The Last Man on the Moon

Gr 9 Up—A distinct cut above standard NPR-style assemblages of stock footage and talking heads, this documentary—five years in the works—serves as an elegy to the Apollo program, focusing on the experiences of Eugene Cernan. He was, as the title indicates, the last astronaunt to leave footprints on the moon. Cernan, now in his 80s, is the chief narrator. His daughter, first wife, fellow astronauts, and NASA coworkers chime in along the way. Dramatic period clips of immense rockets taking off, blurry glimpses of space-suited explorers, beautifully crisp and realistic CGI segments, and family snapshots and home movies are interspersed. Poignantly, Cernan is seen reminiscing as he walks through dilapidated training and launch facilities and poses next to charred NASA artifacts. The film is a portrait of a man who indubitably had, and has, the "right stuff" and a unique personal view of the United States' space program's high watermark (so far).