Man on the Moon Blu-ray features terrible video and mediocre audio in this poor Blu-ray release
This program reflects on the Apollo missions. Comprised of newscasts which allow the viewer to
experience and relive man's most spectacular achievement through the eyes of Walter
Cronkite, Wally Schirra and others. Narrated by Walter Cronkite.
“How much is it worth to prove, in an era of cynicism and gloom, that man can still do anything he
wants to do as long as he has the will to do it and the money to spend?”
Even forty years after the fact, it seems almost unfathomable that man once took a small step off a
ladder and onto the lunar surface, taking a giant leap for mankind in the process. A mere sixty-six
years passed between the Wright brothers' first historic flight at Kitty Hawk and Neil
Armstrong's boot touching down on the moon, making it clear, if anyone doubted it, that the 20th
century was one of immense, exponential advancement in science, technology, and culture. A
cosmic cornucopia of programming has been devoted to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11
mission, with cable networks churning out special after archival footage-heavy special. Timeless
Media Group and CBS turn back the clock with Man on the Moon, a 1989 documentary
narrated by the late, great Walter Cronkite that compiles some of the network's historic broadcasts
from the Apollo era. Also included on the disc are six vintage documentaries that explore various
facets of NASA and the space program. While the material is somewhat interesting from a nostalgic,
cultural perspective—there's a certain gee-whiz quality to the early reportage—the space race has
been comprehensively covered in recent years by more entertaining and informative programs like
the fantastic When We Left Earth series.
Walter Cronkite asks you to behold the magnificence of high definition picture quality.
Man on the Moon (1 hour, 15 min.)
If the launch of Sputnik was the starter's pistol announcing the beginning of the space race, the
moon represented the finish line. Here, venerable newscaster Walter Cronkite narrates the
history of America's marathon to the moon. The first fifteen minutes are an overview of the
opening legs of the race, from Russia's early lead and America's initial failures, through the
tentative successes of the Mercury and Gemini programs and Kennedy's inspiring call to land a
man on the moon (and bring him safely home, of course) by the end of the decade. The rest of
the program focuses on the Apollo missions, specifically Apollo 8 through 11, with a cursory
glance at those missions before and after. The archival footage is cobbled together from a number
of CBS broadcasts, and it all comes across as rather slapdash. There's no discernable thread to
how the documentary is put together—other than sheer chronological order—and the material
has been explored much more fully and entertainingly in other productions, like the Discovery
Channel's fantastic When We Left Earth series. If you're old enough to remember the
actual broadcasts you might get a kick out of the nostalgia factor—there are cheesy "simulations"
and hand-drawn animations galore—but if you're looking for an in-depth dissection of the lunar
landings, this isn't it.
"Houston, We've Got a Problem" (20 min.)
Apollo 13's perilous journey dramatized the dangers inherent in space travel but ended with an
inspirational tale of good, old-fashioned American can-do spirit. After a systems failure, the three
astronauts were forced to abort their attempt at a lunar landing, and use the moon's gravity to
slingshot themselves back to Earth with fuel reserves running dangerously low. Fuel wasn't the
only concern, as carbon dioxide began filling up the cabin, sending the astronauts scrambling to
fabricate an air scrubber using only cardboard, plastic bags, tape, and hosing. This brief
documentary is comprised of behind-the-scenes footage from mission control, and features lots of
jargon-y communications between Houston and the surprisingly nonplussed astronauts, as well
as some slim narration by an unnamed narrator. Once again, nostalgia is the motivating factor,
as the information presented here—and more—can be found in a variety of more thorough
sources.
The Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine (25 min.)
And now for something completely different. This NASA promo piece explores the maiden voyage
of the space shuttle Columbia, April 12-14, 1981, using a variety of footage from inside both the
shuttle itself and mission control. With the shuttle program quickly approaching its 30th
anniversary—there are only a few flights left—it's definitely interesting to look back at the origins
of the project, even if just to see how drastically different the hairstyles were in mission control.
The episode does have an eerie moment of unintentional irony, as we see footage of missing tiles
on Columbia's exterior, a foreshadowing of the tragic disaster that would befall the ship and her
crew some 22 years and 27 missions later.
The Birth of NASA (27 min.)
Narrator R. Lynn Bondurant leads us through NASA's formative years in this 25th anniversary
special produced in 1983. Most of the program consists of an interview with a former NASA
honcho, Keith Something-Or-Other. I couldn't quite catch the guy's last name, because the disc
doesn't include any subtitles. Regardless, reading NASA's Wikipedia article would probably be more
entertaining, and so unless you're a hardcore NASA aficionado, the presentation of the material
here will seem dryer than moon dust.
The Moon—A Goal (27 min.)
Once again, R. Lynn Bondurant—with a little input from Keith What's-His-Face—takes us through
NASA history, this time focusing on the spaceflights of the 1960s that culminated with the first
lunar landing. I consider myself a space geek, but even I found myself dozing. Seriously, just buy
When We Left Earth.
The Eagle Has Landed (27 min.)
Of all the extra episodes, this is the only one I'd really recommend watching, as it features lots of
great archival footage from the Apollo 11 mission. We see Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins pre-
mission, getting suited up and mentally preparing themselves for the journey ahead. We witness
the fiery launch, the long trek through space, and the landing on the moon. Some of the material
is re-hashed from the Man on the Moon documentary, but the tone here is more
reverential and less golly-shucks-would-you-look-at-that. Still—I shouldn't even need to repeat it
by now—there are far better, more comprehensive documentaries out there.
The Time of Apollo (27 min.)
Here we see the same events—the Apollo 11 mission—from an ever so slightly different
perspective. By this time, if you're not asleep you've either got astronaut-like levels of physical
stamina, or you're a complete nut for NASA who will devour any and all Apollo-related material.
When We Left Earth this ain't. Though presented in 1080p, with an MPEG-2 transfer, the
cobbled footage from CBS's Man on the Moon and the following documentaries appears
upscaled from once, perhaps twice copied source material. Whereas When We Left Earth
sports beautifully cleaned up recordings, Man on the Moon shows its age with constant
wear 'n tear lines, soupy grey black levels, aliasing, ghosting, poor color depth, bland contrast,
specks, flecks, super-soft images, and no hints of a true high definition transfer. The disc opens
ominously with this warning: "TMG and CBS have made every effort to preserve and present this
historic footage of the Apollo Moon Mission on Blu-ray disc. Imperfections in visual quality are due to
the original live source material." Some of the episodes look slightly better than others—particularly
The Eagle Has Landed and Time of Apollo—but none of them are actually
in high definition. Here, it appears that Blu-ray is just a chance to cram four hours of material onto
a single disc. I usually rate discs by how true they are to their source material, but I'm going to give
Man on the Moon a low score, just because it seems somewhat misleading to have such
obviously upscaled material on Blu-ray.
Likewise, Man on the Moon makes no attempt to clean up its audio source material, which
is presented via an unimpressive Dolby Digital 2.0 track. There's really not much to say here. The
as-is approach means that the footage sounds exactly as you'd expect it to sound—old, compressed,
and thin, with plenty of analog tape hiss and fuzzy vocals. The liftoff of a powerful Saturn rocket
sounds more like a flag whipping in the wind, and the music in some of the later episodes has little
presence and feels warbly, reminding me of the sound of the Super-8 videos we used to watch in
science class back in the day. Once again, nostalgia is about the only objective enjoyment you'll get
out of the presentation.
Astrodome Opening Celebration (15:37)
If you're up for more archival footage, watch this dedication of the Houston Astrodome stadium,
which includes a special guest appearance by Frank Sinatra, who sings the situation appropriate "Fly
Me to the Moon."
Apollo 14 Recovery (3:36)
This is a brief interview with Richard Gabrielson, a helicopter crewman on the Apollo 14 rescue
team.
Skip this release and go strait to When We Left Earth. I can't really even recommend
Man on the Moon as a cultural curiosity. Sure, the archival footage is neato for the first
hour, but three and a half hours in and you'll begin to notice a lot of repetition. Plus, the picture and
sound quality wouldn't look out of place on a dusty, 20 year old VHS tape. Did I recommend
When We Left Earth yet?
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