Saw this in IMAX and it was flawless. A very personal look at Neil Armstrong's story in the space program, absolutely focused on Armstrong and not a minute longer than it needs to be. While there are other ways to tell the story, and certainly better ways to describe the early days of NASA, that's not what this is about. This is a mini biopic and should be watched as such : don't go in anticipating a detailed look at any particular mission, because you won't find it. It doesn't dumb anything down, but the focus is emotional, not technical. And its execution is perfect. It doesn't put a foot wrong. Ryan "I hardly ever emote" Babygoose is perfectly cast, the danger sequences are as immersive and threatening as those in Gravity, the moments of silence are truly deafening (I have never heard such a loud silence in a cinema before), and the score is tremendous. If you have the chance to see it in IMAX, take it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSoRx87OO6k
I just saw it, but I find the jittery camera effect so distracting/irritating that it kind of ruined it for me. It leaves me sort of angry and nauseated at the same time. It is so prevalent these days that I can hardly enjoy just about any movie any more.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel horribly, horribly nauseous when playing FPS games for more than ~45 minutes or so. I got over it slowly, but jittering cameras have little effect on me any more.
ReplyDeleteOn a scale of 1 - (Apollo)13 what would you score it?
ReplyDeleteMmm, very different style and purpose.
ReplyDeleteApollo 13 is much better at explaining the events of a single mission and the the collective nature of the whole endeavour. If you want a more technical drama-documentary, choose this one.
First Man is vastly superior at exploring (and I'm gonna kick myself for using this horrible cliché) Neil's emotional journey. If you want a possible glimpse into the psyche of an introverted, emotional man in extraordinary circumstances, choose this one.
As far as I'm aware both are highly accurate, though Apollo 13 has somewhat more of a technical focus.
It's rather like comparing Alien with Aliens. One's a sci-fi horror, the other's sci-fi action, both of top of their game.