As NASA works toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface, the filmmaker who told the story of the last man to set foot there is ready with a new documentary about the first crew to be lost in pursuit of the moon.
"Apollo 1," from British director Mark Craig, is set to make its world premiere on March 15 at the Boulder International Film Festival in Colorado. The feature-length (101-minute) movie recounts the lives of NASA's first Apollo crew, astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, who were tragically killed when a fire swept through their spacecraft during a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 56082 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
It was the opening scene of the 1995 feature film "Apollo 13" and was recreated for the Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man" more than 20 years later. It was one of the catalysts for the Soviet Union to land the first human on the moon in the Apple TV+ alternate history drama "For All Mankind" and was a factor in recruiting Scarlett Johansson's character to improve NASA's image in the 2024 movie "Fly Me to the Moon."
And it was a turn in the life of Eugene Cernan as retold in the 2014 documentary "Last Man on the Moon," directed by Mark Craig....
Rick Mulheirn Member
Posts: 4671 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
posted 03-16-2025 11:32 AM
Chinese whispers about this movie first reached me about 7 or 8 years ago: safe to say I'm really looking forward to seeing this.
RobertB Member
Posts: 295 From: Israel Registered: Nov 2012
posted 03-17-2025 09:34 AM
Amusing that there at around 1:08 at the quote "aware that there would be accidents", they show two of Armstrong's incidents - Gemini 8 and the LLTV crash.
astro-nut Member
Posts: 1093 From: Washington, IL Registered: Jan 2006
posted 03-29-2025 01:03 PM
Hopefully this will be released on DVD or Blu-ray sometime in the future?
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3931 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 03-31-2025 06:08 PM
Or even 4K? The technical specifications on IMDb show that the film's aspect ratio is 16:9, which is ideal for home TV viewing, and the artwork might have been designed specially for a DVD/Blu-ray/4K box.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 56082 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-31-2025 07:05 PM
As with most documentaries like this, the priority is to first try to land a theater, broadcast or streaming distribution deal before entering the home media market. As such, it may be some time before "Apollo 1" reaches a disc format.
FFrench Member
Posts: 3319 From: San Diego Registered: Feb 2002
posted 07-06-2025 01:04 PM
I'm hoping this one will end up streaming somewhere before too long... eager to see it.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 56082 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 07-09-2025 08:40 AM
News from the filmmakers:
European TV premiere next month...
The new feature documentary "Apollo 1" will be broadcast on ARTE in Germany and France on Saturday 9th August at the following times: 20:15 (Germany) / 20:55 (France). Additional broadcasts will take place on these dates:
Tuesday 19 August - 8:55 (Germany) / 9:27 (France)
It will be broadcast in the UK later in the year, and we are working on making it available in other worldwide territories also. Details will follow as soon as they are confirmed.
Jacques van Oene Member
Posts: 918 From: Houten, The Netherlands Registered: Oct 2001
posted 08-23-2025 01:35 AM
This will air again on Friday, August 29 at 8:55am (Germany).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 56082 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 11-20-2025 06:02 PM
From the filmmakers:
We are delighted to announce that our new "Apollo 1" film, directed by our old friend Mark Craig and produced by Keith Haviland and Ansgar Pohle, will be coming to CHANNEL 4 in the UK on 7th December.
Tykeanaut Member
Posts: 2311 From: West Yorkshire, England, UK. Registered: Apr 2008
posted 12-08-2025 10:20 AM
Watched it last night. Very good.
Buel Member
Posts: 920 From: UK Registered: Mar 2012
posted 12-08-2025 02:45 PM
Wow! So did I. Great to see Rusty, Gerry Griffin, Chris Kraft etc. A very interesting film that covered the astronauts' lives and personalities but light on technical details of what the findings were. Only minor criticism was the mentions of Apollo 8 and 11 but no Apollo 7 which, of course, was the first full flight following the accident.
All in all, a great watch.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 56082 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-03-2026 08:50 PM
From filmmakers Mark Craig of Stopwatch Productions, Keith Haviland of Haviland Digital and Ansgar Pohle of 7T1 Films:
Special Announcement!
We are honored that our film has been selected to be part of the inaugural Hindsight Film Festival — America's first major film festival for historical documentaries — endorsed by none other than legendary filmmaker Ken Burns.
The good news is that APOLLO 1 will be available to view wherever you are — via the Hindsight Virtual Festival site only — for one week, starting this Sunday, March 8th through March 15th.
This is the definitive, full-length version of the film, 102 minutes, which includes unseen footage, and the participation of family members, close friends and colleagues of the Apollo 1 crew.
We appreciate that many of our followers, particularly in the US, have been waiting for a chance to see the film, and we thank you for your patience.
Please spread the word about this limited window of opportunity - and let us know what you think. Thank you.
posted 02-22-2025 05:00 PM
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