Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, became famous for its gigantic satellite dish in the middle of a sheep paddock. This dish was instrumental for communicating with the men of Apollo 11's mission to the moon. Neil Armstrong and his colleagues are about to land on the moon and suddenly the Australian tracking station loses contact with them. How could the people of the world react if they can't see the men taking steps on the lunar surface? It's something that the technicians in Australia will have to deal with to relay the images of man's first walk on the moon.

"The Dish", directed with folksy charm by Rob Sitch, shows how the people in Parkes, a remote spot, a simple dot in the map, rally for the biggest event in their lives. They are proud of being at the center of such a historical moment. At the same time we are taken behind the scenes to see what is really going on. Cliff Buxton, and his team are dealt a blow when they lose the signal to Apollo 11. Instead of panicking, Buxton decides not to tell Houston about the problem they are experiencing.

Luckily, everything turns out all right.

Sam Neill, makes an impression as Cliff Buxton. Patrick Warburton is equally good playing the NASA representative, Al Burnett. The Australian cast is wonderful in the way they capture the small time atmosphere in their moment where they are at the center of the world's attention.

"The Dish" is an enjoyable comedy.

"The Dish" tells of a small group of people who operated a giant radio telescope in Parkes, NSW, Australia which captured the weak signals from the Apollo 11 1969 lunar landing and moon walk with its behemoth parabolic reflector. A light hearted and fun romp involving the scientists and the townsfolk, all buoyed by pride over their big dish and involvement with the historical NASA mission, "The Dish" relies heavily on the viewers sense of awe and nostalgia as the "...Giant leap for mankind" is taken. A easy-going and somewhat austere film which manages a subtle and lovely sense of humor and heart, "The Dish" will have broad appeal but should play best with those who remember July 20, 1969. (B)

"The Dish" is a film about a small Australian town, which, for a short time, was one of the most important places on Earth. This is because when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, due to the Earth's position, the Northern Hemisphere could not pick up the signals from the lunar lander. Instead, Parkes, Australia captured the images on their radio telescope and relayed them around the globe. This story is about this as well as the many difficulties they had in getting the signal in the first place.

This film is filled with a serious sense of awe--with inspiring music (the best part of the film) and the use of many old film clips to convey just how amazed the world was at this event. Nowadays, we do seem to take it for granted...and the film would be a nice way to show kids just how everything seemed to stop during this historic event. Very well made, well acted and worth seeing.