MovieChat Forums > Apollo 13 (1995) Discussion > super small detail (important?)

super small detail (important?)

posted 7 years ago by spielman54
4 replies | jump to latest

I just noticed this after the umpteenth time watching. mission control asks kevin bacon's character to stir the oxygen tanks. this of course will be the fatal directive. but just as he asks him to stir the tanks, sitting right behind him is clint howard. the camera pans in on clint as he suddenly leans forward and has a look of concern on his face.

the tanks are then stirred

the explosion then happens.

my question was this supposed to imply that clint suddenly noticed something was wrong in the nano second before the tanks were stirred? ultimately my question is was there any way, looking in hindsight, that mission control should have foresaw this problem in the moments leading up to that directive? i always thought that even though the defect was in the production of some part years prior, there was no way for anyone to really know. now this small reaction by clint makes me wonder if someone should have caught this prior to the directive.

i'm more looking for the true story response

[–] klibby716 7 years ago

Clint Howard's character was the EECOM, who was in charge of monitoring the electrical systems on board. Part of that was know what the oxygen and hydrogen levels were, because they are used to generate electricity. The tanks were stirred to get accurate readings of their levels, because at the very cold temperatures they were stored at, they tended to stratify into layers in the tanks, which would not allow accurate readings. The tanks were being stirred at his request, and so he was leaning forward to see the new readings of the levels. There was nothing to indicate anything was wrong before the switch was flipped, because there was no spark leading to the explosion before that.

[–] buildersent 7 years ago

Great answer

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[–] Jane2005 7 years ago

I respectfully disagree. I believe EECOMM noticed something wrong immediately prior to the stir (as reflected by the character).

Remember, Haise asks Swiggert what the gauges were reading prior to the stir? I think there were indications of an issue prior to the stir. I believe a leak, and the stir made it worse.
-Jane

[–] strntz (10830) 6 years ago

but just as he asks him to stir the tanks, sitting right behind him is clint howard. the camera pans in on clint as he suddenly leans forward and has a look of concern on his face.

Editing sloppiness or they just didn't have enough footage when they were editing.

When you watch your favorite movies a hundred times or more (like me), you'll see all sorts of editing issues, particularly if you've taken some film making classes.

In Rudy (one of my favorites), there are several reaction shots from Rudy's family and Fortune at the final game that fit this same category.