''In the Shadow of the Moon'' is a 2007 British documentary film about the United States'
crewed missions to the Moon.
After premiering at the
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007, in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' Chic ...
, where it won the World Cinema Audience Award, it was given a
limited release in the United States on 7 September 2007, and in Canada on 19 October.
Although the film shares its name
with a book by space historians
Colin Burgess and
Francis French
Francis French (born 1970) is a book and magazine author from Manchester, England, specialising in space flight history. He is a former director of events for Sally Ride Science, and a director at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
French's sp ...
that was also released in 2007, and both include many original interviews with Apollo lunar astronauts, neither work is a source of, or a tie-in to, the other.
Synopsis
The film tells the story of the crewed missions to the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
undertaken by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of the
Apollo program, with particular focus given to
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...
. The ten Apollo astronauts interviewed by the filmmakers for the film tell their story in their own words, supplemented by footage shot by the astronauts during the missions, archival footage and news reports about the Apollo program by the likes of
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
and
Jules Bergman
Jules Bergman (March 21, 1929 – February 12, 1987) was an American broadcast writer and journalist who served as science editor for ABC News from 1961 until his death in 1987. He is most remembered for his coverage of the American space pr ...
, and the occasional use of onscreen text.
Participants
Ten of the twenty-four men who reached the vicinity of the Moon as part of the
Apollo program were interviewed for the film. Those ten represent every crewed Apollo flight, with the exception of
Apollo 7 (which was an Earth-orbit mission), and include eight of the twelve men who set foot on the lunar surface. Some astronauts had already passed away by the time the film was made, and
Neil Armstrong chose not to participate in the film. The other two astronauts featured in the film,
Jim Lovell
James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...
and
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to:
* Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician
* Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
, orbited the Moon, but did not land on it. The interviewees are:
*
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...
:
**
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...
, Lunar Module Pilot
**
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to:
* Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician
* Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
, Command Module Pilot
*
Apollo 12:
**
Alan Bean
Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter; he was the fourth person to walk on the Moon. He was selected to become an astron ...
, Lunar Module Pilot
*
Apollo 13:
**
Jim Lovell
James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...
, Commander (also
Apollo 8 CMP)
*
Apollo 14:
**
Edgar Mitchell, Lunar Module Pilot
*
Apollo 15:
**
David Scott
David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and ...
, Commander (also
Apollo 9
Apollo 9 (March 313, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the ful ...
CMP)
*
Apollo 16:
**
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...
, Commander (also
Apollo 10
Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and ...
CMP)
**
Charles Duke
Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born October 3, 1935) is an American former astronaut, United States Air Force (USAF) officer and test pilot. As Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972, he became the tenth and youngest person to walk on the Moon, at ...
, Lunar Module Pilot (also
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...
CapCom)
*
Apollo 17:
**
Eugene Cernan
Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being t ...
, Commander (also
Apollo 10
Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and ...
LMP)
**
Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Hagan Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, retired NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico, and the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military aviation� ...
, Lunar Module Pilot
Production
The film features footage and media that had been released to the public at the time of the missions, and films and materials from NASA that had not been opened in over 30 years, all of which was sourced and
remastered in
HD by the stock footage company
Footagevault.
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
, who is credited as presenting the film, was involved in its promotion, but not its production.
Reception
Critics gave the film very positive reviews. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it has an approval rating of 95% based on 113 reviews, with an average score of 7.90 out of 10. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 84 out of 100, based on reviews from 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Roger Ebert called the film "spellbinding". ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' gave it an "A" rating. The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' called the film a "fresh and compelling film, made with intelligence and emotion". ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' concluded that "The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous."
In March 2008, ''In the Shadow of the Moon'' was the first film to win the
Sir Arthur Clarke Award
The Sir Arthur Clarke Award is a British award given annually since 2005 in recognition of notable contributions to space exploration, particularly British achievements. Nominations for the awards are made by members of the public, with shortlis ...
for Best Film Presentation. On 23 June 2008, the
Independent Investigations Group
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government.
History
The Center for Inquiry was established in ...
(IIG) honoured the film for promoting
scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ...
in media; the award was accepted by producer Duncan Copp.
Home video
The film was released on DVD in the United States on 22 February 2008, and in the United Kingdom on 31 March.
A
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
edition of the film was released on 16 June 2009.
References
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:In The Shadow Of The Moon
2007 films
British documentary films
Films about astronauts
Films about the Apollo program
Documentary films about the space program of the United States
2007 documentary films
Films produced by John Battsek
2000s English-language films
2000s British films