“My father was born about the time of the Wright brothers, and he thought it was incredible that I have been to the Moon,” says Charles Duke at the beginning of this inspiring documentary about the Apollo missions. “My son was five and he didn’t think it was any big deal.”

For those who grew up with the Moon landings already a fait accompli, David Singleton’s film presses home the excitement, wonder and fear of a truly incredible journey.

The story it tells veers between the spiritual and the prosaic. In one spine-tingling scene we watch the Earth rising above the Moon’s horizon as an astronaut reads from Genesis over a crackling radio. Then we see the opening credits of CBS’s coverage, proudly sponsored by Kellogg’s Cornflakes.

Meryl Streep on politics and passion

From The French Lieutenant’s Woman to a news reporter: how does Meryl Streep get her disguises so right

• Meryl Streep got the ball rolling

Related Internet Links

• London Film Festival

This film, more than most, was made in the editing room. Without the burden of a commentary, it relies on the voices of the astronauts, stitching their extraordinary and often funny stories into a vivid patchwork narrative. The talking heads share the screen with glorious archive footage, much of it in colour and previously unseen.

They’re an amiable bunch, the ageing astronauts, talking with surprising freshness about events they must have been discussing for decades. The impression they leave is one of ordinary, dedicated men who worked towards a great moment that has now passed. In the 38 years since, nothing has happened to compare with it.

In the Shadow of the Moon is on at the Odeon West End, London, on October 20 at 12.30pm, and on selected nationwide release from November 2

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of 2009
• The 100 Worst Movies of 2009
• The 100 Best Films of the Decade