Apollo 13

Directed by Ron Howard. Written by William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert, based on the book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

Jim Lovell

• From now on, we live in a world where man has walked on the moon. And it's not a miracle, we just decided to go.

• Houston, we have a problem.
  • Note: ranked #50 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.
  • In real life, the quote was "Houston, we've had a problem." Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, ch. 13.1, by James A. Lovell. The original phrase pronounced by Jack Swigert, "Houston, we've had a problem here" and then repeated by Lovell, "Houston, we've had a problem", was altered to a present-tense in the film script.

Jack Swigert

• [looking at the fogged-up instrument panels] It's like tryin' to drive a toaster through a car wash.

Gene Kranz

• We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.

Dialogue

Politician: Jim, people in my state are asking why we're continuing to fund this program now that we've beaten the Russians to the moon.

Jim Lovell: Imagine if Christopher Columbus came back from the New World, and no one returned in his footsteps.

Marilyn Lovell: Blanche, Blanche, these nice young men are going to watch the television with you. This is Neil Armstrong, and this is Buzz... Aldrin.

Neil Armstrong: Hi.

Blanche Lovell: Are you boys in the space program too?

Chris Kraft: This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever faced.

Gene Kranz: With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour.

Chris Kraft: He specifically wanted a quote from a flight director.

Gene Kranz: Who wanted a quote?

Glynn Lunney: The President.

Gene Kranz: The President?

Deke Slayton: Nixon. He wants odds.

Gene Kranz: We are not losing the crew.

Chris Kraft: Gene, I gotta give him odds. Five to one against? Three to one?

Glynn Lunney: I don't think they're that good.

Gene Kranz: We are not losing those men!

Henry Hurt: I, uh, I have a request from the news people.

Marilyn Lovell: Uh-huh?

Henry Hurt: They're out front here. They want to put a transmitter up on the lawn.

Marilyn Lovell: Transmitter?

Henry Hurt: Kind of a tower, for live broadcast.

Marilyn Lovell: I thought they didn't care about this mission. They didn't even run Jim's show.

Henry Hurt: Well, it's more dramatic now. Suddenly people are...

Marilyn Lovell: Landing on the moon wasn't dramatic enough for them - why should not landing on it be?

Henry Hurt: Look, I, um, I realize how hard this is, Marilyn, but the whole world is caught up in this, it's historic-...

Marilyn Lovell: No, Henry! Those people don't put one piece of equipment on my lawn. If they have a problem with that, they can take it up with my husband. He'll be home... on Friday!

CAPCOM: Jack, you'll be glad to hear that we've contacted President Nixon, and he's going to grant you an extension on your income taxes, since you are most decidedly out of the country.

Jack Swigert: Roger that, Houston. That's wonderful news.

[Jack Swigert smacks his head on the L.E.M. ceiling]

Jack Swigert: OW! God damn this piece of shit!

Fred Haise: Hey! This piece of shit's gonna get you home. That's cause that's all we got left, Jack!

Jack Swigert: What are you saying, Fred?

Fred Haise: I think you know what I'm saying.

Jack Swigert: Now wait a minute. All I did was stir those tanks.

Fred Haise: What was that gauge reading before you hit the switch?

Jack Swigert: Don't tell me how to fly the damn C.M. --

Fred Haise: You don't even know, do you!?

Jack Swigert: -- they brought me in here to do a job, they asked me to stir the damn tanks and I stirred the tanks!

Jim Lovell: Jack, stop kicking yourself in the ass.

Jack Swigert: This is not my fault!

Jim Lovell: No one is saying it is. If I'm in the left-hand seat when the call comes up, I stir the tanks.

Jack Swigert: Yeah, well, tell him [Haise] that.

Fred Haise: I just asked you what the gauge was reading. And you don't know!

Jim Lovell: All right, we're not doing this, gentlemen, we're not gonna do this. We're not gonna go bouncing off the walls for ten minutes, because we're just gonna end up right back here with the same problems! Try to figure out how to stay alive!

Television Reporter: Is there a specific instance in an airplane emergency when you can recall fear?

Jim Lovell: Uh well, I'll tell ya, I remember this one time - I'm in a Banshee at night in combat conditions, so there's no running lights on the carrier. It was the Shrangri-La, and we were in the Sea of Japan and my radar had jammed, and my homing signal was gone... because somebody in Japan was actually using the same frequency. And so it was - it was leading me away from where I was supposed to be. And I'm lookin' down at a big, black ocean, so I flip on my map light, and then suddenly: zap. Everything shorts out right there in my cockpit. All my instruments are gone. My lights are gone. And I can't even tell now what my altitude is. I know I'm running out of fuel, so I'm thinking about ditching in the ocean. And I, I look down there, and then in the darkness there's this uh, there's this green trail. It's like a long carpet that's just laid out right beneath me. And it was the algae, right? It was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship. And it was - it was - it was leading me home. You know? If my cockpit lights hadn't shorted out, there's no way I'd ever been able to see that. So uh, you, uh, never know... what... what events are to transpire to get you home.

Cast

• Tom Hanks — Jim Lovell
• Bill Paxton — Fred Haise
• Kevin Bacon — Jack Swigert
• Gary Sinise — Ken Mattingly
• Ed Harris — Gene Kranz
• Kathleen Quinlan — Marilyn Lovell
• Mary Kate Schellhardt — Barbara Lovell
• Emily Ann Lloyd — Susan Lovell
• Miko Hughes — Jeffrey Lovell
• Max Elliott Slade — Jay Lovell
• Jean Speegle Howard — Blanch Lovell
• Tracy Reiner — Mary Haise
• David Andrews — Pete Conrad
• Michele Little — Jane Conrad
• Chris Ellis — Deke Slayton