Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (April 23, 2024)
Arguably the most famous astronaut of all-time, Neil Armstrong remains a subject of fascination. For another look at his life, we go to a 2019 documentary simply titled Armstrong.
Expect the usual format, as the movie mixes archival footage with modern interviews. In the latter domain, we hear from sons Mark and Rick Armstrong, first wife Janet Armstrong, US Navy Fighter Squadron VF-51 Commanding Officer Ernie Beauchamp, friend Charlie Mechem, sister June Hoffman, US Navy Fighter Squadron VF-51 fighter pilot Tom Hayward, X-15 pilot/astronaut Joe Engle, astronauts Mike Collins, Frank Borman, Charlie Duke and Dave Scott, NASA Flight Operations Officer Christopher Kraft, and NASA Flight Director Gerry Griffin.
We also find archival comments from Neil Armstrong as well as his father Stephen, astronaut Ed White and author Norman Mailer. Much of the narration from Harrison Ford also conveys quotes from Neil Armstrong.
The program covers the standard territory. This means we go through Neil Armstrong’s early days, his interest in aviation, his military career, his move to NASA, his space flights, and other elements of his life.
Armstrong comes with two particular strengths. It offers a nice collection of old film footage – including plenty of Armstrong home movies – as well as access to interviews with Neil’s surviving family and colleagues.
Neil himself died in 2012, and given his famous reluctance to talk about his life/career, I doubt he would’ve participated with this film anyway. Of course, a documentary with his perspective would seem ideal, but that likely wouldn’t have been in the cards even if Neil survived until this one’s production.
The roster of subjects seems more than ample to compensate, though bizarrely, only one of Armstrong’s two Apollo 11 colleagues appears here. While we hear from Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin remains nowhere to be found.
Perhaps the filmmakers approached Aldrin and he declined to participate. Whatever the case, his absence stands out given his importance to the story of the first moon landing.
Even without Aldrin, however, Armstrong works well. While it never attempts to rework the standard documentary format, it conveys its narrative in a compelling manner.
Again, the combination of ample archival footage along with so many valuable interview subjects becomes the key to the film’s success. Not only do we see ample shots of the historical events, but we get a solid roster of those who knew Neil well.
As noted, Aldrin’s absence seems glaring, and clearly Neil’s second wife Carol could’ve added perspective about his later years. Nonetheless, even without them, we get plenty of worthwhile insights.
All of this adds up to a solid little documentary. Despite its relatively brief 100-minute running time, it delivers a concise history of a noteworthy man.