Come and re-live the Old Time Drive-In Movie experience at Uptown Station’s Central Park!
Tonight’s Movie is Apollo 13
Plot
The voice of Walter Cronkite describes President John F. Kennedy‘s call for the United States space program to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, as scenes of the Apollo 1 fire that killed three U.S. astronauts are shown.
On July 20, 1969, veteran astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) hosts a party for other astronauts and their families, who watch on television as Neil Armstrong takes his first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Lovell, who orbited the Moon on Apollo 8, tells his wife Marilyn (Kathleen Quinlan) that he intends to go back.
While giving a VIP tour of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building, Lovell is informed by Deke Slayton (Chris Ellis) that he and his crew will fly the Apollo 13 mission instead of Apollo 14. After informing his family of his impending trip, Lovell and his crew, Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) begin training for their new mission. Days before launch, Mattingly, who was exposed to German measles, is replaced by backup Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon).
As the launch date approaches, Marilyn’s fears for her husband manifest in nightmares, but she comes to Cape Kennedy to see him off despite her misgivings, and later loses her wedding ring when it falls into her motel shower drain.
On April 11, 1970, Lovell, Haise and Swigert are suited up, secured inside the spacecraft, and Apollo 13 flight director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) in Houston’s Mission Control Center gives the go-ahead for launch. As the Saturn V rocket climbs into the sky, an engine on the second stage cuts off prematurely, but the craft successfully reaches Earth orbit. After the third stage fires, sending Apollo 13 on a trajectory to the Moon, Swigert docks the Command/Service Module Odyssey with the Lunar Module Aquarius, and pulls it away from the spent stage. Three days into the mission, the crew send a live television transmission from Odyssey, but the networks, believing the public now regards lunar missions as routine, refuse to broadcast it live.
As part of routine procedures, Swigert flips a switch to stir up the two liquid oxygen tanks in the Service Module, which unexpectedly causes one of them to explode. The other tank is soon found to be leaking, prompting Mission Control to abort the Moon landing, and forcing the crew to hurriedly shut down Odyssey and power up Aquarius, so it can keep them alive for the return home. As the Aquarius crew watches the Moon passing underneath them, Lovell imagines walking on its surface. On Earth, after flight director Kranz declares that “failure is not an option”, Mattingly is recruited by flight controller John Aaron to help prepare procedures to restart Odyssey once the crew nears Earth.
The crew shuts down Aquarius to conserve power, subjecting them to freezing conditions. Swigert suspects Mission Control has made a mistake and is withholding it from them, and in a fit of rage, Haise blames Swigert’s inexperience for the accident; an argument ensues but is quickly quelled by Lovell. As another problem arises—the dangerous buildup of carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts—an engineering team quickly formulates a solution which allows the Command Module’s square air cleaners to be used in the Lunar Module’s round receptacles. With guidance systems on Aquarius shut down, and despite Haise’s fever and freezing conditions inside the cabin, the crew succeeds in making a difficult manual course correction by briefly igniting the Lunar Module’s engine.
Meanwhile, as Mattingly and Aaron struggle to find a way to power up the Command Module with its limited power, procedures are finalized and sent to Swigert, who successfully revives Odyssey. After witnessing the damage to the jettisoned Service Module, the crew prepare for re-entry, unsure of the condition of Odyssey’s heatshield. The crew releases Aquarius and re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere in Odyssey, and after an unusually long period of radio silence, the crew reports they are alive and well; to the great relief of Mission Control and the astronauts’ families. After splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, the three men are plucked out of the water and taken to the aircraft carrier USS Iwo Jima.
As the astronauts are greeted on deck, Lovell’s narration describes the events that follow their return from space—including the investigation into the explosion onboard the Service Module, and the subsequent careers and lives of Haise, Swigert, Mattingly and Kranz—and ends with Lovell saying “I look up at the Moon and wonder: When will we be going back, and who will that be?”.
Cast
Ed Harris as White team Flight Director Gene Kranz
Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell
Mary Kate Schellhardt as the Lovells’ elder daughter Barbara
Max Elliott Slade as the Lovells’ elder son James (Jay)
Emily Ann Lloyd as the Lovells’ younger daughter Susan
Miko Hughes as the Lovells’ younger son Jeffrey
Jean Speegle Howard as Jim’s mother Blanch
Tracy Reiner as Haise’s wife Mary
David Andrews as astronaut Pete Conrad
Michele Little as Conrad’s wife Jane
Chris Ellis as Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton
Joe Spano as Director of Flight Operations Christopher Kraft
Xander Berkeley as NASA public relations officer[citation needed] Henry Hurt
Marc McClure as alternate Flight Director Glynn Lunney
Ben Marley as astronaut John Young, Lovell’s backup for Apollo 13.
Clint Howard as White team EECOM Sy Liebergot
Loren Dean as EECOM John Aaron
Christian Clemenson as Flight Surgeon Dr. Chuck
Thomas Mills Wood as Gold team EECOM
Brett Cullen as astronaut Jack Lousma, CAPCOM at the time of the accident.
Mark Wheeler as astronaut Neil Armstrong
Larry Williams as astronaut Buzz Aldrin
Endre Hules as NASA Pad Leader Guenter Wendt
Steve Bernie as astronaut Virgil Grissom, Command Pilot of Apollo 1
Steve Ruge as astronaut Edward H. White, Senior Pilot of Apollo 1
Reed Rudy as astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, Pilot of Apollo 1
John Timothy Botka as astronaut Frank Borman, Lovell’s commander on Gemini 7 and Apollo 8
Jim Lovell as Navy Captain in command of USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2), recovery ship for Apollo 13
Gabriel Jarret as GNC White
Geoffrey Blake as GUIDO Gold
Walter Cronkite as himself, provides introductory narration, and re-dubbed commentary from CBS News TV coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, slightly tailored for the film; also appears in archival footage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and Apollo 13 recovery, both edited into the film.
Every two weeks, through the summer, we show movies on Saturday night in Central Park. Usually we also show at least one movie per month during the winter too!
We have the Emerald Coast’s only giant 30′ inflatable movie screen, which we put up in front of the Flag Pole in Central Park. We have a great sound system, and in some movies you can feel the ground vibrate!
Folks bring their lawn chairs and blankets and spread out on the grass at Central Park to enjoy a wide range of family friendly movies. You can also sit in your car and listen to the soundtrack on FM 106.9.
There are always concession stands with drink and snacks, just as you’d expect. Plus of course, we have all the dining experiences at Uptown Station. Wine World Outlet open late on Movie Night and have a special selection for movie audiences, with cheeses snacks and non-glass containers.
Details of the upcoming movies are published on this website, in Upcoming Events, and the Events Calendar. You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter so you’ll get updates and reminders. Check the calendar and Movie Nights info for details of show times, movie trailers and synopsis of the movies.
We’re always open to suggestions for what movies to show, so please send us your suggestions.
Most importantly, Movie Nights at Uptown Station are FREE!
In some cases of bad weather, we have to cancel the movie but we post updates on this site and we send out information on Facebook and Twitter.
The only things we don’t have at Movie Night are pets and glass containers, so please help us with that.