In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

94% of critics liked it
(111 reviews)
90% of users liked it
(5,557 ratings)

Filmmaker David Sington merges the magnificence of science with the compelling drama of the human quest for advancement with this fascinating and visually stunning meditation on the historic Apollo space program. In the four remarkable years between 1968 and 1972, American history took a defining… More Filmmaker David Sington merges the magnificence of science with the compelling drama of the human quest for advancement with this fascinating and visually stunning meditation on the historic Apollo space program. In the four remarkable years between 1968 and 1972, American history took a defining turn as nine NASA spacecraft made the trip to the moon, and 12 bold explorers became the first men ever to set foot on ground beyond planet Earth. In this documentary, space enthusiast Sington allows the surviving crew members from each Apollo mission the unique opportunity to recount their memories of those missions in their own words as vintage, original NASA film footage offers a tantalizing glimpse of this extraordinary era in American history. Candid interviews with the astronauts reveal the sensitive and fun-loving souls whose fearlessness would lead a nation into a new era of progress, and audio recordings from Mission Control lend a newfound sense of poignancy to a variety of oft-recounted historical milestones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: David Sington
Genres: Documentary

In Theaters: Sep 21, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Feb 12, 2008
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com
The movie fills us with wonder, and pride, and a tugging sense of loss.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Successfully recaptures the feeling of what made the Apollo missions so special.
Reece Pendleton, Chicago Reader
The astronaut interviews are fun and occasionally moving...
Tom Long, Detroit News
The contrast between the near-surreal space footage and the down-to-earth men who were actually in those spacesuits is awe-inspiring.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
It's a well-timed tribute to American initiative and courage...
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
There's vibrant visual poetry here.
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
Lofty recap of the Apollo moon program.
Robert Davis, Paste Magazine
It never hurts to be reminded of our potential and our insignicance, and who better to do the reminding than clean-cut American boys who've covered up the entire world with their thumbs.
Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies (Australia)
I wouldn't have missed this chance to revisit one of earth's most significant encounters with deep space for anything.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
At the heart of the film is the beautifully remastered footage of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing (some previously unseen), interspersed with testimonials from not only two of the men who were there, who describe their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly
The crowd-pleaser has enough ambition to pitch a one-size-fits-all philosophy based on the Apollo crew's revelation that looking down from space, our problems seem trivial.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Thoroughly engaging documentary that takes a fascinating look at the moon landings using some breathtaking never before seen footage and some remarkably candid interviews with the surviving astronauts.
Victoria Kettner, thelondonpaper
Inspiring.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
Respectful, enthusiastic and occasionally rather touching as the men, now in their seventies, recall how it felt up there. Yet the really important question never gets asked: what was it all for?
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
The shots of the Moon, even after so many effects-heavy studio films have tried to recreate the look, are uncanny.
Karl French, Financial Times
Stirring stuff, packed with as many beautiful images as portentous outbursts.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
There is something thrilling and moving in this documentary about the great era of the Nasa moon landings.
Kevin Maher, Times [UK]
You probably won't find a more comprehensive document of space exploration on film.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Matthew S

A spiritual journey about the audacity of man, the will power of man, the brilliance of man, the smallness of man. Dozens of anecdotes from the handful of aging men still alive today who landed on that terrestrial body 250,000 miles away. Hundreds of images to give a glimpse of what… More
A spiritual journey about the audacity of man, the will power of man, the brilliance of man, the smallness of man. Dozens of anecdotes from the handful of aging men still alive today who landed on that terrestrial body 250,000 miles away. Hundreds of images to give a glimpse of what they experienced and its gravity on our humanity.
Dan S

An extremely rich look on the glory of space exploration that took place in the 1960's, and the men who took part in the historic achievement of landing on the moon. This deep and fascinating documentary requires no overlooking narration, instead it puts its story in the hands of… More
An extremely rich look on the glory of space exploration that took place in the 1960's, and the men who took part in the historic achievement of landing on the moon. This deep and fascinating documentary requires no overlooking narration, instead it puts its story in the hands of the men who flew to the moon and back, who recall their experiences and sometimes humorous experiences with genuine fondness. This is a special film, although I feel it's aimed more at the generation that grew up during this period, serving as a nice trip down memory lane. However I still very much enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. The footage captured of the moon is just downright arresting. The last five minutes or so of the film also turn out to be the most touching, as each of these men effectively show their sincere humility concerning their lives and experiences.
Gordon A

Functional doc on the moon landings which inevitably suffers by comparison with 'Apollo 13''s heightened emotions.
Aaron N

Michael Collins: Everywhere we went, instead of saying "you did it, you Americans did it," they were saying "we did it, we, the human race, did it," and I thought that was a wonderful thing. This movie reminded me of when I was younger and really enjoyed all… More
Michael Collins: Everywhere we went, instead of saying "you did it, you Americans did it," they were saying "we did it, we, the human race, did it," and I thought that was a wonderful thing. This movie reminded me of when I was younger and really enjoyed all things that had to do with space, astronauts, and NASA. I can remember having different space shuttle toys, seeing Apollo 13 at least three time in theaters, and how excited I was when I first visited the Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. I've also always been a Buzz Aldrin fan. This is a documentary that goes of NASA's Apollo missions, interviewing the surviving crew members who were a part of the different trips to the moon. While Neal Armstrong is notably absent due to his reclusive nature, these other men are very entertaining to listen to, providing some laughs, some very interesting information, and a great energy showing how positive and dear to their heart it was to be among the very few who have actually visited another world. There is no narration in this film. The movie also makes great use of archive footage during that time. Seeing actual rockets take off into space and split apart is always cool to see. There is also footage of JFK's speech about the plans to go to the moon, footage of test rockets blowing up, and of course, footage of ships orbiting and landing on the moon. There is even some interesting footage that was shot in advance of the moon landing. It was a piece read by Nixon in case the astronauts were not able to relaunch off of the moon and were stuck, in which case Nixon assured the people of how great their sacrifice was. An interesting piece of footage. The end credits also have a number of humorous moments from the crew members explaining how ludicrous they believe the conspiracy theorists are to accuse them of not going to the moon. This is a very well made documentary, that features the still lively crew members that had made it to another world and back. Eugene Cernan: We made a total of nine trips to the moon. Why would we fake it nine times?
Ross C

I was always going to enjoy this one! The inspirational story of the Apollo moon landings entirely narrated by the astronauts themselves. Some of whom are really great story tellers, in particular Mike Collins' humour really makes this British documentary entertaining.
Panta O

[b][color=blue][size=5]IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2007)[/size][/color] [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/99/1174399.jpg[/img] [i][color=royalblue]Dokumentarni film koji uspeva da uspesno napravi mozaik od ekskluzivne arhivske gradje sa izuzetnim… More
[b][color=blue][size=5]IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2007)[/size][/color] [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/99/1174399.jpg[/img] [i][color=royalblue]Dokumentarni film koji uspeva da uspesno napravi mozaik od ekskluzivne arhivske gradje sa izuzetnim intervjuima ljudi koji su uspeli da odu na mesec. [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1174399/photo_13.jpg[/img] Prvi put preziveli astronauti NASA-e koji su bili clanovi posade 9 misija koje su otisle na mesec izmedju 1968 i 1972 godine, svojim recima opisuju ono sto se tada desavalo. [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1174399/photo_11.jpg[/img] Neke od scena nikada ranije nisu vidjene, pa je ovaj dokumentarac obavezan za sve one koji vole istoriju i pricu o astronautima i borbi za prestiz medju nacijama. [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1174399/photo_10.jpg[/img] Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Neil Armstrong se pojavljuju kao jedni od glavnih licnosti ovoga filma u reziji David Sington-a. Preporucujem od sveg srca! [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1174399/photo_09.jpg[/img] Ocena je 6/10.[/color][/i][/b]
William G

A tremendous chronicle of the men who went to the moon.
Andrew P

Theres something still quite fascinating about the moon for how plain it is, and this documentary explores that fascination with absolutely stunning shots and interviews which make up one hell of a documentary.
Tobias X

A nicely crafted introspective with the brave men of the original Apollo missions. Not quite the aesthetic brilliance of Al Reinert's documentary FOR ALL MANKIND (1989), but still a very good and informative film. The film's real strength lies in it's moving… More
A nicely crafted introspective with the brave men of the original Apollo missions. Not quite the aesthetic brilliance of Al Reinert's documentary FOR ALL MANKIND (1989), but still a very good and informative film. The film's real strength lies in it's moving interviews with the now very old astronauts..
Richard F

Amazing footage well put together. This is a story that must be told by the aging men that were the only humans to walk on the moon. However, much of this story was already told in the masterpiece "Apollo 13". Nevertheless, kudos to Ron Howard for this inspiring documentary.
MJS M

This film examines a very familiar subject that?s been analyzed in many feature films and mini-series. That subject is the 1969 moon landing, an event that has almost become ledged. In order to look at this subject in a new light the filmmakers decided to examine the mission on a… More
This film examines a very familiar subject that?s been analyzed in many feature films and mini-series. That subject is the 1969 moon landing, an event that has almost become ledged. In order to look at this subject in a new light the filmmakers decided to examine the mission on a more personal level through interviews with the astronauts involved. The film effectively edits these high quality interviews with period video footage, effectively telling this familiar story.
Wu C

Moving and visually stunning documentary about stories shared by astronauts who flew into space.