The Wonder of It All (2007)

Let's be realistic.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

First, honesty in advertising, I grew up in Melbourne, Florida from 1956 until 1968. So, my opinion about the Space Program would be similar to asking someone who grew up in Detroit during that period about the automobile. As may be obvious, my father worked at the Cape, which meant he only came home to sleep. Yes, the Space Program was where WW III was fought...and won. And I don't mean Apollo, my father didn't even work on it. All he could ever tell me was that he was in "foreign technology." But I did grow up in a town with a spaceport as well as an airport. And as intimate as my knowledge has been, I constantly heard things in this movie I had not only never heard before, but hadn't dreamed of. An astronaut has a member of their immediate family commit suicide rather than deal with the public notoriety! Yes, the media put family members through hell, that's well known. But suicide? So I agree with the first review.Perhaps it could have been edited better. I don't know, I'm not a movie maker. The only thing I found distracting was because I don't recognize faces well. So I would have liked frequent, perhaps constant name labels. But if you want to know these people better than you ever have before, here you will hear, and see (I never really realized how important and lucky it was that we sent an artist to the Moon) things you won't hear or see anywhere else.As for the two negative reviews. How can someone claim to have lived through Apollo and not know the number of men who walked on the Moon? XI to XVII minus XIII equals six landings. Can't multiply 2 X 6 = 12? Are you "Smarter Than a First Grader?" If you care enough to watch films on a topic, but can't do First Grade arithmetic, how can your thoughts on the subject of the films matter? But you deserve points for honesty about yourself.As for the reviewer who seems to have missed their chance to throw eggs at the returning astronauts, we did it in a _hurry_ for political reasons. And killed three men through unbelievable stupidity because of hurrying. As the saying goes, "The dinosaurs didn't have a Space Program." For those that need an explanation, the most biologically successful species that has _ever_ existed on this planet had all of its eggs in one basket. So we have what's left of them for fried food. If we don't keep pushing to get off this planet, we won't even be as successful as the dinosaurs. Grow or die. Like Gravity, it's the Law!I want to include a heartfelt thank you to those that made this movie. Both in front of, and behind the cameras. If you have any interest in the men who walked on the Moon, as human beings, see this movie. Even if you think you already have seen everything there is to see on the subject. Hopefully, it is out on DVD by now. I just finished seeing it on Encore! Drama (EDRAM) on TV a few minutes ago. And stopped in the middle of emailing my father about it.

There is no question that the space/moon race was only a result of cold war. Unfortunately many people can't or won't forget that and still treats discovery of space as such, which is just ridiculously. The movie is nicely done, but still leaves an impression that's more like an advertisement and cover mostly the positive point of view together with known mistakes they made in the process. Unfortunately they do not cover most questions that are still unanswered to this day and they are just avoiding them, filling the space with "hero" material. I ask myself many times why would a man who walked on the moon gave so little commentaries on it and done so little public appearances, with his face always like he has a lemon in his mouth ... The movie is a nice documentary, but is also much more a commercial.p.s. Someone would think if they landed on the moon in 1969 when computer was a size of a car (or a few cars) that they would have weekly landings now days and not that they can't answer a few questions about it ... Don't you think so ?

I could not disagree more with the previous posting that criticized "In the Shadow of the Moon". I thought "In the Shadow of the Moon" was exceptionally beautiful and inspiring - slightly more artistically done and poetic, in a way, as a film experience than "The Wonder of It All." "Shadow" did most certainly discuss all the other missions and the groundwork that earlier missions laid for the moon landings, plus the historical background of the entire space program. And the interviews in "Shadow" with Alan Bean and Gene Cernan (among others) were for the landings that followed Apollo 11. So it was not restricted to Apollo 11 only. Plus significant time was spent on Apollo 13. Both The Wonder of It All and In the Shadow of the Moon are important to see and cover similar content. "Shadow" interviews other astronauts while "Wonder" interviews only those who actually walked on the surface of the moon. Both are highly recommended.

What an amazing film.I didn't know what to expect when I walked into an advance screening of this film several weeks ago. The space race has been covered ad nauseum in the past, most recently in the disappointing film In the Shadow of the Moon, which to me was just a rehash of the same old stuff. (Besides, they only concentrate on the Apollo 11 mission, when there were six missions that went to the moon. What about the other guys?) This film is different because it introduces the astronauts who walked on the moon as people. I didn¢t know anything about the different personalities of the astronauts before this film. But the seven astronauts featured are so different, and by the time the film is over you feel like you actually know them personally. It is as if you have been invited to their homes for a personal conversation.There are many subjects covered that I never thought of before. What does moon dust smell like and feel like? What happens after you walk on the moon, then have to find an occupation later? What do you think of when you look at the moon after being there many years ago? The style of the documentary is unlike anything I've ever seen before. There is no narration. It's made up of conversations with the astronauts that have been edited smoothly to make an ongoing dialogue. At first I didn¢t think it would work for the entire film, but there is a crescendo that happens that makes the whole film worthwhile and wonderful.I hope that this film comes out on DVD soon. I would like to own a copy. It is worth watching over and over