The Space Movie (1980)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Best movie ever!

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I agree with the others who rave about this - it is one of my treasured old videocassettes.Another equally great documentary is not listed here on IMDb. Here is a library entry for it I found on-line:Format videocassette. Title The Greatest adventure the story of man's voyage to the moon Pub.info. Stamford, CT : Vestron Video, c1983.Phys.desc. 1 videocassette (54 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Credits Photography, NASA ; editors, Steve Sabol, Phil Tuckett, Bob Angelo ;narrator, Orson Welles ; music, Sam Spence. Summary: Surveys the United States space program milestones which led to voyages to the moon. Includes NASA film footage and interviews with astronauts and technicians. Subject: Space flight to the moon.Moon -- Exploration. Alt.author Welles, Orson, 1915-Sabol, Steve.Tuckett, Phil.Angelo, Bob. Alt.title The Greatest adventure, the story of man's voyage to the moon.The Story of man's voyage to the moon. Standard# VA 2005---------------- How can we get IMDb to add an obscure old documentary it has never heard of?Doug

Compiled mostly of NASA film footage of the Apollo missions, 'The Space Movie' is actually much more than that. It is both uplifting and inspiring in documenting the achievement of the US aerospace industry when given a seemingly impossible goal.The NASA footage combines not just the Apollo 11 flight, but other Apollo missions, Gemini missions, Mercury capsule testing, Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz mission as well. It's frustrating that so much footage, although visually stunning, is disjointed, from different missions, and at one point even run backwards to follow the plot of the first moon landing. That being said, the launch sequence alone is incredible, both in the majesty of the Saturn V slowly leaving the pad to the many connectors, swing arms, latches and ice shards seemingly interconnected in a technological slow-motion dance. Just incredible.Accompanying the visuals is an stunning soundtrack by Mike Oldfield. Although never released as a stand-alone CD, some of the tracks are well known. The choice by Tony Palmer, the director, to use Mr. Oldfield's works is a masterstroke, and perfectly fits the action.Somewhat surprisingly, this film does suffer from some obviously cheesy special effects. Why the director ever felt the need to produce crude backdrops for still photos, with so much beautiful film footage available, is puzzling.This film could have been astronomically (pun intended) better, because all the elements were there. A great story, fantastic photography and inspired soundtrack. It just doesn't fully take advantage of what it had to offer.

This is the ultimate documentary on space flight. The views are stunning- they perfectly match the narrative, the sounds, and above all- the music. It is both memorable and timeless. The music was written by Mike Oldfield, and no other space documentary is quite the same without his style..Could any distributor *please* release this on VHS or DVD- I must own a copy!

The word, "supernal," is one of those very rare and specialwords that one saves up to use only for describing somethingtruly wondrous. This film, with its spectacular scenes and itshaunting music is one of life's greatest treats. If you everget the chance to see it, don't miss it! And if you ever learnhow a VHS video of it may be obtained... PLEASE tell ME!