# Apollo 13 (the movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972 "2004-08-28T17:42:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/41 "2004-08-30T20:48:28Z")
> [@Curate](#): > > The IMDB trivia site says: > > “Though not noted on screen, Marilyn Lovell’s “premonition” of an accident on her husband’s flight was triggered by her seeing the movie Marooned (1969)” > > I believe if I had a relative in that line of work I might have given that movie a miss. That ain’t the only reason. 🙂 It got MISTied, and deserved it. The original Caidin book was far better than either the movie or the updated book that went with the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/42 "2004-08-30T20:50:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Lovell’s mother was played by \*Ron Howard’s \* mother - and yes, he made his own Mom audition for the role. > > Lovell himself played the carrier captain in the final scene. And Ron Howard’s brother “Tranya Boy” played one of guys in mission control. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/43 "2004-08-30T20:57:10Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I got to see _Apollo 13_ at the campus movie theater when I was in college, with > > Jim Lovell speaking before the movie was shown. He joked that his being there to speak to us was a bit of a spoiler, so I have put it in a spoiler box. 😉 > > I’m on the edge of my seat during the re-entry part every time I watch the movie (which has been many times, it’s one of my favorite movies). I bet he never gets sick of using that line, too! ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/44 "2004-08-30T22:36:31Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > You do know that it was directed by Ron Howard. Yup. I love Howard’s work (this and _Parenthood_ are favorites)… I just meant it had kind of a Spielbergian feel to it in some parts. For example, Lovell’s son who is too cute to be real asking “Is it the door?”, and the part where Lovell’s wife loses her ring down the shower drain. Except for these forgiveable indulgences, a perfect movie. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/45 "2004-08-30T22:39:59Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Yup. I love Howard’s work (this and _Parenthood_ are favorites)… I just meant it had kind of a Spielbergian feel to it in some parts. For example, Lovell’s son who is too cute to be real asking “Is it the door?”, and the part where Lovell’s wife loses her ring down the shower drain. > > Except for these forgiveable indulgences, a perfect movie. Uh, you do know that the ring incident _really_ happened. Exactly the way they depicted in the movie, as well. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/46 "2004-08-30T22:59:44Z")
Okay, _that_ I didn’t know. Seemed a little too “Hollywood”, but I guess life’s like that sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/47 "2004-08-30T23:06:01Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Okay, _that_ I didn’t know. Seemed a little too “Hollywood”, but I guess life’s like that sometimes. I haven’t read Lovell’s book, but in _A Man on the Moon_ they go into all the weird crap which happened before the launch. If it were a work of fiction, you wouldn’t believe any of it, because it’s just too bizarre and coincidental, but evidently it all happened. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/48 "2004-08-31T03:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I do recall reading somewhere about a bit of Hollywood license used when Houston was informing the crew that they were approaching gimbal lock, and Lovell responds “Freddo, inform Houston that I’m well aware of the g\*\*\*\*\*n gimbals.” Apparently, this use of profanity was frowned upon because the capsule’s comms were on VOX, which I guess is an open mic or something (I’m sure someone recalls more about this than I do). > > Anyway, in reality, Lovell didn’t actually curse… but it seems his displeasure and annoyance at being reminded of something he was already aware of were obvious in his tone of voice, and Houston reminded the crew they were on VOX. I read Lost Moon right before the movie got made and what Lovell said was, “I can see the _ **frappin’** _ 8-ball!” and I believe this is indeed what Hanks says in the film. In the book Lovell remarks that to this day he’s not really sure whether ‘frappin’ counts as a curse word. What Lovell **did** say on VOX that caused a major PR nightmare for NASA (and wasn’t in the film) was, “Ya know Fredo, this will probably be the last moon mission for a long time”. Something I wished they had included more about was Swiggert’s post-it note he put over the ‘JET LM’ switch. He had in fact done this. But still, when they were preparing for re-entry Lovell, being the commander, emphasized like three times to him, “Okay, you’re jettisoning the **service module** , NOT the lunar module!” These mission were practiced & rehearsed so many times and jettisoning the service module before the LM was just something so fundamentally wrong that they had probably never even simulated, it made sense that Lovell would be this careful about it. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/49 "2004-08-31T03:10:25Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > I read Lost Moon right before the movie got made and what Lovell said was, “I can see the _ **frappin’** _ 8-ball!” and I believe this is indeed what Hanks says in the film. No, he says “Freddo, inform Houston that I’m well aware of the g\*\*\*\*\*n gimbals.” in the movie, as **TheTyrant** mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/50 "2004-08-31T03:41:45Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > Something I wished they had included more about was Swiggert’s post-it note he put over the ‘JET LM’ switch. [nitpick]It’s _not_ a post-it note! They hadn’t been invented yet![/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972/51 "2004-08-31T17:27:01Z")
The mockups for the movie were made by the Kansas Cosmosphere’s [Space Works](http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/9608/articles.html) operation (the same folks who restored _Liberty Bell 7_ a couple of years back). Last I heard, the Cosmosphere also has the _Apollo 13_ CM, among other things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-13-the-movie/261972.md?page=2)