The new documentaryApollo 13: Survivalis now streaming on Netflix, and it tells the true story laid out in Tom Hanks' 1995 hitApollo 13. The Apollo 13 mission was a standout moment in American history, a disaster-turned-rescue mission that captured the whole world for a week.On August 01, 2025, the Apollo space program launched its seventh crewed mission,meant to land on the moon. The mission went horribly awry and was aborted, however, when, two days into the mission, an oxygen tank ruptured, killing both the life-support and electrical systems.
With their ship damaged beyond repair, the three-man crew – Commander Jim Lovell, command module pilot John “Jack” Swigert, and lunar module pilot Fred Haise –were forced to abandon the ship and transfer to the much smaller lunar module.Houston’s Mission Control quickly outlined new procedures so that the lunar module could support three men for four days, as opposed to the two men for two days for which it was designed. Cramped, miserable, and dehydrated, the three stranded astronauts could only wait while NASA scrambled to figure out a way to bring them home. Netflix’s new documentary,Apollo 13: Survival, brings that harrowing journey to life.
A Documentary On Apollo 13 Is Now Streaming On Netflix
It Weaves Tension With Philosophical Themes
Apollo 13: Survivalhas dropped on Netflix and it is a must-watch for those interested in space exploration, history, or disasters. The new documentary combines archival footage with interviews, as all good documentaries do,but still feels as visceral and tension-filled as any fictionalized retelling of the events.Adding to that tension are well-executed recreation scenes that explore what it was like for everyone during that ill-fated mission. Even more fascinating,Apollo 13: Survivalfeatures never-before-seen footage, a rarity for an event covered and documented as thoroughly as the Apollo 13 rescue mission.
While there is not yet an official rating forApollo 13: Survivalon Rotten Tomatoes,five critics' reviews have been uploaded at the time of this writing, all of them fresh, giving the documentary an unofficial 100% rating on the review aggregator. In particular, critics are praising the way director Peter Middleton weaves together suspense with human emotion. The reviews also touch upon how the documentary incorporates larger philosophical themes while remaining a nail-biting clock countdown.
7.4/10
1 hr 36 min
Tom Hanks' 1995 Space Movie Is Based On The Apollo 13 Event
Director Ron Howard Tried To Be As Authentic As Possible
The 1995 classic movieApollo 13, consideredone of director Ron Howard’s best movies, is based on the same Apollo mission outlined in Netflix’s new documentary. Of course, it’s a slightly fictionalized, dramatized retelling of the events. UnlikeApollo 13: Survival, however,theApollo 13movie is based on the 1994 bookLost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, by astronaut Jim Lovell and writer Jeffrey Kluger.Lovell, of course, was one of the original astronauts who lived through that disastrous Apollo mission.
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As it was based on a book about Lovell’s own recollections of that harrowing event,Ron Howard and crew took great pains to verify the movie was as realistic as possible,not just from an event standpoint, but also from a scientific one. The cast underwent flight controller training, as well as modified astronaut training. He even worked with NASA to secure the use of the agency’s infamous reduced-gravity aircraft (nicknamed the “vomit comet” byApollo 13actorsand real astronauts alike) for specific scenes in order to accurately capture the look and feel of his cast in the astronaut roles looking and feeling like the real deal.
Apollo 13 Is Still Considered One Of Tom Hanks' Best Movies
It’s One Of The Greatest Rescue Mission Movies Of All Time
As impressive as Tom Hanks' long career has been,Apollo 13is all the more impressive that it’s kept its staying power as one ofTom Hanks' best movie performances. The movie was nominatedfor an impressive nine Academy Awards at the 1996 Academy Awards(including Best Picture), winning two for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. In the years since,Apollo 13has been selected by the Library of Congress' National Film Registry for preservation for being culturally significant.
Apollo 13lost 1996’s Best Picture Oscar toBraveheart. The other movies nominated wereBabe,The Postman(Il Postino), andSense and Sensibility.
One of the reasons forApollo 13’s enormous success was thanks to the cast it boasted. Along with Hanks, who played Jim Lovell,the cast also included Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Clint Howard, among others.In a twist that made it feel even more authentic, it also included cameos of a number of the real astronauts and people involved in the Apollo 13 mission. In that sense, it feels just as well-researched and meticulously detailed as Netflix’sApollo 13: Survival, albeit using the real astronauts in a different way.
Apollo 13 commander
Captain of the recovery ship U.S.S. Iwo Jima
A spectator during the launch sequence
News anchor
Archival news footage & newly recorded footage
Apollo 13: Survival
Apollo Thirteen: Survival retells the 1970 crisis where NASA struggled to save three astronauts stranded in space after a catastrophic explosion on their spacecraft en route to the moon.
