Movie · 1989 · Documentary, History · 1h 20m · English
Curator score: 8.8/10 (26K ratings)
From 1968 til 1972, twenty-four human beings went to the moon. Their journey lives as the ultimate adventure story.
Overview
A testament to NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s. Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals who braved the remarkable journey to the moon and back.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.8/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 4.11/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Metacritic: 79
TMDB: 7.8/10
Director
Al Reinert
Production
Apollo Associates, FAM Productions, National Geographic
Cast
Jim Lovell, Russell Schweickart, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean, Jack Swigert, Stuart Roosa, James Irwin, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke, Harrison Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders, Neil Armstrong, Stephen Bales, Walter Cunningham, Ron Evans, Fred Haise
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A lyrical, immersive Apollo documentary that trades strict chronology for awe, memory, and emotional immediacy. Its mix of archival NASA footage, astronaut voiceover, and Brian Eno’s score makes the moon landings feel both historic and strangely present-tense.
Best for
space and history enthusiasts
viewers who like poetic documentaries
fans of archival filmmaking
people interested in the Apollo era
audiences seeking an emotional rather than informational doc
Skip if
you want a conventional fact-heavy history documentary
you need clear on-screen identification and chronology
you dislike impressionistic editing or minimal narration
you prefer modern interview-driven nonfiction
Overview
For All Mankind is less a lesson than a reverie. It uses NASA footage not as evidence to be organized, but as memory to be felt, turning the Apollo missions into a collective human dream suspended between engineering precision and childlike wonder.
Worth noting
The film’s great gamble is its refusal to over-explain. By letting the images breathe and pairing them with astronauts’ reflective voiceover and Brian Eno’s luminous score, it creates a sense of distance and intimacy at once. The result is often moving, sometimes eerie, and consistently majestic.
Bottom line
It is not the best choice if you want a tidy historical account or a detailed mission-by-mission breakdown. But if you want to experience the moon landings as a cultural and emotional event, this is one of the most beautiful documentaries ever made.
Top Letterboxd reviews
FilmApe (5★) · 592 likes
32 years before technology made it possible to carry around 1,000 songs in your pocket, three men traveled to the moon.
Emma Stefansky · 261 likes
the bit in this about wanting to remember everything but knowing you’ll replace each tiny moment with other tiny moments… 🥲
Marcissus (4★) · 226 likes
Anyway this film isn't about cockroaches but rather the brief time when humanity held hands and fistbumped together to the tune of radio static and overjoyed cheers, staring into the aether with wide eyes, thinking maybe there's hope for us yet. 45 years later "they were the first human beings to leave planet earth" still feels like a surreal thing to read, perhaps it always will. I can only hope the kids in 2069 don't see this under the wistful… more Anyway this film isn't about cockroaches but rather the brief time when humanity held hands and fistbumped together to the tune of radio static and overjoyed cheers, staring into the aether with wide eyes, thinking maybe there's hope for us yet. 45 years later "they were the first human beings to leave planet earth" still feels like a surreal thing to read, perhaps it always will. I can only hope the kids in 2069 don't see this under the wistful… more
Mike D'Angelo (3.5★) · 213 likes
66/100
Can't imagine that I was at all aware in '89 of how unusual it was for this film to (a) refrain from contextualizing any of its footage and (b) have the astronauts speak exclusively in (deliberately lo-fi?) voiceover rather than as talking heads. On the one hand, this approach creates the sort of present-tense experience I prefer in historical docs; on the other, there were many times when I desperately wanted to know who was speaking and/or which Apollo… more
2012 · Documentary, History · 1h 57m · NR · Curator 9.8/10 (138.4K ratings)
For viewers interested in documentaries that challenge how history is reconstructed and emotionally processed.
Topics
space exploration, archival documentary, Apollo era, historical nonfiction, poetic editing, nostalgic, human achievement, science and technology, cosmic wonder, 1980s documentary