accomplished “space walks,” learned to work outside in space, dock spacecraft (which was vital to the success of the moon missions and just about everything that came later), extended Mankind’s visits from hours to days, and generally pushed the outside of the technological envelope.

Disc one gives you a quick overview of the entire project, using extensive film footage shot by the astronauts during the actual missions. You also get a set of extras that look at such stuff as desert survival training, a look at Gus Grissom and Wally Schirra, and spacecraft and rocket development.

Apollo 8 was the first mission to actually reach - but not land on - the moon. I remember well the Christmas, 1968 voyage where Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders sent back live pictures from orbit around the moon, and broadcast a warm Christmas message.

The DVD features on-board film footage, voice recordings, and other footage of the mission from preparation through launch, extraordinary record-breaking journey, and right to splashdown. It’s also great stuff and as with the other discs the picture quality is very good (though not anamorphic), as is the sound.

Apollo 11 was The Big One, the first attempted landing on another heavenly body. I always felt sorry for Michael Collins, who had to stay in orbit around the moon in the command ship while Buzz Aldrin and, especially, Neil Armstrong went down to the surface and into the history books.

And, except for a handful of other Apollo astronauts who followed, the human race then abandoned its exploration of the moon and as of this writing there are still no announced plans to return.

What a shame; what wasted opportunities.

The Mighty Saturns looks at the gigantic rockets that lifted the Apollo missions from the Earth. Once called the most complex machine ever developed, the Saturns had the task not only of lifting the astronauts and their command module, but the lunar module as well.

The DVD includes original programming as well as exclusive interviews on the development and deployment of these massive machines.

The Saturns had their swan song with the end of Apollo, made obsolete by the advent of the now old tech space shuttle, but in their day there was nothing like ‘em.

As mentioned, we wish we’d had a chance to see all of the discs in this collection – but judging by how much we enjoyed the first discs we’re confident that this set will be welcome by space cadets everywhere.

Spacecraft Films, from 20th Century Fox Home Video
full frame format, Dolby Digital

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think