Apollo 18 (2011)

I went to see the "Documentary" about why we did not go back to the Moon after Apollo 17. Yeah I like the fact that they push the fact that it is reality but really it gets boring when they continue pushing it as reality all the way to the end of advertising and the film, so sorry for spoilers if you thought that a revelation like this would be released on the big screen rather than as front page breaking news. It surprises me that people fall in to the trap of thinking that "Real" stories will be released on the big screen, it is fun marketing but really goes to far for me. This film does it in the standard way with teaser trailers and the "true story" about where the footage comes from and I am happy enough with this as a concept but it is depressing how stupid some people can be when NASA have to issue and announcement that Apollo 18 is not a documentary.

Anyway the story is a found footage story based upon 84 hours of material uploaded to the internet and then edited into the film in front of you. The story is around the 3 astronauts of the top secret Apollo 18 mission to the Moon to put down sensors and gather more samples and it is what they found on the Moon. Now it is hand held and fixed camera footage and it gets old quite quickly for a short film and the fact that the claim to have so much footage there are longs spells of not a lot happening. It preys on the claustrophobic nature of the capsule, and the fact that there is nowhere for them to go and getting home is difficult. I think that they do a fantastic job with the characters, making you care for them and feeling empathy when they feel the pressure and tension of the situation they find themselves in.

This is a very clever film, it takes an idea and pushes it as far as it can. The actors and way that the footage is put together is actually almost believable they make you think that in reality this is actually a possibility. I enjoyed it I rate this a good 3 stars and it is well worth a watch.