The Dish

"Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth."

2000 1h 41m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🔥

96%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 244🍅96%Rotten Tomatoes●74Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 17,341

ComedyDramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A group of maverick scientists on a remote Australian sheep farm are the globe's only hope for obtaining the epic images of man's first steps on the moon.

“Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth.”

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Cast

Sam Neill
Cliff Buxton - Dish Master
Patrick Warburton
Al Burnett - From NASA
Kevin Harrington
Ross 'Mitch' Mitchell - Maneuvers
Tom Long
Glenn Latham - Electronics
Eliza Szonert
Janine Kellerman - The Girl
Roy Billing
Mayor Robert 'Bob' McIntyre
John McMartin
U.S. Ambassador Howard
Bille Brown
Prime Minister

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Sitch
Writers: Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Jane Kennedy
Languages: French, English
Countries: Australia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Sitch, shot by Graeme Wood. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Edmund Choi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jill Bilcock shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton and Kevin Harrington carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0205873 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Sitch directs. Graeme Wood behind the camera. Edmund Choi scores. Jill Bilcock cuts. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

126 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
3Directed by Rob Sitch, shot by Graeme Wood. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Edmund Choi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Jill Bilcock shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton and Kevin Harrington carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth.".
8IMDB entry: tt0205873 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "australia", "nasa", "based on true story", "moon landing".

The technical file

Cinematography: Graeme Wood
Original score: Edmund Choi
Editing: Jill Bilcock
Production design: Carrie Kennedy
Makeup / hair: Caroline Styles
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Dish (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 74/100
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 17,341 votes
MPAA: PG-13
US box office: $2,552,992

Awards

3 wins & 10 nominations total

Also by

Rob Sitch

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2023-04-04
★ 8/10
I may have watched this Aussie film much closer to when it came out, since have always like Sam Neill, but I had no memory of it and we gave it a look. It is very entertaining in a quiet way. The bursts of humor are short, occasional and subtle, and it works. Of course it is based on actual events and feature a few news archive clips as well as actors playing historical characters, sometimes almost as a cameo. It features some restrained tension and suspense as the crew at the telescope try to live up to their commitment to passing audio and video from the moon landing on to NASA and the world. Among the supporting cast we also have a radical political daughter and a clumsy young couple trying to initiate a new romance. It all adds flavor to the main plot.

Production companies