A new documentary short looks back at the last time humanity ventured beyond low-Earth orbit.
"The Last Steps," which premieres on Saturday (Oct. 8) at the Hamptons International Film Festival in East Hampton, New York, chronicles the journey of Apollo 17, the United States' sixth and last moon landing in December 1972.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 10-08-2016 08:29 AM
This looks very interesting — well worth waiting for! Will it be released on Blu-ray?
But I can't help wondering whether there was a moment during the compilation of the photographic record of Apollo 17 when someone said: "The 16mm movie footage on the surface of the moon will look great in this!" and someone else had to say: "Err, they didn't actually take a movie camera out onto the surface..."
carmelo Member
Posts: 1047 From: Messina, Sicilia, Italia Registered: Jun 2004
posted 10-08-2016 10:01 AM
I have the Spacecraft Films set of Apollo 17. The EVA footage is the best quality of whole Apollo missions.
My question is: is possible in future an HD Blu-ray of Apollo 17 EVA with more definition and quality in images, or the top is already reached and any improvement is impossible?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-08-2016 10:17 AM
quote:Originally posted by Blackarrow: Will it be released on Blu-ray?
As soon as distribution details are able to be shared, they will be posted here.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
It has been nearly 44 years since astronauts traveled beyond Earth orbit. "The Last Steps," a documentary short from CNN Films and Great Big Story, provides its viewers a cinéma vérité experience of Apollo 17, the final moon landing mission in 1972.
The film, which debuted online Wednesday (Nov. 16), is comprised entirely of archival footage, some rarely seen outside of NASA.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 11-16-2016 05:46 AM
Not bad, but the TLI sequence looks suspiciously like Gemini re-entry footage...
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-16-2016 06:16 AM
As identified in the end credits:
All footage captured during the Apollo 17 mission except for the following composite shots:
Staging / Apollo 8 and Apollo 4
Translunar Injection (TLI) / Gemini 8
Lasv3 Member
Posts: 410 From: Bratislava, Slovakia Registered: Apr 2009
posted 11-16-2016 06:41 AM
When watching the movie I was sure the TLI footage has been simulated by the Gemini 2 reentry footage - I never saw any other Gemini reentry sequence but from Gemini 2 which is used quite often.
To see at the end that it was actually Geini 8 footage surprised me a lot. I would never think that the Gemini 8 crew had time to shoot the film in the situation they were in. Or was it an automatic camera doing the job?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-16-2016 07:16 AM
Your first impression was correct. The source of that sequence is Gemini 2.
(I should have caught the error in the credits and it will be corrected in future versions of the film.)
Lasv3 Member
Posts: 410 From: Bratislava, Slovakia Registered: Apr 2009
posted 11-16-2016 09:04 AM
Thanks for the confirmation Robert.
BA002 Member
Posts: 175 From: Utrecht,NL Registered: Feb 2007
posted 11-16-2016 02:42 PM
Any documentary about Apollo 17 is bound to be spectacular and this one is no exception. Admittedly, to us space geeks it doesn't present a lot of major surprises but still these images never cease to amaze me.
Apollo 11 was obviously historically more significant and thus receives the most attention through documentaries, commemorations and such, but I personally feel that especially the J-missions deserve more public recognition since they best showed, live and in color, the incredible grandeur of the lunar landscape and man's presence there. I hope this documentary will reach as many people as possible to share in that excitement.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 11-16-2016 05:15 PM
Wonderful documentary — I look forward to getting my own Blu-ray copy.
There was a brief movie sequence of the fully-lit CSM in lunar orbit. I'm sure I've never seen that shot before.
One small point: I'm pretty certain the S-IVB ignition shot was from an unmanned Saturn 1B mission, not Apollo 4 or 8.
mode1charlie Member
Posts: 1169 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
posted 11-19-2016 06:55 PM
Nice work and congrats, Robert. Well done short film.
Buel Member
Posts: 649 From: UK Registered: Mar 2012
posted 11-30-2016 03:10 PM
Just attempted to watch this whilst eating my lasagna that I had cooked... the end result was cold lasagna due to my being unable to take my eyes of the screen. What a fantastic and moving short film. Lots of footage that I had never seen before too! Congratulations to all those involved.
Any chance of more being made of other missions?
Buel Member
Posts: 649 From: UK Registered: Mar 2012
posted 11-30-2016 04:31 PM
Any ideas who this is from the latter stages of the film:
posted 10-07-2016 04:57 PM
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