Most people will recognise this based film because of its iconic catchphrase, and to be honest, that is all I could remember from it, so I'm glad I got to watch it again to get a proper perspective, directed by Golden Globe nominated Ron Howard (Splash, Ransom, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, Rush). Based on the true story, in July 1969, astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) hosts a house party, where the guests watch the first successful landing on the Moon, where Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface. Lovell, who previously orbited the Moon on Apollo 8 in December 1968, tells his wife Marilyn (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Kathleen Quinlan) that he intends to return to the Moon to walk on its surface. Three months later, his boss, Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton (Chris Ellis), informs him that due to problems with Alan Shepard's crew, his crew will fly Apollo 13 instead of 14. Lovell, Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise), and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) train for their new mission. However, days before the launch, Mattingly is exposed to German Measles, and he is replaced by backup pilot Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon). Lovell is not happy with this mission, but Slayton threatens to bump crew to a later mission if they do not go ahead. As the launch date approaches, Marilyn has a nightmare about her husband getting killed in space but goes to the Kennedy Space Center the night before launch to see him off. On April 11, 1970, Flight Director Gene Kranz (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Ed Harris) gives the go-ahead from Houston's Mission Control Center for the Apollo 13 launch. As the Saturn V rocket climbs through the atmosphere, one of the engines cuts out prematurely, but the craft reaches orbit and continues towards the Moon. Now in space, Swigert performs the manoeuvre to connect the command module Odyssey to the Lunar Module Aquarius and pull it away from the spent rocket. Three days into the mission, the crew makes a television transmission, which the networks decline to broadcast live. After Swigert turns on the liquid oxygen tank stirring fans as requested by Mission Control, one of the tanks explodes, emptying its contents into space, and the other tank is soon found to be leaking. They attempt to stop the leak by shutting off two fuel cells, but this fails. With the fuel cells closed, the Moon landing must be aborted, and Lovell and Haise must hurry to power up the Aquarius to use as a "lifeboat" to return home, and Swigert shuts down Odyssey before its battery power runs out. In Houston, Kranz rallies his team to come up with a plan to bring the astronauts home safely, declaring "failure is not an option". Controller John Aaron (Loren Dean) recruits Mattingly to help him with the rescue mission, to find a solution to the problem. Swigert and Haise watch the Moon pass beneath them, as they are using the lunar gravity to slingshot them around it, Lovell laments his lost opportunity to walk on the lunar surface. With Aquarius running on minimal electrical power, the crew suffer through freezing conditions, and Haise becomes ill and moderately feverish. As Swigert suspects Mission Control of withholding information from them; Haise angrily blames Swigert's inexperience for the accident; and Lovell quickly calms the argument. When carbon dioxide approaches dangerous levels, ground control must quickly invent a way for the astronauts to have enough breathable air to make it home. With the guidance systems on Aquarius shut down, the crew must make a difficult but vital course correction by manually igniting the Lunar Module's engine. Mattingly and Aaron struggle to find a way to turn on the command module systems without drawing too much power, and finally transmit the procedure to Swigert, who restarts Odyssey by transferring extra power from Aquarius. When the crew jettisons the service module, they are surprised to see the extent of the damage. Aquarius is released and they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, but no one is sure if the Odyssey's heat shield is intact and will hold. The tense period of radio silence due to a blackout is longer than normal, but the astronauts eventually communicate and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Helicopters bring the three men aboard the recovery ship USS Iwo Jima, where they are greeted with a hero's welcome. Lovell's voice-over describes the subsequent investigation into the explosion, and the careers of Haise, Swigert, Mattingly, and Kranz. He wonders if and when mankind will return to the Moon. Also starring Mary Kate Schellhardt as Barbara Lovell, Emily Ann Lloyd as Susan Lovell, Miko Hughes as Jeffrey Lovell, Max Elliott Slade as Jay Lovell, Jean Speegle Howard (Ron's mother) as Blanch Lovell, Xander Berkeley as Henry Hurt, Clint Howard (Ron's brother) as Sy Liebergot - EECOM White, Ray McKinnon as Jerry Bostick - FIDO White, and Rance Howard (Ron's father) as Reverend. Hanks does well as the ordinary astronaut trying himself and his crew calm through the dangerous situation, Paxton and Bacon are equally good as his co-pilots, Quinlan is memorable as the worried wife, Harris is likeable as the chain-smoking mission controller, and Sinise is fine. You can tell Howard was going for a completely factual account of the events of Apollo 13, from the actors being in weightlessness to all facts and figures behind the mission, it does get your attention at the crucial moments, a well-made and interesting drama. It won the Oscars for Best Film Editing, and Best Sound, and it was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Visual Effects, Best Music for James Horner, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Picture, it won the BAFTAs for Best Special Effects, and Best Production Design, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama. It was number 50 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes ("Houston, we have a problem."), and it was number 12 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers. Very good!