I just found this on my old hard drive. It's an article I wrote a few years back that never got published (it's probably obvious why when you read it! :lol: ). First of all I wasn't sure whether to post it up here or not, then I wasn't sure which board to post it on. Anyway, the series has been mentioned a few times, so I thought I'd put it here for anyone interested. Hope you like it!
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON
Overview
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth”
John F Kennedy, May 25, 1961
Another tv show about space, another triumph for Channel 4’s incomprehensible scheduling. If ever a series deserved a peak viewing time slot it is From The Earth To The Moon, an epic undertaking the likes of which has never been seen before, telling the true stories of the Apollo missions and the people behind them. The Emmy winning brainchild of Tom Hanks and the production team behind Apollo 13 (Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Michael Bostick) was three years and nearly 70 million dollars in the making. A host of familiar faces can be found within the twelve episodes including, of course, Hanks himself, who introduces all but the final episode (in which he appears), directed the first segment (Can We Do This?) and wrote or co-wrote four more.
Anyone who has read Andrew Chaikin’s impressive book A Man On The Moon, upon which the mini-series is partly based, will appreciate that there was so much more to America’s effort to get to Earth’s satellite than Apollos 1, 11 and 13. Yet ask most people about the significance of Apollo 8 (the first manned orbit of the moon) or who the last men to set foot on the lunar surface were (Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt) and they will probably draw a complete blank.
It is in these areas that From The Earth To The Moon really excels. “Chaikin’s book so outlined all the different missions,” says Ron Howard, “and I remember the day Tom came in and said ‘You know it’s amazing - there’s a story in every single one of these missions’”. Hanks is equally enthusiastic: “We want the audience to come away at the end of every one of our episodes and say ‘I had no idea that those things went on’”. As such, even the segments that deal with the most familiar aspects of the Apollo era approach their subject matter from a fresh perspective. Mare Tranquilitatis, the story of Apollo 11, spends much of its running time exploring the understated conflict between Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong over who should be the first man to set foot outside the Eagle. Later, We Interrupt This Program tackles the Apollo 13 crisis from the point of view of a veteran television reporter - the spacecraft and its crew are barely seen during the episode (the producers wisely not wishing to divert attention from their own magnificent piece of cinema).
The one major criticism that can be levelled at the series is that it largely ignores Soviet accomplishments, telling their story much as The Right Stuff did through stock footage. It is an annoying oversight, especially considering that America’s space programme was driven forward by the desire not to lose the new frontier to the Russians. The fact that the rockets that took the American astronauts into space were designed by German scientists smuggled out from under the noses of the Nazis during World War II is also conveniently swept under the carpet.
Yet the authenticity of the series is beyond reproach. Filmed at Disney’s studios in Florida, NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre and Edwards Airforce Base the production even dusted off Apollo equipment for the making of the series, including the command module simulator, the White Room (through which the astronauts boarded Apollos 11 to 17) and the actual lunar module that was to have been used on Apollo 18 before the mission’s cancellation. Additionally, over 600 visual effects shots were created for the series. Dave Foley, who plays Apollo 12’s lunar module pilot Al Bean, says “They provided us with thousands and thousands of pages of research material. In fact we got so much of it that no-one ever bothered to look at the script. We can probably land the LEM at this point,” he laughs, “but we don’t know the story!”
Dave Scott, commander of Apollo 15, served as technical consultant and sat alongside the director of each episode. After spending over 500 hours in space he provided much inspiration to the production team as well as coaching the actors in both the use of their equipment and the attitudes and mannerisms of their real-life counterparts. “All of the actors were very interested in how Mike Collins did this or did that or how Al Bean did this or did that so that they could portray the individuals accurately,” says Scott. “You know we’re in the [astronaut] business because we’re used to handling situations that are not good, so there’s very seldom any panic. You have to be careful when these are acted out that actors and directors, who are normally interested in excitement and challenge, keep it cool to represent the culture.”
It is no doubt largely because of Scott that the performances in the series are so uniformly excellent. “They were Phd’s, they were metallurgists, they were rocket scientists,” says Hanks of the astronauts. “Yes they were great pilots - Buzz Aldrin shot down Migs in Korea - but they also were incredibly schooled guys and they had the analytical minds of engineers.” They were incredibly brave, too. Mark Harmon, who plays Apollo 7’s commander Wally Schirra, recalls, “I called Wally and said ‘I’m sitting here thinking about you [on the launch pad] and the rocket ignites and it doesn’t go anywhere and you’re sitting on top of 550 tons of liquid fuel. You’ve got an abort handle in your hand and you don’t pull it - why don’t you pull it?’ And he said ‘Well, you don’t pull it because who knows what that abort handle will do? They know what they think it’ll do but no-one’s ever done it!’”
The calmness of the astronauts during moments of incredible pressure is beautifully realised. Even the smoothest of missions was not without its hiccups, perhaps the most remarkable of which was when Apollo 12 was struck by lightning causing widespread system failure. The feeling of danger is rife, the various craft often seeming to be held together by bits of string and well-chewed gum, and the increasing demands of each successive mission keeps the series moving at a pace.
In order to film the landings the surface of the moon was recreated in a hangar measuring 298,000 square feet, using nearly 6,000 tons of ground and pulverised granite. The actors were then attached to helium balloons in order to simulate the moons one sixth gravity. The replica space suits weighed over 60lbs (compared to the real life 180lbs) and contained nearly 200 individual pieces, under which the actors had to wear coolant suits due to the heat generated on set. It was hard work - Harmon lost over 9lbs on his first day in the suit. The equipment and vehicle replicas were built using NASA diagrams and were accurate to the extent that - should a technical query arise on set - Scott could go to the actor in the command module and point immediately to the switch in question.
From The Earth To The Moon is, by turns, awe-inspiring, thrilling, moving, funny and intimate. By and large it is a flawless piece of television. High points for the series come in quick succession from the sheer emotional power of Apollo One, to the first sighting of an Earthrise in 1968, to the design and construction of the lunar module in the quite superb Spider. Of course, the minor matter of Armstrong and Aldrin’s visit to the Sea of Tranquillity is just slightly exciting.
Special mention should also go to composers such as James Newton Howard and particularly Michael Kamen whose stirring main theme sets just the right tone. The attention to detail and genuine love for the subject matter is apparent throughout, never more so than in the standout episode That’s All There Is, the story of Apollo 12 told through the eyes of Dave Foley’s Al Bean, whose whimsical narration is at times laced with irreverent humour and at others is simply profound.
Hanks’s enthusiasm and child-like wonder at mankind’s greatest endeavour shines through it all. “I think that NASA should probably send him up on the space shuttle just to calm him down,” says Tim Daly (Jim Lovell). Hanks retorts, “It’ll never happen because I don’t have the math and it’s still far too expensive. If they ever have this need for somebody with no usable skills in space then I might be in the running to do it!”
When the series comes to an end with Le Voyage Dans La Lune the camera takes its own journey, this time from the moon to the Earth and beyond. Over this shot scrolls a list of all the Apollo astronauts. It is a genuine lump-in-throat moment and it is hard not to wonder what might have been achieved in the near thirty years since had the lunar missions not been abandoned.
For now, though, From The Earth To The Moon is an outstanding tribute to the men and women who were at the forefront of the space race. Watch it. Watch The Right Stuff. Watch Apollo 13. Then watch From The Earth To The Moon again and savour a truly staggering achievement.
Quotes taken from the HBO From The Earth To The Moon “First Look” featurette.
CREDITS
Producers - Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Michael Bostick
Executive Producer - Tom Hanks
Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) - Bryan Cranston
Bill Anders (Apollo 8) - Robert John Burke
Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11) - Tony Goldwyn
Alan Bean (Apollo 12) - Dave Foley
Frank Borman (Apollo 8) - David Andrews
Gene Cernan (Apollo 10, 17) - Daniel Hugh Kelly
Roger Chaffee (Apollo 1) - Ben Marley
Michael Collins (Apollo 11) - Cary Elwes
Pete Conrad (Apollo 12) - Peter Scolari (Can We Do This?)
& Paul McCrane (That’s All There Is)
Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7) - Fredric Lane
Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) - J. Downing
Donn Eisele (Apollo 7) - John Mese
Dick Gordon (Apollo 12) - Tom Verica
Gus Grissom (Apollo 1) - Mark Rolston
Fred Haise (Apollo 13) - Adam Baldwin
Jim Irwin (Apollo 15) - Gareth Williams
Jim Lovell (Apollo 8, 13) - Tim Daly
Ken Mattingly (Apollo 16) - Zeljko Ivanek
Jim McDivitt (Apollo 9) - Connor O’Farrell
Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14) - Gary Cole
Stu Roosa (Apollo 14) - George Newbern
Wally Schirra (Apollo 7) - Mark Harmon
Jack Schmitt (Apollo 17) - Tom Amandes
Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9) - Kieran Mulroney
Dave Scott (Apollo 9, 15) - Brett Cullen
Alan Shepard (Apollo 14) - Ted Levine
Tom Stafford (Apollo 10) - Steve Hofvendahl
Ed White (Apollo 1) - Chris Isaak
Al Worden (Apollo 15) - Michael Raynor
John Young (Apollo 10, 16) - John Posey
Deke Slayton - Nick Searcy
Emmett Seaborn - Lane Smith
EPISODE GUIDE
Can We Do This? 9/10
Director Tom Hanks
Written by Steven Katz
Jerome Weisner (Al Franken), James Webb (Dan Lauria), Bob Gilruth (John Carroll Lynch), Chris Kraft (Stephen Root)
May 5, 1961: Alan B. Shepard Jr becomes the first free man in space with his historic 15 minute flight in Freedom 7. Within weeks John Kennedy challenges his nation to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. As the one-man Mercury program gives way to the Gemini missions it becomes clear that the hurdles that must be cleared to reach the ultimate goal are far greater than anyone could have expected.
Apollo One 10/10
Director David Frankel
Written by Graham Yost
Clinton Anderson (Mason Adams), Pat White (Jo Anderson), Lee Atwood (Ronny Cox), Jan Armstrong (Ann Cusack), Robert Seamans (Dann Florek), Joe Shea (Kevin Pollack), Harrison Storms (James Rebhorn), Betty Grissom (Ruth Reid), Walter Mondale (John Slattery), George Mueller (Joe Spano), Dr Van Dolah (Arthur Taxier), Martha Chaffee (Rhoda Griffis), James Webb (Dan Lauria)
January 27, 1967: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are performing a routine ‘plugs-out’ test in the command module of Apollo 1 when a small electrical fire turns into a deadly inferno. All three men are killed. The disaster forces NASA to re-evaluate its safety procedures whilst also justifying itself to a Senate committee that is waiting for the slightest reason to cancel the space program.
We Have Cleared The Tower 8/10
Director Lili Fini Zanuck
Written by Remi Aubuchon
Frank Burns (Peter Horton), Dee O’Hara (Ann Magnuson), Tim Messick (Joshua Malina), John Healey (Brandon Smith), Guenter Wendt (Max Wright)
Six unmanned test flights later and the Apollo program is once again ready to send three men into space. Adding to the pressures of preparing for the mission, astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham are followed every step of the way by a documentary film crew. Through their lens we see the highs, the lows, the tension and the drama that accompanies the first manned launch of an Apollo spacecraft.
1968 8/10
Director David Frankel
Written by Al Reinart
Tom Paine (Sam Anderson), Bob Gilruth (John Carroll Lynch), George Lowe (Holmes Osborn), Chris Kraft (Stephen Root), Wernher Von Braun (Norbert Weisser), Susan Borman (Rita Wilson)
The war in Vietnam is in full flow. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are assassinated. And Russia appears ready to send a manned flight to the moon. NASA steps up its program, with the intention of getting there first. The crew of Apollo 8, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders are to enter lunar orbit and remain there for a day. The only problem - breaking that orbit using the service module’s single engine.
Spider 10/10
Director Graham Yost
Written by Andy Wolk
Tom Kelly (Matt Craven), John Houbolt (Reed Birney), Allyn B. Hazard (David Brisbin), Robert Seamans (Dann Florek), Paul Lucas (Clint Howard), Tom Dolan (Alan Ruck), Bob Carbee (Grant Shaud), John Rigsby (Russell Warner), Wernher Von Braun (Norbert Weisser)
November 1962: the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp wins the contract to design and manufacture the vehicle that will take two astronauts to the lunar surface and return them safely to dock with the command module in orbit. We follow the trials and tribulations of Tom Kelly, head of the Grumman Lander Team, as he fights through seven years of experimentation and specification changes to achieve his goal.
Mare Tranquilitatis 10/10
Director Frank Marshall
Written by Al Reinart, Graham Yost and Tom Hanks
Thomas Paine (Sam Anderson), Jan Armstrong (Betsy Brantley), Jack Garman (Tom Brooks), Gene Kranz (Dan Butler), Pat Collins (Mikki McKeever), Joan Aldrin (Diana Scarwid), Susan Borman (Rita Wilson)
After the successful test flights of the lunar module on Apollos 9 and 10 the go ahead is finally given for the first lunar landing. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins continue their work in the simulators until the very last moment, preparing themselves for any emergency. Aldrin, a deeply religious man, dwells on the wider implications of man setting foot on the moon and worries that Armstrong may not realise its significance. However, all differences must be set aside as the momentous day approaches: July 20, 1969.
That’s All There Is 10/10
Director Jon Turteltaub
Written by Paul McCudden, Eric Bork and Tom Hanks
Gerry Griffin (David Clyde Carr), Buck Willoughby (George Coloangelo), C.C. Williams (Jim Leavy), Ed Gibson (Geoffrey Naufts), John Aaron (John Travis)
November 1969: Being struck by lightning and malfunctioning cameras all played a part in Al Bean’s trip to the moon. Along with his best friends Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon, the crew of Apollo 12, Bean proved that there was more to being part of the Apollo Program than looking for glory. But can being the fourth man to set foot on the moon really be viewed as the ultimate anti-climax?
We Interrupt This Program 6/10
Director David Frankel
Written by Peter Osterlund and Amy Brooke Baker
Jack Kruger (Rus D. Blackwell), Gene Kranz (Dan Butler), Jeff Jordy (Steve DuMouchel), Paul Lucas (Clint Howard), Hal Deacon (John M. Jackson), David Kaufman (David Gibson), Larry Thompson (Michael Laskin), Brett Hutchins (Jay Mohr), Stanley Craig (Ethan Phillips), Sam Langfitt (Brett Rice), Chris Kraft (Stephen Root), Warren Moburg (John Rothman)
By the time Apollo 13 was launched the lunar missions had become yesterday’s news. However, when an explosion took place aboard the spacecraft - and astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert found themselves in a life or death situation - media interest was re-ignited. One veteran reporter finds that his values and methods are being undermined by a newer, younger breed who will stop at nothing to get a sensational story.
For Miles & Miles 8/10
Director Gary Fleder
Written by Eric Bork
Bruce McCoy (Dylan Baker), Gerry Griffin (David Clyde Barr), Julie Shepard (Joanna Garcia), Ben Tyler (Jerry Hardin), Dick Thorson (Mike Harding), Don Eyles (Chris Hogan), Laura Shepard (Gwen Hollander), Dr House (Andrew Massett), Gaye Alford (Robin O’Dell), Louise Shepard (Kim Ostrenko), Jules Bergman (Andrew Rubin), Joan Roosa (Lesa Thurmnan), L. Gordon Cooper (Robert Treveiler), Julian Bowman (Rick Warner), Alice Shepard (Ashley Ann Wood)
After becoming the first American in space, Al Shepard was grounded due to an inner ear disorder. But when experimental surgery allows his return to the flight roster Shepard, now 47 years old, must overcome the resentment of his fellow astronauts and prove that he still has ‘the right stuff’ as he takes command of Apollo 14.
Galileo Was Right 9/10
Director David Carson
Written by Jeffrey Fiskin and Remi Aubuchon
Dr Ray Pemberton (John Alyward), Rocco Petrone (Barry Bell), Gerry Griffin (David Clyde Carr), Lee Silver (David Clennon), Chester Lee (Joe Inscoe), Karl Heinze (Marc Macaulay), Joe Allen (Doug McKeon), Farouk El-Baz (Isa Totah)
With the increase in the complexity of the lunar landings came the need for the astronauts to become much more than just pilots and engineers. Apollo 15 was given the task of collecting geological specimens in an attempt to determine the origins of the moon and, possibly, the universe. In order to do this the crew - Dave Scott, Jim Irwin and Al Worden - must be trained to know what to look for so they can find the specimens within the time constraints of a moonwalk.
The Original Wives Club 7/10
Director Sally Field
Written by Karen Janszen, Eric Bork and Tom Hanks
Pat White (Jo Anderson), Faye Stafford (Wendy Crewson), Jan Armstrong (Ann Cusack), Trudy Cooper (Sally Field), Pat McDivitt (Delane Matthews), Barbara Young (Dierdre O’Connell), Marilyn Lovell (Elizabeth Perkins), Marilyn See (Debra Jo Rupp), Marge Slayton (JoBeth Williams), Susan Borman (Rita Wilson)
Against the backdrop of the Apollo 16 mission these are the stories of the women behind the astronauts. The wives suffered a different but no less intense kind of pressure under the scrutiny of the media and the eyes of the world. Some would run away from it, some would turn to the bottle, none were completely unaffected.
Le Voyage Dans La Lune 8/10
Director Jonathan Mostow
Written by Tom Hanks
Gerry Griffin (David Clyde Carr), Lee Silver (David Clennon), Narrator (Blythe Danner), Bob Parker (Chris Ellis), Jean-Luc Despont (Tom Hanks), Georges Melies (Tcheky Karyo), Sahjid (Bart Braverman), Tracy Cernan (Elizabeth Morehead), Chris Kraft (Stephen Root)
In 1902 film maker George Melies released ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’, a visionary work that took audiences to the moon long before it was dreamed possible. Seventy years later the Apollo era is about to come to an end. Apollo 17, commanded by Gene Cernan, will be the last moon landing. But with it comes another first: the lunar module pilot is Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the one and only scientist to have made the journey.