We all know the outcome of Apollo 13, the seventh crewed mission in America’s Apollo space programme: a 1970 expedition en route to the moon that had to be aborted after an oxygen tank in the command module ruptured. The story has been told before on numerous occasions, in feature films – notably the Tom Hanks-starring Apollo 13 – and in documentaries. But familiarity doesn’t lessen the impact of this excellent documentary by Peter Middleton, directing solo here, having previously collaborated with James Spinney on the acclaimed Notes on Blindness.
Apollo 13: Survival draws on Nasa’s extensive archive resources, dramatic reconstructions, interviews and, most effectively, never-before-seen home video footage and Life magazine photographs of the family of mission commander Jim Lovell that are elegantly threaded through the story. Gripping stuff.
