- Actors: Owen Williams, Matt Johnson, Josh Boles, Jared Raab, Andrew Appelle
- Disc Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Lionsgate
- DVD Release Date: January 3, 2017
- Run Time: 94 minutes
Found footage
narratives have become increasingly prevalent in film, not only because of the
ease with which these often unpolished films can be made, but also due to the
increasing prevalence of recording devices in our everyday existence. Now that
digital cameras cheap and easily accessible, to the point that nearly every
cell phone now comes equipped with one, these narratives are increasingly easy
to believe. On the other hand, this is what makes a period found-footage film
like Operation Avalanche more
difficult to swallow.
Taking place
during 1967, Operation Avalanche
follows a pair of CIA agents posing as a documentary film crew in order to
infiltrate NASA during their efforts to reach the moon. Their initial intentions
are to investigate the possibility of a Russian mole working within NASA, but
their investigation exposes another secret instead. Despite the many claims
that Americans will be the first to walk on the moon, these agents discover
that this won’t be possible for several years. What began as a spy mission to
expose a mole becomes a top secret experiment into the feasibility of faking
the moon landing.
Conspiracy
theories about the authenticity of the moon landing footage have existed for
some time, and Operation Avalanche
latches onto these in order to create a realistic recreation. While it takes
some suspension of disbelief to swallow the fact that 1960s-era cameras are
used as spy cams, despite their noisiness and bulky size, the remainder of the
film does its best to provide an accurate estimation of how this conspiracy
theory may have been possible. Whereas most found-footage films begin grounded
in realism only to devolve into ridiculous spectacle, Operation Avalanche has a rare level of restraint which ultimately
makes for a better film.
Although the
filmmakers go to great lengths to recreate the history and accurately depict
how the conspiracies may have been possible, the film’s shortcomings can be
found in the actual dialogue spoken. Writer, director, and star Matt Johnson
uses primarily improvised dialogue, which has the feeling of actors trying to
think of something clever to say rather than the casual realism he may have
been going for. Quite simply, it is often apparent that the actors are
performing for the cameras, rather than just existing in front of them.
This also may
not have been quite so distracting if the narrative remained on the task at
hand, depicting the theories of faked moon-landing footage. Operation Avalanche instead becomes
distracted by unnecessary sub-plots involving the characters, including a
seemingly endless spat between the two CIA agents when one of them keeps a
secret from the other. This mild melodrama does little to enhance the narrative
and only seems to exist in order to pad the run time.
The DVD special
features include several behind-the-scene featurettes, including one showing
the methods used to brings Stanley Kubrick to life again, as he is a major
component in many theories about the filmed moon landing footage. There is also
a commentary track with key crew and cast members, and a handful of unnecessary
deleted scenes.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 7.5/10
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