Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
The 1960s was an extraordinary time for the United States. Unburdened by post-war reparations, Americans were preoccupied with other developments like NASA, the game-changing space programme that put Neil Armstrong on the moon. Yet it was astronauts like Eugene Cernan who paved the uneven, perilous path to lunar exploration. A test pilot who lived to court danger, he was recruited along with 14 other men in a secretive process that saw them become the closest of friends and adversaries. In this intensely competitive environment, Cernan was one of only three men who was sent twice to the moon, with his second trip also being NASA’s final lunar mission. As he looks back at what he loved and lost during the eight years in Houston, an incomparably eventful life emerges into view. Director Mark Craig crafts a quietly epic biography that combines the rare insight of the surviving former astronauts with archival footage and otherworldly moonscapes.
A competent and touching portrait of Gene Cernan, buoyed by rare archival footage and the man's own reflective candor. The documentary follows a fairly standard biographical arc — formative years, career highs, personal sacrifices, legacy — that feels familiar in the crowded astronaut-memoir space (in the wake of The Right Stuff and countless NASA docs). Cinematography is solid, blending archival NASA footage with contemporary moonscape imagery effectively, though it doesn't push the form. Acting is not really applicable in the traditional sense, but Cernan and fellow astronauts come across as genuine and compelling on camera. The ending carries quiet emotional weight as Cernan reflects on being the last human to walk on the moon, lending the film a melancholy dignity. Novelty is the weakest point — while Cernan is an underappreciated figure, the documentary template is well-worn and offers little formal innovation.