Apollo 13 Movie Details
Apollo 13 taglines:Houston, we have a problem.
 Apollo 13 DVD Cover |
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| Directors: Ron Howard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IMDB Rating: 7.5/10 out of 82,157 votes |
“Apollo 13″ 1995 by Ron Howard – Movie Goofs
“Apollo 13″ Plot Summary
True story of the moon-bound mission that developed severe trouble and the men that rescued it with skill and dedication.
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“Apollo 13″ Goofs List
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The film contains an explicit notice that “certain characters and events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes”, so these changes are not goofs. For instance, the Lovells did not host a party during the Apollo 11 landing; Ken Mattingly was already at Mission Control when the Apollo 13 accident happened, and was not really the person who devised the power-up procedure. There are various other minute contradictions of history and the film is prey to a large number of factual errors due to the large volume of documentary footage/evidence from the actual event. This is not a documentary.
- Factual errors: After the party, Lovell holds his thumb in front the gibbous moon. Then, telling Marilyn where to find “her” mountain, he says the Sea of Tranquility is “where the shadow crosses the white part.” The terminator was in fact near the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, but the moon was less than half full; it’s depicted in the scene as gibbous, with the terminator on the other side.
- Factual errors: When Jim Lovell is standing in his garden looking at the moon (one eye closed) he covers and uncovers the moon (from his perspective) with his thumb. Since the moon was the only light source in this situation, the shadow of his thumb would have to be shading his eye. But the third person perspective shows the thumb’s shadow elsewhere.
- Factual errors: In Houston the moon set that night at about midnight CDT, while the Apollo 11 astronauts were returning to their Lunar Module; hence it would not be visible after the party at the Lovells’.
- Anachronisms: NASA’s “worm” logo was not developed until 1975.
- Anachronisms: A technician is wearing a Rockwell International logo on his coveralls; the logo was seen as early as 1971. North American Rockwell became Rockwell International only in 1973 when they acquired Collins Radio. The aircraft division of North American Aviation/North American Rockwell was known as North American Aircraft Operations.
- Factual errors: The launch tower was on the north side of the Saturn V. If Mattingly was watching from east of the pad near the beach, then he would see it on the right.
- Revealing mistakes: The downward view toward the rocket rising from the pad shows cars in the parking lots. During an actual launch, the pad was completely evacuated and the lots would have been empty.
- Continuity: Houston confirms that the BPC (Boost Protective Cover) is cleared before it is jettisoned by Lovell. The BPC was attached to the launch escape tower and was pulled away when the tower was jettisoned.
- Anachronisms: In April 1970, Lovell’s daughter can be seen holding the Beatles’ “Let it Be” album, which wasn’t released until May 1970.
- Continuity: When Apollo 13 is due for re-entry we briefly see Gene Krantz with a fastened collar and tie. A minute or so later he is seen fastening his collar and tightening his loose tie.
- Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, Jim Lovell comes home with some champagne and greets Jack Sweigert and his date for the evening, Tracy. When Jack starts telling Tracy about some of the things Jim’s done, she says, “Wow,” with her hands clasped up by her chest. In the next shot, her hands are clasped down by her waist.
- Continuity: Just after the explosion, when Lovell is saying “we’ve got multiple caution and warnings, Houston,” the MET clock (Mission Elapsed Time in hours, minutes, and seconds) is plainly visible reading 091:34:10. When next seen less than a minute later, it has backed up to 056:55:12.
- Factual errors: The actual explosion took place at MET (Mission Elapsed Time) 055:54:53, a full hour before the time shown.
- Factual errors: The astronauts are shown looking at Mare Tranquilitatis, then crossing from sunlight into shadow, followed by loss of signal, all within seconds. In fact at loss of signal they had been in the moon’s shadow for some time and were nowhere near Mare Tranquilitatis.
- Factual errors: While passing over Tsiolkovsky crater on the moon’s far side, the astronauts also speak of sighting Fra Mauro and Mare Imbrium, both nearly halfway around the moon.
- Factual errors: Just after acquisition of signal, Houston tells the astronauts that their speed is “approximately 7,062 feet per second” and their altitude above the moon is 56 nautical miles. That speed is 500 ft/s below lunar escape velocity at that altitude, hence impossible on a free return trajectory. In fact, any free return trajectory symmetrical about the moon-earth line would put them at over 100 nautical miles altitude at acquisition of signal.
- Factual errors: A TV scene at Mission Control shows Houston Astros player Jimmy Wynn hitting a home run on 13 April 1970. The Astros were shut out by the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 that day. The home run shown was hit 10 June 1967, in a game between Cincinnati and Houston, it was the longest in Crosley field history
- Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): As Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, Walter Cronkite says the Apollo 11 landing is 18 months after the tragic Apollo 1 launchpad fire. It was actually 30 months after.
- Anachronisms: “Mr. Coffee”-type drip pots weren’t in use at the time.
- Continuity: A red ashtray and a paper cup in the control center disappear between shots.
- Anachronisms: The television that Blanch Lovell watches the final splashdown on is a Sharp model that was not made until the late 1980s.
- Anachronisms: In the opening sequence with Apollo 1, the crew uses a black keyboard (Block II). The keyboard on Apollo 1 was white (Block I).
- Factual errors: In the opening scene, where the Apollo 1 crew is walking across the swing arm, the Service Module is incorrectly shown as a Block II Service Module (grey w/ white areas); Apollo 1, Serial Number 012, was a Block I Spacecraft – its Service Module was all-white, like the toy spacecraft Lovell shows his son later in the movie.
- Factual errors: The Apollo 1 fire DID NOT initiate with a switch throw, as this movie depicts. During the Accident Investigation, this was a possibility which was dismissed after a thorough investigation.
- Factual errors: The mating of launch vehicle stage components was a much more delicate and deliberate process that this movie depicts. Tours, even for high-level VIPs, would most likely be suspended while such operations were in progress. For the scene where the Third Stage is being lowered onto the Second Stage, a retractable work platform, curved to fit around the Second Stage, would have been in place just below the Upper Field Joint (top of Second Stage). Numerous hard-hatted workers, most on their knees, would have been on the edge of this platform, making sure that the two stages were in correct alignment for mating.
- Factual errors: This Movie incorrectly depicts the Apollo 13 Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle as being delivered to the Launch Pad on April 9, 1970 – two (2) days before launch. Much more “pad time” was required, and Apollo 13 was actually delivered to Launch Pad 39A on December 15, 1969.
- Factual errors: Notwithstanding that this movie used dramatic license to make a better story, a few points should be clarified, particularly concerning the portrayals of Astronaut Fred Haise and the Grumman Corporation: Fred Haise was considered one of the best and brightest of his group (1966); the scenes where he gives Swigert a dirty look in the Simulator, blames Swigert for the Accident, and nearly screws up the course correction maneuver are not supported by any historical account available to this contributor. Grumman Corporation Personnel worked as hard as anyone else on the team to bring the Apollo 13 Crew home safely; the display of “no can do” attitude shown in the movie is not supported by any historical account available to this contributor. This movie also neglects the contributions of Astronaut Charlie Duke; by the time of the Accident, he was no longer contagious but still feeling unwell. He got out of his sick bed to help devise new Lunar Module Procedures, just as Ken Mattingly is shown doing for the Command Module – in fact, Duke helped devise the course correction maneuver in the Lunar Module Simulator.
- Factual errors: Apollo 13 incorrectly shown going around the Moon with Lunar Module (LM) (Aquarius) Landing Legs still folded. These had to be extended before the Descent Propulsion System (DPS) could be fired, which had been done (for the first of three times) many hours before. Once extended, the legs could not be retracted.
- Anachronisms: During the TV Show just prior to the Accident, Fred Haise uses the term “Lunar Excursion Module”, a term obsolete by 1970.
- Continuity: During the re-entry simulation with Swigert, Fred Haise communicates with Ho
Download Apollo 13 Related Movies
“Apollo 13″ 1995 Trailer
‘Apollo 13 – Houston, we have a problem.
Apollo 13 Related Resources:
Download Apollo 13 and read Apollo 13 Review at KnowTheMovies
