Hacker Cinema
Apollo 11
2019 · Film · documentary · 93 min
Directed by Todd Douglas Miller
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
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41 comments on Hacker News
Space exploration requires significant software development.
Take a look at the Apollo 11 movie: There was quite significant computing power for the 1960s putting a person on the moon.
I assume you've watched with delight the 2019 Apollo 11 documentary assembled from previously unused 70mm footage.
The Apollo 11 Lunar Landing was really a great movie. It's nice to enjoy it in a way that's close how they people of that time got to enjoy it. J/k
See also the 2019 documentary “Apollo 11.” I saw it in the theater and was blown away. The story of the mission is told almost entirely with archival footage, much of which the filmmakers had to digitize as it was sitting in a NASA vault. The filmmakers created Apollo in real time somewhat as a byproduct of this digitization process.
For those with large screens to watch it on, Apollo 11 is a heartbreakingly beautiful documentary of the first moon landing using restored film material.
While the software engineering aspects are left to the more obscure corners of the Apollo lore, Margaret Hamiltons groundbreaking contributions to the program should be known to enyone who programs professionally. Her teams work does show up, as the Apollo landing computer runs out of memory during the landing:
- "1202 Alarm" - "1202? It's executive overflow, if it does not occur again we are fine"
They were fine.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_(2019_film)
No, Apollo 11 is a thrilling big-screen documentary about the successful moon landing, all original film without narration.
I'd take you mean a M3 MacBook Pro laptop, because M3 Mac Pro is not available yet... which year are you from, exactly?
So, assuming I am scientist from 1961 that just have given clearance by CIA to examine an unusual object that looks like a typewriter with a flat screen. Assuming non-destructive tests first, you can observe the following from just its unpowered state. Quite a lot can be inferred from the exterior of the object.
It is apparently manufactured with the knowledge of Earth's technology, as it has what looks a power supply that can be plugged into the standard Type A socket with 110V, 60Hz. All markings and marking and labels are in English.
- Power supply and cables are clearly recognized as such, input and output voltages and amperage are dead giveaway. Oh, a magnetic latch to connect power cable, neat!
- "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." Those words do not make any sense, you ask your CIA guide about them but they seem to be as lost as you are.
- QWERTY keyboard indicates it is some sort of the typewriter, some symbols like ⌘ are a bit mysterious, but otherwise the purpose of that part is clear enough.
- There is also rectangular depression below the keyboard, covered with something that seems like glass. You don't understand the purpose of this part though.
- Careful examination reveals a 3.5mm audio jack, so 1960s headphones can be also connected without problem, is this some sort of the portable radio?
- Most of the chassis looks like polished aluminium, shaving a bit of exterior and running it through a mass-spectrometer proves that it is indeed, a common aluminium alloy.
- The display is the most puzzling piece of equipment. It suggests a function of a TV screen but without the usual bulk of the CRT equipment.
Next stage requires some trial and error.
- You find a button that makes the display light up and animate. The screen is now covered with variety of large glyphs on the bottom, a row of text labels and smaller glyphs on the top and an image of what looks like a ..female robot? (cyborg?) covering rest of the screen.
- You learn than unplugging the cable and plugging it back changes one of the glyph's appearance in the top left part of the screen.
- You learn that touching and moving your finger on the rectangle below the key board moves a small arrow-like glyph on the screen.
You write down all of the observations into the paper notebook provided by you by the spooks (no, you can't take it home, it is classified TOP SECRET for a reason!). Exhausted, you come back home, only to look forward to your next day with a mysterious object.
...a few months later.
You now understand that this is a sort of multi-function electronic appliance that combines the functions of a type-writer, an automatic clock and a calendar, an electronic library, an audio player, TV combined with VCR and few other things that you can't quite understand. A small number of music pieces you can recognize, but most of it is unfamiliar to you. There is an apparently a documentary movie that you can watch on it, called "Apollo 11", about the successful Moon landing by US that happened 8 years into the future. And a number of what looks like books on the variety of subjects, mostly science and engineering, with some of the information clearly outside of what was known in 1960. And what exactly is "C++ programming language" ?
And the most disturbing thing is the clock and calendar part. For some reason it is set to February 17th, 2024...
TL;DR: The content of laptop would have a lot bigger impact in 1960s then the laptop itself. It would take several months of experimentation to use the MacBook on a user level, but several years before you can learn how to write programs on it.
You might like this "documentary" CNN made back in 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_(2019_film)
As I remember it, there's minimal dialogue and they incorporate actual audio of transmissions between ground control and the crew.
The launch sequence in particular is very, very cool
> People don’t go to the cinema to listen to an ATC feed
If you haven’t watched Apollo 11 I highly recommend it
The Apollo 11 documentary a few years ago had 4k-quality film footage. Worth checking out!
There was a great IMAX documentary on the 50th anniversary of the mission made by searching and scanning all original footage. I highly recommend it!
Amazon Prime Video link https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-11-Todd-Douglas-Miller/dp/B07RCZ661R/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
If you have seen the Apollo 11 movie that was released a few years ago, the footage is all very familiar (and real).
They spliced the content in a way that is misleading
A few people have mentioned Apollo 11 but I prefer (and my favorite documentary of all time is) For All Mankind (1989). They’re similar, iirc they share a lot of the same footage, but For All Mankind gives you a great sense of what it was like for those early astronauts to take that trip to the Moon. It has all the best footage of the moon we have ever taken. For All Mankind is a must, but both are worth a watch if you’re a space fan.
Crumb is also pretty good. It’s about an offbeat artist and gives you the look into the mind of someone that wouldn’t normally be in the spot light.
Top 5
1. First Contact (1982) - Possibly the best documentary ever made https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085544/
2. Rivers and Tides (2001) - Beautiful meditation on the art of Andy Goldsworthy, with music by Fred Frith https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307385/
3. This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make (2002) - The story of Popcorn Sutton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glQjCKAI4gA
4. Alone in the Wilderness (2004) - Mostly original footage and commentary by Richard Proenneke https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437806/
5. Apollo 11 (2019) - Narration-free documentary on the first moon landing https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/
Bonus picks:
Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) is a dramatization but an incredibly accurate one https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/
If mockumentaries count, everything by Christopher Guest is obligatory. There's also this short gem on the Centrifuge Brain Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVeHxUVkW4w
Grizzly Man (2005) is not a mockumentary, but like most Herzog documentaries, it's not exactly straight https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427312/
Finally, I'm a huge fan of first-nuclear-era documentaries made by the U.S. government, e.g.
Army Nuclear Power Program (1963) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPWDMHH4rY4
SNAP 8 Reactor (1963) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82nCRWawfhQ
SNAPSHOT (1964) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9jI1Hdl5Yw
Remote Maintanence of Molten Salt Reactors (?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHT-w2x6dDg
and many more.
If you like exploring outer space:
Apollo 11 (2019). A feature-length documentary telling the story of the first people to land on the moon, told entirely without narration, using gloriously high definition archival footage.
If you like that and want more NASA history, I also loved When We Left Earth (2008), which is a six-part series covering the history of NASA's manned spaceflight programs: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and then on to the space shuttle, ISS, etc.
If you like exploring our planet:
The Rescue (2021). The story of the kids soccer team who was trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand for nearly three weeks in 2018 and the huge international effort that ultimately saw them rescued safely by hobbyist cave divers after the Thai navy seals decided it was too dangerous to attempt.
I'm going to list just a few of the best I have seen so far:
- The Last Dance [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8420184/]
- Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13651632/]
- Indie Game: The Movie [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1942884/]
- The Staircase [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388644/]
- Making a Murderer [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5189670/]
- Icarus [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6333060/]
- Apollo 11 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/]
I love documentaries, and these are my favourites. All very worth a watch.
- The Crash Reel
- McConkey
- Buck
- Apollo 11
- Carts of Darkness
- The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
- Samsara
- Baraka
- Brooklyn Castle
- Spellbound
- Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
- Crumb
- The Jinx
- The Art of Flight
- King of Kong
- Indie Game: The Movie
- Capturing the Friedmans
- OJ: Made in America
- The Barkley Marathons
- The Seven Five
- Murderball
- Unbranded
- Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee
- Big River Man
- Hoop Dreams
- Word Wars
- Free Solo
- Long Shot
- Meru
- Being Elmo
- All This Mayhem
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi
- The Cove
- Project Nim
- Alone in the Wilderness
- Behind the Curve
- The Dawn Wall
- Grizzly Man
- 13th
- Winnebago Man
- Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler
- Get Me Roger Stone
- Icarus
- 13th
- Koyaanisqatsi
- The Thin Blue Line
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Oklahoma City
- Virunga
- The Staircase
- Evil Genius
- Undefeated
- Betting on zero
Of course we're influenced by the world around us, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you can't look for inspiration. It kind of has to come to you. This is why movies are probably a bad source. As a commenter below mentioned Apollo 11 was a very inspirational achievement to lots of people, it was an incredible event that changed people's lives specially impressionable children.
You need to be shaped by those events like a statue.
That's why those events need to be powerful, significant and life changing not mere theatrical plays.
Some movies about the Apollo missions are incredible:
- the recent Apollo 11 movie with restored footage
- in the shadow of the moon documentary (and the related Moon machines series), awesome music as well
- Moonwalk one
+1 for Apollo 11. I took a day off to watch it on IMAX when it came out and it couldn't have been more worth it. I was very surprised how much the movie moved me. Just one minute in when you see Armstrong get into his space suit almost had me start crying. No idea where that came from. I guess seeing humanity do something incredible like that for once is something I really needed
This one. It's quite incredible in the way it's constructed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_(2019_film)
> The film consists solely of archival footage, including 70 mm film previously unreleased to the public, and does not feature narration, interviews or modern recreations.
> In late 2016, Todd Douglas Miller had recently completed work on The Last Steps, a documentary about Apollo 17, when British archivist and film editor Stephen Slater suggested making a similarly themed documentary for the upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations of Apollo 11.
> Miller's conception of the film was centered on a direct cinema approach. The final film contains no voice-over narration or interviews beyond what was available in the contemporary source material.
I saw this on Reddit the other day and have read some of the worries from historians about changing history.
I view this as one half of the equation, if people can relate to the past more (like WW2 in HD, They Shall Not Grow Old) etc, then suddenly they can connect and understand that human problems have always been around and we aren't so different.
As long as we can balance that effectively with the historical preservation part I'm all for using things such as ML upscaling/recoloring etc in order to make the past much more accessible.
I had the opportunity to see the Apollo 11 documentary on the IMAX last year when it came out, it was one of the most incredible movie experiences of my life and helped me to "get it" in regards to how the people acted, the public's reaction, enthusiasm etc.
It’s not just infrastructure, or cost. After watching Apollo 11 the other night, I can’t fathom how that was done in 8 years.
Also, in the movie, one of the mission controllers looked to be about 70. To think that when we he was born, flight, radio, and computers did not exist. Here he was putting men in the moon.
Here I’m, born a couple of years after that, and seems not a damn thing has happened since. Everyone has a piece of shit in their pocket with which they can sext. Call that progress; Truly depressing.
I watched the Apollo 11 documentary from this year that was made with the recently recovered audio and video (it was great!). I had no idea that Armstrong was talking to mission control the entire time he was exiting the lunar module and climbing down the ladder. He then paused, made his famous quote, paused again, and started talking to mission control again about the lunar surface.
Whether he misspoke or we misheard him is irrelevant to me. I think it's pretty clear that "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" is the sentiment he meant to convey to all people that were listening.
Most of the film people have seen from Apollo 11 is the rocket itself (and most of the most famous Saturn V footage isn't even Apollo 11) and the lunar landing. I'd bet a significant number of people don't even know who Michael Collins is.
Most of the film people have seen from Apollo 13 is a movie where Gene's got a bunch of snappy quotes and has a starring role in the middle of the action in mission control.
I suppose it's an example of how much failures are far more visible than successes :) Going to the moon was "routine" by the time 13 launched because as far as the public could tell, it was all going smoothly. Seemed easy. A solved problem. That's even a theme in the Apollo 13 movie!
"Apollo 11" is available for purchase, both digitally and physically. It's one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, as it creates a narrative out of the footage without using any interviews or actual narration.
UK based people with a TV license can watch "8 days to the moon and back" on BBC iPlayer.
I've seen both Apollo 11 and 8 days to the moon and back, and while there are stylistic differences, the power is much the same.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006p5f/8-days-to-the-moon-and-back
If you missed the documentary "Apollo 11" in cinemas, you can watch "Moonwalk One" (1970) on youtube in its entirety at https://youtu.be/9GVpoSrqMMg
It features quite a few of the same scenes, alas in lower visual fidelity.
Description:
This film details the comprehensive coverage surrounding the July 1969 launch of Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon. The film details activities of both the astronauts and mission control during pre-launch and launch sequences, daily activities aboard the spacecraft and the moonwalk, and provides a view of the historical and cultural events of the time. The footage includes clips from science fiction television shows such as "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers," as well as a lengthy segment on American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard. The film also explores some of the critical preliminary stages of the Apollo program, including medical testing of the human body in space conditions, as well as the assembly and testing of space suits as worn by the astronauts.
ARC Identifier 1257628 / Local Identifier 255-HQ-199 National Archives and Records Administration Moonwalk One, ca. 1970
https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/apollo-11-2019
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-11-Todd-Douglas-Miller/dp/B07RDY2QF1/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/
It's light on storytelling and heavy on fly on the wall presentation. The footage is pretty great. You spend a lot of time in mission control.
Any links or pointers to where it can be found? There are just a _few_ Apollo 11 documentaries coming out this year it seems...
Watch the new documentary "Apollo 11" — it's all that and more.
> the theater is empty, why didn't Apollo 11 ever play in my town?
Heh, now there's a new promotion opportunity: "Show up at the theater and your party is the only one there? Select what movie you want to be shown from our immense backlog!" Sort of like no-show ticket deals on flights.
I think the theater experience has changed pretty radically, unfortunately, the selection of movies.. haven't.
Here in Reno, the Cinemark chain put in the luxury loungers (far fewer seats per theater) and seat selection. With the movie club, you pay $8/movie for all tickets plus get a discount on snacks. Honestly, that's pretty fair.
I hate the superhero moment we're living through right now... some likable actors don't seem to show up ind event movies anymore because they're cashing the DC/MCU checks.
What I wish every time I go to a theater:
* Ditch the stupid Coca-Cola commercials. If we have to sit through those every time we have to go to a theater, we stop going to a theater.
* Theaters are set up for digital nowadays, per Fandom and certain fight events. Dig up some legacy films and show indie/classics/other films far more often. Or, make sure other movies play, even during the day on weekend... the theater is empty, why didn't Apollo 11 ever play in my town?
* Fix your movie chain marketing emails. They all, universally, suck.
* Tell us when the movie starts, not when you start the advertising (yeah, I know it's 15 minutes of trailers/commercials).
Not even to go into the "some movies would be better as HBO/ Netflix/ Showtime series" ...
the new Apollo 11 documentary that just came out is also very good
He voices his opinion clearly and holds audience attention well. He provides quite a few interesting examples of lost knowledge and civilization decline. He goes against common assumption that tech is ever-evolving and shows how and why the software infrastructure is failing under our feet.
The day after I watched the talk I was compelled to watch the mentioned Apollo 11 documentary. For me this was a great talk, but feel free to disagree.
I have the same thing with many, many filmfestival films. I'm glad that there are torrents for some of them, including Apollo 11. Would love to pay for streams of filmfestival films, but there aren't many.
For Apollo 11 thankfully, there are plenty of options here: https://www.uphe.com/movies/apollo-11-2019 Scroll down a bit to find the 'find out more' heading. I used the iTunes version.
I saw a trailer for Apollo 11 last night when I was at a rerun of First Man at a local cinema - the release date in the UK is 28th June so perhaps where you are also has a similar release date.
Apollo 11 is such a great documentary. They restored a lot of 70mm film and the clarity of the image is surreal.
It didn’t get screened in any cinemas where I live, but the bluray looks absolutely stunning. I wish they did a 4K release.
I was staring at a picture today (I think it was a screen capture from the Apollo 11 documentary).
It was a view out across the Moon’s horizon and then total darkness. At first I felt this strange sense of dread and emptiness but then reframed the feeling into awe.
I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like to be actually standing there. Or to be in that tiny little shuttle orbiting around the moon at what is essentially the height of an airplane flying across the ocean.
Absolutely the best overview I've seen yet of "the Moon situation", with a fully sufficient range of the most salient facts well described-- in addition to plenty of poetic trivia garnish I never knew about. Anybody who isn't anticipating some aspect of this does not fully understand one of the most fundamental human drives.
Everyone who has an iota of interest should read this, I plan to share it widely. I also highly recommend the Apollo 11 documentary to anyone who hasn't seen it.