Netflix Drama Celebrates The Greatest Achievement In American History

Everyone knows the Neil Armstrong quote “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” but few likely have studied in-depth how difficult it was to reach that point in history. That is what makes the Ryan Gosling-led First Man such an important movie for helping every-day people truly visualize the circumstances that everyone was dealing with in the lead-up to the moon landing.

Though Apollo 11 first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, First Man actually starts back in 1961. The movie opens following Gosling as Neil Armstrong during his days as a test pilot. During this period Armstrong was actually dealing with a personal struggle that not all may be aware of, as his young daughter was being treated for a brain tumor.

Despite Armstrong’s daughter Karen being only two years old, she succumbed to complications from her illness and passed away. First Man is a great glimpse into the personal life behind the astronauts that often gets overlooked in favor of the historical milestones that they achieved.

Another reality depicted in First Man was the pressure placed on NASA to figure out how to get to the moon before Russia during the Space Race. Both countries wanted the glory of being able to say their nation was the first to make this indelible mark on history. And up to this point in history, the Soviet Union was proving more advanced in all of their tests.

The pressure to beat Russia also meant NASA was taking bigger risks, and this did sometimes result in pilots dying.

First Man deals with the sobering truth that while there was great glory to be achieved in being the first to land on the moon, there was also great danger in using so much new technology and heading into uncharted territory. The truth was, despite all the precautions NASA took, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin could have died on their mission.

Critics praised First Man for its historical accuracy and for shining more of a light on the lives of the people behind the remarkable accomplishments. It also reminds viewers of the reality that this accomplishment did not come without sacrifice, as there were numerous failed test flights leading up to the Apollo 11 that resulted in the loss of life.

First Man won the award for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards, and is arguably one of the most accurate recountings of the moon landing that a viewer could watch. If all you know of this historic moment are the instances of triumph, it can be worth checking out the film for the tribulations that led to this achievement.