For All Mankind: The Masters of Cinema Series

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For All Mankind
Review added by
David Beckett

A Film by Al Reinert
Certificate: E
Running Time: 80
Retail Price: £24.99
Release Date: 16/11/2009
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
During the Apollo lunar missions from 1968 to 1972, those onboard were given 16mm cameras and told to film anything and everything they could, in space, in orbit, and on the surface of the moon itself. Two decades later, filmmaker Al Reinert went into the NASA vaults to create this extraordinary compendium of their journeys and experiences.

Assembled from hundreds of hours of the astronauts' own footage, with a soundtrack made up of their memories and a specially composed score by Brian Eno, the film takes the form of one journey to the moon and back again, building with elegant simplicity and exquisite construction to create an overpowering vision of human endeavour and miraculous experience.

At once intimate and awe-inspiring, For All Mankind is a genuinely mesmerising first-hand document of one of the high points of the 20th century. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Criterion's beautiful high-definition restoration of the film for its UK home viewing première in a comprehensive, director-approved special edition.

Special Features:
• A new, restored high-definition transfer, supervised and approved by director Al Reinert
• Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, remastered from the original sound stems
• Audio commentary featuring Reinert and Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan, the last man to set foot on the moon
• An Accidental Gift: The Making of "For All Mankind" a new documentary featuring interviews with Reinert, Apollo 12 and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean, and NASA archive specialists
• A gallery of Bean's artwork, inspired by his life as an astronaut, with commentary and a filmed introduction
• NASA audio highlights and liftoff footage
• Optional on-screen identification of astronauts and mission control specialists
• A booklet, featuring essays, credits, stills, a new interview with Brian Eno.