8 Days: To the Moon and Back (2019 TV Movie) User Reviews

A giant leap

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 14 July 2019]

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. 8 Days: To the Moon and Back recreated the events with the audio tapes, some lookalike actors in a recreation of the capsule which was mixed with historical footage.

The documentary had no narration. You relied on captions which gives some factual information as well as footage of the television coverage fronted by Walter Cronkite. The US network's coverage was sponsored by Kellogs on the day of the launch.

In the build up to the launch, the three astronauts had been constantly paraded on tv and the press. They must have been the most interviewed people in America, giving the same bland answers to the same questions. No wonder Armstrong eventually withdrew from the limelight.

Neil Armstrong was the most inexperienced of the three astronauts in terms of actual time spent in space. It showed when he mentioned his excitement of the prospect of seeing the sunrise from space. Buzz Aldrin was expecting to be the first man to walk on the surface of the moon but NASA had other ideas.

What came out of this documentary was just how much seat of the pants the mission was when it reached its critical stages as the lunar module approached its moon's orbit. The module overshot its planned landing site. A warning light came on and nobody knew what it meant. When a switch broke during take off from the moon, Aldrin improvised by using a pen while NASA boffins searched for an answer.

The three astronauts had a sense of calm and practicality throughout the mission.

After 50 years you would have thought there was little new to say about the first moon landing. This documentary proved me wrong as it provided new insights.

interesting approach

[cherold · 7/10 · 23 July 2019]

This unusual documentary essentially recreates visuals to match actual audio recordings of the astronauts on their moon excursion. It's an engrossing story and it's fun to see how it played out from beginning to end (fun enough that's it's worth watching both this and Apollo 11, which covers the same territory).

The only thing I didn't care for was the gimmicky transitions. Sometimes when flicking through scenes one hears the sound of a TV getting staticky, other times film footage will run out to the marked-up end. I don't see the point in any of that; it just annoyed me. But that's a small thing.

Best re-telling of the Apollo 11 mission so far

[Fudge-3 · 8/10 · 13 August 2019]

Almost a docudrama.

I've watched all the recent space documentaries and film celebrating the 50 anniversary of landing on the moon. I'm just old enough to remember it. Of all the programs this is the best and I include Apollo 11 that I watched at the cinema. By re-recording the mission conversations it comes over a lot clearer.

Despite knowing the ending it is really tense.

It's like going to the moon with them

[stevenmcglinchey · 10/10 · 14 July 2019]

By a long long way, this is the best dramatized version of the Apollo 11 journey yet made. Much more inclusive to the viewer than the introspective First Man. Not giving anything away but every word spoken by the actors are from actual recordings, many when out of earshot of NASA. The special effects are truly mesmerizing. I couldn't recommend this more highly

Perfect Weaving of Archival 1969 with 2018 Technology

[hilaryjrp · 10/10 · 18 July 2019]

I bought the "Apollo 11" documentary that appeared in limited release in (few) theaters in the spring of 2019. I didn't think anything could surpass it but ultimately was disappointed at its brief running-time. "8 Days: To the Moon and Back" accomplishes what I was looking for. This documentary offers details about the moon landing with only the mildest interjection of "acting." I ask some other reviewer to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe ALL the dialogue is actual real-time dialogue between NASA and Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. The soundtrack is superb. The "what can possibly go wrong" moments will have you on the edge of your seat, as if you don't know the outcome. This is the documentary to watch. I call it a documentary and realize some may call it a docu-drama. I'd give it eleven stars if I could.

Almost like being there

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 6 May 2020]

The moon landings remain a remarkable chapter in the human story, when mankind threw incredible resources, ingenuity and courage into a venture into a place from which there was no prospect of rescue should that commitment prove to be inadequate. Audio recordings exist from most of the first succesful mission, and also film from that trip; by splicing in some dramatic reconstruction of the astronauts themselves (mostly immobile in their tiny spaceship) this film gets its audience as close as is possible to having actually been there themselves. And pointless as some say the voyage was, there's no getting away from the fact that even in fascimile, it still feels awesome. We may never get to Mars; but a few men stood on the moon, and that's pretty cool.

Reasonably Well Done

[neverenoughgold · 8/10 · 28 July 2019]

It's well done, but not entirely a documentary in my view. The addition of the three actors portraying the astronauts during the presentation is, well, not what I was expecting. They did a very good job of synching voices, which is far better than adding the director's own "concept" of what was said during the event. In other words, what we are hearing during the program is actual voice footage in spite of what we are seeing is not necessarily what it actually looked like in the cockpit of the command module and other devices.

What was interesting of note was the switch between 4:3 aspect ration and today's more common 16:9, with this being used anytime we were watching the astronauts in the capsule or various actions taken with said devices. Maybe this was done so the viewer can better note the real from the fake?

Anyway, this event was an important step in the US space race, and something those of us born and bred in the United States should be proud of and hopefully never forget.

A Must-Watch for Space Buffs

[victor-221 · 10/10 · 20 August 2019]

When you've seen as many space docs as I have, you wonder what can I possibly learn that's new. This doc answers that: voice audio between crew members that not even Mission Control heard during their mission. One thing I learned: Armstrong had the least amount of space travel time among the three. So at one point, Buzz refers to Armstrong as "rookie" and the actor portraying Armstrong didn't like hearing that. Now, was that Armstrong's actual response? Hard to tell, except Armstrong said nothing in reply, which you can interpret as speaking volumes. Finally, you get a view of what it must have looked like for Eagle as it landed on the moon. A terrific doc and a must see.

Beautyful work of art

[tommyol-58026 · 10/10 · 1 September 2019]

This is a beautyful documentary of the Apollo 11 mission. Really gives the feeling of the desolation in space. The soundtrack is out of this world. Better than all other documentarys ive seen. Including "apollo 11"

Ingenious and surprisingly moving

[gill-72 · 10/10 · 16 August 2021]

What a great idea, to have the actors lip-synch to the original recordings, while combining new visuals with actual footage from the trip. Subtitles and captions bring clarity to the often unintelligible words and the terrific soundtrack adds drama and emotion. "The eagle has landed..." Wow. Gulp.

Where is Poppy?

[jbviolin · 8/10 · 3 August 2020]

Very good presentation. However I must protest that in all their Mission Control clips I didn't see one that showed Poppy Northcutt, the 25 year old NASA engineer in charge of the return trip from the moon. Major sexism here.

Beautiful, But A Tad Too Long

[david-meldrum · 8/10 · 14 March 2020]

I enjoyed this ambitious film - using original audio of the ground crew and astronauts, original documentary footage and dramatised recreations, it tells the story of the mission that put men on the moon. As someone who was born after this event, I've grown up taking this all for granted; so it's to the film's immense credit that it evoked mystery, wonder, awe, grace and beauty in even the most mechanical of process, making it comprehensible and artful for even me who has no interest or expertise in things scientific or mechanical ( I can't even drive a car, let alone look at an engine and understand it). The film's main handicap was, for me, a lack of narrative tension and character interest given the 90-minute running time - my attention did occasionally drift away. But this is well worth seeking out.