Half a century ago, the last manned mission to the Moon and the last flight of the Apollo program began. Below we highlight 10 pieces that elevate the space mission from scientific rigor or comedy to which we can add curiosity, such as the mockumentary ‘Apollo 18’ (2011), the true documentary ‘Apollo 11’ (2019), or the quirky fictions. Like ‘Proxima’ (2019), starring Eva Green as the only astronaut trained at the European Space Agency.
The first adult science fiction movie consists of several episodes, and space travel is essential in all three. One of them is about the space shuttle, which took Professor Floyd from Earth to the Moon to the rhythm of a Strauss waltz – 14 years before the first flight with such ships was carried out in the USA. Next comes the Jupiter mission, where two Discovery astronauts battle the Hal 9000 computer, and finally, the psychedelic piece featuring Bowman’s journey beyond infinity on a spherical ship. Available on Apple TV+ and Rakuten TV.
Being an astronaut and traveling to space or being a pilot and just doing tests. This is the dilemma addressed by Tom Wolfe’s novel adapted by Philip Kaufman and recently serialized (on Disney+). It is the story of test pilot Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard), who has the ability to break through the sound barrier, and the seven astronauts selected for the ‘Mercury’ project in 1961, the first American manned space program and an absolutely pivotal moment in space. the race between two hegemonic powers. The original title is much better: “The right stuff”. ‘Must be’. Available in Movistar+.
Ten years after Ron Howard and Tom Hanks demonstrated the love between a human and a mermaid in “One, two, three, leap”, they recreated Apollo 13’s mission to the Moon, the explosion and the ship changing course with increasing loss. oxygen. Space travel as drama and thriller. It was doomed to fail, because it’s still a story of failure, something the American people don’t like. Available on Netflix, Film and Movistar+.
Tom Hanks himself (along with Ron Howard) produced, wrote, directed (one episode) and narrated, this multiple Emmy and Golden Globe-winning miniseries dramatizes in a highly original way, making reference to fiction and fake documentary, drama. and comedy, various space programs and Apollo missions 1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17. Describes preparations and actions as well as crises, political contexts, or making up from a moon. module. There is a space adventure novel by the same name that Jules Verne filmed in 1958. Available on HBO.
A twilight movie about a second chance. Clint Eastwood (the film’s director), Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner did so 40 years later, yearning to travel to space, and they did so: they were assigned to repair a drifting Russian communications satellite, because one of them designed the satellite and knows how to fix it. It includes an image of the Moon as Sinatra sings “Fly me to the moon”. Available on Apple TV+, Rakuten TV and Google Play.
Although it may seem contradictory, a documentary and science fiction type of production can be made. It is a proposal by the National Geographic series about an imaginary trip to colonize Mars in 2033; One of the usual themes of science fiction cinema and literature is the search for a habitable planet when Earth is consumed. Its specialty is that the re-creation of this impossible journey is combined with interviews that seem real to those involved, as well as a ‘prequel’ section describing the life of one of the astronauts. task. The soundtrack is by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Available on Disney+.
Russian cinema also gave its methodical and surgical vision of the space race in the middle of the Cold War. This film recreates the adventure of two Soviet astronauts who, in 1985, rescued the last space station known as ‘Salyut’ after it lost contact with Earth during one of the Soviet cosmonauts’ eras. The film shows in great detail the difficult manual coupling of the rescue ship Soyuz T-13, and the desire for spatial realism is remarkable, as some of the footage was shot in zero gravity. Available on Movie and Prime Video.
The emotionless Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle’s movie. It’s not just a study of his career as an astronaut until he became the commander of ‘Apollo 11’ on July 20, 1969 and became the first man to set foot on the Moon. Played by Claire Foy, she’s very tough, with the difficulty of balancing her family life with her job, and her relationship with his wife Janet collapses bitterly. Available on Apple TV+, Rakuten TV and Google Play.
The struggle for space is presented as an uchronia in this series. In today’s world, NASA’s space program remains as critical as it was decades ago. But there is an important change: Neil Armstrong was not the first man to set foot on the Moon, but it was a virtue of Alexei Leonov, a Soviet astronaut. He performs a spacewalk outside his ship in 1965. The series is an alternate history, more than just the proper generic variant in science fiction, and it illustrates the need for the space race from several angles, including the integration of female astronauts into space. American missions. Available on Apple TV+.
Greg Daniels, in charge of the American version of the British series ‘The office’, re-allies with lead actor and screenwriter Steve Carell in an absurd series where Carell is the general responsible for creating the Army Space Force as an order of fighters. president of his country. The idea is to get to the Moon in boats and rifles in 2024.
It premiered in May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and while Donald Trump was still in the White House. Available on Netflix.