SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

WatchedAllMovies To be honest I am only reviewing the first ten minutes of the movie, because I couldn't stand watching it after ten minutes.It's really a pity. After I read the introduction on the back cover of the DVD, I was really intrigued and wanted to watch it.Unfortunately the movie is low budget and poorly edited. The camera is shaky. It's not that costly to get a steadycam to stablize the camera. I don't know about you, but it's painful to watch a shaky movie. They may have thought that since some shaky movies were successful, let's save some money and hire a cheap cameraman and editor. But the novelty has worn out for me.If they have a good story, then somebody please re-make it into a higher quality movie. Otherwise it's like cooking up a good dish and then pour hot pepper into it to make it "better" and end up making it unedible.

midge56 I gave it 3 stars for the premise. The acting, directing & writing is horrible. Namely Matt Johnson. He ruined the movie in every way possible. It was like watching a bunch of 12 year olds trying to make a movie in their garage at home. Both on screen & the crew behind the scenes were clueless Jr high school mentality & totally unaware just how clueless they truly are.IRL, the real moon photos prove the scenes were falsified. I'm an engineer, scientist & photo expert. This movie was just moronic. It made me nauseous to watch these morons. Save your money. This movie has no redeeming qualities. It is so bad, I couldn't bear to watch the deleted scenes.Capricorn One is much better. Great actors, excellent story & wonderful filmography. Everything this movie is missing. Matt Johnson needs to get out of the film business & never show his face on the screen again, much less write or direct. He bombed out on every aspect he touched. The movie is so bad, it is painful to watch. Even their personal assumptions are clueless on every issue.This is a subject which is of interest to me. It could have been a good movie if properly written with a good crew, good director & decent actors. All of which this film was missing. These actors weren't just bad. They were offensive with Matt Johnson as the worst. It certainly is no thriller. The reviewer who said it was Bill & Ted meeting Dumb & Dumber hit the nail on the head. The entire crew who created this film were a bunch of clueless morons. You can see this by watching them on the special features if you can tolerate it after suffering through the movie.Boring, disappointing, moronic, bad acting, bad directing, bad writing, clueless crew and a waste of money.

Matthew Kresal Normally the "we faked the moon landings!" conspiracy theory makes my blood boil. That is even more true when people go out and make 'documentaries' trying to prove it to actually be the case. That said, the idea had produced some good fiction in its time including the 1970s conspiracy thriller classic Capricorn One. Added onto that list as well is this film, a indie made period thriller with a neat twist.That neat twist is that it looks and feels like a documentary being made in the 1960s. Operation Avalanche which claims to be a documentary following a group of CIA recruited filmmakers led by Matt Johnson (playing a fictional 1960s version of himself) whom, upon discovering NASA is behind schedule, convinces his bosses to let him and his team stage the Apollo 11 moon landing. If nothing else, it is a great way to bring to life an old idea.In fact, it is the documentary style nature of it that is what make this film. Johnson and many of his lead actors are playing fictional versions of themselves and (as the DVD extras reveal) there was a large amount of improvisation of dialogue going on, something which is evident. Evident not in a bad way but in that it means that there is always the sense that these are people in the heat of the moment. The reactions to things are never over the top but range from the comedic to the panicked, all of which are believable as the events taken on an increasingly darker tone.Yet the film has more going for it than just a good idea. Despite being indie made, the film features some of the finest period production values for a film set in the 1960s that I can recall seeing in recent memory. There are cars, clothes and yes even sets. It is sets that are among the most impressive elements of the film including the construction of the one that represents the Eagle lunar module on the Sea of Tranquility. As a NASA buff, I was impressed by the level of detail put into the film's NASA focused elements right down to recreating moments from a couple of later Apollo landings. It's impressive to say the least.The highlight of this film though might be in its cinematography and effects. The film has the look and feel of 16mm 1960s film in its look, containing the right amount of grain and an occasional washed out look to it. The camera-work as well plays well with the found footage format but also manages to avoid much of the shakiness that has become an all too frequent part of the genre. Indeed, it is to the credit of the filmmakers that they find just the right balance to make it believable but also not a frustrating (and for some even nausea inducing experience). The effects meanwhile are subtle and impressive, often finding ways to put the actors into real-life NASA footage including an impressive sequence in Mission Control where the footage works brilliantly with the scene playing out. The most impressive sequence of the entire film might well be the CIA filmmakers visit the set of Kubrick's 2001 in the UK complete with Stanley Kubrick himself. It's something that sets this film apart from both many indie films but conspiracy thrillers as well.All of which makes Operation Avalanche an impressive piece of work. It's an incredibly well made piece of work combining a period film with a thriller plot told in a documentary style. That also helps make the outrageous premise believable, presenting an (on the surface at least) idea of how it might have happened. If you enjoy conspiracy theories or the found footage genre, this is well worth a watch.Just remember, it ain't real...

walterohlinger Almost found myself tuning out during the first 10 minutes, but then the story started to evolve into something truly interesting and plausible. The idea that a comedy could become a thriller on such a low budget and encompass such an enormous subject is genius. Use of old Apollo films to weave into the story are well done and believable. It remains a comedy most of the way through, but the underlying premise is a masterpiece and very likely to become a cult flick.This is an incredible accomplishment and leaves the viewer thinking...hmmmmmm. I know I was left thinking it just might be plausible, if not likely.