Ron Howard’s excellent movie about the troubled Apollo 13 mission has just had a new 20th-anniversary release from Universal with a brand new 4K remaster.
NASA’s worst nightmare turned into one of its most heroic moments in 1970 when the Apollo 13 crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton play astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise in director Ron Howard’s intense, painstakingly authentic docudrama.
A great cast, including among many greats Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan make this one of the best docu-dramas ever made, even though you know the outcome you still lump in your throat when the astronauts finally make it back to earth in one piece and get to see their family once again, which just goes to show what a master film-maker Ron Howard is.
This new 4K remastered transfer blows the previous 15th-anniversary release out of the water. The 1080p picture is stunningly clear, crisp, and colourful, everything you expect from a perfect Blu-ray release. Audio is again magnificent with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track embracing you in all the action.
Extras are the same as the 15th-anniversary release with one new addition in HD called Apollo 13: 20 Years Later in which director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer give new insight into the film and the impact it has had.
Other extras are two audio commentaries the first with Howard, the second with Jim and Marilyn Lovell, Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 a great documentary about the real flight, Conquering Space: The Moon and Beyond a more basic although interesting documentary about the race to get to the moon and Lucky 13: The Astronauts’ Story a short look that interviews the real men who were involved.
Overall a superb presentation of a great movie.
Both the UK and USA releases are identical and region-free. Also available on 4k UHD
FILM: 9 PICTURE: 9.5 AUDIO: 9 EXTRAS: 9
