Product Details
- #13799 in VHS
- Released on: 2002-04-02
- Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
- Number of tapes: 1
- Running time: 101 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The Dish, a good-natured and effortlessly funny Australian drama-comedy directed by Rob Sitch (The Castle), is filled with warm-hearted characters and has a factual hook that's irresistibly inspiring. This cumulative goodwill springs forth from the rural town of Parkes in New South Wales, where a 1,000-ton radio observatory dish is recruited to relay telemetry, voice, and television signals from the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969. To make sure the dish delivers Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind" to 600 million eager viewers, site director Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill, at his gentle best) relies on a three-man crew consisting of an American NASA watchdog (Patrick Warburton, resembling a bearish Clark Kent), a sarcastic engineer (Kevin Harrington), and a lovestruck math whiz (Tom Long) who's pining for the sister of the dish's rather dimly overzealous security guard (Taylor Kane).
Numerous other supporting characters add color to the proceedings, and crises arise (albeit briefly) when power outage, signal loss, and windstorms threaten to spoil Parkes's proudest hour. It all rates a bit high on the cuteness meter, but The Dish is so smoothly amusing that you won't object to its eagerness to please. By focusing on the Aussie locals, the film reminds us that the moon landing was an occasion of global unity, and pride in all humanity is reflected in the wondrous smiles of Cliff, his crew, and the citizens of Parkes. That they played such a small but pivotal role in this historical milestone is just one of many joys to be discovered in this delightful little movie. --Jeff Shannon
From The New Yorker
A pleasant, even charming, movie, but so determinedly small-scale and personal that it flirts with innocuousness. In a remote, unknown Australian town, a group of local technicians, together with an American from NASA, man a giant telescope tracking the moon shot in 1969. All sorts of embarrassing snafus occur just as the whole world is watching, and the various ambitions and jealousies of the men play into the mess. There's a touching moment when the entire town gathers around the TV to watch Neil Armstrong's first step, and they all realize that he and they have become part of history. Rob Sitch directed. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Rating: 
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Dishing on "Dish"
The movie, "Dish" is a marvelous waltz down memory lane for the generation that gathered around balck & white TVs to watch the first moonwalk ( on the actual moon). For eveyone else who was born too late, it's a hilarious history lesson told through in a funny narrative. Absolutely worth watching.
Rating: -
Superb!
Easily my favourite Aussie movie.
The original score, soundtrack and cast performances are all outstanding, and the final scenes, where the Dish finally picks up the TV signal from the moon and starts transmitting, brings a tear my eye every time.
The humour is very Australian. Having read a few other reviews on this site, I see that our American cousins have a bit of trouble with it, but that is understandable - Aussie humour is very subtle and understated.
"Halt, who goes there..." shouts the security guard... a few seconds pause and "Bhaaaaaa..." replies the sheep - it cracks me up every time I see that.
And another...
"How do you think they go to the toilet up there?" asks one bloke. "Don't know, maybe they hold on to it..." says a second bloke. A third bloke looks at the rock-cake he is eating and says "Maybe they should try eatin' one of these... it'll block 'em up for a week..." - classic!
One minor disappointment is that, having bought a copy of The Dish from Amazon, I see that the US DVD release is slightly different from the Australian release. The US release doesn't have many special features - the Aussie version is packed with extra actual footage and documentaries - but most upsetting was that the US version has two scenes removed, both involving the mayor's daughter.
In the "party" scene, the radical daughter is talking to another guest (an old man with a grey beard) and she is criticising the US for waisting money on the space program. Both scenes are actually very funny, but I suppose the US distributors didn't like the idea of having any scenes where Americans are criticised... a pity realy, as removing those scenes does detract from the whole experience.
Anyway, believe me, you will love this film.
Rating: -
Sense of purpose
This is a great movie about Apollo 11's landing on Moon. It is 1969, time when there was only black and white television. Yet, physicists were using telemetry and satellite dish for mapping the starts in the sky, that could now be used to pick up that radio signal from far away. We get to see a small group of staff in Parkes, Australia that is tasked to pick up the signal from Apollo when northern hemisphere cannot. They work hand in hand with NASA on recording astronauts' every move on their way to and from Moon. What is endearing about the film is humorous take on interactions between Americans and Australians; the clash of cultures as well as similarities; their determination of overcoming all obstacles and ensuring the TV picture of the Neil Armstrong's first walk on the Moon. If you like the "Right Stuff" or "Apollo 13" you will like this movie even more. This is a film about regular men with strong sense of purpose in their role of one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. Sam Neill give a very fine performance of Science Director taking all the risks necessary to keep peace amongst his staff and produce a signal that will change the history of mankind forever.
Rating: -
The day mankind almost missed the giant leap!
"The Dish" is an unpretentious motion picture. It is not intended to be a documentary, though it is based on a true story. It is conducted with upstanding humour, though its characters are depicted as realistic as they could be. Once more history proves how close Murphy's Law applies to small or huge enterprises, and how a chain can be as strong as its weakest link. Those who sat with their eyes locked to the TV screen on that evening of July 20th 1969 would have never guessed how such a small detail could have totally jeopardized mankind's greatest achievement in the 20th Century. "The Dish" should come as an extra to every documentary on how we reached the moon.
Rating: -
Awesome Movie
This movie is AWESOME. I watch it over and over again. I have gotten other people loving it too. Based loosely on a true story of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. After watching this movie, I hope to someday go to Australia to see "The Dish"
Rating: 
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The Dish
This movie was an unexpected find. We had never heard of it. We saw it in a movie rental store and we liked Sam Neill, so we thought we'd give it a try. Since then it has become one of those movies you can watch over and over, you pull it out for friends and family to see because they have never heard of it either. I have bought it to give away as birthday and Christmas gifts and people are always delighted. It is full of humor, nostalgia, some suspense, and leaves you with this wonderful sense of pride and accomplishment. You need to give it a try. It's a different point of view of man's first walk on the moon. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: -
Comedic Gem!
This film, although critically aclaimed, does not (yet?) have the following it deserves! Based on actual events, and very suitable for family viewing (even educational!), THE DISH is a warmhearted look at how a small town in Australia deals with having a world-wide spotlight focused on it while dealing with technical upheavals.
The event is America's first lunar landing. The satellite dish of the title is located in the middle of a sheep paddock in rural Australia, and is the only one of a handful of facilities capable of relaying video footage from the moon. Admittedly, this sounds pretty small now, but in 1969, this was heady stuff. The DISH personnel, the townspeople, the VIPs who flooded in for the occasion are all wonderfully represented.
Sam Neill heads a cast of character actors all of whom turn in perfect performances. Patrick Warburton, known as Agent T in Men in Black II - among other roles, is terrific as the NASA 'expert' regarded by the locals as a stuffed shirt. And the scenes of the crew playing cricket are priceless.
I rented THE DISH for two reasons: I well remember the moon landing, and I enjoy watching Sam Neill work. I was very pleased on both counts. It may remain a 'best kept secret' in an age when films seem to be bent on outdoing each other with action, gore, and special effects. I sincerely hope not - this is worth watching more than once.
Overall, the film - which does have a few tense moments - is a gem that depicts ordinary people reacting to some very extraordinary circumstances. It's gentle comedy makes its point. Low key? Yes. Boring? NO! It's nice to see the good guys finish FIRST!
Rating: -
Sheer Delight
This is a gem of a movie. Great characters well acted without overdoing any quirkiness, no strain to be BIG. As someone who remembers exactly where I was when Man landed on the moon... this film brings back the wonder while also educating about a little known aspect of the work behind the scenes. Sam Neill acts with his usual understated but dead on gifts, Patrick Warburtan is a great surprise and all the actors blend well. This little movie about a big event is perfect in every way.
Rating: -
A completely charming little movie
This is a movie about the crew who mans a gigantic dish antennea out in the boonies in Australia. They have been recruited to provide help in receiving transmissions from Apollo 11 as it attempts to land on the moon. The landing is the focal point of the story, but what is really going on here is the charming story of the local people manning the dish, plus one American from NASA, as they get ready for the big event.
It is truly one of those small little movies that you get lucky sometimes and hit on television at the beginning at like two in the morning not expecting it to be anything...and then you find out, to your delight, that it is something...warm, moving, funny and human.
Rating: -
Pleasantly Surprised!
I recently saw this movie on cable and didn't expect much from it. The caption listed the movie as a comedy and I found this unusual especially since Sam Neill was playing the lead role. So I took it with a grain of salt and plopped myself down one evening to watch it.
While I was expecting a slap-stick cheesy comedy, I found instead a light hearted drama based on a different side of a famous historical event that I and perhaps many don't know about.
In a nutshell, the movie centers around the going on events at the Parkes Observatory in Australia during the events of the July 1969 moon walk. The movie gives and excellent perspective of those events, seen from the people that actually captured the transmission via Parkes' enormous 200' diameter radio receiver. What more is what effect this world riveting event had on the small town of Parkes.
The movie does take a light hearted side to this roll and it does remind us that these people who ran the Parkes installation were human and capable of error. While the events may not be all factual, it does heighten the interest in the movie.
While the movie is less of a comedy than stated, there are instances that did get a chuckle out of me. The movie did start out by showing that the Parkes installation is in the midst of a sheep paddock and that did give me a good laugh because of the irony that Parkes is located in South Wales and back in England's Wales, there is a roller coaster (Megaphobia) also built in a farm animal paddock where there is no amusement park in sight. So as they said in the movie as well as in real life, it makes one wonder...why build such a large radio antenna in that location.
There are other humorous moments as well but I will not delve into details here as to give away spoilers. But I will say that the movie is more drama than comedy.
The movie did go to great lengths to feature its main attraction in glorious detail, which is the Parkes Observatory Dish itself. The camera angles do justice in exemplifying the shear size of the antenna dish.
Finally is the coverage of the moon landing and moon walk itself, which is excellently put together towards the end of the movie.
After seeing the movie, I was amazed to find out that much of it is very true. There are several levels of poetic license thrown in for good measure as the story IS fiction but centers around true events. There are some historical inaccuracies in minor events (which again I will not give away due to the fact that it may be considered a spoiler). But those inaccuracies would only be given away by those that really know their history.
The soundtrack for the movie is also excellent. They picked out a good selection of songs that you don't hear often today, but were popular back then. So kudos to the producer for that move instead of hammering out songs that are constantly played on the radio (from that era).
All in all, the movie is a must see and is an enjoyable experience.
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