Apollo 13 is a 1995 film, directed by Ron Howard and staring Tom Hanks. It is the true story about the Apollo 13 moon landing mission how things went terribly wrong for astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert.

On their way to the moon a small explosion blows a hole in the side of their space craft during routine testing and maintenance. This explosion not only cancels any chance that they may have of landing on the moon, but also may be the event that sparks the first American astronauts lost in space. Using their training, and abilities to imagine solutions to great problems, the astronauts and the supporting crew on the ground, come up with ways to help get the Apollo 13 crew home safely.

This is a great film, that goes step by step into the accident that took place in space and about the men and women working behind the scene went through to help bring our astronauts home safely. A must buy.

Budget: $62 million
Director: Ron Howard
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Bill Paxton
Kevin Bacon
Gary Sinise
Ed Harris
Kathleen Quinlan
Mary Kate Schellhardt

Cast Away is a 2000 Tom Hanks film, where he plays a FedEx worker on a flight to Malaysia. Enroute, his plane crashes and he is marooned on a deserted island. During his time on the island, ever the loyal worker, Hanks collects all the packages that wash ashore, and makes a new best friend with a soccer ball he calls Wilson.

The film is dramatic while also being very funny at points. Eventually, Hanks makes it back to civilization, where he finds, that his adjustment there is just as hard as his adjustment on the island. Most people, in his absence, had written him off as dead.

It’s a really good film to watch and own.

Budget: $90 million
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Nick Searcy
Helen Hunt
Wilson

There’s probably not too many people that haven’t seen this film. Or if you’ve seen it, you know how great of a movie it is. This 1998 film, starring Tom Hanks, is probably one of the best films Steven Spielberg has ever made. Granted, he’s made a lot of great films, but this one stands out for its realness and authenticity on the battle field. So much so, that when it was originally released, Soldiers and former Soldiers, from wars past started calling their local VA, having reoccurring memories of the trauma and combat they saw during the real wars.

Without it needing to be said, this is a fine film, great action, acting, and character development. The plot, though fictional, is terrific.

Budget: $70 million
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Tom Sizemore
Edward Burns
Barry Pepper
Adam Goldberg
Vin Diesel
Giovanni Ribisi
Jeremy Davies
Matt Damon
Ted Danson
Paul Giamatti
Dennis Farina

This is probably one of the greatest films Tom Hanks has ever starred in. Sleepless in Seattle is about a widowed mans son calls a radio station, trying to find his father a new wife. Hanks and his son are located in Seattle and on the other side of the continent, located in Baltimore is Meg Ryan. The film really is a well put together drama, going back and forth between father and son, of how Hanks is not ready to date again. The highlight takes place when the son gets on a plane and flies to NYC so that he can meet Annie (Ryan) on top of the Empire State Building.

Budget: $21 million
Director: Nora Ephron
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Meg Ryan
Ross Malinger
Rita Wilson
Victor Garber
Bill Pullman

Budget: $150 million
Director: Ron Howard
Story: Dan Brown
Starring:
Tom Hanks
Ewan McGregor
Ayelet Zurer
Stellan Skarsgård

From the book written by Dan Brown, Ron Howard brings you Angels & Demons the movie.

The hard part about films like this is, once you’ve read the book, nothing you put on film will be better than the imagination. While we liked the movie and for the most part it stayed true to the book, the climactic ending, or lack there of didn’t compare with what I remember reading.

Don’t get me wrong, with a $150 million dollar price tag, it has all the stars, action, and suspense you’d want, but it also had an audience that already knew what was going to happen.

Either way, it’s a great film.