Apollo 11 (2019)

Next month will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first two people (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) on the moon on July 20, 1969. The Vietnam war was raging. Nixon was president. King and Kennedy were assassinated the year before. But the event was broadcast on live television across the globe, and brought the entire world together if only for that eight day mission. I was thirteen years old, and still remember how Armstrong descended the ladder of the lunar module Eagle and declared, "that's one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind." This 90-minute documentary film edited, produced, and directed by Todd Douglas Miller tells that remarkable story. There is no narration or any interviews in the film (although it does have a powerful soundtrack), just archival footage that until now has never been released to the public. The film had its debut at the 2019 Sundance festival. On Rotten Tomatoes Apollo 11 has an approval rating of 99%. Sure, this film is partly a history lesson, but it's mainly a huge adrenaline rush (even though we know what happens), from blast off to splash down.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net