For All Mankind

Between 1968 and 1972, NASA sent 24 astronauts into space as part of its Apollo Space Program. All nine missions (six of which involved lunar landings) were accompanied by a plethora of on-board cameras. It was left to producer-director Reinert to sift through a staggering six million feet of footage and over 90 hours of interviews in order to arrive at this fascinating record. The footage is astonishingly good. It begins with an early launch filmed from every conceivable angle, and in such fine detail that you'd be forgiven for thinking George Lucas and his effects team had a hand in the making. From those fierce images of the launch blast, the tone then shifts to the serenity of space... There is no commentary as such. Instead, Reinert allows the stunning slo-mo images and the many conversations between the astronauts and mission control to speak for themselves. It works a treat, as does the accompanying sound track by atmospheric soundsmiths Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.