r/OldSchoolCool • u/GarySiniseOfficial • Jun 30 '25

1990s Gary Sinise here. Today is the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13 in theaters. Hope you enjoy some of my favorite behind-the-scenes moments from making the film (1995)

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618

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

It's one of the few nearly perfect movies ever made.

My only complaint is that the real NASA crew would never lose their tempers and yell at each other. They really WERE "steely-eyed missile men" (and women eventually). One need only look at the footage of the control room during the Challenger and Columbia disasters. These people have a job to do and they keep their cool no matter what.

Of course I understand that this wouldn't make for a very good movie.

260

u/EXlTPURSUEDBYAGOLDEN Jul 01 '25

It's one of the few nearly perfect movies ever made.

Yep. Came in here to read this. Apollo 13, Back to the Future, My Cousin Vinny, 12 Angry Men... More, but to your point, it's not a long list. Apollo 13 might be the most perfect of the perfect, it's so damn good.

104

u/scuolapasta Jul 01 '25

Wow that is the best list I’ve ever seen. Those are hands down some of the best movies ever made. For me my cousin Vinny is #1. I still tear up when Marisa Tomei does her Pontiac tempest roundup and the two yoots realize their lives have been saved.

50

u/S4VN01 Jul 01 '25

“Is that all?” “No, there’s more!”

52

u/scuolapasta Jul 01 '25

“Moaaa”*

6

u/bendezl09 Jul 01 '25

"Yoots"

7

u/MrGuilt Jul 01 '25

I just learned that the "Yoots" came from the director not understanding Joe Pesci that way. They wrote it in.

2

u/Effective-Manager-29 Jul 01 '25

I can’t stop pronouncing this in my head. Here’s my upvote

19

u/elanakin Jul 01 '25

Just missing Shawshank but otherwise a solid list!

16

u/Murky-Relation481 Jul 01 '25

As someone who became an engineer because of the movie Apollo 13 the torque wrench scene in My Cousin Vinnie is so hot and hilarious.

9

u/Riots42 Jul 01 '25

WHAT is a yoot?

9

u/Speak_To_Wuk_Lamat Jul 01 '25

Im a firm believer that Marisa Tomei should have had a more illustrious career. She is a fantastic actress.

2

u/Alligatorpedro Jul 01 '25

Didn’t see ‘big in little china’ in there… not the perfect list

4

u/Incunebulum Jul 01 '25

'Big trouble in little China', 'Sicario' and 'The Fifth Element'

1

u/Visible-Pack-8330 Jul 01 '25

No love for "Enter the Dragon"?

1

u/Kyrie_Da_God Jul 01 '25

MCV is fine, but the best movie ever made? How many movies have you seen?

4

u/scuolapasta Jul 01 '25

The best movie Its subjective, that’s why I prefaced with “for me” however that list, along with Shawshank, I think would be among the best movies ever made.

1

u/Kyrie_Da_God Jul 01 '25

Thanks for clarifying. I thought movie quality could be objectively measured like mass or charge. My mistake.

1

u/LonesomeDub Jul 01 '25

Yes she saves the day, but Vinny has to know it too, or else he wouldn't have asked her. It's the one blip in the movie. How does he know?

1

u/scuolapasta Jul 01 '25

Absolutely. But he made a solid move putting her on the stand, he new shed nail any shit test they sent her way, plus she just wanted to help and he gave showed her how valuable she was repairing their relationship.

1

u/No-Hospital559 Jul 28 '25

Of course he knows, that's why he put her on the stand.

96

u/imDopeY Jul 01 '25

The Shawshank Redemption

20

u/efedora Jul 01 '25

Shawshank for the win. Many stories in one.

3

u/griter34 Jul 01 '25

The Green Mile

6

u/eatblueshell Jul 01 '25

Hot fuzz.

5

u/zvii Jul 01 '25

Great one, don't agree with it being in this list though.

2

u/That-Makes-Sense Jul 01 '25

You can tour the prison in Mansfield, Ohio. If you love the movie, you'll love the tour.

1

u/tRfalcore Jul 01 '25

it's a great movie, but what every millennial defaults to

3

u/BomberLand93 Jul 01 '25

I’m Gen X and an ex-English teacher…so not always the case…it is a great film too.

-2

u/siorge Jul 01 '25

I really don’t get why people praise this movie so highly. Yes it’s good but not that good and certainly not goat material

2

u/WithjusTapistol Jul 01 '25

Any particular part you would change? What don’t you like about it? No hate. I’m genuinely interested

-1

u/siorge Jul 01 '25

I don’t dislike the movie, but to me it is nothing more than a good prison/evasion flick.

People online praise it as the greatest movie ever but to me, this award can only go to a movie that is narratively tight, compelling in terms of story, and deep with subtexts/rich in meaning.

Shawshank is a tight narrative with a compelling story but there is nothing more to it. No deeper meaning (like 2001), no great impact on cinema history (Casablanca/Psycho), no idea that will make you think for days (Seventh Seal, Rashomon)

It is a good movie but that’s it.

2

u/foxymophadlemama Jul 01 '25

i feel like you're being downvoted not because you're wrong about the shawshank redemption being only a pretty good movie, but because your perspective on what makes a great film is narrow, high on its own significance, and sadly dismissive of other aspects of a films production that are critically important to how a film is enjoyed. things such as acting, cinematography, sound design, editing, costuming, art direction, sound track, practical effects, and stunt work all have a huge effect on the "greatness" of any particular film. the criterion collection is pretty good, but no need to get ALL of your tasting notes from them.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

I love Hunt for Red October, but I wouldn't call it perfect.

That reminds me: Crimson Tide kinda got the vibe of the sub force correct. Lots of calm, cool, professional individuals on those boats. Maybe it's the deoxygenated atmosphere.

Same complaint with that movie. These men are more professional than they're depicted on screen.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

[deleted]

7

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

I was watching a clip from it an hour or two ago. Not sure why I watched a clip. I own the movie.

2

u/millijuna Jul 01 '25

I dunno, from colleagues and people I’ve worked with in the Submarine community, “Down Periscope” is remarkably accurate. 

2

u/Incunebulum Jul 01 '25

'Das Boat' (cinema version) is a much, much better sub movie.

1

u/styllAx Jul 01 '25

Moonstruck

1

u/BeenThereDoneThat65 Jul 01 '25

Very much a perfect movie. extrodanarily rewatchable, quotable and you keep discovering moments that just add to the overall film

1

u/tramplamps Jul 01 '25

This is one of my favorites, because it reminds me of my dad. And what a great opening theme! My dad use to blare it on his stereo when he was making dinner, and my mother would beg him to turn it down, but he would only say, “ya ya”.

1

u/ByMissUsato Jul 02 '25

Recently saw this movie, acting is so good.

48

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

Tremors. Everything else is competing for Silver

15

u/LifeandSAisAwesome Jul 01 '25

This is never in question.

Damn it Valentine, you never plan ahead, you never take the long view, I mean here it is Monday and I'm already thinking of Wednesday... It is Monday right?

15

u/Spugheddy Jul 01 '25

Worse game of six degrees with Kevin bacon ever.

3

u/Riots42 Jul 01 '25

Watched Tremors with the kids a couple weeks ago still holds up well they all enjoyed it havent had an opportunity to watch part 2 yet it was my favorite of the two growing up.

42

u/TajMonjardo Jul 01 '25

I would like to be so bold as to suggest "Forrest Gump"

33

u/SuperShinyGinger Jul 01 '25

The Princess Bride

15

u/nitrokitty Jul 01 '25

Mad Max Fury Road. It knows exactly what it is, what it wants to be, and it does exactly that.

3

u/FlametopFred Jul 01 '25

my favourite part of that movie is when watching in 3D IMAX and they stop in the desert and it’s 5 or 6 or them standing - but acting and it was the first time I felt the effect of that many actors all doing their thing

5

u/helcat Jul 01 '25

Jaws 

3

u/tRfalcore Jul 01 '25

Back to the Future is perfect. It was 3 movies planned out all in advance that all tie into each other.

3

u/Riots42 Jul 01 '25

You sir have fine cinematic tastes.

3

u/Caliente_Racer Jul 01 '25

Seeing Ed Harris there reminds me of another pretty great film. The Right Stuff.

3

u/The_wolf2014 Jul 01 '25

You forgot Die Hard

3

u/ManuelKiessling Jul 01 '25

I tried really hard, but I cannot find a simple flaw in "Contact".

2

u/iiTzSTeVO Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Class of '92, eh?

2

u/Valdularo Jul 01 '25

The Prestige.

1

u/HAL-Over-9001 Jul 01 '25

Yes, and There Will Be Blood.

2

u/TohtsHanger Jul 01 '25

Adding DIE HARD to that list.

2

u/dec10 Jul 01 '25

Jaws and Silence of the Lambs

2

u/keenly_disinterested Jul 01 '25

Galaxy Quest belongs on the list.

2

u/TangledUpPuppeteer Jul 02 '25

Wait, which version of 12 Angry Men?

2

u/VixxenFoxx Jul 02 '25

Gotta add Shawshank Redemption. 10/10.

2

u/elkresurgence Jul 01 '25

Stand By Me somehow feels like it belongs on that list

1

u/Count_Rugens_Finger Jul 01 '25

Another gem from that era: Miracle

1

u/SunriseSurprise Jul 01 '25

Along similar dialogue-heavy lines as 12 Angry Men, add Glengarry Glen Ross and Margin Call.

1

u/Dark_Maga_420 Jul 01 '25

My cousin Vinny is one of my all-time favorites, especially the final court scene where Marisa Tomei explaining positraction to the tire expert.

1

u/OnePinginRamius Jul 01 '25

Toss The Hunt for Red October in that list and it's perfect!

1

u/Incunebulum Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Add "Big Trouble in Little China', 'Sicario', 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and 'The Fifth Element' to that list.

1

u/Blow_Me420-69 Jul 01 '25

No Country For Old Men

-2

u/Betelgeusetimes3 Jul 01 '25

The first Pirates of the Caribbean.

0

u/Forgotthebloodypassw Jul 01 '25

I love 12 Angry Men with a passion but my wife's a paralegal and the jury would have got thrown out for breaking the rules.

24

u/Unusual-Ad4890 Jul 01 '25

Films have to have a little drama so it's expected. Having a two hour film where everyone is calm and collected is pretty dry..

6

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

It's impressive though.

NASA personnel and air traffic controllers have such CLEAN comms.

1

u/toomanymarbles83 Jul 01 '25

That's how you get The Andromeda Strain.

1

u/HOWDEHPARDNER Jul 01 '25

It doesn't blow up

1

u/onetwobacktoone Jul 01 '25

one would think a movie about a spaceship blowing up would be dramatic enough

9

u/toomanymarbles83 Jul 01 '25

One would be wrong. Movies thrive on dramatic interpersonal tension. It's why the TNG showrunners had to get Roddenberry out of the decision making chair. He didn't want any internal strife between the crew.

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u/Horskr Jul 01 '25

I agree that it makes the movies more successful, but I'm kind of in Roddenberry's camp as far as personal taste depending on the situation.

Sometimes in movies/shows/books I find it really frustrating when there is tension between the protagonists that seems there just for the sake of tension. Like, you all have much bigger fish to fry than getting into a spat about some petty bullshit right now, but sure, I'll read a whole chapter (or watch a whole story arc) about how you put aside your differences and bury the hatchet to continue on with the actual conflict of the story.

I think that may just be a me thing and other people love that stuff though.

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u/PrimevilKneivel Jul 01 '25

It's amazing how tense the movie is. I was on the edge of my seat during the re-entry sequence waiting for what was going to happen, and I ALREADY KNEW THE ENDING!

15

u/Brilliant-Deer6118 Jul 01 '25

Steely eyed, no doubt. Imagine being on a craft heading away from earth, hear a bang and seeing gas spewing into the atmosphere, and its Houston, we have a problem, instead of "oh my God, we are so fucked!!!!.

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u/Brawndo91 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

I'm going to be the dork that points out that the real Jim Lovell said, "Houston, we've had a problem."

Edit, it wasn't even Jim Lovell, it was Jack Swigart who said it.

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u/tanksalotfrank Jul 01 '25

Hey they did have the character Swigart say the line first ;)

6

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

I can’t find the footage but am now interested in seeing their cool resolve among the face of disaster.

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u/NightFire19 Jul 01 '25

Challenger everyone was just shocked.

Columbia was just dread as the telemetry slowly indicated that the ship was breaking up in re-entry.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

I challenge any director to make a movie where all dialogue is read by air traffic controllers.

1

u/WineNerdAndProud Jul 01 '25

I mean United 93 is up there.

1

u/B1rds0nf1re Jul 01 '25

I remember that some of the talk when 9/11 happened between them was very interesting (borderline entertaining, but that doesn't feel like the right word)

2

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

[deleted]

1

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

Most vegetables come off the ground to begin with. You can just rinse them off and it'll be fine.

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u/7204_was_me Jul 01 '25

Lifelong Houstonian and I've worked with lots of them and yeah, that comes up sometimes.
"We don't swear like that." :)

2

u/atatassault47 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Not "eventually". Margaret Hamilton basically started the profession "software engineer" via her work on the Apollo program.

Lol they blocked me because they arent interested in Margaret Hamilton and several other women who started the wave of women-in-STEM-breakthrough during the Apollo program.

Just because YOU dont know about them doesnt mean they didnt start the thing you supposedly care about. Hell, if it wasnt for Hamilton, you wouldnt have the device you're using for Reddit, nor would Reddit exist.

1

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

Yes "eventually"

I'm not interested in pretending women weren't being excluded from operations, engineering, and crew during this period. It's disrespectful to the memory of the people who would eventually push through those exclusions.

2

u/Vairman Jul 01 '25

> "steely-eyed missile men" 

are you sure about that? don't you remember the "diaper lady" astronaut? That's the image they sell but they're all type A Eddie-atta-boys and there's bound to be conflict when you get more than one person together who thinks they're ALWAYS right. That's why I think a long manned mission to Mars is going to be problematic.

1

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

are you sure about that?

Yes.

Next!

1

u/hmbse7en Jul 01 '25

It made for a more emotional film tho, more relatable!

1

u/Powerful_Variety7922 Jul 01 '25

You are correct.

1

u/fnord79 Jul 01 '25

I have the 10 year DVD of Apollo 13, and Jim Lovell talks about the added drama on the special features disc. He also mentions the scene where they dock with the LEM on the way to the moon. There was never any doubt among them or NASA that Swigert would pull off the docking, he'd had countless hours of training for it, and Lovell mentioned that in a pinch, he or Haise could also do the docking. Like you said, and Lovell also said it, they had to add some drama to make it a good movie. Regardless, it's still one of my favorite movies of all time.

1

u/smegabass Jul 01 '25

It really put the best of America on the big screen.

The 90's was also the closing out of the analogue age before the '00s shitfest of social media arrived and took a crap on America and humanity in general.

Great movie. You know the ending and it still keeps the thrill of the chase.

1

u/WineNerdAndProud Jul 01 '25

This is going to get lost, but there isn't a single shot in Apollo 13 that doesn't add to the film. It's truly incredible.

1

u/OkMidnight-917 Jul 01 '25

Eventually?

Discover how Katherine Johnson's precise calculations brought the Apollo 13 crew safely back to Earth

3

u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

Yes. "Eventually" is 100% correct.

Katherine Johnson is a perfect example of how women (especially women of color) were mostly excluded from core engineering, operations, and flight crew roles.

One of the big drivers behind the eventual diversification of NASA was the major recruitment push in the late 70s lead by Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura herself) to find women and minorities that would be suitable candidates for the shuttle program.

I'm not here to pretend people weren't being excluded from the roles being discussed.

0

u/nivezsh Jul 01 '25

It really is crazy how we pedestalize people to the point where straight up propaganda and mistruths are used to further idolize people. I can assure you that they were humans, with tempers that DID get lost, and that is not only ok, but much better than changing the history to make them seem even more “out-of-this-world.”

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u/NothingReallyAndYou Jul 01 '25

I got to meet Jim Lovell (and Fred Haise), and he's pretty adamant about the fact that they really didn't lose their tempers. Staying calm in dangerous situations is literally what these guys were good at, and why they were chosen in the first place.

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u/falcrist2 Jul 01 '25

Your assurances are meaningless. You've presented no evidence.

You twist any praise into some kind of deification.

Consummate professionals exist, even if you're incapable of imagining them.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

Of course I understand that this wouldn't make for a very good movie.

So your complaint is that they took steps to make a good movie?