Apollo 11: Men on the Moon

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the first man in history to walk on the moon. What many of us remember from that landmark mission are the phrases "the Eagle has landed" and "that's one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind"; the planting of the American flag on the lunar surface; and fuzzy images of moon rocks. Apollo 11: Men on the Moon, a 3-disc, 10-hour-plus record of the mission, fills in the gaps…and then some. Produced by Spacecraft Films, this extraordinarily comprehensive audiovisual assemblage strip mines the NASA archives, tossing in everything but the kitchen sink: the complete scheduled and unscheduled television transmissions from the "T minus 56 minute" pre-launch countdown to President Nixon's speech to astronauts Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins in post-mission quarantine; all of the onboard-shot 16mm footage (ranging from the 90 minute "probe and drogue" docking equipment removal--which is kind of like watching "men working" in real-time, only in space--to an ersatz science experiment to demonstrate the physics behind a gyroscope); astronaut interviews, commentary, and debriefing sessions; and much, much more. In fact, many of the key stages of the mission--from the Saturn V launch to the lunar landing at Tranquility Base--are viewable from multiple angles with different soundtracks (or using visual and aural composites; the latter giving home theater systems a workout as the voices of the astronauts and NASA crew at mission control swirl around the room). While not geared toward the casual viewer (there's no narrative storyline here such as you'd find in HBO's From the Earth to the Moon or Criterion's For All Mankind), Apollo 11: Men on the Moon is the most comprehensive (and best-looking) archive of the world's most famous space mission available; for that reason, it belongs in public and academic libraries as the primary source material collection, sure to be appreciated by avid space buffs and serious researchers alike. Also available, the 3-disc sets The Mighty Saturns: Saturn 1 and 1B, Project Gemini: A Bold Leap Forward, and Apollo 8: Leaving the Cradle. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)