The Dish 2000
I remember hearing a little about this movie over the years and, based on some critical acclaim, picked it to watch using a Screen Pass. The movie is about a radio telescope dish in Australia during the Apollo 11 mission. Since Australia would be facing the moon during Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk, NASA had to utilize the telescope in Australia to transmit communications and particularly the television footage of Armstrong’s first step. Reading up on the true story later, almost none of the specifics in the movie are true except for a big last minute challenge. Still, it is nice to recognize this small, but critical role played by the Australian scientists that ran the receiving station. They show a few characters including a mayor of the nearby town of Parkes who was instrumental in having the telescope located, but mostly it centers on the three Australians that run the telescope and a visiting NASA technician (in reality there were dozens of technicians). The movie is a light drama, maybe a dramedy, about these characters, but gets a lot of mileage out of sentimentality for one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Sam Neill is the only big name, playing the telescope’s director. Patrick Warburton plays the NASA technician who turns out to have a human side.The rest of the cast are mostly small town Australian oddball characters, plus some distinguished guests. It’s a cute, fun movie, but more historic fiction than anything, so it doesn’t have any real weight, but it is enjoyable enough to watch.
Written: 31 Aug 2021