Apollo 13 (1995)

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PG for language and emotional intensity

Brian Grazer

Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger (novel)

William Broyles, Jr. & Al Reinert (screenplay)

James Horner

Dean Cundey

Daniel P. Hanley

Mike Hill

Imagine Entertainment

Universal Pictures

United States

English

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA (apartments of Ken Mattingly and Jack Swigert)

Ellington Field, Texas, USA

Falls Lake, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Johnson Space Center - 2101 NASA Rd., Houston, Texas, USA

Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida, USA

Merritt Island, Florida, USA

Safari Inn - 1911 W. Olive Avenue, Burbank, California, USA (motel)

San Diego, California, USA

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA (Splashdown)

Stage 27, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA (studio)

Stage 36, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA (spacecraft interiors)

ASCAP Awards

1996 Won ASCAP Award Top Box Office Films James Horner

Academy Awards

1996 Won Oscar Best Film Editing Mike Hill & Daniel P. Hanley

1996 Won Oscar Best Sound Rick Dior, Steve Pederson, Scott Millan & David MacMillan

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role Ed Harris

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role Kathleen Quinlan

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Michael Corenblith & Merideth Boswell

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Effects, Visual Effects Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Leslie Ekker & Matt Sweeney

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Music, Original Dramatic Score James Horner

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Picture Brian Grazer

1996 Nominated Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published William Broyles Jr. & Al Reinert

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

1996 Nominated Saturn Award Best Action/Adventure Film

American Cinema Editors, USA

1996 Nominated Eddie Best Edited Feature Film Mike Hill & Daniel P. Hanley

American Society of Cinematographers Awards, USA

1996 Nominated ASC Award Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases Dean Cundey

Awards of the Japanese Academy

1996 Nominated Award of the Japanese Academy Best Foreign Film

Awards of the Japanese Academy

1996 Won BAFTA Film Award Best Achievement in Special Effects Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Matt Sweeney & Leslie Ekker USA

1996 Won BAFTA Film Award Best Production Design Michael Corenblith USA

1996 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Cinematography Dean Cundey USA

1996 Nominated BAFTA Film Award 1996 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Editing Mike Hill & Daniel P. Hanley USA

1996 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Sound David MacMillan, Rick Dior, Scott Millan & Steve Pederson USA

British Society of Cinematographers

1995 Nominated Best Cinematography Award Dean Cundey

Casting Society of America, USA

1996 Nominated Artios Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama Jane Jenkins & Janet Hirshenson

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

1996 Won CFCA Award Best Picture

1996 Nominated CFCA Award Best Supporting Actor Ed Harris

1996 Nominated CFCA Award Best Supporting Actress Kathleen Quinlan

Cinema Audio Society, USA

1996 Won C.A.S. Award Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Feature Film Rick Dior, Steve Pederson & Scott Millan (re-recording mixers); David MacMillan (production mixer)

Directors Guild of America, USA

1996 Won DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Ron Howard, Carl Clifford (unit production manager) (plaque); Aldric La'auli Porter (first assistant director) (plaque); Jane Paul (second assistant director) (plaque)

Golden Globe Awards

1996 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture Ron Howard

1996 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture - Drama

1996 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Ed Harris

1996 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Kathleen Quinlan

Heartland Film Festival

1995 Won Studio Crystal Heart Award Jeffrey Kluger for: "The Other Side of the Moon"

Hugo Awards

1996 Nominated Hugo Best Dramatic Presentation

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards

1996 Won KCFCC Award Best Director Ron Howard

1996 Won KCFCC Award Best Film

Kids Choice Awards

1996 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor Tom Hanks

MTV Movie Awards

1996 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance Tom Hanks

1996 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Movie

National Board of Review Awards, USA

1995 Won NBR Award Top Ten Films

PEN Center USA West Literary Awards

1996 Won Literary Award Screenplay William Broyles Jr. & Al Reinert

PGA Awards

1996 Won Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award Brian Grazer & Todd Hallowell

People’s Choice Awards

1996 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture

1996 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture

Screen Actors Guild Awards

1996 Won Actor Outstanding Performance by a Cast Kevin Bacon, Tom Hanks, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton, Kathleen Quinlan & Gary Sinise
1996 Won Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Ed Harris

Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards

1996 Won SEFCA Award Best Director Ron Howard

1996 Won SEFCA Award Best Picture

1996 Won SEFCA Award Best Supporting Actor Ed Harris

USC Scripter Award

1996 Nominated USC Scripter Award William Broyles Jr. & Al Reinert (screenwriter)

Writers Guild of America, USA

1996 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published William Broyles Jr. & Al Reinert

Young Artist Awards

1996 Nominated Young Artist Award Best Family Feature - Drama (Universal)

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"Houston, we have a problem."

In 1970, less than a year after Neil Armstrong took his first small step on the surface of the moon, the 13th mission in the Apollo space program was launched. It was to be just an average trek through space, a sequel to the earlier historic event that no one on the ground seemed to care about, when Commander Jim Lovell unexpectedly uttered the above phrase. Perhaps someone at NASA should have suffered from triskaidekaphobia - even elevators don't launch to a 13th floor, since most modern skyscrapers succumb to a bit of superstition.

Apollo 13 lived up to that irrational fear. A series of unbelievable mishaps occurred in what was to be a routine space flight whose biggest problem was public indifference. Fifty-five hours into the voyage, one of the craft's two oxygen tanks exploded, preventing the moon landing and placing the lives of the three astronauts aboard in mortal danger. Electrical power failed, vital oxygen bled into space, and the crew had to cram into their tiny lunar module to conserve power. Freezing temperatures and the danger of carbon dioxide poisoning, plus the likelihood of burning up on re-entry, all combined to make this a very real drama in space. Only now did they grab the attention of the previously apathetic populace of planet Earth.

Director Ron Howard's Apollo 13 film version capitalizes on this true-life space opera, and although the eventual safe outcome of the mission is historical fact, the edge-of-your-seat tension he brings to the screen had audiences vicariously experiencing every crisis along with Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon). Add to that a big budget of $51,000,000, plus the technical advice of Apollo 15's commander, Dave Scott, and the services of NASA available to train the crew and assist in filming, and this movie had no choice but to become a box office hit.

The cast trained at the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, where they flew simulated shuttle missions. Multiple Oscar winner Tom Hanks joyfully discovered his inner astronaut, proclaiming (in People magazine), "If they said, 'You can go on the shuttle, but you'll have to give away two years to train, study and prepare,' I'd gladly do it. You bet."

To capture the actual look and feel of weightlessness, Howard refused to rely on special effects. Instead, he filmed his actors and crew aboard a NASA KC-135 jet - basically a stripped-down, padded 707 actually used to train astronauts, which climbs to 36,000 feet, arcs parabolically, then dives toward the ground creating 23 seconds of pure weightlessness at the peak of the parabola. NASA veterans call it the "Vomit Comet," a plane that frequently lives up to its name.

Howard and his people made 600 such trips in this plane as he captured the weightless scenes needed, second by precious second.

Howard also insisted on authenticity for the sequences filmed on the sound stage. He ordered the temperature lowered to 34 degrees Fahrenheit in order to film the actors' frozen breath and give the appearance of the frigid conditions the real astronauts endured for three days in space.