Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Apollo 13: Survival’ on Netflix, a Documentary Rich with Archival Footage and Terrifying Suspense

Apollo 13: Survival (now on Netflix) tells a story so many of us already know, albeit in a new, vital manner. Ron Howard’s 1995 nine-times Oscar-nominated Tom Hanks vehicle Apollo 13 rather famously dramatized the near-tragedy of the 1970 NASA mission to the Moon, which nearly exploded and/or suffocated three astronauts, before they defied significant odds and splashed down safely in the Pacific after six harrowing days. Survival finds director Peter Middleton piecing together archival audio and video footage to create a documentary version of the saga – a saga that’s nerve-wrackingly tense no matter what form it takes.

APOLLO 13: SURVIVAL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: We open with a title card stating that Middleton enjoyed “rare access” to complete NASA archival footage of the Apollo 13 mission, but also cuts in recreations and other materials in this rendering of the story (read: hey, we had to fudge it a little in order to put together a cohesive movie for you to watch). Will you notice? Probably not. And cutting in newly shot closeups of blinking warning lights and relatively recent footage of Earth from orbit never undermines the doc’s authenticity. 

And so we begin in early 1970. Apollo 13 was NASA’s fifth flight to the Moon, and would’ve been the third to land on its surface. Jim Lovell was mission commander, Jack Swigert was the pilot of the command module and Ken Mattingly was to be the lunar module pilot until exposure to measles put Fred Haise in his seat literally the day before launch. They’d land in a different region of the Moon than previous missions, but by this point, the media’s interest in the Apollo missions had waned. Sure, there were the then-typical high-profile news conferences with the astronauts, forever to be hailed as heroes, and their supportive and terrified families. But the doc points out how the NASA press room had dwindled from 2,500 outlets to 500, as if the overwhelming assertion was, you’re going to the Moon AGAIN? I mean, recreating arguably the greatest scientific achievement in human history for the fifth time is so passe, man. Yawn city!

Well, the media came around, unfortunately. But now, a question: Are you superstitious? Specifically concerning the number 13? If so, this is just the anecdotal series of unfortunate coincidences you need to reinforce that notion: The initial Apollo 13 launch was delayed a month. Then Mattingly had to be replaced, lest the mission suffer another costly delay. Shortly after the craft’s successful launch on April 11, 1970, one of its five engines died, but they soldiered on. And then, 55 hours into the mission, one day before they’d reach the Moon, one of the command module’s oxygen tanks burst, taking out the life-support and electrical systems. Our three heroes were in deep, deep peril.

The film jumps among a few primary viewpoints: Footage taken in the Apollo 13 craft, where the astronauts clambered into the lunar module and shivered in 38-degree temps after systems were shut down to conserve energy. Scenes from the Houston command center, where sweating engineers frantically performed calculations (with pencil and paper!) and near-miraculous on-the-fly problem-solving experimentation. Media coverage, which became rather intense as the mission teetered on hopelessness and people worldwide gathered in mass prayer. And moments inside Lovell’s home, where his wife Marilyn and their children, surrounded by friends and family and media, despaired as they watched news coverage on TV and listened to NASA and Apollo comminques via “squawk boxes.” Bottom line, everyone was terrified. But, thank your chosen deity, eventually relieved.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The 2019 doc Apollo 11 (streaming for free on Tubi and the Roku Channel) recreates the first-ever moon landing in a similar fashion, using amazing, previously unseen NASA footage. 

Performance Worth Watching: This is as good a place as any to note how steady, calm and collected the voices of the astronauts and command-center honchos are, even in moments of serious distress. There are notes of hope in Lovell’s voice at all times here. (Although one can’t help but wonder if NASA keeps recordings of panicking astronauts far outside of civilian access.)

Memorable Dialogue: An unfortunate line that embedded itself into the cultural vernacular: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Apollo 13: Survival has – forgive me – all the right stuff: Fascinating, intimate archival footage. Crucial contextual clips. A nose for detail that never weighs down its expeditious pace (the film is a brisk 96 minutes). And a purely visual narrative drive that foregoes talking heads for a focused tick-tock of perhaps the most harrowingly tense moment in the history of space travel. I mean, we know what happens here. It’s a relatively happy ending. It’s a survival story, not a tragedy. But that doesn’t mean you won’t hang on every suspenseful moment, or hold your breath during the brief few minutes (that feel like several eternities) when the Apollo 13 craft loses communication with the ground as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. That’s the nature of a highly relevant bit of history – and of a well-made film about it.

Sure, every movie about astronauts trafficks heavily in idealist platitudes: Look at what scientific ingenuity and the power of the human mind and spirit can achieve! It can not only put people in space and exploring the surface of the Moon, but also extract them from the horrors that potentially occur when terrible, terrible reality impeaches upon optimistic dreams. If you’re weary of these notions and are tempted to call them tropes, well, then your ass is showing, you cynic. We should be all about this type of documentary, with its emotional rollercoaster and you-are-there-in-the-moment approach to archival storytelling. You could say Apollo 13: Survival is a little dry at times, and like other films of its ilk. But to say it isn’t nevertheless riveting would be a lie. 

Our Call: We’re a go for liftoff: STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.