Apollo 11 – A 70mm Film Review

After The First Man made history with its Oscar win and before Captain Marvel returns to cinemas, Apollo 11 is an eye-opening documentary on America’s inaugural moon landing mission, using previously unseen 70mm footage to tell its tale.

Incredible footage brings astronauts to life and shows there were many moments that nearly cost their lives for this journey to succeed.

The Story

Apollo 11 remains one of the most intriguing stories in modern history. Over one billion people worldwide witnessed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step foot onto the moon – an event which would profoundly change all our lives for decades to come.

This new film honors this momentous event, yet goes beyond traditional account to offer an engaging cinematic experience that requires viewers to engage with its many moving parts. An epic documentary film, it takes audiences back through 1969 when American astronauts first reached the surface of the moon.

While working on a short film about another lunar mission, filmmaker Todd Douglas Miller and his team “discovered” an abundance of footage in NASA archives that was never intended for release – both large-format film that had been shot prior to previous missions as well as reels of 70mm footage which went unused from Gemini and Apollo missions.

The film team initially started scanning and digitizing their collection, but quickly evolved beyond filmmaking into curation and preservation. Partnering with the National Archives allowed for them to digitize rare footage available for viewers.

This collaboration marked an innovative effort from the Archive’s Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch – usually working with various partners to provide public access to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) films and images – but allowed it to work at an increased speed and expand beyond network documentaries, educational films, home movies or other film interpretations.

This monumental documentary captures all of the excitement, terror, and wonder that occurred during those pivotal days that forever altered our planet. Wide-screen format and IMAX make for an unparalleled viewing experience worthy of what is celebrated here.

The Visuals

Todd Douglas Miller and his team collaborated with Nasa and the National Archives on an ambitious archival footage revitalization project, curating and rejuvenating an incredible volume of archival footage to produce this movie which places you right at the core of America’s greatest mission – without being an instructional history lesson but instead providing an engaging event film accompanied by a magnificent cinematic score.

This film utilizes multiple angles and perspectives on Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins as they launch and land their spacecraft, providing an experience as thrilling and captivating as any Hollywood blockbuster. But at the same time it shows just how many things had to go perfectly right for this historic mission to succeed; detailing several harrowing or potentially lethal problems which nearly doomed them all along the way.

Like many historical footage films, Apollo 13 stands out by not distracting you with narration or talking heads that could take away from what’s happening on screen. That decision was certainly wise given how this tale not only involves three individuals heading toward space exploration but also shows how thousands of people had to work seamlessly together for that goal to come true.

Miller’s team made sure to incorporate wide angle, HD footage that gives an overview of this grand endeavor – it looks spectacular now as much as when first shot back in 1969!

Miller and his team have restored incredible footage from Kennedy Space Center crowds who came out to witness the launch. These scenes provide a captivating, moving and unforgettable portrait of an America that seems long since gone (Penney’s logos, all-white SUVs), yet which lives on in our hearts today.

As Apollo 11 nears its conclusion, you will become entranced by this film that has held our imaginations captive for decades to come.

The Sound

Apollo 11’s archive footage is jaw-dropping, but director Todd Miller captures more than just visuals when creating this film without voice-over narration or talking heads: it captures humanity’s greatest achievements with amazing clarity.

President Kennedy pledged that America would land a man on the Moon before the end of this decade; Apollo 11 is testament to that promise fulfilled; moreover, its success marked more than just scientific accomplishment; it united Americans from across society into an unprecedented collective effort of unprecedented scale and scope.

Todd Miller and his crew, while shooting a documentary short titled The Last Steps, “unlocked” an untapped treasure trove of 70mm film reels from NASA’s archives that covered Gemini through Apollo missions. Originally intended for an MGM documentary called Moonwalk One that never got finished off as intended.

This film was captured using Kodak Ektachrome E F SO-168 film stock designed specifically for lunar photography. Coated at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York and shipped via NASA aircraft directly to Cape Kennedy for storage under refrigeration, it became part of our lunar record.

Oxberry’s 35 mm scanning system produced scans at 4410 samples by 3000 lines with 14-bit A/D conversion for an extremely detailed image as well as huge raw scan files (58 MB).

All audio from Mission Control was preserved, though not all was matched up with available film footage. To create the documentary film version, our movie team spent considerable effort sorting through archived recordings, selecting and matching up only those best moments with available film footage to create an eye-opening glimpse behind-the-scenes look at how Mission Control operates during every moment of an Apollo mission.

This result is a stunning film that immerses audiences into the room with astronauts as they prepare for launch, before transporting them on an emotional lunar trip. This remarkable experience shows just what it was like witnessing this historical event first-hand and reminds us not to take for granted the technology available today.

The Editing

Miller’s documentary captures that moment perfectly, making us feel what was surely felt in every person in attendance when the film first shown.

What makes this film remarkable is its absence of narration or traditional interview formats usually associated with documentaries in this genre. Instead, this approach creates the feeling that you are watching it unfold for the very first time without commentary from an outside source. This immersive approach brings audiences right into the mission itself as they experience it first-hand!

Miller’s documentary begins with the preparations leading up to launch of Apollo spaceship at Kennedy Space Centre and follows its journey until its landing on the moon itself. There is no commentary or new voiceover from any astronaut themselves, instead Miller has assembled an array of archive footage showing crew preparations as well as home movies, newsreels and film and video footage shot aboard Apollo spacecrafts by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Michael Schmitt – and then edited together by Miller into one complete narrative.

Sorting through and restoring the film archive has taken immense effort, producing some truly breathtaking shots of spaceships themselves. For the first time we are able to experience interior views of both Command Module Odyssey and Lunar Module Eagle; also seen close up is Eagle’s hatch opening up for viewing; footage of lunar surface itself will stay with viewers even long after credits have rolled.

Kodak Ektachrome MS (SO-368) film was used to record this original 70mm footage. Each roll was carefully cleaned using precise procedures to protect this historic material and scans produced a powerful film that gives us all a fresh perspective on this pivotal event in history.