Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The film's tagline is a misquote that became the real thing: ask anyone for the line from the mission and they will give you the movie's version in Tom Hanks's calm voice, not Swigert's. It works because it is understated, a disaster described by men trained not to panic. It is now the stock line for any office crisis, cheerfully delivered.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Apollo 13Show the scene
On the way to the Moon, Apollo 13's oxygen tank explodes after Jack Swigert stirs the tanks. In Ron Howard's 1995 film, an alarm buzzes, Swigert says they have a problem, Houston asks him to say again, and Jim Lovell answers 'Houston, we have a problem.' The real transcript differs: Swigert actually said 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here,' and Houston asked him to repeat it. The film's air-to-ground dialogue is otherwise taken nearly verbatim from the recordings; this tagline was the exception.
Sources (2)
- Apollo 13 (film), WikipediaTechnical and historical accuracyReference checked
- Apollo 13 (film), WikiquoteJim Lovell and dialogueReference checked
Context reviewed
