Let me make this easy…watch this. In fact, watch this movie tonight!

If you lived through the US-Soviet Space race you will remember some of the events from the movie. There will be a lot of things you didn’t know about. And you will see the world differently than you did when you were a kid.

While there are several movies that center on this era of American history, this is certainly one of the best in my opinion.

If you didn’t live during this time period, or you’re not aware of the story here’s a quick synopsis. Just after launch, the Apollo 13 spacecraft was damaged. While the astronauts were supposed to land on the moon and then return to Earth, this plan had to be scrubbed due to the damage. As events unfolded, it became apparent that bringing the astronauts home alive might be impossible.

Apollo 13 the movie highlights the astronauts, the ground crew, and the families who were impacted by the events of this near-miss tragedy. Watching the movie I found myself deeply invested in the characters. Knowing that this was a movie based on real events made that link seem even more real.

Since the movie was released in 1995, I was concerned about the quality that I would see on the DVD and even moreso on the Blu-ray. I was pleasantly surprised to see that both the DVD and the Blu-ray were of amazing quality.

The Blu-ray also is loaded with extras. Frankly, Ron Howard’s commentary is worth the extra cost, as far as I’m concerned. The “Making of” documentary is an hour of really interesting information. By far the most interesting extra to me was the audio track of Marilyn and Jim Lovell discussing the movie. Jim Lovell’s book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13