Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon (2005)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

"Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D" is a 40-minute documentary short film from 10 years ago. As the title states, it takes a closer look at the exploration of space in the last decades and especially on the moon landings. I myself am not the biggest fan of the concept of reaching new heights record all the time and that is probably why I was not too amazed watching this one. Also, it got a bit too patriotic occasionally, even if Juri Gagarin is mentioned in the closing credits as well. And the way, people who are critical about the actual moon landings are talked about is a bit embarrassing and lacks all seriousness.This film actually has quite a few people in here that also worked on the suer-successful "Apollo 13" 10 years earlier, such as Emmy winner Christopher G. Cowen or Tom Hanks, who narrates this one. However, Hanks is not the only big name here: Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Matthew McConaughey and John Travolta is a collection of big names that you won't find in most Hollywood blockbuster movies. Anyway, this one is only worth a watch for those with a great interest in space aviation. The visual side is pretty good, but in terms of the contents I cannot say I was thrilled watching this. Not recommended.

My public library has the DVD of this film. I was able to see it on a 52-inch 1080P HDTV and played with an upconverting 1080P player. With that combination it is a remarkably clear and life-like presentation. Not quite IMAX, but very nice.By way of history, I was a pre-teen in the 1950s when Russia launched the Sputnik, and I remember watching the sky with my dad, searching for a view of it. So in my lifetime the first artificial satellite was put into orbit, the first men into space, and the first men to land and walk on the moon.For me this is a wonderful film. It in a way ties all that together, and using both actors and simulated moon landscapes combined with actual 1960s moon landing footage, gives us an up-close experience of what the moon landings must have been like.

The world now seems to be in an odd stage of downsizing, in which objects such as DVD and CD players are steadily decreasing in size. It is obviously much cooler to have a smaller iPod than a larger one. This is not so with theater screens, as is the case with the IMAX, the enormous, widely-known theater system that has stunned audiences upon its release, and to this day. As long as the material's right.The main problem with 'Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D" is that it uses the huge screen as its main advantage. It is dull, uninformative, and relentlessly eager to please and amaze us with its corny special effects and inspiring quotes from famous names such as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Another problem with the film is that it doesn't even take the time to sit down and interview those lucky few who have had such an extraordinary experience as to have been to the moon. Instead, the writers have simply pressed COPY and PASTE and hired famous voices such as Morgan Freeman, Bill Paxton, and Matt Damon to imitate their famous quotes. This tactic is unrelentingly repetitive and tedious.I'd say without one moment's hesitation that I didn't learn one piece of information from the film that I didn't already know.And it repeatedly insisted on irritating the crap out of me with its insistent sentimentality. Every three minutes there seems to be a cue for Tom Hanks' voice to say something like "Without the contributions of these brave men and women..." Watching the film is like watching a bad commercial. For forty agonizing minutes.1/4

Good flick, but now that the Democrats are in power, you can forget about the space program. They have starved the program at the cost of astronauts' lives, and they have interfered in every aspect. Why do they do this? Because they want to keep us bottled up in cities where they are in control and can suck the life out of us with taxes and fascist laws. So don't look to the sky or dare to dream, because they are going to continue to sabotage efforts to improve mankind at every turn. Cynically, they use the old wheeze that "we should be worrying about problems right here on Earth. They say this at a time when they have make stuff up using junk science, in order to have enough problems for a platform.