Operation Avalanche (2016) Movie Script
1
For we meet in an hour
of change and challenge,
in a decade
of hope and fear,
in an age of both
knowledge and ignorance.
The greater our knowledge
increases, the greater
our ignorance unfolds.
So it is not surprising
that some would have us
stay where we are
a little longer.
To rest, to wait.
But this city of Houston,
this state of Texas,
this country of
the United States
was not built by those
who waited and rested
and wished
to look behind them.
We choose
to go to the moon.
We choose
to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon
in this decade
and do the other things,
not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
With this one
speech, John f. Kennedy
escalated our cold war
with the Soviet union
to outer space.
Now, if we do not land a man
on the moon by 1969,
we will have broken
jfk's promise.
And in the eyes of the world,
the Soviet union will
win the cold war.
To make matters
even more difficult,
the CIA has
discovered a leak
coming out of
the space program.
Top secret American
research is showing up
in Soviet briefings,
which means
the kgb has implanted
a mole inside NASA.
If the Russians are able
to steal our technology, they
could beat us to the moon.
Just as they beat us
into space with the
sputnik satellite in 1957.
The director of NASA,
James webb, denies
the presence of this mole,
which means
the CIA must move
in a team undercover.
That's where we come in.
Allow me to introduce
Owen Williams,
and myself, Matt Johnson.
We joined the CIA through
the bright recruits program
and have been
working together
ever since.
Along with our camera team,
we make up the CIA's
av department.
Currently,
we are finishing
operation deep red.
The probe into film director
Stanley kubrick.
But this mission
is not using us
to our full potential.
We are asking to be
transferred off of
operation deep red,
and on to operation zipper.
The mission into NASA
to find the mole.
Because of our filmmaking
background, we would make...
Okay, stop.
Stop.
What is this
supposed to be?
Okay. It's a...
It's a pitch film.
It... so... it's for
operation zipper.
I think...
Operation zipper's already
been assigned.
We know it has.
I think the agency is
making a mistake
with sending
a scientist into NASA.
Well, your opinion
means nothing.
Yeah, okay.
Just... just...
If you watch the rest
of this film, you'll see...
I've seen enough.
But we have an amazing plan
for finding the spy.
I'm sure you do.
Boles, we worked hard on this.
You're seriously not going to
watch the rest of this?
No.
Can we show it
to brackett?
No.
Okay.
This was a long shot.
We've only been here
for one year.
We'll get on missions
like this in the future.
I thought this was
going to work.
You knew that it
wasn't a great chance.
Yeah, you should...
Jared, you should
have cut when
you saw it wasn't
going good.
You're supposed to be
filming so that...
I didn't
even notice.
Yeah.
Hey.
Okay, I got an idea.
We need to send someone
who will look like they have
no idea what's going on.
Us, as a documentary
film crew.
We can pretend we are
from the national education...
Okay, we have to go.
We got to go.
Is this a good idea?
Andy?
It's a good...
Hey. It's a good idea.
Are you ready?
What if they fire us?
What's your first line?
Oh, uh, your plan is
to send...
Okay, I'm fine.
Okay. Let's go.
Everyone here?
Boles...
Carry on.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
Hello, my name is
special agent Matt Johnson,
and what you're about to watch
is a film detailing
the connections
between Stanley kubrick
and the film Dr. strangelove
or how I learned to stop
worrying and love the bomb.
Conclusion,
Stanley kubrick is not a spy.
Thank you.
Are there any questions?
That covers it.
Uh, what's next?
Actually, director brackett,
I'd like to make a pitch for
major research to be moved
onto operation zipper next.
What the hell
are you doing?
You guys are
trying to put a...
Field agent inside NASA
posing as a scientist,
and...
Agent Williams and i
don't think it will work.
This mole,
if he's there,
could have been at NASA
since the early 60s.
He's going to spot one
of our guys pretending to be
a rocket scientist instantly.
We need to send people
who are going to look like
they have no idea
what's going on.
Us.
As a documentary film crew.
We can pretend that we're
from the national education
television network,
filming the definitive
Apollo documentary.
We're there to chart
the race to the moon.
Smart idea.
But no Soviet mole's
gonna let anyone
openly film 'em.
Well, director brackett,
we're filming you right now
through the window.
You're going to have to buy
us better cameras, though.
Jesus Christ.
Okay, here we go.
Let's hope they buy this.
Ready?
Whoa!
- Hi!
- Hi!
Just let us
get our stuff.
Yeah, yeah!
You need help, Andy?
Do you mind
if we film this?
Yeah, why not.
Here, at the end
of the hall on the right...
Oh, man.
That's mission control?
Yeah, actually.
We'll have to get
in there later.
Hmm.
Hi.
We're a documentary
film crew.
We're a documentary
film crew.
Jared, make sure you're
getting this crisp
and in focus,
I don't want to have
to edit together
out of focus stuff, please.
- Sorry.
- No problem.
Your office is
just right here.
Okay, here you go.
Wow!
You guys don't need
anything else?
No, uh, we'll come
find you if we do.
We'll just get set up.
Thanks, Sharon.
Bye!
She bought it.
We're a documentary
film crew.
You see how they look at us?
See how they look
in the cameras?
Yeah.
This is
the best mission I've
ever been on in my life.
This is, uh...
This is Matt.
Mike.
Nice to meet you.
And, uh, this is Jared.
They're filming a documentary
about the, uh...
The Apollo mission.
Oh, okay!
So, we basically are asking
about what you do, and...
Sure!
And... and I'm ready.
Yeah. Okay.
Well, I work here
in the public affairs office,
and one of my duties is
the media products,
specifically still photos.
...and I stood up
in the theater in sugar land
and I said,
"don't eat those meatballs!
He did not wash his hands."
I had to...
I appreciate your time.
Before we launch to the moon,
come back and see us, okay?
I will.
Okay.
Thanks, guys.
That's a wrap.
We got it.
All right, and mark it.
- Milt interview.
- Take one.
Thanks, Owen.
So, I guess
you can start just by
telling us your name.
Milt heflin.
And what is it you do
here at NASA?
Huh. Uh...
Okay.
Shut the door.
Guys, can we get a shot
of just the lounge being
busy?
I know you're all working,
but if you want to just...
Busy, like there's
some activity.
Or, do whatever
feels natural.
And action.
No, don't look at the cameras.
Just keep sitting.
Just keep standing there.
Part of sato's controversial
south-east Asia...
...the north vietnamese
...decides to accept
us offers...
...spread over 600 feet
to become a gigantic
pool of flames
...a fire extinguisher called
purple k, three tragic fires
aboard aircraft...
One second, Mr. webb.
We're good?
Mr. webb, tell me,
what does it mean
when people say the Russians
are ahead of us
in the space race?
Well, I think it means
that the job of
landing something on the moon
where there's no atmosphere,
and using a rocket
to slow it up,
and having the equipment
still work
is a very difficult job.
Uh, I think it means
the Russians are trying,
just like we are...
Where's this guy's office?
...but I think the real
meaning is...
Two more pieces.
- Come on, Jared.
- Got it, got it!
Okay, hold on.
I'm fine, I need light.
Ready?
Test, test, test, test...
...then you get to talk about
how to go forward. To do it.
Uh, I am not
much interested,
and I don't think it's very
realistic to talk about
technological interchange,
and this kind of thing.
You first gotta get
on the basis
where... where...
Okay, so...
His phone rings,
in his office,
and this phone rings
at the same time.
As long as we're rolling
when he picks up,
we get everything.
I found us a house.
It's beautiful, it's red,
it has a nursery
and a yard.
You'll love it.
How big is the bed?
It's a queen.
Are you
alone right now?
No, I'm at work.
What are you doing?
Do you want to know
what I'm wearing?
Julie, I can't
do this right now.
I'm at the office.
I'm sorry, maybe later.
Well, I'm wearing
a pink bra and that black
skirt you bought me.
Honey, Matt is right beside
me and I'm at work.
Can I call you tonight?
I'm taking off
the skirt now.
There's nothing
underneath.
Whoa!
What are you doing?
Nothing.
I'm trying
to have fun with you.
Wait a second,
hold on...
No!
What is it?
We're not
doing anything.
I'm doing work.
Hello?
Don't do that.
What'd you find
in that phone?
What? What?
Oh, my god.
We've been bugged.
We've been bugged, guys.
We've been bugged.
No, no, no!
Anything else,
or is that it? Owen?
That's it from this car?
Guys?
I said I was sorry!
Your hat?
- A couple more boxes here.
- These are not a big deal.
Please don't touch me.
I'll get the rest!
We both, uh, have had and
will have emergencies,
and, uh, that each flight,
uh, has some element
of extreme risk,
and some elements of...
I made this statement
on my own,
from my knowledge,
uh, longstanding
knowledge...
...setting us back
four years...
Well...
Uh...
...300 second burn
to the lunar surface...
This is nothing.
Give it a second.
250 seconds is
all we can do?
That's the maximum.
- And you know that...
- Did you talk to trw?
- Who's the other voice?
- I dunno.
...their fuels.
Grumman has fucked us.
They built a lander
that can't land.
So, we are
going back...
With whom?
This is setting us
back four years.
Well, I agree.
This is going to
have to change.
Change?
We can't land
on the moon.
Unless by some miracle
braun finds lighter fuel,
we aren't touching down
for five years.
Okay...
We're just going to be
circling forever up there.
So what are we
telling everyone?
- Nothing.
- We don't tell anyone...
Do you understand
what this means?
NASA can't do it.
They can't land man
and come back.
Have you called brackett?
Of course not!
I needed to tell
you guys first.
We have to tell brackett.
We have to tell brackett
right away.
This is something
you report right away.
We need help.
We have to...
Relax, it's okay. Yes. Yes.
And we need...
I'll tell you what
to do, okay?
I'm gonna tell you
what to do.
Find out who that other guy on
the phone was, okay?
Because, if we found
this out in a month,
you better fucking
believe that the mole
can do the same thing.
And now all of a sudden
the Russians know
we can't make it to the moon,
then what the fuck are
we going to do?
Okay. Okay. Okay.
You call Langley.
It's ringing.
You think I'll get to talk
to the president? No.
That's not unrealistic.
I could. He could be like,
"we need to get this right
to the president."
I'll be like, "all right.
"Give me his
home phone, sir. I'll..."
Hello?
Director brackett,
it's agent Johnson calling
from Houston.
We have big news.
What's that?
They can't make it
to the moon.
We intercepted a call
from Jim webb.
From what I understand,
they can circle the moon,
but they can't
actually land.
They... they don't
have the technology
to do it.
They're saying 1971
at the earliest.
Damn it.
Give me a minute.
Okay, who else
knows about this?
Uh, nobody, from...
From...
From what we can tell.
They're talking about it
on the phone
like it was a big secret.
Like they've never
talked about it before.
Okay, good.
Another unit is going
to take over zipper.
Get your team
out of there.
Uh... you think maybe
that's a bit, uh,
shortsighted in a way?
Seeing as we're here
undercover now?
What... why?
Don't question
my orders, kid.
I'm not... I don't mean
to question it. I...
I just... I simply think
that we're here
and I...
We have to figure out
a response to this,
somehow,
and you've got us...
We're going home.
If either of us are
talking, shoot. I don't care
how much film you burn,
it doesn't matter.
Okay? It's going to save us.
What are we
doing in here?
Sit down, just listen
to this, okay?
Well...
Hold on a sec...
Did you call brackett
last night?
Yes, all right?
What did he say?
Okay, turn this on.
What did they say?
I'm gonna tell you
what they said.
Okay, it's on.
Okay, you hear that?
Yeah.
- You recognize it?
- Yeah.
It's sputnik.
You know what?
You're ahead of me.
Okay, yeah.
It's sputnik.
How do you know
it's sputnik?
Can you... did you
sleep here last night?
That's not plugged
into anything.
It's... it's just a dial
on the other side.
It's not actually sputnik.
It's just making
you think that it is.
It's just a random beeping.
And because you think
that that's supposed
to be sputnik,
that's why you believe
it's sputnik.
This is what we are
going to do with the moon.
I called brackett,
told him that they
can't make it for '69.
He said, "okay, well,
you've got to figure out
a way to fix it."
And I said, "we can
do it on our own.
"We can make a film
that shows us going
to the moon
"without actually doing it."
We know that
they can make it up there.
We're not... we're faking
the last little piece.
The tiny...
The tiny thing
they can't do.
Land and come back.
The thing jfk said we'd do.
That's the only part.
Everything else is real,
do you understand?
Yeah, I understand
what you're saying.
And I understand
that it sounds like...
Read this,
it's from brackett.
He sent a briefing?
Yes.
If we can
pull this off,
we are going to look
like geniuses.
Four guys inside of NASA
figure out how to
make it look
like we went to the moon.
We did it.
That's crazy!
This is exactly what
we've been waiting for.
It literally
fell on our lap.
We could run
our own department
after something like this.
Is there
more information coming?
About what?
Well, the objectives
and the budget.
Why?
This doesn't seem
incomplete to you?
Incomplete? How?
What do you mean?
Well, I...
Okay...
You know what, don't...
Don't worry about this.
They obviously told us
exactly what they want
us to hear,
so our job
is to film a test,
and that's it.
Come on.
Does it... you don't
have an ethical problem
with this at all?
In what way?
In that this is lying.
You know what,
this is like one of
those good lies.
Like Santa claus
and the easter bunny.
A lot of kids get really
mad about those.
So we're shooting this
at 48 frames a second,
so you're going to
have to move like...
Like you're
being lifted up...
Okay? Like this...
This thing weighs about
100 pounds.
Well, just try it.
Try leaping a bit.
Like this.
Yeah, good.
Go! Action! Action!
More that way.
More towards me a bit.
Walk off that way.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Stop.
We should be
doing this at night.
Can, can the light
move a little bit
to the left?
I'm being devoured
and I'm cookin'.
No, that's too far.
That's too far.
Back over this way.
Back to your right.
It doesn't matter...
Stop! Stop!
Okay, now a bit
to your left.
How much does
the light drop off?
Are you not getting
destroyed by mosquitoes?
Okay, I am, but I'm trying
to get this right. Hold on.
What else
is in the frame?
Uh, I see some logs
in the background.
Yeah, I see it, too.
Okay, I'm getting it.
That's what you're...
Please, let's just roll.
It's fine, it's fine.
It's not a log,
it's a rock!
It's okay,
we'll frame it out.
I'm going to use it!
I'm going to put it
in the frame.
Are you ready?
And action!
Owen, jump in the air.
Holy shit.
It's open!
Hey.
You're just in time.
Have a seat. So...
The moon footage...
I won't say how it looks.
I just want you to
watch it, okay?
Turn the lights off.
So it may seem
a bit different.
I think you'll enjoy it.
This is the year
before we got recruited.
Wow.
Who is it?
Hello?
Director brackett,
this is a... uh, come on in.
Welcome.
It's great
to see you guys.
This is a surprise.
What the hell
is going on?
You're changing the
direction on this project
without my authorization?
Okay...
Shut up. I'm not finished.
Okay, now listen...
I'm shutting this operation...
Wait!
Bring it down. It's over.
You made this up?
Okay, yes.
I made up a mission.
But that's because I wanted
to make sure it would work
before I brought it to you.
I think
i may have solved
the moon problem.
Just... trust me.
Watch this.
Sorry.
Ignore this. Ignore this.
So that's just sand.
William's in the suit.
We shot it in slow motion.
You understand?
I'm saying we could
fake the moon landing,
and it wouldn't be hard.
All people want to see
is an image
on a television screen
and we can give them that.
The rocket will go up,
we'll send our
footage with them,
and the astronauts
will just beam it
back to earth.
No one is going to think
this is fake, because
how insane would that be?
And if we do it right,
this is the kind of thing
that sells itself.
Walter cronkite is going
to do half the work for us.
Let me try.
Give us a minute.
It's okay.
Hi.
Whoa!
Okay, just shoot
from down there, okay?
Owen?
Put... put your mic on.
No.
Put your mic on. Put your...
It'll take two seconds.
Put your mic on.
Come on.
It'll take two seconds.
I'm not doing this, okay?
Get the fuck off.
Cheer up!
We just got
a huge promotion,
come on!
Whoo!
Mr. boles, I guess we'll
be working together again.
Welcome to Texas.
Congratulations on having
brackett approve
this insane mission.
You guys are filming
this right now?
Yeah, we film everything.
It's a documentary.
It's a documentary film.
Okay, before we get started
on this, I know you're
technically my boss,
but I'm running
all this.
Yeah.
No, I'm here because
you have no idea
what you're doing.
So I'm in charge
and you don't run
a goddamn thing.
So no more fucking around
behind our backs,
all right?
Wow, I heard
it's pretty shitty.
Hi.
How you doing?
Enjoying the
4th of July?
Yes, I'm in
a great mood.
This is a bit of a party
for me, too, because we
got a promotion.
Did you?
Yeah.
Somebody just
tell me what's wrong.
Is that...
That's the barbecue.
The barbecue what?
What happened at the barbecue?
What's going on?
Watch.
Right...
There. See that?
Yeah, two guys.
Yeah. Look at this.
So he's holding something,
we're thinking maybe super 8.
It could be
a 35mm still camera.
And do we know
who this is? Maybe they're
NASA guests.
Yeah, I don't know.
Tourists? Who knows, right?
It could be nothing.
It is nothing...
Who is it?
It's boles.
This looks like shit.
You have one guy
in a space suit,
prancing around
on the sand...
...with one rock.
Who do you think
this is gonna convince?
I...
It convinced brackett.
Well, now you have
to convince me.
What are you
talking about?
Nobody is going
to buy this.
I thought
you were advocating
for me to do this!
I was advocating
for operation northwoods.
I think
this idea's ridiculous.
Mike, do you
remember mentioning,
uh, test locations
that NASA was using
for photography?
Would you mind
showing me those pictures?
You mean
on camera, or...
If you don't mind.
I don't mind.
These are places
that look like the moon
on earth?
Exactly.
These are called
geology field trips.
So you're saying
that the rocks that
are on the moon
are the exact same
as the rocks on earth?
I'm not saying exact.
I'm saying...
But they're close?
They're close
enough that...
That...
Yeah, I mean...
So if you saw them,
you would think that, uh...
Oh, yeah, you can
get an igneous rock
from a volcano
here in America
and tell somebody
it's a moon rock
and they
wouldn't know.
Really?
Yeah.
- Hello.
- Is Owen home?
He's in
the garage.
You look great.
FBI!
Look at this!
The geologists have
places on earth
that already
look like the moon.
This is the barringer crater,
the Grand Canyon.
We shoot this test footage
and then compare it
with the real moon footage
that they're getting
from the missions.
I just
figured this out!
Yeah, I can't
go on this trip.
What?
What do you mean?
Why?
Because I... because I...
I need you.
If you don't
come with me I'm going
with boles, by myself.
What? Are you
still mad at me?
I'm sorry.
I didn't...
Owen!
One second!
I... you have
to forgive me for this.
Listen.
I can't go.
You're fucking me.
You are...
You're fucking me.
This is the big shot.
The ride without astronauts
of the giant saturn v
live rocket.
Project Apollo.
This is Apollo 4.
The test of our moon rocket
in flight for the first time.
It is the beginning,
the first of many steps,
which will someday
put men on the surface
of the moon.
How far off
can you see?
You've got to picture it
in black and white.
With the sun
behind us there.
We can even do a pan.
What do you think?
We don't know if you can hear,
ladies and gentlemen.
But, oh, the flight
is moving along
as it should be...
But our tape records
are being
thrown to the floor
by the roar of
this mighty rocket,
as it continues
to climb into the sky,
on its seven and a half
million pounds of thrust.
It's a beautiful sight,
an unbelievable sight...
So I didn't tell him
i made the whole thing up,
and then you
and brackett show up,
and then he punches me,
now he's acting like
we aren't friends.
What would you do?
Well,
i wouldn't have done that
in the first place.
Okay, yeah,
but pretend that
you're as stupid as me
and you have
done that.
God damn it,
look at this!
We weren't even close.
No kidding.
Here.
Okay...
Okay, who else has
seen this footage?
Everyone.
See, this is
what we need.
We need
the actual footage
of the moon.
How do we get
astronauts to act
in front of this?
You could start
by hiring a real director.
Or you could give up
this mission.
Yeah.
Hey, don, how are you?
It's Matt Johnson.
No, I'm calling
from Houston,
they got me out here
on operation zipper.
Listen, can...
I actually need a favor.
Do we have
a last known address
for Stanley kubrick
when we were doing
operation deep red?
I'm looking at some of his
movie effects and...
"No, of course I'd
like to say hello!"
Of course I'd like
to say hello.
And I'm
watching something.
Would you mind
giving me that?
Hi, could you give me
the phone number to
an address in New York?
Uh, actually, it's polaris
productions, incorporated.
23...
My name's Matt Johnson,
I'm a documentary filmmaker
working at NASA,
and I need to ask him
a few questions.
Is he there?
It's an emergency.
Of course not. No. And...
And that's not
what this is, ma'am.
Yes, hello, my name is
Michael kubrick.
I'm looking for my brother.
Well, I'm calling
from the United States
and I'm... and I'm really
trying to talk with him.
I've got some very bad news
about our father.
Can you give me
a phone number for that?
What time is it in england?
I'm looking for
a Mr. Stanley kubrick.
I'm a documentary filmmaker
from the United States.
This is not
a personal call.
I'm actually calling
from NASA and
I'm wondering if...
Oh, thank you.
Hello, Madeleine.
I'm not sure why I got
connected with you.
I'm calling from NASA.
I'm making
a documentary here
about the Apollo program.
Ah.
What are you guys
doing over there,
if you don't
mind me asking?
Stanley kubrick
is making a new movie
about the moon landing,
and I'm willing to bet
that we can use
the special effects
that he's doing there
to do this.
Okay, but...
We can't just walk
onto a film set.
He has two NASA scientists
advising him.
We're going to go and say
we're going to interview them.
Do you see
what's going on here?
Kubrick is getting NASA
to make sure
that his space movie
looks like real space.
And so we're going
to use his space movie
to make sure
the real space movie
looks like space!
Do you understand
how crazy that is?
Welcome to england!
It's not too loud?
No, well,
it'll be packed
inside the bag.
Not bad for...
For on the spot,
just figured it out!
Jared, wave!
Jared, big wave!
Yeah, that's her.
Madeleine!
You won't be able to bring
that camera inside.
You'll have to shut it off
as soon as we get in,
I'm afraid.
Is Mr...
The set's all live.
No problem.
Is Mr. kubrick inside?
He is,
but security
is very tight.
You'll be thrown off the set
if you try to approach him,
so please don't.
You got it.
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Please wait right here.
Yeah, sure.
We'll stay right here.
It might be
better to just play it
as a medium shot
- in this situation.
- Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
Can you do it
with your head down?
What about out there?
- Well, that's not bad.
- Let's do that.
Right.
Check the gate, Doug.
I... I would never
normally do this,
but it's for a friend.
His name is
Matt Johnson.
Mmm-hmm.
Jared, tell me
you are getting this.
Oh, my god.
Excuse me?
How did you set this up?
Owen, it's called
front screen projection!
We got it!
Kubrick's technique,
how he's faking...
I wanna...
I wanna tell you.
Boles, hey.
It's called
front screen projection.
We figured out how to,
how to do it.
Yeah, okay, all right.
I'll, uh...
Do you want us
to fly right there, or...
Sure.
All right, it's called
front screen projection.
Stanley kubrick can fake
any environment he wants,
by projecting it through
a semi-transparent mirror
and then onto
a gigantic silver screen.
Then he films
the entire scene through
the same mirror,
at a 90-degree angle
to the projector.
What it winds up doing
is creating images
where you can't tell
where the stage stops
and the fake photographic
background begins.
You have an infinite
depth of field,
into environments
that exist completely
in two-dimensional space.
We can do the same thing
with the lunar surface
photography
that NASA is taking
on the Apollo missions.
Movie special effects
can be very convincing,
especially when you
don't know you're
watching a movie.
The plan is to rent
a film studio in Texas,
hire a crew,
and have them build
our own lunar lander.
We'll mix
this practical set piece,
with kubrick's projection
technique, and presto,
the illusion that man
is walking on the moon.
Now I know
you're probably thinking
this is too much exposure,
and that the risk
of bringing in outsiders
is too high,
but we already have
the perfect cover.
We're making
a documentary about
the moon landing.
And it's not a stretch to say
that we're building sets
to conduct interviews,
shoot b-roll footage.
We could even say
it's for simulations.
Hell, most of
the major networks
are doing this already.
The only people
who need to know
what's actually happening
are the astronauts,
who you should select
based on their
willingness to cooperate,
and James webb,
who's either going
to have to work with us,
or get out of the way.
And that's the easy part.
We also need to convince
everybody at NASA.
The good news is
the only people who are
in contact with the rocket
are all in one room
in Houston,
inside mission control.
If we can convince
mission control
that what they're
doing is real,
everybody else
will follow.
How do we do that?
Well, mission control
actually monitors
everything,
from the heart rates
of the astronauts,
to the exact location
of the lunar module
as it descends
to the moon.
And they're getting
all this information
through radio,
directly from the ship.
The good news
is that they've run
so many tests
with this exact mission
that they actually have
telemetric data of
successful lunar landings,
stored on guidance systems
on Apollo 11.
Here's where
we get very lucky.
As the command module
passes along
to the dark side
of the moon,
the radio signals
can't penetrate the core.
For 30 minutes,
we have a window
for the astronauts
to switch from real data,
to fake telemetric data.
Mission control
will be getting data
of the lunar module
undocking and landing
on the lunar surface,
but it will be
completely faked.
Combine that
with our footage
that the astronauts
are going to pipe into
the broadcast back to earth,
and nobody's
going to have any idea.
As far as NASA
and the rest of the world
is concerned,
the United States
just landed on the moon.
Finally, the broadcast.
To shoot in slow motion,
we have to shoot film.
To broadcast
it needs to be video.
Which means we have
to do a transfer,
which normally
would be fine,
except that people
cannot know it originally
began as film.
That means
a single scratch,
any dust...
Okay, okay.
We got it.
Thank you
for the presentation.
You can go ahead.
- Thank you, sir.
- Talk to your folks about the northwoods plan.
Tell them
to put a hold on it
and we'll see
how this develops.
Director, what is
the northwoods plan?
I've never heard of
operation northwoods.
Shoot down Apollo 11
and blame the Soviets.
With the astronauts
on the flight?
Why would we do that?
If your film
doesn't come together,
then we have to have
a backup plan.
And that is
our backup plan.
...plan?
I've never heard
of operation northwoods.
Shoot down Apollo 11
and blame the Soviets.
Who were these men
going to the moon?
David schoumacher profiled
the crew of Apollo 11.
Neil Armstrong,
the man chosen
to be first to step
upon the moon.
He is by all accounts
intelligent, courteous,
sober, a good family man.
He is perfect
for the role,
beyond what
a Hollywood scriptwriter
would dare.
Buzz aldrin is perhaps
the most brilliant
of the astronauts.
Some say even a genius.
His doctorate at mit
came after a thesis
on orbital rendezvous,
and he understands
the abstract theory
of space mechanics
as well as anyone.
Mike Collins is
the least technical in outlook
of the Apollo 11 astronauts,
but the most philosophical.
If he does not
love machines,
he does love wine,
and books, and roses.
A man who has known
all three pilots
for many years
says if he were
forced down on an island,
he would want it
to be with Collins
for the quality
of his personality.
Another said
he would prefer aldrin,
because with
his intelligence
he would soon be
converting sea water
to fresh water
and otherwise logically
attacking the problem.
But both agreed
in the final analysis,
that they would hope
it was with Armstrong,
because, somehow,
he would get them off of it.
Hello?
Boles, we just got back.
Where are you?
Okay. Turn on the TV.
Yeah, okay.
I'm turning it on now.
- Why?
- Summarize what you just said,
and then we'll ask you
some questions about
seeing the president?
Uh, yes, I'd like to say
that, uh, over a year ago,
president Johnson and I
reviewed the space program
and, uh, agreed
to build strength
so that I might retire
on my 62nd birthday,
which happens to be
this next October 7th.
Today, we have reviewed
the progress we have made
and the president
has agreed
that I could retire
on October 7th,
when I will be 62.
I'd like to say
one other thing...
Yeah, okay.
Well, I guess that means
he didn't want
to cooperate, huh?
Okay, yeah.
I'll see you
when you get back.
Bye.
Andy!
Sorry.
What are you doing?
Shooting
for the documentary.
Oh, okay, fine.
Where's Owen?
He's at the hospital.
What?
Julie had the baby.
Oh, shit!
Hey.
I missed it, hey?
Hey, mom.
Wow!
Matt!
What's his name?
Simon.
Can I hold him?
Sure, if you want to.
I need to talk to you.
I need to talk to Matt.
Okay. What's up?
One minute.
Okay, okay.
What the hell
is this?
Jared showed me
the photos of the men
who were watching us
at the barbecue.
They're filming
us, Matt!
Okay.
Why are you
bringing this up
at the hospital?
Relax!
Relax?
This could be
the Russians.
We have to get off
this mission.
If we get caught,
the CIA will
abandon us, okay?
I'm calling brackett
to them him...
No! No! No!
You are not calling brackett.
No one's calling brackett.
You are being paranoid!
I hope so,
because if I'm right
and this is the mole...
If they find out
what we are doing,
then we are
fucking dead.
You got that?
Looks pretty good.
"Looks pretty good"?
Guys, come on.
Are you kidding me?
All right.
This cost $45,000!
Really?
Yeah!
Oh, god,
don't start that.
"Really? Hey,
you got ripped off.
"Hey, come on,
i could have done this..."
...Cheaper.
"...with $20
and some elbow grease!"
Do you think
it would kill you to say,
"good job, Matt"?
I mean that seriously.
Do you think it would
physically kill you?
Okay, and it's
for a film shoot.
Uh, we're making
a documentary about
the moon landing,
and we need to make
a lunar surface.
And so it's like
a fake lunar surface.
That's what we need.
So I don't know
how much sand
you can ship us.
But, uh, four tons?
How many tons
are in a truck?
Can you hold on a sec?
Where are you going?
Uh, sorry, say again?
Actually, I went to
a place in Arizona
called cinder lake,
where the sand
was brown as molasses.
It was beautiful.
It was a beautiful brown.
Molten brown.
So, what are
these guys gonna say
when they're up here?
We need something
they can print
as a headline.
Type out a couple things
and let's just see
what we got, okay?
So try this,
"welcome to the moon."
Catch!
So, no,
leave that where it was,
it's my a rock.
I think if we never say
the word "America."
Oh, yeah,
we just take
an American symbol.
Exactly. Eagle.
- Freedom.
- Frontier.
Frontier.
So that needs to make
that pothole there.
Does that have
a label on it?
B. So that goes
right at your feet.
Perfect.
I just got an idea.
You know what
we've gotta have them do
when they're up there?
Who is it, Galileo
or somebody, said...
Oh,
drop the feather.
Drop the feather
and the hammer.
And he said,
in a vacuum,
a hammer and a feather
would fall at the same speed.
Well, okay, but how are
we gonna do that?
A lead feather.
Wait a minute,
we gotta keep the flag
as stable as possible,
because the wind resistance
makes it billow.
You wave the flag.
You can't do that!
Okay Houston,
I'm about to step off
the lm.
He leaves
a footprint there.
'Cause they would
leave footprints there.
Exactly!
And we so can send
photographs of that
back home.
It's... that's...
That is the image!
Write that down,
the footprints!
The word "foot"
is disgusting.
Maybe people
don't want to hear "foot."
No, "with this step."
You would say,
"with this step."
"With this step."
Okay, okay.
"With this step, I..."
No.
"As man walks
on the moon..."
Too literal.
Too literal!
"The step of
a single man..."
"The step of
a single man.
"But for us
back at home..."
Think of what
a step is like to us.
To a man,
a step is just a step.
But to an ant
looking up at the man,
he looks like a god.
And it doesn't
look like a step,
it looks like
a towering leap.
It's like a leap.
It's like a jump.
And this is
a leap forward for...
For everything!
The next
evolutionary step.
A leap forward
in science.
- For humanity.
- Exactly!
This is good.
Okay, let's try one.
Hey.
Do you know
who that is outside?
Who?
Right there.
Look.
Where?
Tell me whose that is.
Is he running?
Did you say hi?
Did he look at you
when you came in?
Is there even
a guy in there?
He's sitting there
watching.
Shh. Shh.
Go outside,
you'll see.
I'm sure
he works for the studio.
I'll go talk to him.
They know we're here.
We're allowed to be
here, okay?
Relax.
Okay.
Hi.
Go, go, go, go!
Jared, get in the car!
Boles, what are
you doing?
What happened?
You shot your fucking gun!
Jared, shoot
out the front,
try to get
their license plate!
Come on!
- No!
- What?
What happened?
What happened to your car?
It stalled.
They got away.
Well, did
you get a look at them?
Whoever it is,
they know we're here.
Well, we don't know
who it is.
I think it's the mole.
I think it's the mole
that you guys sent us here
to find in the first place.
Who else is waiting
outside the studio
and then the minute
we walk out...
Let's lock it up.
Let's lock it up
and call brackett.
What... lock it up?
We're in the middle of this!
We can't just
stop shooting!
Well, there might be
guys on the roof.
What do you mean,
guys on the roof?
What the fuck
is going on?
And what, you got a gun?
This is CBS news
special report.
The flight of Apollo 8.
Six days
to the moon and back.
Brought to you
by Walter cronkite.
The flight of Apollo 8
is over.
And all that remains
is to remove the astronauts
from the space craft,
and carry them
less than two miles
to the deck of
the carrier yorktown.
Future plans for space
missions, of course,
have been accelerated
considerably.
It means that they
can keep to the hoped-for
schedule of the next
Apollo 9 mission,
late in February,
or early in march,
to test out
the landing module,
and, uh, then move on towards
landing a man on the moon
two flights further on
in the middle of July.
So we've got
good news and bad news.
Good news, his name
is antonin lhotsky.
Uh-huh.
- He's a kgb agent.
He's the man
from outside the studio
the other night.
Whoa, what?
We suspect
he's been the mole
the entire time.
So... so then
he knows about avalanche.
We're fucked!
We don't think he does.
We've been
interrogating him for
the past couple of days.
He doesn't seem
to know anything.
We've raided
his house. Nothing.
This guy's the mole?
And you... you got him?
We got him.
So, then what?
We're just...
We're good?
Well, not entirely.
We, uh, got some new intel
on the Soviet progress,
and it turns out
they're doing better
than we thought.
It looks like
they could possibly make it
to the moon by the end of '69.
Which means that we need
to be done by April
at the latest.
Yeah, that puts us
on a pretty tight timeline.
They know we're here.
We're allowed
to be here, okay?
Relax.
Hi.
Go, go, go, go!
Jared, get in the car!
Hello?
Matt, we have a problem here.
...gentleman got the contract
with, I don't know, somebody.
This is who they say
the mole was.
So we interviewed him?
Yeah, over a year ago.
Remember when you asked me
to find out who was
on the phone with webb?
Of course.
I did.
...second burn
to the lunar surface.
Then we can go in after...
For 250.
250 seconds
is all we can do?
That's the maximum,
and you know that...
Did you talk to trw?
Yeah.
And you know how they
are about their fuels.
So we are in trouble...
Grumman...
What does this mean?
So the mole knew
that we couldn't make it
to the moon
for over a year?
I don't think so.
I don't think
that lhotsky's the mole,
I don't think lhotsky
was outside the studio.
I mean, lhotsky knows
that we can't make it
to the moon,
so maybe they...
He wouldn't cooperate
and they had to
make him a fall guy
by saying that
he's the mole.
They?
Yeah.
What
do you mean?
The CIA.
Okay, well then,
who's outside the studio
following us?
CIA agents.
That's why boles
didn't shoot them.
They're all
working together.
They're all watching us,
and they're lying to us.
For what?
For what purpose?
They know everything
that we're doing.
Why...
This doesn't
make any sense.
There's no reason
for them to be following us.
You... have you...
Have you heard
of a conspiracy
theory before?
Yeah.
I think we're in one.
Okay, leg out!
That
doesn't look real.
Okay,
you know what we'll do?
Jump on the count of three.
Ready?
I'm bringing
the bounce in.
That's a big jump.
Come on,
you're supposed to be
Neil Armstrong.
He's brave. Ready?
There we go.
Uh, change the background.
One more.
How about that?
Great.
That's great.
What are we getting
in the reflection
of his helmet?
Am I in it?
We'll have
to replace that after.
That looks great.
And then you just...
We have to
repress this.
Put that on
an animation stand
and reshoot it.
This is the original
from the sound stage.
And the crater textures
are added after.
Getting rid of
the details
in the studio.
You go in and you
black out the areas
with litho ink.
Let's move this
a little bit further down,
because it seems
a little too square.
Square to camera?
Yeah.
Sure.
Wow.
Ready?
That's good. Yeah, go.
It works.
Yes!
This is amazing!
Go again.
Matt.
Yes?
Have you seen this?
Have you seen this?
Do it again! Do it again!
Owen, look, look.
Hammer, feather.
Drop!
Galileo was right.
Dude, I just put
a weight in it. What?
"NASA scientist dies."
It's from
this morning's paper.
Well, what the...
Matt, it's lhotsky.
What?
Boles, he must've
known about it.
Listen, think
why lhotsky's dead.
Obviously,
he was talking to webb,
so they killed him.
They're going
to kill me...
We don't know why
that guy's dead.
Yes, we do.
They're going to kill me?
What are you talking about?
They're going to kill us both,
they're going to kill
the astronauts.
I'm sure...
Anyone who
knows about this.
I'm sure lhotsky knew too much
and so they got rid of him.
Okay? That's it.
Right! Right!
That's what I'm
talking about!
He was the mole, okay?
No... no, they're tying
off loose ends!
Yeah, and, so,
who else is
gonna die, huh?
They're gonna kill Jim webb?
The head of NASA?
He knows, too!
Maybe. Maybe.
You don't think
they would?
No! Okay, put
the suit on and get ready,
all right? Shut the fuck up.
There's a glob of something
on the... on the glass.
Owen, could you get it?
No, it's right...
You didn't get it.
It's right there.
Right, right there.
What...
What are you doing?
It's just a test.
Boles, I don't take
orders from you!
- Oh, really?
- Enough, come on.
Yeah, I don't take orders
from someone who's trying
to get us killed.
Owen, Owen, Owen. Drop it.
He let them get away.
No, he didn't...
Right?
He let them get away!
That's what you did.
Oh, really?
- Yes, you missed on purpose!
- Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!
What... what are you doing?
What are you doing?
We're friends.
Who are they?
We're friends.
Who are they?
Is it brackett? The CIA?
Why don't you tell him
about how you've been
calling brackett every day,
trying to get Johnson
thrown off the mission.
Tell him that!
What are you talking about?
Hey, ask your friend.
Okay, hold on.
Tell him. Tell him.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon
in this decade
and do the other things.
Not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
Because that goal will serve
to organize and measure
the best
of our energies and skills.
Because that challenge is one
that we're willing to accept.
One we are unwilling
to postpone, and one we intend
to win, and the others, too.
We shall send to the moon,
240,000 miles away
from the control station
in Houston,
a giant rocket,
more than 300 feet tall,
the length of
this football field,
made of new metal alloys,
some of which have not
yet been invented,
capable of standing
heat and stresses
several times more
than have ever
been experienced,
on an untried mission
to an unknown celestial body,
and then return it
safely to earth,
re-entering the atmosphere
at speeds of over
25,000 miles per hour,
and do all this...
And do all this
and do it right,
and do it first,
before this decade is out,
then we must be bold.
And therefore,
as we set sail,
we ask god's blessing
on the most hazardous
and dangerous
and greatest adventure
on which man
has ever embarked.
Thank you.
So this is
the only copy?
Yeah. So, now what?
We just bring it
to brackett?
Oh, I'll take it to brackett.
You stay here and clean up.
Clean up what?
Clean up the studio.
Destroy everything.
What if we...
What if we need
that stuff?
We won't.
Good work.
Thanks.
I'll see you soon.
- Hey, boles.
- Lhotsky wasn't the mole, was he?
What are
you talking about?
Yeah, I don't...
I don't know.
I've been working on
this too long.
I'm sorry.
Well, get some rest.
I'll see you soon.
Bye, buddy.
He's gonna spot one
of our guys pretending to be
a rocket scientist instantly.
We need to send people
who are gonna look like they
have no idea what's going on.
They can't make it
to the moon.
I'm gonna tell you
what they said.
...an ethical problem
with this at all?
He let them get away!
That's what you did.
Oh, really?
Yes, you missed
on purpose!
Hey whoa, whoa, whoa!
What... what are you doing?
What are you doing?
We're friends!
- Who are they?
- We're friends.
What, you think
that's your friend?
Who, brackett?
The CIA?
Why don't you tell
him about how...
Hey, Julie.
Can I borrow your husband?
He what?
Simon's asleep. Inside.
I can go inside
so you guys can talk.
You can stay outside.
No, I don't need to talk.
I wanna know if, um...
If you wanna... we're...
We're going to get rid of
the stuff from work.
You can go
if you want.
No, I'm going to
stay here.
How's Simon?
Are you guys excited
about the big launch?
Okay.
Have a good afternoon.
Thanks. You, too.
I'll see you soon, okay?
Yeah, bye.
Good morning.
It's t-minus one hour,
29 minutes and 53 seconds
and counting.
In just an hour and a half,
if all goes well,
Apollo eleven astronauts,
Armstrong,
aldrin and Collins
are to lift off
from pad 39-a out there
on the voyage
man always has
dreamed about.
Next stop for them,
the moon.
And we are all about
to witness the fulfillment
of that promise
that president Kennedy made
at rice university stadium
in Texas,
on September 12, 1962.
We passed
10,000 odd cars
parked around
the gate-1 area at 4:00 A.M.
when we got here.
Cars from every state,
with little kids staring
wide-eyed,
and we saw
teenagers with telescopes.
It was a very moving scene
for me, because
Americans cared then,
I think, and they care now.
And it says,
"good luck, Apollo 11"
engraved in the sand.
All going
very smoothly here
with the count.
T-minus 60 seconds
and counting.
We've passed t-minus 60.
Power transfer is complete.
Twelve, eleven,
ten, nine...
Ignition sequence starts.
Six, five, four,
three, two, one.
And good
afternoon from abc space
headquarters in New York.
With me is our science editor,
Jules bergman and we are
on the air today
to bring you a complete report
on some very, very
important maneuvers
to be performed
by Apollo 11.
Basically a position
to begin the process...
Hello?
Matt?
Are you...
Are you seeing this
right now?
- Matt, they're not dead.
- The CIA lied to us.
Wait, what?
The men following
us at the studio
are outside my house.
Are you sure?
Yes, meet me
at your motel.
What the hell?
Owen?
Hello?
Who's there?
Oh, shit.
Okay, okay, okay.
Uh... uh...
Where's the other car?
Where's the...
Um, um, out back.
Out back.
Okay, stand back.
Sorry.
There is a delirium
of enthusiasm today...
Come on.
Come on, come on.
Come on, Owen.
Come on!
Matt!
What?
There's a car!
Jared, run!
Shit.
Go, go, go.
Andy, hold on.
Fuck.
They're right behind us.
They're right behind us.
Get their faces!
Get their faces, Andy!
Get their faces!
This is fucking crazy!
Oh, god!
Oh, Christ!
He's got a gun!
What?
- He's got a fucking gun.
- Okay, duck, duck, duck!
Shit.
What's happening?
Oh, fuck. Fuck!
Okay, okay.
Get out of here.
Get out of here.
I'm trying.
Get out of here.
Dude, they're
right in front of us.
Yeah, I know.
They're gonna ram us,
they're gonna ram us!
Oh!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
So they're not
all labeled, right?
It goes '67, '68, '69.
But not everything's...
Not everything's marked.
Well, you'll figure it out.
Hey.
Okay, man.
As soon as I know
where we're going,
I'll call you.
Yeah.
Good evening.
Hello, there's a man
at the end of the bar
wearing glasses.
Could you please give
the phone to him?
Telephone.
Hello?
You're
a real piece of shit,
you know that?
We're looking for you.
Where you been?
Yeah, I'll tell you what,
let's make a trade.
Okay.
My location for
the names of the agents
on your kill team.
We don't have
any kill team.
Yeah, well, who killed Owen
and hung him in his garage?
Okay.
Come down to the office.
We'll discuss it.
Yeah, I'll come in.
No, I'll tell you
what's gonna happen.
I have a film
of everything we did.
I have proof that the CIA
conspired to fake
the moon landing
and that Owen Williams
is the one that everybody is
about to see walk on the moon.
And that you killed him
to keep it a secret.
I even got you
planning northwoods,
the same as I got
you right now.
No one will take
that seriously, kid.
Yeah, well, call my bluff.
My last movie's about
to convince the world
we went to the moon.
Then why don't
I make you a deal?
Come back and work for us,
and I'll make you the head
of your own department.
Yeah,
how stupid
do you think I am?
I'll tell you what.
Keep the film as collateral
if you don't believe me.
Just think about it.
...the surface appears
to be, uh,
very, very fine grained as
you get close to it.
It's almost like a powder.
Down there,
uh, is very fine.
Okay, I'm going to
step off the lm now.
That's one
small step for man,
one giant leap
for mankind.
And the, uh, the surface
is fine and powdery.
I can... I can pick
it up loosely with my toe.
It does adhere in fine...
Okay, we shouldn't take
any more pictures on this roll
until earth comes,
I don't think.
This is about out,
it's just about out
until our last color roll,
so, uh, we'll switch
to black and white
as soon as we get to earth.
- We might make it in time.
- Yeah.
There it is,
it's coming up.
What?
The earth.
You see it?
Yeah.
Beautiful.
It's half-way up.
For we meet in an hour
of change and challenge,
in a decade
of hope and fear,
in an age of both
knowledge and ignorance.
The greater our knowledge
increases, the greater
our ignorance unfolds.
So it is not surprising
that some would have us
stay where we are
a little longer.
To rest, to wait.
But this city of Houston,
this state of Texas,
this country of
the United States
was not built by those
who waited and rested
and wished
to look behind them.
We choose
to go to the moon.
We choose
to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon
in this decade
and do the other things,
not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
With this one
speech, John f. Kennedy
escalated our cold war
with the Soviet union
to outer space.
Now, if we do not land a man
on the moon by 1969,
we will have broken
jfk's promise.
And in the eyes of the world,
the Soviet union will
win the cold war.
To make matters
even more difficult,
the CIA has
discovered a leak
coming out of
the space program.
Top secret American
research is showing up
in Soviet briefings,
which means
the kgb has implanted
a mole inside NASA.
If the Russians are able
to steal our technology, they
could beat us to the moon.
Just as they beat us
into space with the
sputnik satellite in 1957.
The director of NASA,
James webb, denies
the presence of this mole,
which means
the CIA must move
in a team undercover.
That's where we come in.
Allow me to introduce
Owen Williams,
and myself, Matt Johnson.
We joined the CIA through
the bright recruits program
and have been
working together
ever since.
Along with our camera team,
we make up the CIA's
av department.
Currently,
we are finishing
operation deep red.
The probe into film director
Stanley kubrick.
But this mission
is not using us
to our full potential.
We are asking to be
transferred off of
operation deep red,
and on to operation zipper.
The mission into NASA
to find the mole.
Because of our filmmaking
background, we would make...
Okay, stop.
Stop.
What is this
supposed to be?
Okay. It's a...
It's a pitch film.
It... so... it's for
operation zipper.
I think...
Operation zipper's already
been assigned.
We know it has.
I think the agency is
making a mistake
with sending
a scientist into NASA.
Well, your opinion
means nothing.
Yeah, okay.
Just... just...
If you watch the rest
of this film, you'll see...
I've seen enough.
But we have an amazing plan
for finding the spy.
I'm sure you do.
Boles, we worked hard on this.
You're seriously not going to
watch the rest of this?
No.
Can we show it
to brackett?
No.
Okay.
This was a long shot.
We've only been here
for one year.
We'll get on missions
like this in the future.
I thought this was
going to work.
You knew that it
wasn't a great chance.
Yeah, you should...
Jared, you should
have cut when
you saw it wasn't
going good.
You're supposed to be
filming so that...
I didn't
even notice.
Yeah.
Hey.
Okay, I got an idea.
We need to send someone
who will look like they have
no idea what's going on.
Us, as a documentary
film crew.
We can pretend we are
from the national education...
Okay, we have to go.
We got to go.
Is this a good idea?
Andy?
It's a good...
Hey. It's a good idea.
Are you ready?
What if they fire us?
What's your first line?
Oh, uh, your plan is
to send...
Okay, I'm fine.
Okay. Let's go.
Everyone here?
Boles...
Carry on.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
Hello, my name is
special agent Matt Johnson,
and what you're about to watch
is a film detailing
the connections
between Stanley kubrick
and the film Dr. strangelove
or how I learned to stop
worrying and love the bomb.
Conclusion,
Stanley kubrick is not a spy.
Thank you.
Are there any questions?
That covers it.
Uh, what's next?
Actually, director brackett,
I'd like to make a pitch for
major research to be moved
onto operation zipper next.
What the hell
are you doing?
You guys are
trying to put a...
Field agent inside NASA
posing as a scientist,
and...
Agent Williams and i
don't think it will work.
This mole,
if he's there,
could have been at NASA
since the early 60s.
He's going to spot one
of our guys pretending to be
a rocket scientist instantly.
We need to send people
who are going to look like
they have no idea
what's going on.
Us.
As a documentary film crew.
We can pretend that we're
from the national education
television network,
filming the definitive
Apollo documentary.
We're there to chart
the race to the moon.
Smart idea.
But no Soviet mole's
gonna let anyone
openly film 'em.
Well, director brackett,
we're filming you right now
through the window.
You're going to have to buy
us better cameras, though.
Jesus Christ.
Okay, here we go.
Let's hope they buy this.
Ready?
Whoa!
- Hi!
- Hi!
Just let us
get our stuff.
Yeah, yeah!
You need help, Andy?
Do you mind
if we film this?
Yeah, why not.
Here, at the end
of the hall on the right...
Oh, man.
That's mission control?
Yeah, actually.
We'll have to get
in there later.
Hmm.
Hi.
We're a documentary
film crew.
We're a documentary
film crew.
Jared, make sure you're
getting this crisp
and in focus,
I don't want to have
to edit together
out of focus stuff, please.
- Sorry.
- No problem.
Your office is
just right here.
Okay, here you go.
Wow!
You guys don't need
anything else?
No, uh, we'll come
find you if we do.
We'll just get set up.
Thanks, Sharon.
Bye!
She bought it.
We're a documentary
film crew.
You see how they look at us?
See how they look
in the cameras?
Yeah.
This is
the best mission I've
ever been on in my life.
This is, uh...
This is Matt.
Mike.
Nice to meet you.
And, uh, this is Jared.
They're filming a documentary
about the, uh...
The Apollo mission.
Oh, okay!
So, we basically are asking
about what you do, and...
Sure!
And... and I'm ready.
Yeah. Okay.
Well, I work here
in the public affairs office,
and one of my duties is
the media products,
specifically still photos.
...and I stood up
in the theater in sugar land
and I said,
"don't eat those meatballs!
He did not wash his hands."
I had to...
I appreciate your time.
Before we launch to the moon,
come back and see us, okay?
I will.
Okay.
Thanks, guys.
That's a wrap.
We got it.
All right, and mark it.
- Milt interview.
- Take one.
Thanks, Owen.
So, I guess
you can start just by
telling us your name.
Milt heflin.
And what is it you do
here at NASA?
Huh. Uh...
Okay.
Shut the door.
Guys, can we get a shot
of just the lounge being
busy?
I know you're all working,
but if you want to just...
Busy, like there's
some activity.
Or, do whatever
feels natural.
And action.
No, don't look at the cameras.
Just keep sitting.
Just keep standing there.
Part of sato's controversial
south-east Asia...
...the north vietnamese
...decides to accept
us offers...
...spread over 600 feet
to become a gigantic
pool of flames
...a fire extinguisher called
purple k, three tragic fires
aboard aircraft...
One second, Mr. webb.
We're good?
Mr. webb, tell me,
what does it mean
when people say the Russians
are ahead of us
in the space race?
Well, I think it means
that the job of
landing something on the moon
where there's no atmosphere,
and using a rocket
to slow it up,
and having the equipment
still work
is a very difficult job.
Uh, I think it means
the Russians are trying,
just like we are...
Where's this guy's office?
...but I think the real
meaning is...
Two more pieces.
- Come on, Jared.
- Got it, got it!
Okay, hold on.
I'm fine, I need light.
Ready?
Test, test, test, test...
...then you get to talk about
how to go forward. To do it.
Uh, I am not
much interested,
and I don't think it's very
realistic to talk about
technological interchange,
and this kind of thing.
You first gotta get
on the basis
where... where...
Okay, so...
His phone rings,
in his office,
and this phone rings
at the same time.
As long as we're rolling
when he picks up,
we get everything.
I found us a house.
It's beautiful, it's red,
it has a nursery
and a yard.
You'll love it.
How big is the bed?
It's a queen.
Are you
alone right now?
No, I'm at work.
What are you doing?
Do you want to know
what I'm wearing?
Julie, I can't
do this right now.
I'm at the office.
I'm sorry, maybe later.
Well, I'm wearing
a pink bra and that black
skirt you bought me.
Honey, Matt is right beside
me and I'm at work.
Can I call you tonight?
I'm taking off
the skirt now.
There's nothing
underneath.
Whoa!
What are you doing?
Nothing.
I'm trying
to have fun with you.
Wait a second,
hold on...
No!
What is it?
We're not
doing anything.
I'm doing work.
Hello?
Don't do that.
What'd you find
in that phone?
What? What?
Oh, my god.
We've been bugged.
We've been bugged, guys.
We've been bugged.
No, no, no!
Anything else,
or is that it? Owen?
That's it from this car?
Guys?
I said I was sorry!
Your hat?
- A couple more boxes here.
- These are not a big deal.
Please don't touch me.
I'll get the rest!
We both, uh, have had and
will have emergencies,
and, uh, that each flight,
uh, has some element
of extreme risk,
and some elements of...
I made this statement
on my own,
from my knowledge,
uh, longstanding
knowledge...
...setting us back
four years...
Well...
Uh...
...300 second burn
to the lunar surface...
This is nothing.
Give it a second.
250 seconds is
all we can do?
That's the maximum.
- And you know that...
- Did you talk to trw?
- Who's the other voice?
- I dunno.
...their fuels.
Grumman has fucked us.
They built a lander
that can't land.
So, we are
going back...
With whom?
This is setting us
back four years.
Well, I agree.
This is going to
have to change.
Change?
We can't land
on the moon.
Unless by some miracle
braun finds lighter fuel,
we aren't touching down
for five years.
Okay...
We're just going to be
circling forever up there.
So what are we
telling everyone?
- Nothing.
- We don't tell anyone...
Do you understand
what this means?
NASA can't do it.
They can't land man
and come back.
Have you called brackett?
Of course not!
I needed to tell
you guys first.
We have to tell brackett.
We have to tell brackett
right away.
This is something
you report right away.
We need help.
We have to...
Relax, it's okay. Yes. Yes.
And we need...
I'll tell you what
to do, okay?
I'm gonna tell you
what to do.
Find out who that other guy on
the phone was, okay?
Because, if we found
this out in a month,
you better fucking
believe that the mole
can do the same thing.
And now all of a sudden
the Russians know
we can't make it to the moon,
then what the fuck are
we going to do?
Okay. Okay. Okay.
You call Langley.
It's ringing.
You think I'll get to talk
to the president? No.
That's not unrealistic.
I could. He could be like,
"we need to get this right
to the president."
I'll be like, "all right.
"Give me his
home phone, sir. I'll..."
Hello?
Director brackett,
it's agent Johnson calling
from Houston.
We have big news.
What's that?
They can't make it
to the moon.
We intercepted a call
from Jim webb.
From what I understand,
they can circle the moon,
but they can't
actually land.
They... they don't
have the technology
to do it.
They're saying 1971
at the earliest.
Damn it.
Give me a minute.
Okay, who else
knows about this?
Uh, nobody, from...
From...
From what we can tell.
They're talking about it
on the phone
like it was a big secret.
Like they've never
talked about it before.
Okay, good.
Another unit is going
to take over zipper.
Get your team
out of there.
Uh... you think maybe
that's a bit, uh,
shortsighted in a way?
Seeing as we're here
undercover now?
What... why?
Don't question
my orders, kid.
I'm not... I don't mean
to question it. I...
I just... I simply think
that we're here
and I...
We have to figure out
a response to this,
somehow,
and you've got us...
We're going home.
If either of us are
talking, shoot. I don't care
how much film you burn,
it doesn't matter.
Okay? It's going to save us.
What are we
doing in here?
Sit down, just listen
to this, okay?
Well...
Hold on a sec...
Did you call brackett
last night?
Yes, all right?
What did he say?
Okay, turn this on.
What did they say?
I'm gonna tell you
what they said.
Okay, it's on.
Okay, you hear that?
Yeah.
- You recognize it?
- Yeah.
It's sputnik.
You know what?
You're ahead of me.
Okay, yeah.
It's sputnik.
How do you know
it's sputnik?
Can you... did you
sleep here last night?
That's not plugged
into anything.
It's... it's just a dial
on the other side.
It's not actually sputnik.
It's just making
you think that it is.
It's just a random beeping.
And because you think
that that's supposed
to be sputnik,
that's why you believe
it's sputnik.
This is what we are
going to do with the moon.
I called brackett,
told him that they
can't make it for '69.
He said, "okay, well,
you've got to figure out
a way to fix it."
And I said, "we can
do it on our own.
"We can make a film
that shows us going
to the moon
"without actually doing it."
We know that
they can make it up there.
We're not... we're faking
the last little piece.
The tiny...
The tiny thing
they can't do.
Land and come back.
The thing jfk said we'd do.
That's the only part.
Everything else is real,
do you understand?
Yeah, I understand
what you're saying.
And I understand
that it sounds like...
Read this,
it's from brackett.
He sent a briefing?
Yes.
If we can
pull this off,
we are going to look
like geniuses.
Four guys inside of NASA
figure out how to
make it look
like we went to the moon.
We did it.
That's crazy!
This is exactly what
we've been waiting for.
It literally
fell on our lap.
We could run
our own department
after something like this.
Is there
more information coming?
About what?
Well, the objectives
and the budget.
Why?
This doesn't seem
incomplete to you?
Incomplete? How?
What do you mean?
Well, I...
Okay...
You know what, don't...
Don't worry about this.
They obviously told us
exactly what they want
us to hear,
so our job
is to film a test,
and that's it.
Come on.
Does it... you don't
have an ethical problem
with this at all?
In what way?
In that this is lying.
You know what,
this is like one of
those good lies.
Like Santa claus
and the easter bunny.
A lot of kids get really
mad about those.
So we're shooting this
at 48 frames a second,
so you're going to
have to move like...
Like you're
being lifted up...
Okay? Like this...
This thing weighs about
100 pounds.
Well, just try it.
Try leaping a bit.
Like this.
Yeah, good.
Go! Action! Action!
More that way.
More towards me a bit.
Walk off that way.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Stop.
We should be
doing this at night.
Can, can the light
move a little bit
to the left?
I'm being devoured
and I'm cookin'.
No, that's too far.
That's too far.
Back over this way.
Back to your right.
It doesn't matter...
Stop! Stop!
Okay, now a bit
to your left.
How much does
the light drop off?
Are you not getting
destroyed by mosquitoes?
Okay, I am, but I'm trying
to get this right. Hold on.
What else
is in the frame?
Uh, I see some logs
in the background.
Yeah, I see it, too.
Okay, I'm getting it.
That's what you're...
Please, let's just roll.
It's fine, it's fine.
It's not a log,
it's a rock!
It's okay,
we'll frame it out.
I'm going to use it!
I'm going to put it
in the frame.
Are you ready?
And action!
Owen, jump in the air.
Holy shit.
It's open!
Hey.
You're just in time.
Have a seat. So...
The moon footage...
I won't say how it looks.
I just want you to
watch it, okay?
Turn the lights off.
So it may seem
a bit different.
I think you'll enjoy it.
This is the year
before we got recruited.
Wow.
Who is it?
Hello?
Director brackett,
this is a... uh, come on in.
Welcome.
It's great
to see you guys.
This is a surprise.
What the hell
is going on?
You're changing the
direction on this project
without my authorization?
Okay...
Shut up. I'm not finished.
Okay, now listen...
I'm shutting this operation...
Wait!
Bring it down. It's over.
You made this up?
Okay, yes.
I made up a mission.
But that's because I wanted
to make sure it would work
before I brought it to you.
I think
i may have solved
the moon problem.
Just... trust me.
Watch this.
Sorry.
Ignore this. Ignore this.
So that's just sand.
William's in the suit.
We shot it in slow motion.
You understand?
I'm saying we could
fake the moon landing,
and it wouldn't be hard.
All people want to see
is an image
on a television screen
and we can give them that.
The rocket will go up,
we'll send our
footage with them,
and the astronauts
will just beam it
back to earth.
No one is going to think
this is fake, because
how insane would that be?
And if we do it right,
this is the kind of thing
that sells itself.
Walter cronkite is going
to do half the work for us.
Let me try.
Give us a minute.
It's okay.
Hi.
Whoa!
Okay, just shoot
from down there, okay?
Owen?
Put... put your mic on.
No.
Put your mic on. Put your...
It'll take two seconds.
Put your mic on.
Come on.
It'll take two seconds.
I'm not doing this, okay?
Get the fuck off.
Cheer up!
We just got
a huge promotion,
come on!
Whoo!
Mr. boles, I guess we'll
be working together again.
Welcome to Texas.
Congratulations on having
brackett approve
this insane mission.
You guys are filming
this right now?
Yeah, we film everything.
It's a documentary.
It's a documentary film.
Okay, before we get started
on this, I know you're
technically my boss,
but I'm running
all this.
Yeah.
No, I'm here because
you have no idea
what you're doing.
So I'm in charge
and you don't run
a goddamn thing.
So no more fucking around
behind our backs,
all right?
Wow, I heard
it's pretty shitty.
Hi.
How you doing?
Enjoying the
4th of July?
Yes, I'm in
a great mood.
This is a bit of a party
for me, too, because we
got a promotion.
Did you?
Yeah.
Somebody just
tell me what's wrong.
Is that...
That's the barbecue.
The barbecue what?
What happened at the barbecue?
What's going on?
Watch.
Right...
There. See that?
Yeah, two guys.
Yeah. Look at this.
So he's holding something,
we're thinking maybe super 8.
It could be
a 35mm still camera.
And do we know
who this is? Maybe they're
NASA guests.
Yeah, I don't know.
Tourists? Who knows, right?
It could be nothing.
It is nothing...
Who is it?
It's boles.
This looks like shit.
You have one guy
in a space suit,
prancing around
on the sand...
...with one rock.
Who do you think
this is gonna convince?
I...
It convinced brackett.
Well, now you have
to convince me.
What are you
talking about?
Nobody is going
to buy this.
I thought
you were advocating
for me to do this!
I was advocating
for operation northwoods.
I think
this idea's ridiculous.
Mike, do you
remember mentioning,
uh, test locations
that NASA was using
for photography?
Would you mind
showing me those pictures?
You mean
on camera, or...
If you don't mind.
I don't mind.
These are places
that look like the moon
on earth?
Exactly.
These are called
geology field trips.
So you're saying
that the rocks that
are on the moon
are the exact same
as the rocks on earth?
I'm not saying exact.
I'm saying...
But they're close?
They're close
enough that...
That...
Yeah, I mean...
So if you saw them,
you would think that, uh...
Oh, yeah, you can
get an igneous rock
from a volcano
here in America
and tell somebody
it's a moon rock
and they
wouldn't know.
Really?
Yeah.
- Hello.
- Is Owen home?
He's in
the garage.
You look great.
FBI!
Look at this!
The geologists have
places on earth
that already
look like the moon.
This is the barringer crater,
the Grand Canyon.
We shoot this test footage
and then compare it
with the real moon footage
that they're getting
from the missions.
I just
figured this out!
Yeah, I can't
go on this trip.
What?
What do you mean?
Why?
Because I... because I...
I need you.
If you don't
come with me I'm going
with boles, by myself.
What? Are you
still mad at me?
I'm sorry.
I didn't...
Owen!
One second!
I... you have
to forgive me for this.
Listen.
I can't go.
You're fucking me.
You are...
You're fucking me.
This is the big shot.
The ride without astronauts
of the giant saturn v
live rocket.
Project Apollo.
This is Apollo 4.
The test of our moon rocket
in flight for the first time.
It is the beginning,
the first of many steps,
which will someday
put men on the surface
of the moon.
How far off
can you see?
You've got to picture it
in black and white.
With the sun
behind us there.
We can even do a pan.
What do you think?
We don't know if you can hear,
ladies and gentlemen.
But, oh, the flight
is moving along
as it should be...
But our tape records
are being
thrown to the floor
by the roar of
this mighty rocket,
as it continues
to climb into the sky,
on its seven and a half
million pounds of thrust.
It's a beautiful sight,
an unbelievable sight...
So I didn't tell him
i made the whole thing up,
and then you
and brackett show up,
and then he punches me,
now he's acting like
we aren't friends.
What would you do?
Well,
i wouldn't have done that
in the first place.
Okay, yeah,
but pretend that
you're as stupid as me
and you have
done that.
God damn it,
look at this!
We weren't even close.
No kidding.
Here.
Okay...
Okay, who else has
seen this footage?
Everyone.
See, this is
what we need.
We need
the actual footage
of the moon.
How do we get
astronauts to act
in front of this?
You could start
by hiring a real director.
Or you could give up
this mission.
Yeah.
Hey, don, how are you?
It's Matt Johnson.
No, I'm calling
from Houston,
they got me out here
on operation zipper.
Listen, can...
I actually need a favor.
Do we have
a last known address
for Stanley kubrick
when we were doing
operation deep red?
I'm looking at some of his
movie effects and...
"No, of course I'd
like to say hello!"
Of course I'd like
to say hello.
And I'm
watching something.
Would you mind
giving me that?
Hi, could you give me
the phone number to
an address in New York?
Uh, actually, it's polaris
productions, incorporated.
23...
My name's Matt Johnson,
I'm a documentary filmmaker
working at NASA,
and I need to ask him
a few questions.
Is he there?
It's an emergency.
Of course not. No. And...
And that's not
what this is, ma'am.
Yes, hello, my name is
Michael kubrick.
I'm looking for my brother.
Well, I'm calling
from the United States
and I'm... and I'm really
trying to talk with him.
I've got some very bad news
about our father.
Can you give me
a phone number for that?
What time is it in england?
I'm looking for
a Mr. Stanley kubrick.
I'm a documentary filmmaker
from the United States.
This is not
a personal call.
I'm actually calling
from NASA and
I'm wondering if...
Oh, thank you.
Hello, Madeleine.
I'm not sure why I got
connected with you.
I'm calling from NASA.
I'm making
a documentary here
about the Apollo program.
Ah.
What are you guys
doing over there,
if you don't
mind me asking?
Stanley kubrick
is making a new movie
about the moon landing,
and I'm willing to bet
that we can use
the special effects
that he's doing there
to do this.
Okay, but...
We can't just walk
onto a film set.
He has two NASA scientists
advising him.
We're going to go and say
we're going to interview them.
Do you see
what's going on here?
Kubrick is getting NASA
to make sure
that his space movie
looks like real space.
And so we're going
to use his space movie
to make sure
the real space movie
looks like space!
Do you understand
how crazy that is?
Welcome to england!
It's not too loud?
No, well,
it'll be packed
inside the bag.
Not bad for...
For on the spot,
just figured it out!
Jared, wave!
Jared, big wave!
Yeah, that's her.
Madeleine!
You won't be able to bring
that camera inside.
You'll have to shut it off
as soon as we get in,
I'm afraid.
Is Mr...
The set's all live.
No problem.
Is Mr. kubrick inside?
He is,
but security
is very tight.
You'll be thrown off the set
if you try to approach him,
so please don't.
You got it.
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Please wait right here.
Yeah, sure.
We'll stay right here.
It might be
better to just play it
as a medium shot
- in this situation.
- Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
Can you do it
with your head down?
What about out there?
- Well, that's not bad.
- Let's do that.
Right.
Check the gate, Doug.
I... I would never
normally do this,
but it's for a friend.
His name is
Matt Johnson.
Mmm-hmm.
Jared, tell me
you are getting this.
Oh, my god.
Excuse me?
How did you set this up?
Owen, it's called
front screen projection!
We got it!
Kubrick's technique,
how he's faking...
I wanna...
I wanna tell you.
Boles, hey.
It's called
front screen projection.
We figured out how to,
how to do it.
Yeah, okay, all right.
I'll, uh...
Do you want us
to fly right there, or...
Sure.
All right, it's called
front screen projection.
Stanley kubrick can fake
any environment he wants,
by projecting it through
a semi-transparent mirror
and then onto
a gigantic silver screen.
Then he films
the entire scene through
the same mirror,
at a 90-degree angle
to the projector.
What it winds up doing
is creating images
where you can't tell
where the stage stops
and the fake photographic
background begins.
You have an infinite
depth of field,
into environments
that exist completely
in two-dimensional space.
We can do the same thing
with the lunar surface
photography
that NASA is taking
on the Apollo missions.
Movie special effects
can be very convincing,
especially when you
don't know you're
watching a movie.
The plan is to rent
a film studio in Texas,
hire a crew,
and have them build
our own lunar lander.
We'll mix
this practical set piece,
with kubrick's projection
technique, and presto,
the illusion that man
is walking on the moon.
Now I know
you're probably thinking
this is too much exposure,
and that the risk
of bringing in outsiders
is too high,
but we already have
the perfect cover.
We're making
a documentary about
the moon landing.
And it's not a stretch to say
that we're building sets
to conduct interviews,
shoot b-roll footage.
We could even say
it's for simulations.
Hell, most of
the major networks
are doing this already.
The only people
who need to know
what's actually happening
are the astronauts,
who you should select
based on their
willingness to cooperate,
and James webb,
who's either going
to have to work with us,
or get out of the way.
And that's the easy part.
We also need to convince
everybody at NASA.
The good news is
the only people who are
in contact with the rocket
are all in one room
in Houston,
inside mission control.
If we can convince
mission control
that what they're
doing is real,
everybody else
will follow.
How do we do that?
Well, mission control
actually monitors
everything,
from the heart rates
of the astronauts,
to the exact location
of the lunar module
as it descends
to the moon.
And they're getting
all this information
through radio,
directly from the ship.
The good news
is that they've run
so many tests
with this exact mission
that they actually have
telemetric data of
successful lunar landings,
stored on guidance systems
on Apollo 11.
Here's where
we get very lucky.
As the command module
passes along
to the dark side
of the moon,
the radio signals
can't penetrate the core.
For 30 minutes,
we have a window
for the astronauts
to switch from real data,
to fake telemetric data.
Mission control
will be getting data
of the lunar module
undocking and landing
on the lunar surface,
but it will be
completely faked.
Combine that
with our footage
that the astronauts
are going to pipe into
the broadcast back to earth,
and nobody's
going to have any idea.
As far as NASA
and the rest of the world
is concerned,
the United States
just landed on the moon.
Finally, the broadcast.
To shoot in slow motion,
we have to shoot film.
To broadcast
it needs to be video.
Which means we have
to do a transfer,
which normally
would be fine,
except that people
cannot know it originally
began as film.
That means
a single scratch,
any dust...
Okay, okay.
We got it.
Thank you
for the presentation.
You can go ahead.
- Thank you, sir.
- Talk to your folks about the northwoods plan.
Tell them
to put a hold on it
and we'll see
how this develops.
Director, what is
the northwoods plan?
I've never heard of
operation northwoods.
Shoot down Apollo 11
and blame the Soviets.
With the astronauts
on the flight?
Why would we do that?
If your film
doesn't come together,
then we have to have
a backup plan.
And that is
our backup plan.
...plan?
I've never heard
of operation northwoods.
Shoot down Apollo 11
and blame the Soviets.
Who were these men
going to the moon?
David schoumacher profiled
the crew of Apollo 11.
Neil Armstrong,
the man chosen
to be first to step
upon the moon.
He is by all accounts
intelligent, courteous,
sober, a good family man.
He is perfect
for the role,
beyond what
a Hollywood scriptwriter
would dare.
Buzz aldrin is perhaps
the most brilliant
of the astronauts.
Some say even a genius.
His doctorate at mit
came after a thesis
on orbital rendezvous,
and he understands
the abstract theory
of space mechanics
as well as anyone.
Mike Collins is
the least technical in outlook
of the Apollo 11 astronauts,
but the most philosophical.
If he does not
love machines,
he does love wine,
and books, and roses.
A man who has known
all three pilots
for many years
says if he were
forced down on an island,
he would want it
to be with Collins
for the quality
of his personality.
Another said
he would prefer aldrin,
because with
his intelligence
he would soon be
converting sea water
to fresh water
and otherwise logically
attacking the problem.
But both agreed
in the final analysis,
that they would hope
it was with Armstrong,
because, somehow,
he would get them off of it.
Hello?
Boles, we just got back.
Where are you?
Okay. Turn on the TV.
Yeah, okay.
I'm turning it on now.
- Why?
- Summarize what you just said,
and then we'll ask you
some questions about
seeing the president?
Uh, yes, I'd like to say
that, uh, over a year ago,
president Johnson and I
reviewed the space program
and, uh, agreed
to build strength
so that I might retire
on my 62nd birthday,
which happens to be
this next October 7th.
Today, we have reviewed
the progress we have made
and the president
has agreed
that I could retire
on October 7th,
when I will be 62.
I'd like to say
one other thing...
Yeah, okay.
Well, I guess that means
he didn't want
to cooperate, huh?
Okay, yeah.
I'll see you
when you get back.
Bye.
Andy!
Sorry.
What are you doing?
Shooting
for the documentary.
Oh, okay, fine.
Where's Owen?
He's at the hospital.
What?
Julie had the baby.
Oh, shit!
Hey.
I missed it, hey?
Hey, mom.
Wow!
Matt!
What's his name?
Simon.
Can I hold him?
Sure, if you want to.
I need to talk to you.
I need to talk to Matt.
Okay. What's up?
One minute.
Okay, okay.
What the hell
is this?
Jared showed me
the photos of the men
who were watching us
at the barbecue.
They're filming
us, Matt!
Okay.
Why are you
bringing this up
at the hospital?
Relax!
Relax?
This could be
the Russians.
We have to get off
this mission.
If we get caught,
the CIA will
abandon us, okay?
I'm calling brackett
to them him...
No! No! No!
You are not calling brackett.
No one's calling brackett.
You are being paranoid!
I hope so,
because if I'm right
and this is the mole...
If they find out
what we are doing,
then we are
fucking dead.
You got that?
Looks pretty good.
"Looks pretty good"?
Guys, come on.
Are you kidding me?
All right.
This cost $45,000!
Really?
Yeah!
Oh, god,
don't start that.
"Really? Hey,
you got ripped off.
"Hey, come on,
i could have done this..."
...Cheaper.
"...with $20
and some elbow grease!"
Do you think
it would kill you to say,
"good job, Matt"?
I mean that seriously.
Do you think it would
physically kill you?
Okay, and it's
for a film shoot.
Uh, we're making
a documentary about
the moon landing,
and we need to make
a lunar surface.
And so it's like
a fake lunar surface.
That's what we need.
So I don't know
how much sand
you can ship us.
But, uh, four tons?
How many tons
are in a truck?
Can you hold on a sec?
Where are you going?
Uh, sorry, say again?
Actually, I went to
a place in Arizona
called cinder lake,
where the sand
was brown as molasses.
It was beautiful.
It was a beautiful brown.
Molten brown.
So, what are
these guys gonna say
when they're up here?
We need something
they can print
as a headline.
Type out a couple things
and let's just see
what we got, okay?
So try this,
"welcome to the moon."
Catch!
So, no,
leave that where it was,
it's my a rock.
I think if we never say
the word "America."
Oh, yeah,
we just take
an American symbol.
Exactly. Eagle.
- Freedom.
- Frontier.
Frontier.
So that needs to make
that pothole there.
Does that have
a label on it?
B. So that goes
right at your feet.
Perfect.
I just got an idea.
You know what
we've gotta have them do
when they're up there?
Who is it, Galileo
or somebody, said...
Oh,
drop the feather.
Drop the feather
and the hammer.
And he said,
in a vacuum,
a hammer and a feather
would fall at the same speed.
Well, okay, but how are
we gonna do that?
A lead feather.
Wait a minute,
we gotta keep the flag
as stable as possible,
because the wind resistance
makes it billow.
You wave the flag.
You can't do that!
Okay Houston,
I'm about to step off
the lm.
He leaves
a footprint there.
'Cause they would
leave footprints there.
Exactly!
And we so can send
photographs of that
back home.
It's... that's...
That is the image!
Write that down,
the footprints!
The word "foot"
is disgusting.
Maybe people
don't want to hear "foot."
No, "with this step."
You would say,
"with this step."
"With this step."
Okay, okay.
"With this step, I..."
No.
"As man walks
on the moon..."
Too literal.
Too literal!
"The step of
a single man..."
"The step of
a single man.
"But for us
back at home..."
Think of what
a step is like to us.
To a man,
a step is just a step.
But to an ant
looking up at the man,
he looks like a god.
And it doesn't
look like a step,
it looks like
a towering leap.
It's like a leap.
It's like a jump.
And this is
a leap forward for...
For everything!
The next
evolutionary step.
A leap forward
in science.
- For humanity.
- Exactly!
This is good.
Okay, let's try one.
Hey.
Do you know
who that is outside?
Who?
Right there.
Look.
Where?
Tell me whose that is.
Is he running?
Did you say hi?
Did he look at you
when you came in?
Is there even
a guy in there?
He's sitting there
watching.
Shh. Shh.
Go outside,
you'll see.
I'm sure
he works for the studio.
I'll go talk to him.
They know we're here.
We're allowed to be
here, okay?
Relax.
Okay.
Hi.
Go, go, go, go!
Jared, get in the car!
Boles, what are
you doing?
What happened?
You shot your fucking gun!
Jared, shoot
out the front,
try to get
their license plate!
Come on!
- No!
- What?
What happened?
What happened to your car?
It stalled.
They got away.
Well, did
you get a look at them?
Whoever it is,
they know we're here.
Well, we don't know
who it is.
I think it's the mole.
I think it's the mole
that you guys sent us here
to find in the first place.
Who else is waiting
outside the studio
and then the minute
we walk out...
Let's lock it up.
Let's lock it up
and call brackett.
What... lock it up?
We're in the middle of this!
We can't just
stop shooting!
Well, there might be
guys on the roof.
What do you mean,
guys on the roof?
What the fuck
is going on?
And what, you got a gun?
This is CBS news
special report.
The flight of Apollo 8.
Six days
to the moon and back.
Brought to you
by Walter cronkite.
The flight of Apollo 8
is over.
And all that remains
is to remove the astronauts
from the space craft,
and carry them
less than two miles
to the deck of
the carrier yorktown.
Future plans for space
missions, of course,
have been accelerated
considerably.
It means that they
can keep to the hoped-for
schedule of the next
Apollo 9 mission,
late in February,
or early in march,
to test out
the landing module,
and, uh, then move on towards
landing a man on the moon
two flights further on
in the middle of July.
So we've got
good news and bad news.
Good news, his name
is antonin lhotsky.
Uh-huh.
- He's a kgb agent.
He's the man
from outside the studio
the other night.
Whoa, what?
We suspect
he's been the mole
the entire time.
So... so then
he knows about avalanche.
We're fucked!
We don't think he does.
We've been
interrogating him for
the past couple of days.
He doesn't seem
to know anything.
We've raided
his house. Nothing.
This guy's the mole?
And you... you got him?
We got him.
So, then what?
We're just...
We're good?
Well, not entirely.
We, uh, got some new intel
on the Soviet progress,
and it turns out
they're doing better
than we thought.
It looks like
they could possibly make it
to the moon by the end of '69.
Which means that we need
to be done by April
at the latest.
Yeah, that puts us
on a pretty tight timeline.
They know we're here.
We're allowed
to be here, okay?
Relax.
Hi.
Go, go, go, go!
Jared, get in the car!
Hello?
Matt, we have a problem here.
...gentleman got the contract
with, I don't know, somebody.
This is who they say
the mole was.
So we interviewed him?
Yeah, over a year ago.
Remember when you asked me
to find out who was
on the phone with webb?
Of course.
I did.
...second burn
to the lunar surface.
Then we can go in after...
For 250.
250 seconds
is all we can do?
That's the maximum,
and you know that...
Did you talk to trw?
Yeah.
And you know how they
are about their fuels.
So we are in trouble...
Grumman...
What does this mean?
So the mole knew
that we couldn't make it
to the moon
for over a year?
I don't think so.
I don't think
that lhotsky's the mole,
I don't think lhotsky
was outside the studio.
I mean, lhotsky knows
that we can't make it
to the moon,
so maybe they...
He wouldn't cooperate
and they had to
make him a fall guy
by saying that
he's the mole.
They?
Yeah.
What
do you mean?
The CIA.
Okay, well then,
who's outside the studio
following us?
CIA agents.
That's why boles
didn't shoot them.
They're all
working together.
They're all watching us,
and they're lying to us.
For what?
For what purpose?
They know everything
that we're doing.
Why...
This doesn't
make any sense.
There's no reason
for them to be following us.
You... have you...
Have you heard
of a conspiracy
theory before?
Yeah.
I think we're in one.
Okay, leg out!
That
doesn't look real.
Okay,
you know what we'll do?
Jump on the count of three.
Ready?
I'm bringing
the bounce in.
That's a big jump.
Come on,
you're supposed to be
Neil Armstrong.
He's brave. Ready?
There we go.
Uh, change the background.
One more.
How about that?
Great.
That's great.
What are we getting
in the reflection
of his helmet?
Am I in it?
We'll have
to replace that after.
That looks great.
And then you just...
We have to
repress this.
Put that on
an animation stand
and reshoot it.
This is the original
from the sound stage.
And the crater textures
are added after.
Getting rid of
the details
in the studio.
You go in and you
black out the areas
with litho ink.
Let's move this
a little bit further down,
because it seems
a little too square.
Square to camera?
Yeah.
Sure.
Wow.
Ready?
That's good. Yeah, go.
It works.
Yes!
This is amazing!
Go again.
Matt.
Yes?
Have you seen this?
Have you seen this?
Do it again! Do it again!
Owen, look, look.
Hammer, feather.
Drop!
Galileo was right.
Dude, I just put
a weight in it. What?
"NASA scientist dies."
It's from
this morning's paper.
Well, what the...
Matt, it's lhotsky.
What?
Boles, he must've
known about it.
Listen, think
why lhotsky's dead.
Obviously,
he was talking to webb,
so they killed him.
They're going
to kill me...
We don't know why
that guy's dead.
Yes, we do.
They're going to kill me?
What are you talking about?
They're going to kill us both,
they're going to kill
the astronauts.
I'm sure...
Anyone who
knows about this.
I'm sure lhotsky knew too much
and so they got rid of him.
Okay? That's it.
Right! Right!
That's what I'm
talking about!
He was the mole, okay?
No... no, they're tying
off loose ends!
Yeah, and, so,
who else is
gonna die, huh?
They're gonna kill Jim webb?
The head of NASA?
He knows, too!
Maybe. Maybe.
You don't think
they would?
No! Okay, put
the suit on and get ready,
all right? Shut the fuck up.
There's a glob of something
on the... on the glass.
Owen, could you get it?
No, it's right...
You didn't get it.
It's right there.
Right, right there.
What...
What are you doing?
It's just a test.
Boles, I don't take
orders from you!
- Oh, really?
- Enough, come on.
Yeah, I don't take orders
from someone who's trying
to get us killed.
Owen, Owen, Owen. Drop it.
He let them get away.
No, he didn't...
Right?
He let them get away!
That's what you did.
Oh, really?
- Yes, you missed on purpose!
- Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!
What... what are you doing?
What are you doing?
We're friends.
Who are they?
We're friends.
Who are they?
Is it brackett? The CIA?
Why don't you tell him
about how you've been
calling brackett every day,
trying to get Johnson
thrown off the mission.
Tell him that!
What are you talking about?
Hey, ask your friend.
Okay, hold on.
Tell him. Tell him.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon
in this decade
and do the other things.
Not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
Because that goal will serve
to organize and measure
the best
of our energies and skills.
Because that challenge is one
that we're willing to accept.
One we are unwilling
to postpone, and one we intend
to win, and the others, too.
We shall send to the moon,
240,000 miles away
from the control station
in Houston,
a giant rocket,
more than 300 feet tall,
the length of
this football field,
made of new metal alloys,
some of which have not
yet been invented,
capable of standing
heat and stresses
several times more
than have ever
been experienced,
on an untried mission
to an unknown celestial body,
and then return it
safely to earth,
re-entering the atmosphere
at speeds of over
25,000 miles per hour,
and do all this...
And do all this
and do it right,
and do it first,
before this decade is out,
then we must be bold.
And therefore,
as we set sail,
we ask god's blessing
on the most hazardous
and dangerous
and greatest adventure
on which man
has ever embarked.
Thank you.
So this is
the only copy?
Yeah. So, now what?
We just bring it
to brackett?
Oh, I'll take it to brackett.
You stay here and clean up.
Clean up what?
Clean up the studio.
Destroy everything.
What if we...
What if we need
that stuff?
We won't.
Good work.
Thanks.
I'll see you soon.
- Hey, boles.
- Lhotsky wasn't the mole, was he?
What are
you talking about?
Yeah, I don't...
I don't know.
I've been working on
this too long.
I'm sorry.
Well, get some rest.
I'll see you soon.
Bye, buddy.
He's gonna spot one
of our guys pretending to be
a rocket scientist instantly.
We need to send people
who are gonna look like they
have no idea what's going on.
They can't make it
to the moon.
I'm gonna tell you
what they said.
...an ethical problem
with this at all?
He let them get away!
That's what you did.
Oh, really?
Yes, you missed
on purpose!
Hey whoa, whoa, whoa!
What... what are you doing?
What are you doing?
We're friends!
- Who are they?
- We're friends.
What, you think
that's your friend?
Who, brackett?
The CIA?
Why don't you tell
him about how...
Hey, Julie.
Can I borrow your husband?
He what?
Simon's asleep. Inside.
I can go inside
so you guys can talk.
You can stay outside.
No, I don't need to talk.
I wanna know if, um...
If you wanna... we're...
We're going to get rid of
the stuff from work.
You can go
if you want.
No, I'm going to
stay here.
How's Simon?
Are you guys excited
about the big launch?
Okay.
Have a good afternoon.
Thanks. You, too.
I'll see you soon, okay?
Yeah, bye.
Good morning.
It's t-minus one hour,
29 minutes and 53 seconds
and counting.
In just an hour and a half,
if all goes well,
Apollo eleven astronauts,
Armstrong,
aldrin and Collins
are to lift off
from pad 39-a out there
on the voyage
man always has
dreamed about.
Next stop for them,
the moon.
And we are all about
to witness the fulfillment
of that promise
that president Kennedy made
at rice university stadium
in Texas,
on September 12, 1962.
We passed
10,000 odd cars
parked around
the gate-1 area at 4:00 A.M.
when we got here.
Cars from every state,
with little kids staring
wide-eyed,
and we saw
teenagers with telescopes.
It was a very moving scene
for me, because
Americans cared then,
I think, and they care now.
And it says,
"good luck, Apollo 11"
engraved in the sand.
All going
very smoothly here
with the count.
T-minus 60 seconds
and counting.
We've passed t-minus 60.
Power transfer is complete.
Twelve, eleven,
ten, nine...
Ignition sequence starts.
Six, five, four,
three, two, one.
And good
afternoon from abc space
headquarters in New York.
With me is our science editor,
Jules bergman and we are
on the air today
to bring you a complete report
on some very, very
important maneuvers
to be performed
by Apollo 11.
Basically a position
to begin the process...
Hello?
Matt?
Are you...
Are you seeing this
right now?
- Matt, they're not dead.
- The CIA lied to us.
Wait, what?
The men following
us at the studio
are outside my house.
Are you sure?
Yes, meet me
at your motel.
What the hell?
Owen?
Hello?
Who's there?
Oh, shit.
Okay, okay, okay.
Uh... uh...
Where's the other car?
Where's the...
Um, um, out back.
Out back.
Okay, stand back.
Sorry.
There is a delirium
of enthusiasm today...
Come on.
Come on, come on.
Come on, Owen.
Come on!
Matt!
What?
There's a car!
Jared, run!
Shit.
Go, go, go.
Andy, hold on.
Fuck.
They're right behind us.
They're right behind us.
Get their faces!
Get their faces, Andy!
Get their faces!
This is fucking crazy!
Oh, god!
Oh, Christ!
He's got a gun!
What?
- He's got a fucking gun.
- Okay, duck, duck, duck!
Shit.
What's happening?
Oh, fuck. Fuck!
Okay, okay.
Get out of here.
Get out of here.
I'm trying.
Get out of here.
Dude, they're
right in front of us.
Yeah, I know.
They're gonna ram us,
they're gonna ram us!
Oh!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
Owen!
So they're not
all labeled, right?
It goes '67, '68, '69.
But not everything's...
Not everything's marked.
Well, you'll figure it out.
Hey.
Okay, man.
As soon as I know
where we're going,
I'll call you.
Yeah.
Good evening.
Hello, there's a man
at the end of the bar
wearing glasses.
Could you please give
the phone to him?
Telephone.
Hello?
You're
a real piece of shit,
you know that?
We're looking for you.
Where you been?
Yeah, I'll tell you what,
let's make a trade.
Okay.
My location for
the names of the agents
on your kill team.
We don't have
any kill team.
Yeah, well, who killed Owen
and hung him in his garage?
Okay.
Come down to the office.
We'll discuss it.
Yeah, I'll come in.
No, I'll tell you
what's gonna happen.
I have a film
of everything we did.
I have proof that the CIA
conspired to fake
the moon landing
and that Owen Williams
is the one that everybody is
about to see walk on the moon.
And that you killed him
to keep it a secret.
I even got you
planning northwoods,
the same as I got
you right now.
No one will take
that seriously, kid.
Yeah, well, call my bluff.
My last movie's about
to convince the world
we went to the moon.
Then why don't
I make you a deal?
Come back and work for us,
and I'll make you the head
of your own department.
Yeah,
how stupid
do you think I am?
I'll tell you what.
Keep the film as collateral
if you don't believe me.
Just think about it.
...the surface appears
to be, uh,
very, very fine grained as
you get close to it.
It's almost like a powder.
Down there,
uh, is very fine.
Okay, I'm going to
step off the lm now.
That's one
small step for man,
one giant leap
for mankind.
And the, uh, the surface
is fine and powdery.
I can... I can pick
it up loosely with my toe.
It does adhere in fine...
Okay, we shouldn't take
any more pictures on this roll
until earth comes,
I don't think.
This is about out,
it's just about out
until our last color roll,
so, uh, we'll switch
to black and white
as soon as we get to earth.
- We might make it in time.
- Yeah.
There it is,
it's coming up.
What?
The earth.
You see it?
Yeah.
Beautiful.
It's half-way up.