Apollo 13

""Houston, we have a problem.""

1995 2h 20m EN

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7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 6,153

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.

“"Houston, we have a problem."”

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Cast

Tom Hanks
Jim Lovell
Bill Paxton
Fred Haise
Kevin Bacon
Jack Swigert
Gary Sinise
Ken Mattingly
Ed Harris
Gene Kranz
Kathleen Quinlan
Marilyn Lovell
Mary Kate Schellhardt
Barbara Lovell
Emily Ann Lloyd
Susan Lovell

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Al Reinert, William Broyles Jr., Eric Ramsey
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

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

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $52M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

413+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ron Howard, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ron Howard directs. Dean Cundey behind the camera. James Horner scores. Daniel P. Hanley cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $52M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 6.8× over at the box office.
331 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4413+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Ron Howard, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Daniel P. Hanley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tom Hanks and Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: ""Houston, we have a problem."".
10IMDB entry: tt0112384 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "rescue", "florida", "race against time", "moon".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Daniel P. Hanley
Production design: Michael Corenblith
Costume design: Rita Ryack
Makeup / hair: Larry Abbott
VFX supervisor: Robert Legato
Sound: Ezra Dweck
Stunt coordinator: James M. Halty
Runtime: 140 min · 2h 20m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $52,000,000
Box office: $355,237,933
Return: 683% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Apollo 13 (1995)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Jupiter Awards
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Sound
BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects
Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Ron Howard

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2020-06-14
★ 6/10
Cinematic account of the ill-fated Apollo mission In April, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission to the moon is aborted after an explosion causes internal damage. The three astronauts and Mission Control must now focus on merely surviving and getting back alive, if possible. Directed by Ron Howard, “Apollo 13” (1995) is a solid account of the real-life events and obviously influenced “The Martian” twenty years later, which is even better, albeit not based on historical events. I suppose this zeroes-in on the weakness of this movie: If you’re familiar with the account you know how the story ends, which diminishes suspense. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to observe the living conditions and challenges of real-life astronauts, as well as the resolve and ingenuity of the people at Mission Control to work with what’s available and to figure out how to get the astronauts home. The film runs 2 hours, 20 minutes. CAST: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan. GRADE: B/B-
CinemaSerf2022-05-30
★ 7/10
This does take a while to get going, but once space-bound, it proves to be quite a compelling tale of three astronauts who find themselves stranded in their spacecraft after an oxygen tank blows up. Ron Howard now presents us with a potently claustrophobic couple of hours and the men - Lovell (Tom Hanks); Haise (Bill Paxton) and Swigert (Kevin Bacon) must work with their ground control colleagues led by Mattingly (Gary Sinese) and Kranz (an excellent Ed Harris) to try to calculate some way of getting them back to safety before their remaining oxygen and fuel runs out. Meantime, we also get a sense of the mortality of these travellers from their partners left on Earth - not least from an on-form Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell). The screenplay is based on the book by Lovell, and reeks of authenticity. There is little need to embellish it with special effects; the sets adequately convey the dangers and sense of confinement as the clock ticks down. The dialogue is strong - pithy and lively but also well based in science. That enables Hanks to turn in one of his more convincing, less quirky performances which gels well with his acting co-stars. History tells us the ending, so it is not that the film has jeopardy - it hasn't, really. What is does have is an accumulated sense of peril and it demonstrates well how adaptable and innovative the human brain can be when facing almost certain death. The production is top drawer - understated but effective, and the score from James Horner is one of his lesser known, but none the less effective for that. A really well photographed example of a well directed, strong story with an equally strong cast that is well worth a watch.