In the Shadow of the Moon
I wasn’t sure how this movie could do anything that hadn’t already been done by the excellent movie, For All Mankind (1989), which also chronicles the Apollo Moon missions exclusively using NASA footage and the voices of the astronauts who flew them. In the Shadow of the Moon does bring a new and valuable perspective to those missions and their effect on the world. Unlike For All Mankind, here we see the astronauts today and here their thoughts as they look back almost 4 decades on their historic voyages. They are thoughtful, personable, and interesting. The most poignant moment is hearing Michael Collins, the Command Module pilot of Apollo 11 (who orbited, but did not land on, the Moon), recall the worldwide sense of unity and accomplishment after their mission. People from all nations took pride in an accomplishment of the human species. He notes wryly that that sentiment was ephemeral.