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First, the facts: not to be confused with the similarly excellent 2007 documentary In the Shadow of the Moon, From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO miniseries executive-produced by Tom Hanks that covers the duration of NASA's Apollo program, from its birth - instigated by JFK's famous "We choose to go to the moon" speech in 1962 - when space flight was still in its infancy, to the final moon landing in 1972, Apollo 17. Made in the wake of the success of Ron Howard's Apollo 13, much as Band of Brothers was born out of Saving Private Ryan (also from Hanks, in that instance together with Steven Spielberg), it's a stunning achievement in television. The production design and special effects are every bit as detailed and impressive as Apollo 13's, meaning that the series' price tag, then the highest ever for a TV show, does not come as a surprise.
It's clear that Hanks is fascinated with the space race and also, like many of us, disappointed that the technology has progressed relatively little since Apollo. His fascination comes across in every episode, as he delivers a brief introduction each one after the opening credits, which are accompanied by the late Michael Kamen's stirring theme tune. Other than his introduction, Hanks only has direct involvement with a few of the episodes - he directs two, co-writes four, and acts in the twelfth episode. For the most part each episode is directed by a different person, and each feels like a fully self-contained hour-long film that looks at a certain stage in the Apollo program from a unique angle. For example, one of the best episodes, "Spider", is all about the efforts to design and build the Lunar Lander, while another focuses on the experiences of the various astronauts' wives as their husbands fly to the moon. Adding further variety is the choice to use several different composers throughout the series; Kamen's opening theme is ever-present, but thereafter nearly all the episodes offer a different musical interpretation.
The series does a brilliant job at both illustrating all the complexities, challenges, and life-threatening dangers of space exploration as well as contextualising the events of the space race in the wider political and social situations of the time (such as the increasingly grim outlook of the Vietnam war), particularly in standout episode "1968". Each moon landing mission gets an episode individually devoted to it, and some of the more compelling instalments focus on those less famous missions that occurred after public interest waned. Meanwhile, the requisite Apollo 13 episode avoids retreading the steps of the film by approaching it from the perspective of the television media. Sadly, the final episode, which juxtaposes the making of Georges Méliès' revolutionary 1902 film Le Voyage dans la Lune with the last moon landing, does not completely work, and Tom Hanks is rather distracting as Méliès' assistant. Still, it certainly manages to tug at the emotions.
Still, it's only a relative blip: the series is consistently superb, particularly after finding its footing in the first three episodes. Although for the majority of the time it's rather unashamed NASA propaganda, the series is often truly inspirational, capturing the sense of awe that must have been felt at the time. Always excellently acted by a large ensemble cast, each of whom gets their own opportunity to shine, and unstintingly well-made, From the Earth to the Moon is a TV event of rare quality.
The extras
Disappointing. The only extras are a 30-minute HBO Making Of, a brief 4-minute featurette on the special effects, and some text offering various space-related info. You'd learn more from Wikipedia. The featurettes are at least interesting while they last, and one particularly choice detail is the reveal of how the moon's low gravity was simulated in the series. The audiovisual presentation is very good.
The summary
An absolute treat for space nuts, and even those yet to be convinced by the benefits of space exploration may find their minds changed by From the Earth to the Moon. Stellar.
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