Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23610 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-12
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
When released in 2000, The Dish achieved the highest opening gross in its native Australia, a testament to the country's pride in its home-grown movies. Concentrating on that legendary day in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon The Dish looks at the small but crucial role of the Parkes satellite receiver, without which the world would never have seen the historic landing. Sam Neill is the pipe-smoking "Dish Master" Cliff, whose team includes Dish mover "Mitch", distractedly love-struck electronics nerd Glenn and NASA representative Al.

The Dish could have played the plot premise as a documentary or with a dramatic edge, but chooses instead to present the story at a leisurely comedic pace which oozes charm. The excited little community offers a snapshot of a fondly remembered past full of the idealism of the 1960s. Populated by warm-hearted souls, it's easy to forgive the town band welcoming a US Ambassador with the "Hawaii 5-0" theme instead of the National Anthem. The Dish may not have the sense of danger of Apollo 13, or the dazzling FX of something like Armageddon, but it does have rounded, enjoyable characterisation and a truthful, warming atmosphere, making it easily one of the most enjoyable films inspired by the "space race". --Paul Tonks

Video Description
DVD Special Features:
Director's commentary.
Production commentary.
NASA archive footage.
Sam Neill interview (UK exclusive).
Archival commentary.
Storyboards.
The Dish on The Dish featurette.
Cast and crew biographies.
Radio spot.
Key dates in early human space flight.
Apollo 11 diary.
Theatrical trailer.
"The hidden dish".
TV spots.
Interactive menus.
Scene access.
1.85:1 widescreen.
Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subtitles: English, English for the hearing impaired.

Synopsis
In July 1969, the eyes of the world were on the Apollo 11 moon landing--but the world would have watched blank television screens if not for the hard work of a group of Australians manning the Parkes Radio Telescope, one of the largest dishes in the world. In THE DISH, a dramatization of the events surrounding the telecast or the space mission, Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill) and Al Burnett (Patrick Warburton) try to hold their crew together through calamities and crises ranging from dangerously high winds to a sudden power failure that cuts off contact with the distant astronauts, forcing the team to impersonate Neil Armstrong for the benefit of the visiting American ambassador. While the crew frantically prepares for the big moment, relaying the footage to televisions across the world, the people of Parkes celebrate their part in this momentous historical event. One of the most critically and commercially successful films ever to come out of Australia, THE DISH is a rousing, feel-good movie that succeeds both because of its perfectly formed characters and because of a heartwarming tone that illustrates that working for a common goal is the highest calling in life.

Customer Reviews

Quirky side of the first moon mission, told from the ground..
...where the ground is situated in deepest Australia and the satellite dish installlation receiving signals from Apollo 11 in July 1969 is run by none other than Sam Neill, who plays this to perfection. The juxtaposition of a small-town Australian backwater against Man's greatest achievement leads to some lovely and touching comedy, especially when NASA comes to the bush.

This is superbly well-acted, the soundtrack is excellent and the pace is slow, despite the rocket-propelled action going on 300,000 miles away.

A gem.

Worth watching if...
You really love Apollo 13 as it is evocative of this era of early space travel. However, it's not as suspense filled as Apollo 13 and is a much gentler movie. It's about the people who operator a Satilite dish in Australia during the moon landing of Apollo 11. It's feel is the same as Apollo 13 but the story is not quite so gripping.

A sweet-natured movie, well acted and amusing
Terms such as "charming," "sweet-natured," "gentle" and "good-spirited" may mean the kiss of death for some movies. It's also possible that the movie in question just might be worth watching because it is well-made, deals with a genuinely inspiring topic and features some classy actors. For me, The Dish falls in that category. The dish is a 1,000-ton radio telescope plunked down in a sheep pasture close to the New South Wales town of Parkes. It's purpose, as part of a NASA network, is to help track Apollo 11's voyage to the moon and to relay television pictures of Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to set foot there. Sam Neill as Cliff Buxton heads the team running the radio telescope. There's also Al Burnett (Patrick Warburton) as a NASA representative, Glenn Latham (Tom Lang) as a young and excruciatingly shy mathematician and computer whiz, and Mitch Mitchell (Kevin Harrington), who's job it is to see that all the mechanical functions work without a hitch.

We know Armstrong made it and we know television showed us his first steps. For those of us who were around, we also remember how amazing it all was. What we learn in this gentle comedy are the crises that happened. One morning, for instance, Cliff says, "Glenn, come here." "What?" Al Burnett looks at Glenn. "Every coordinate in this book has been changed," he says. "Yeah... I changed them," Glenn says. "Why?" "Because they were wrong." "Why were they wrong," Al asks. "Dunno," Glenn says. Latham steps in. "What about them were wrong," he asks Glenn. "Oh! Well," Glenn says, "the figures NASA gave us were for the northern hemisphere... and we're in the southern hemisphere? I can change them back but then you'd be pointing in the wrong dir..." "Glenn, it might be a good idea for you to tell us these things," Cliff says. "Oh, sure, I just didn't want to worry you... Cuppa tea, Al?"

There's the pride and enthusiasm that overtakes everyone living in Parkes, the visit from the U.S. ambassador and the Australian prime Minister that sends everyone into a tizzy, the near disaster that occurs when contact is lost with Apollo 11 and how an amusing appearance of imperturbability is maintained in public when everything from failed back-up generators, wiped-out computers and a gale promises one of the biggest let-downs -- no television broadcast -- for the entire world. For me, one of the reasons this movie works so well is because Parkes is an idealized small town where everyone knows each other, there are absolutely no secrets, and where the people have personalities which are calculated to be amusing but which aren't manipulated into becoming caricatures. Bob McIntyre (Roy Billing), the mayor of Parkes, is a fireplug of a guy who resembles Bob Hoskins. The technical aspects of what's happening may go over his head, but he's willing to give the benefit of the doubt to almost anyone. His relationship with his wife, May (Genevieve Mooy), is friendly, loving and pleasant to observe. We learn a little, and occasionally a lot, about the people of Parkes and we wind up liking them. This is comedy, but it's gentle stuff. When we smile at a person's puzzlement, dialogue or reaction it's because we appreciate the situation, not that we're enjoying our own superiority.

Sam Neil, smoking a pipe and wearing a sweater, provides the steady center of the movie. He does a fine job. The Dish is more or less based on a true story and we're told at the end that the radio telescope is still part of the NASA tracking network.