In the Shadow of the Moon

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Film Description

This simple, stylish look at the Apollo space program is a quietly powerful rumination on the nature of patriotism, heroism, and humanity. Director David Sington utilises a narrator-free structure that intercuts stunning stock footage with insightful commentary from the surviving astronauts who walked on the moon. There are no experts, no voiceovers, and no recreations.

While the space shots and the behind-the-scenes footage of NASA operations are fascinating, the astronauts - Buzz Aldrin, Dave Scott, and Alan Bean, among them--are a revelation. Variously witty, heartfelt, modest, and humbled when discussing their journeys into space, it's easy to understand why these men were heroes to a generation.

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of this film is the way in which the viewer is reminded of the impact of the mission, not only the United States, but for the world. The movie posits that for one fleeting moment the world was together and at peace. In the Shadow of the Moon expertly recreates that moment, without excess patriotism, pretence, or sentiment.

Film Information

DVD Extras

Enhanced for WideScreen TV; Bonus footage; Trailers; Behind the scenes

Technical Details

Film Media

6 Stills

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Reviews & Articles

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Review by Julian Upton on 4th March 2008

Astronauts are not generally known for their sparkling personalities, but this entertaining documentary on NASA’s 1960s moon programme presents the surviving Apollo mission personnel as engaging characters. The reclusive Neil Armstrong is absent, but the recollections of his Apollo 11 co-pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins, along with those of Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, Gene Cernan and a host of others, effectively communicate the distinctly human concerns that loomed behind the Apollo programme’s then technologically staggering and politically grandiose ambitions. The awe and aspiration that drove Aldrin, Collins et al was equated with real fear and emotional fallibility, but there was also a good measure of humour and old-fashioned camaraderie. More profoundly, each astronaut seemed to return from his lunar voyage with an enlightened sense of his (and mankind’s) place in the scheme of things. Some great archive footage illustrates the awesome spectacle of these journeys, but it is left to the astronauts themselves to convey the true power of seeing the dazzling blue sphere of the Earth recede into the blackness of space, while that vast alien rock draws ever closer.

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