Brian Eno and Al Reinart fly you to the moon

It took film director Al Reinart a year just to watch all the NASA footage shot during the Apollo moon landings, let alone start cutting it together for his 1989 film For All Mankind.

Luckily for him, Brian Eno, who composed the original soundtrack to the film, didn't seem to mind writing the music before the film was ever made. Now new music ensemble Icebreaker are bringing the score and the film back together with an impressive performance.
The film footage was shot by crew members on the Apollo missions, who were given 16-millimetre cameras and told to film whatever they wanted - both in transit and on the moon's surface. Apparently, there are now 6 million feet of footage. No wonder it took Reinart so long to sort through it.
The visuals are breathtaking, and in hindsight, it's a blessing that man invented motion picture before acquiring the ability to fly to the moon. The film cuts together iconic shots - like the planting of the US flag into the moon's surface - with tiny snippets and intimate moments made available thanks to their hand-held cameras.

Once on the moon, for example, the astronauts film each other lolloping around in their clumsy space suits, like naughty schoolboys running and falling without the threat of landing with the thud of Earth's gravity. You can't see their faces, but can imagine how hard they must be laughing inside their helmets. Put that unique footage together with Eno's score and the effect is mesmerising.

Eno, who played alongside Brian Ferry in the band Roxy Music in the 1970s and went on to become a pioneer of ambient music, has created a masterpiece. Even those who have become immune, through over-exposure, to the awesomeness of these lunar endeavours will be challenged not to be humbled by Eno's score and Icebreaker's performance.