Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022) User Reviews

Very charming and a mostly entertaining watch

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 8 May 2022]

A new Richard Linklater movie got dropped onto Netflix about a month ago with little promotion or fanfare, which is a shame, because it was an enjoyable watch and there's quite a lot of good stuff in it.

It's a very, very nostalgic look back at being a kid in the late 1960s, and how it felt to grow up at the time of the Apollo space missions. It mixes comedy, animation, some documentary/historical footage (that's been animated over), voiceover, and even a little bit of fantasy to make for a breezy and largely entertaining watch.

It is more of a hangout/mood sort of movie, and whether it would've necessarily been better with a more focused story is hard to say. I didn't really mind, and it was only towards the very end where I felt like they started to stretch the fairly simple premise about as far as it could go.

And shortly after that point, it wraps up, coming in at about 90 minutes. There was a little repetition throughout, but most of it was really charming and enjoyable. It's a good watch- I think it's another overall solid film in Linklater's extensive, very strong filmography.

Some say it's not a coming of age, but...it is.

[PedroPires90 · 7/10 · 3 April 2022]

The best thing I can say about this one - and The Hand of God months ago - is that it made me want to a write a script about my youth and coming of age times.

Of course, I'm not American and this one is a very American culturally youth - and I would need to be a successful writer before having this script approved - but I felt this was much more about honouring a time and closing a chapter than about space. Linklater is a specialist about these stories and he knows how to keep us interested.

Makes you feel like you were there yourself

[JohnFilmfreak · 7/10 · 1 April 2022]

The title and trailer is definitely misleading by insinuating that this is some sort of space adventure. Granted, there are some fragments of space adventuring going on, but 95% of the film is basically a time capsule of the 60s which tells you all about what life was back then, filled to the brim with nostalgia.

As such it reminded me a bit of The Virgin Suicides in the romantic way it glorifies those long lost days, so stuffed with timely music, tv-shows and other pop-cultural tidbits that it successfully weaves a rose tinted memory of childhood, which will probably have most people create nostalgic connections to what all these references mean in their own life.

A fun romp through space and the late 1960s

[TheDome81 · 7/10 · 2 April 2022]

It's a great little trip down memory lane. I grew up in the late sixties and this little film really resonated with me. It depicted the era perfectly, although, since I didn't grow up in the Houston area, there were a few local things that didn't[t resonate with me. But overall, this is a fun family movie just bout everyone can enjoy! Great job on picking out the songs of the era too!

A captivating portrait of growing up during the space race.

[IonicBreezeMachine · 9/10 · 1 April 2022]

Stanley (Jack Black as adult and Milo Coy as child) comes of age in late 60s Houston, Texas against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing where the nostalgic reality mixes with childhood fantasy of being the first boy on the moon on a secret NASA mission for Apollo 10 ½.

Apollo 10 ½ is the latest film from Richard Linklater. Linklater had the idea back in 2004, inspired by his childhood growing up in 60s Houston with development taking shape in 2018. Originally intended to be a live-action film, when the project was set up at Netflix, Linklater instead decided to do the film as an animated project similar to his films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly due to the "playful" nature of animation. Linklater has created a nostalgic but true to life picture of growing up in the 1960s during the emergence of the space age.

Jack Black narrates the thoughts of our protagonist Stanley, and Black's delivery is pitch perfect in describing 60s Houston and the various contemporary trends, pop culture, and political and social events as witnessed by Stanley as a child. We get a sense of growing up during a particular time and place but as distorted from the nostalgic view of someone who was a child during those events. References are made to political and social strife of the time and the way in which it's relayed plays to true to how children experience those kinds of events. Even the landing of Apollo 11 covered in the film discusses the little seen outcry from those claiming it was a waste of money and resources that could've been applied elsewhere using archival footage interspersed with the narrative footage to give a glimpse into contemporary mindsets of the time. The animation is really solid per the standards set by Linklater's other films of this type and I think Linklater uses it effectively to evoke feelings of nostalgia mixed with the childish space fantasy that many kids fascinated with space travel have conjured themselves at one point or another. Along with the larger events we also get insight into familial and social dynamics of the era with fond reminiscence of the neighborhood pyromaniacs, the endless cycle of at least one kid having a cast, or various other mischief and shenanigans of the day.

Linklater has created a capture of the space race and the surrounding era in which it occurred through an honest but nostalgic lens. Jack Black's narration is sincere and credible and the capture of smaller childhood distractions intermixed with larger scale events in the background gives us the feeling of being there that only the best storytellers can give.

A minor riff on Boyhood

[sps-70659 · 7/10 · 4 April 2022]

Not up there the Boyhood, or the Before trilogy, but fun nevertheless.

The recreation of the 1960s Linklater family tropes is heartfelt and truly etched, and the rotoscope animation is brilliant, but there is a little too much ticking-the-box of 1960s topical events and cultural trends.

The winsome fantasy of the kid astronaut is meant to be the rocket propellant that binds it and lifts it, but this does not quite come off.

A hidden Netflix gem that transports us back to the 60's

[eddie_baggins · 9/10 · 10 April 2022]

Utilising the rotoscope animation style he perfected in his previous animated film efforts Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, famed indie director Richard Linklater brings colour and soul to his semi-autobiographical Netflix original Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure, in what is a nostalgia heavy trip back to the NASA obsessed state of Texas in the 60's where man's quest to conquer the moon was at the forefront of everyone's minds and hearts.

One of the most purely enjoyable and laid-back films I can recall watching, Apollo 10 1/2 finds Linklater operating back at peak form after a few so-so years behind the camera with the likes of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Last Flag Flying as he here crafts a childhood infused love letter to his own experiences growing up in the space-age era that ensures his film is one that will feel relevant and understandable to anyone who has grown up in the great big world we live in and offers a nice alternative exploration of the well-explored Apollo mission that gives us a fresh spin on the world changing events of the late 60's.

Forgoing a typical narrative approach in favour of implementing a Jack Black lead voice over for virtually a full hour of the films 90 minute running time, a risky move that pays off big time as you are transported back to our lead protagonist and Linklater stand in Stan, Apollo 10 1/2 offers a mostly captivating experience that captures the 60's and the NASA space age as good as any film that I could recall seeing and regardless if your interest in space is minimal or obsessive, Linklater's film will grip when on land watching TV shows or listening to records just as much as it grips when venturing to out of space with its more fantastical elements.

One of those films you can feel coming about from lived in experiences and someones own personal memories and heartfelt musings, Apollo 10 1/2 is one of the most genuinely effective and touching features Linklater has ever produced, right up there with his most well-liked products such as the Before trilogy, Dazed and Confused and Boyhood.

While some may find the films lack of a hard narrative or non-linear plotline frustrating, for anyone willing to be taken on a trip back to a time and place that feels like a lifetime ago while also strangely feeling relevant and in touch with how life is now, Apollo 10 1/2 is an absolutely joy and a hidden Netflix gem that deserves to find as big of an audience on the platform as any of their recent Ryan Reynolds stinkers that would do well to employ some of the creativity and substance that is found in Linklater's beautiful little film.

Final Say -

It may not offer anything of a revelatory nature but Richard Linklater's newest film is a minor masterpiece and one of the best examples in recent years of a nostalgia lead trip back in time.

4 1/2 scoops of vanilla ice cream out of 5.

For more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

No excitement, just nostalgia.

[Vadlan · 7/10 · 2 April 2022]

I didn't grow up in 1960s Houston. I grew up in 1980s Newcastle Upon Tyne. So a rather different environment.

However, I was still taken in by the more nostalgic theme. I don't know why but for some reason its fun to relate events in a movie to your own youth.

Like falling asleep in the back of the car and waking up in my bed, making prank calls (at least until '1471' was brought to our attention), comically sadistic teachers, brutal but awesome playground games, being blissfully unaware of any environmental hazard (breathing in smoke from a gigantic bonfire all day in your mate's garden) , daft TV programs, playing 40-a-side football in the street, my Nana visiting with her 'views', obscure board games, 6 hour games of monopoly, disappointing packed lunches...and so on.

There is in fact not much of a story to this movie, just an opportunity to forget the worries of the present and remember that you had a youth, stuff happened, and you survived. The 'kid going to the moon' was very much a side story.

The Story Of The First Moon Landing Through The Eyes Of A Kid Growing Up In Houston

[rannynm · 10/10 · 1 April 2022]

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood tells a creative twist on a story we all know well, NASA's moon mission, and makes us think that history is not always as it seems. Based on the childhood fantasies of director Richard Linklater, this animated dramedy perfectly weaves together classic childhood coming-of-age memories, late 1960's pop music and NASA's historic race to moon.

This nostalgic movie, set in suburbs of Houston in 1969, follows the childhood of Stan, who is voiced by Milo Coy as a child and Jack Black as an adult. The pressure to get to the moon is ever growing, but NASA builds the lunar module too small, so they turn to Stan to do the job before astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins suit up for their famous Apollo mission. Unfortunately, Stan cannot tell anyone, not even his family.

The animation is one of the coolest things about this movie and really sets it apart from other animated films I've seen. It is a mix of live action with hand drawn and computer animation. I also enjoy how accurate it is to the era, so that as a period piece it does not feel artificial. All the clothes, houses, dialogue, objects and even actions reflect that of the time. I always hear my parents talk about their childhood during this era, but I could never really imagine it until I saw this movie. Jack Black is the perfect choice to play adult Stan as his accent is so subtle and his tone is perfect to play an older Stan. And Milo Coy wonderfully captures the personality of a 10 and ½ year old.

The message of Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is that mistakes are okay and that not everything is always as it seems. This movie shows some unhealthy and unsafe practices, which were more common in the 1960's, like smoking, riding in the back of a pickup truck or in cars without seatbelts, and playing with fireworks in the middle of a street. However, the narrator, the adult version of Stan, explains how dangerous these behaviors are. There are also a couple of graphic injury scenes and slight profanity.

I give Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 10 to 18, plus adults. Anyone who loves space and maybe even remembers the actual lunar landing will definitely enjoy it also. This movie premiered at South by Southwest on March 13, 2022 and will be on Netflix on April 1, 2022.

By Katherine S., KIDS FIRST!

A remarkable coming of age story.

[clf-73998 · 7/10 · 2 April 2022]

Richard Linklater is so completely innovative he was able to relate his coming of age and the birth of his imagination as a story teller in one very sweet and nostalgic package. When I was in college in NYC a friend of Linklater explained to me the filmmakers love of Houston. It's never been more apparent in any of his other love letters to his home city.

Bayou City memories

[jimi99 · 8/10 · 4 April 2022]

I grew up in Houston from mid '50s to mid '70s and the nostalgic details in Linklater's great new animated feature was almost overwhelming. I'm sure many people will appreciate it, especially the visual style, but for us Space City kids, it is a real treasure trove of memories. Only one goof: the Majestic Theater did not look like that and was quite the opposite of the run-down theater he described. It was a magnificent movie palace in the heart of downtown.

If you're on Medicare, you'll love this

[bhoffman · 19 April 2022]

Born in the 50's? Then, this is your life. What a sweet trip down memory lane. I was transported back to a time with playing cards attached to bicycle wheels with clothes pins, outdoor drive-ins, The Beatles, Mission Impossible, prank phone calls and more. Very enjoyable and the feel-good tonic I needed. It's a sweet story and easy to watch animation.

Maybe a bit too American for me

[Jithindurden · 6/10 · 3 April 2022]

Linklater's childhood nostalgia, a little bit of fantasy and an almost documentary-like record of the moon landing using partially rotoscoped animation. Linklater's laid back vibing through events usually works very well for me but here I felt it didn't fully connect with me. It was nice but the nostalgia is not overtly romanticized nor is it broken down but it doesn't feel like it found a comfortable middle ground either. It felt like it was a bit confused about itself. Since the narration is by a grown-up version of the protagonist, the politics touched upon felt very weird considering it's not entirely a child's view anymore and yet doesn't have any position at all in it. There may be also the fact that I'm not American and the cultural events that would be very precious to many don't mean that much to me personally that made my mind wander through all these thoughts when the focus should've been on the central events.

A story requires a plot.

[kimberlydale79 · 5/10 · 7 April 2022]

...and a plot requires conflict.

This film contains neither. If you remember the Wonder Years and thought the show would have been better if it was just 90% Daniel Stern narrating adult Kevin Arnold's memories, this movie is for you.

There even isn't any conflict in the small segments dedicated to the kid going to space. Everything just happens.

If anyone is familiar with the South Park 'Member Berries, that's all I could think of as I watched this plotless, nostalgia-driven "story."

'Member AstroWorld?

Yeah, I 'member!

'Member drive-In movies?

Oh! I loved drive-in movies!

'Member being a kid and knowing the world was messed up but not caring because you were a kid?

I 'member! I loved not caring about anything!

That's legit the entire move.

An unexpected experience

[Mysterygeneration · 7/10 · 23 August 2022]

Richard Linklater's "Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure" is based on one of the director's childhood fantasies. He imagines a young boy who arrived on the moon before the first man. "Apollo 10 1/2" is a trip down memory lane for Americans transfixed to their televisions. It's also a teleportation tool for those who weren't there. Director Richard Linklater shows he is not a solipsist, as shown in "Boyhood".

Refreshing Blast From the Past

[bobby-piatt · 8/10 · 1 April 2022]

Fun animation depicting a time when most all people were experiencing the same look at a real time event in our early stages of technology. For better or worse, everyone was viewing from a shared lense. Quite a contrast from our splintered viewing from which we now interpret real time reality. The director has nailed the zeitgeist of 1969.

Poignant nostalgic of late 60's hope and fear

[dngoldman · 7/10 · 20 April 2022]

Beautifully rendered, sweet, and from someone who is just a few years younger than the characters, a dead-on representation of the culture of times. The movie portrays one boys imaginative look at the moon landing. The characters' hope in the future is endearing but the film, without being didactic, indicates how false the hope was and how hope was limited to a few. Even at 1.5hours it felt a little long. After a killer start, the next 20 minutes could have been 5 or 10 (it's basically a tour). But overall the film is effective and worth the watch at home.

An Enjoyable Nostalgia-fest

[rocafellaceo · 8/10 · 1 April 2022]

Nostalgia plays a huge role in how much you enjoy this movie, more than half of the it is spent detailing and showcasing how life was like in for a kid in 1969 Houston, Texas suburbia.

The movie is innocent, colorful and charming, it might not be particularly substantial but it's a feel-good movie, you can't hate it.

Lift Off

[michaelsiphone · 6/10 · 5 April 2022]

Apollo 10.5: A Space Age Childhood is a 2022 American animated coming-of-age film loosely based on the childhood of writer, director, and producer Richard Linklater 🚀

It's ok, but I feel mixed about this one 😉 I'd recommend it if you like this genre, but if not then probably give it a miss 👍🏼👎🏼

A trip down memory lane...

Reliving my childhood

[weissmichael · 10/10 · 5 April 2022]

Reliving my childhood. This movie took me back to a time when I was the same age as the main character. Everything they talked about was something I experienced and saw myself. For me I simply love the movie. I don't think anyone 20 years of age and younger or even lets stretch it to 30 years of age and under would appreciate the movie.

an interesting movie

[flashwahoo · 6/10 · 26 July 2022]

The animation style kind of reminds me of the lanky Kong reaction video. And it made me just as uncomfortable but I got used to it after awhile

the movie's set during the events preceding the Apollo 11 moon landing

it turns out that it was a child that got to go out in space first. But it was kept under wraps by nasa.

I think this is supposed to be his imagination but it doesn't make it very clear

the first half of the movie is just the main character being very descriptive on what it was like to be a poor family in the 60s

I really liked hearing this guy babble on about his childhood

he does it in such a way that it gives all the family members he's describing their own personality's and it was pretty obvious the writer was loosely basing it off his own childhood

but the way the movie is laid out makes it more of an art piece then anything

I appreciate it for what it is but I'm probably never gonna watch it again.

Wish I'd been there

[patrickslusher-60547 · 8/10 · 9 April 2022]

So, fair warning: this movie is not exactly a "coming of age" story as advertised. Actually, it's barely a story at all. Some will find that disappointing, but if you're a Linklater fan ("Dazed & Confused" might be my all-time favorite movie) this won't be a problem.

What this is, like most of his movies, is a narrow but deep snapshot of a moment in time. It is concentrated nostalgia done right. It is a time I wasn't alive for, but have always wished I could have been...and this might be as close as I can get.

I love the subtle bit at the end where even the cynical counterculture older sister can't help but smile when Armstrong steps out onto the moon. I think some skeptical viewers may have the same reaction to this movie.

Could have been great without the tobacco product placements, but still is decent

[Viewer111 · 7/10 · 5 October 2022]

Apollo 10 1/2 is a great premise, recalling the year 1969 from a child's perspective, especially regarding the moon landing. I especially like the rotoscope style of filming, and that was done pretty well here. They used a variation of it on the historical footage which is shown on TV's and movies within the movie which ads to its unique flavor.

Yet, like so many Netflix produced movies, there is gratuitous tobacco product placements and character shown smoking cigarettes. Sure idiots smoked in 1969, just like idiots smoke in today's world, but I wonder who much money the tobacco industry pumps into Netflix to promote cancer-causing additions? Apollo 10 1/2 will appeal to children, by its child-focused main character, and its rotoscope style of filming, so why not just leave out the tobacco product placements? Is it because Netflix is paid to put that smoking nonsense into these films???? Probably.

I would give the film a 10 without the smoking, but because of all the tobacco product placements, the film only gets a 7.

Visually wonderful but detached and indulgent

[kensachter · 3/10 · 24 April 2022]

Firstly the film looks wonderful. The scenes in NASA and in space are superb. But the majority of the film for some reason is about the everyday life of a boy from a family whose members, apart from the father, are so undeveloped so we never feel anything for them or learn anything about them, and living in an utterly boring new estate in the USA. No doubt the stream of specific cultural references to everyday foods, tv programmes, games, etc., will have Americans who grew up in similar circumstances smiling and nodding their heads. But non-USA viewers may well feel excluded and that they are having to indulge the film-makers and target audience. The narrator's voice, as the child now grown up, is like the worst kind of old sot who goes on and on about the intricacies of his childhood world late at night. When he points out that the kids riding in the back of the pci-up would not be allowed today but they were then unaware of the danger of a crash or rollover we feel we are in the presence of a half-drunk bore who has to tell us every detail in case we are too stupid to understand. He hardly matches the boy's character and it is hard to see a link between them. Worst of all is the coolness of every character, apart from the mother who is not developed beyond being motherly. If this is the tale of a bored child fantasising that he is secretly an astronaut, then why spend most of the film on the boring bit? The whole long section from the point where the boy is in training to when we resume the NASA narrative seems to go on forever. What a shame - this is the opposite of Boyhood: by being particular to the point of boredom the film-makers have produced a film that is only for those who themselves like to be indulged.

Richard Linklater's stroll down memory lane, Space Age style

[gortx · 8 April 2022]

Richard Linklater's animated feature is about a nine year old in Houston in 1969 who is obsessed with pop culture. Not surprisingly, that quick bio pretty much also describes Linklater's himself. Stan (voiced by Milo Coy) is a fourth grader who lives in the shadow of NASA's Mission Control where his Dad (Bill Wise) works. Unlike Linklater (we assume), Stan literally gets plucked off the playground one day by Government officials and told that he is going to be sent to the Moon on a super secret mission as a sort of proving test before that July's Apollo 11 (hence the title).

In truth, it's the film's subtitle: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD that truly describes the movie (also written by Linklater). Jack Black plays the adult Stan who narrates (and narrates and narrates) the entire picture. After a brief intro, the movie spends a full fifty minutes going through Stan's day to day life before getting back to his Apollo mission. And, once it gets there, it's relatively brief, with the focus quickly turning to his family's anticipation for the actual Apollo 11 moon landing with Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.

Linklater has always had a laid back vibe to his movies (his first movie was SLACKER, after all), and here he indulges himself in all things 60s with references to Ouija boards, push-button phones, Drive-Ins, Dark Shadows after-school TV showings and Tang. The soundtrack is dominated not only by hit singles of the era by the Monkeys, The Association, The Archies etc. -- but also surf music, deep tracks and other 60s ephemera. When Stan goes to the movies to see 2001, PLANET OF THE APES or THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Linklater's animators go all out in recreating the look and feel of celluloid through animation. A whole montage is devoted to just the TV shows of the era - everything from The Munsters to Batman to It's About Time. Like his previous Animated features (both terrific) WAKING LIFE and A SCANNER DARKLY, Linklater uses a rotoscope technique, but, here, the look is more solid and hard-edged as opposed to the free-flowing wavy look of the earlier films. It fits the subject matter more, but, a little more softness would have helped.

In a way, this could be interpretated at as another in Linklater's semi-autobiographical series of films where APOLLO would be the earliest covering his elementary years, DAZED AND CONFUSED his High School ones, and EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! His College experience (his massive 12 year project BOYHOOD lords over it all). As genial and lovingly created as it is, APOLLO never fully forms. The narration sometimes feels like a grouping off all the opening credits introductions to an imaginary 'Stan In Grade School' TV sitcom. If one isn't of the Space Age generation, one can see how it wouldn't connect. One of the keys here is a line early on where Stan admits that he is a bit of a fabulist. It's not hard to imagine that there were a lot of "Stans" out there in 1969 who imagined themselves to be junior Neil Armstongs who got to vicariously travel to the moon themselves. It is this spirit which makes APOLLO 10 1/2 an enjoyable enough ride.