Fiction and documentary films about astronautics

Articles about books and games require the "third whale" - a story about films on the space theme. Especially since I "got sick" with the space program exactly after watching several films in a row. In this article I want to talk about personally seen worthy of mention art (not fantastic) and documentaries about the space program.

Artistic

Feature films are divided according to the subjective criterion “as much as you like” into three groups: “It’s imperative to watch”, “If there’s more hunting”, “It’s better not to”:

Watch necessarily

"The Right Stuff" , in the domestic translation of "Guys What We Need!" . The 1983 film based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name (the unsuccessful translation “The Necessary Thing” is often encountered). Unfairly little-known (despite the 4 Oscars) film about people who sit in complex mechanisms and go to the Unknown. The story of Chuck Yeager (the first to overcome the speed of sound) and the first seven American astronauts. A true and interesting film about real events, a great play of actors, relevant humor. Some impression can be made already from the trailer:
“Gagarin. The first in space . year 2013. What a hidden fear I went with my wife to the movies for this movie! And how happy it was to be mistaken in their fears. They didn’t misinterpret the facts, didn’t trash from “I see it so” the director, didn’t catch up with the chernukhs with the “KGBists bloody in the eyes”, but told a wonderful story about the first flight into space, alternating it with inserts from Gagarin’s biography. Great movie, informative and inspirational. Trailer:
Apollo 13 1995 year. The film is based on the book "The Lost Moon", written by the commander of "Apollo 13" Jim Lovell and journalist Jeffrey Kluger. An interesting story about people who do their work, struggling with difficulties and dangers. The film is very high quality made, for example, weightlessness scenes were filmed in an airplane - a flying laboratory. Despite the seriousness of the events taking place on the screen, there is a place for both humor and human relations. Trailer:

If the hunt is still

Taming the fire . 1972 The most famous film about astronautics in the open spaces of Russia did not fall into the first category due to the fact that in the quest to make a heroic epic, the directors added very strange plot moves. In fact, in the “Wrong Guys” and “Apollo 13” shot at the “depraved West”, normal families are shown, and in “Taming the Fire” - some very strange novel, conflicting with the work of the main character, and even death The general designer, as a connecting episode of the beginning and end of the film, sounds a distinct dissonance. Interestingly, the Roskosmos TV website has a list of more than fifty available for online viewing of feature films about astronautics, and there is a “Taming of the fire” there.
Alien ship . 1985 Funny story about the descent vehicle "Vostok" with a dog and a dummy, which in 1960 fell in the Siberian taiga because of a launch vehicle accident and was mistaken for a UFO. There is not much astronautics there, but the story is interesting, it can be viewed. Scene “Moscow! Super urgent and super important! Saw the landing of an alien ship! Aliens! I go to contact! Meteorologist Mangulov! ”Really makes me smile :) A page with a film on Roscosmos TV.
"Space flight" . 1935 (!) Year. Formally, it does not fit the criteria, because it is fiction, but I could not resist not to add it to the list. First of all, Tsiolkovsky himself was a film consultant. Secondly, despite the prescription of creation, the film is really interesting. Thirdly, the film has already passed into the public domain, and you can watch it freely. Fourth, the cat on the moon was saved.

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Better not

"Return from orbit" . 1983 Strange plot and characters, contrived accidents, absurd helplessness of the Earth. Launching three “Soyuz” in three days, which is basically impossible in reality, the PMU in the film can, and come up with a plan what these ships in orbit cannot do.
Marooned ("Lost") . 1969 Due to the accident of the braking motor installation, astronauts cannot return to the ground. Funny, the real “Apollo-13” crash looks much brighter and better than the fictional, and, formally, looser plotline of the “Lost”. Although B.E. Chertok this film is very impressed.
"Paper Soldier" . 2008 The film looks like a surrealistic phantasmagoria or “bad trip” - objects that appear in the frame, and replicas that the characters say are not combined with the real world. “Baikonur” of the film is buried in slush, there are camps around with crazy people who do not want freedom and dogs that are shot by the “geban”. In my opinion, this is a spit in our history, you should not buy this film, do not support this in money.

Documentary

I divided the documentaries into “Available”, which can be freely viewed on Youtube, and “Not so much”, which are not represented there.

Available

Free space . 2011. Four series tell about the development of astronautics from the dream in Jules Verne's “From the Gun to the Moon” and the theoretical works of Tsiolkovsky to the current state and prospects of interplanetary flights. Excellent quality, clear and visual presentation, high-quality computer graphics. Strongly recommended. Link to the first series:

"Space Odyssey, Century XXI" . year 2012. Production Roscosmos TV, four series. It is interesting and qualitatively told about the ISS, about what works and why they are being held there, how they fly to it and how they return. The series is presented on the official website or immediately on Youtube:

The first orbit . 2011. Not really a movie, rather a mood. Gagarin radio exchanges were superimposed on the shooting from the ISS and music was added. The plot itself is not, but still interesting.

The Dream Is Alive . 1985 IMAX film produced by NASA and Lockheed, beautifully showing the beginning of the Space Shuttle program. Available on Youtube, but in English.

The last shuttle of America . 2011, Roscosmos TV. A sad but very interesting story about the completion of the Space Shuttle space program.

Not very affordable

When We Lefft Earth: NASA Missions . 2008, Discovery Channel. 6 episodes tell about the history of the American cosmonautics: "Mercury", "Gemini", "Apollo" (2 series), "Space Shuttle" (2 series). High-quality historical personnel, interviews with astronauts, staff of the MCC Houston, an interesting account of events.
From the Earth to the Moon . 1998, HBO. 12 episodes. My wife and I didn’t like the very heterogeneous series, the 2.4 and 8 episodes, and 5 and 10 contain such pure and wonderful pathos of work and knowledge that there is a feeling that they were shot by the American Strugatskys. The series is gaming, i.e. the astronauts are played by actors, and the scenes are enhanced by computer graphics.

PS The list is compiled from your own experience, if you have seen great movies that you should add here, write them in the comments.