When it was first released in 1998 the series From the Earth to the Moon was one of the most stunning series to be released and it was also lauded as being utterly magnificent in its retelling of the steps that were taken to reach the final outcome that would be the Apollo 11 mission. Back then each episode was close to being a full-length feature on its own, while today anything over 8 hours would be considered excessive. Back then however the length of this series wasn’t really taken into account as much. Plus, the idea of America finally sending astronauts to the moon was already decades old but it was still a moment in history that was seen as a milestone for the human race. Today many people still find this to be an accomplishment that is unparalleled, but at the same time there are simply too many people that have tried to debunk it along the way.
Ben Travers of IndieWire is pretty accurate when he states that if this series was being replicated instead of just being released again it wouldn’t be as much of an event, since people have moved on in their thinking and those of this current generation wouldn’t be nearly as impressed considering how the landscape of society exists in the current era. But back in the 90s when this series was first released it was still worth noting that landing on the moon was a worthwhile accomplishment. These days the current and younger generations are more impressed by the technology that exists only inches from their face rather than the technology that can help humanity reach for the stars. It might be kind of a sad testament to humanity, but at the same time there’s still hope since there’s still a means of reaching those who are interested, and in a much quicker and broader way than ever before. For those of us that grew up before the 2000s hit this is still big story since it’s the furthest that any human being has gone in recorded history from our home planet and it’s something that we were taught as children that has led to a number of different things that have helped to shape our society.
The arguments against the moon landing are plentiful and the number of doubters has risen immensely throughout the years since paranoia and a willingness to believe any type of dissent has been on the rise for a while. But despite this the idea that such a series is still an important part of our culture is something that’s hard to deny. There are of course a few things that might have been done differently if this series was to be made today, as people would almost demand to know whatever they could about the moon landing in order to verify that it did in fact happen or, in their own minds, could prove that it was fake. More detail, more story, and more description would have been a big part of the series had it been made in recent years. Of course more drama would have accompanied it as well since the idea of something being factual and considered to be hard data still doesn’t excuse it from being devoid of any personal drama that might occur. One thing that’s clear though is that no matter how in-depth people would want this story to be, they would only get as far as factual data allows since this story wasn’t designed to dramatize itself in a way that would allow for any belief that something could be living on the moon or have crash-landed there as has happened in fictional movies.
One of the biggest reasons to watch this is that it’s a faithful rendition of the several different stories that led up to the Apollo 11 mission and as such is a part of history that’s been dramatized only enough to show just what the men on this mission were going through and what it took to get them as far as they went. It’s likely far better that the series wasn’t redone or rebooted recently since the likelihood that it would be glammed up beyond belief is very high considering that too many filmmakers these days are trying to put their own spin on anything that comes their way, whether it’s a true story or not. While it might work when the story in question is supposed to be more entertainment but also factual there’s no need to treat this series in such a manner since it was interesting all on its own and provided a good deal of insight as to to what it took to make Apollo 11 a workable and successful mission. Sometimes you really don’t need to up the intensity or drama to make something work the way it should.
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