Apollo 13 scared me. Not because it was all that suspenseful. It is, in fact, not much of a thriller. But Nixon was in the White House and everyone was wearing drastically short skirts and wide lapel shirts. Gold, orange and green were the preferred colors for home decorating. And that, my friends, is frightening indeed.

But the early 1970s also meant the space exploration program was booming.

Apollo 13 is the story of the ill-fated mission to send a fifth man to the moon in April 1970. Ignoring ominous signs and an unlucky mission number, Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) all began preparations for the trip. However, one week before the voyage, Mattingly tested positive for measles and was scratched from the mission. With only two days until launch, Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) is added to the crew and they blast off according to plan.

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If you were lucky enough to be around when Apollo 11 (the mission which put Neil Armstrong on the moon) made history, you may remember that much of the excitement had abated by the time Apollo 13 took off. The launch itself was virtually ignored by the media and public alike.

In an attempt to convey this apathetic feeling, director Ron Howard seems to have deliberately kept the pace slow. It almost backfires. But just when things are really starting to get dull, Lovell’s voice travels back to Earth Houston, we have a problem. And that’s when the fun begins.

Hanks, ever the chameleon, turns in a performance that as usual lives up to his stellar reputation. His character is the central one in the film. But Apollo 13 is not just a Tom Hanks movie, and it is not even really the story of Jim Lovell. Paxton, Sinise and Bacon become more than just supporting characters, and eventually, the film becomes an account of team spirit and determination to survive.

Trapped in a spacecraft without enough power to get home, Lovell, Swigert and Haise must rely upon flight director Gene Kranz’s (Ed Harris) group of engineers and Ph.Ds at Mission Control to bring them home in the face of overwhelming odds.

Harris is great as the guy determined to bring our boys home. And Katherine Quinlan, who plays Lovell’s remarkably calm wife Marilyn, is exceptional, refusing to be drawn into a media circus.

Yes, Apollo 13 is predictable. No one seriously doubts the crew will survive. But if you like your adventures a little on the scientific side, this movie will captivate.