91Èȱ¬

Space - the final frontier and who better to send there but Mr America himself, Tom Hanks. This film focuses on the true story of a mission to the Moon in the 1970s that went wrong. Virtually ignored by an indifferent TV audience, three astronauts (Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton) blast off with the aim of fulfilling their dream of setting foot on the Moon.

Ron Howard had a difficult task with the film as on the whole, the hi-tech terminology might not have made too much sense to the audience. However, he pulls everything together and manages to create tension and drama when disaster strikes. Suddenly the astronauts go from non-entities to celebrities, and Howard's use of news footage gives the film an urgency and realism. There are images of people around the world watching the skies for the safe return of Apollo 13. Journalists camp on the families' lawns, monitoring every development from the engines blowing to carbon dioxide poisoning in the spacecraft.

There are no great surprises in this film - it's what you expect of both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. There's also the usual quota of cheesy lines: "We've never lost an American in space and we're sure not going to lose one on my watch," or "Failure is not an option." Be prepared for echoes of "The Last Post" playing at points in this tale of triumph over adversity and the American belief that they will win the day.

But you are left with a tear in your eye at the end and full of admiration at the bravery of the astronauts. A definite feel-good movie.

"Apollo 13" is on 91Èȱ¬1, Friday 26th January 2001 at 7.50pm.