In 1994, Ron Howard was one movie away from director
purgatory. No, you say, surely not the Oscar winning director of "A Beautiful
Mind" and the man in charge of the sure-to-make-jillions "The Da Vinci Code."
Why, he's a national treasure!

He's a national treasure now. In 1994, he was the man who followed "Parenthood"
and "Backdraft" with the ill-conceived Cruise/Kidman movie "Far and Away" and
the god-awful "The Paper." One more "Paper," and he, not Rob Reiner, is
directing "Alex and Emma."

But he didn't make another "Paper," at least not right away. (He waited five
years, and called it "EdTV.") Instead, he made the spellbinding "Apollo 13,"
based on the harrowing story of three moon-bound astronauts who, with the help
of their tireless crew, miraculously brought their damaged ship back to Earth.
It's a thriller, a human-interest storyand technical marvel all at once, a rare
feat if ever there was one.

Set over six harrowing days in April 1970 that the Beatles decided to break up
the day before the launch was the first sign of trouble the story centers
around Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks)
and his crew, Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise). Lovell
has the unfortunate task of telling Mattingly that he can't make the flight;
he's been exposed to the measles and hasn't yet had them, so rookie Jack Swigert
(Kevin Bacon) gets the nod.

Mattingly was spared. Halfway to the moon, the oxygen tank explodes, leaving the
ship severely crippled. In order to save the remaining air they have, Lovell,
Haise and Swigert move into the lunar module (designed to fit two, not three)
and ricochet around the moon with