Dir: Ron Howard, 1995 (8*)

This is about as suspenseful and harrowing as any true film on the U.S. space program could be. True story of the Apollo mission that was to land on the moon, but which developed an oxygen leak, making the safe return of the astronauts the top priority. We watch in what feels like real time as the engineers on the ground at NASA, led by Ed Harris as mission chief, and the astronauts inside the capsule (Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinese) solve one problem after another with creative ingenuity. A real nail biter with an excellent cast.