The Dish

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA)

for brief strong language.

Moral Rating:	Better than Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	Adults
Genre:	History Comedy Drama Foreign
Length:	1 hr. 41 min.
Year of Release:	2000
USA Release:	March 14, 2000 (limited)

Relevant Issues

Tom Long, Patrick Warburton, Sam Neill and Kevin Harrington in “The Dish”

About Astronomy and the Bible

Featuring	Bille Brown Roy Billing Taylor Kane Genevieve Mooy Kevin Harrington
Director	Rob Sitch
Producer	Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner
Distributor	Warner Brothers

“A remote Australian community, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: (from the producer) In the days before the infamous July 19, 1969 space mission that marked humankind’s first steps on the moon, NASA was working with a group of Australian technicians who had agreed to rig up a satellite interface. That the Aussies placed the satellite dish smack dab in the middle of an Australian sheep farm in the boondocks town of Parkes was just one of the reasons that NASA was concerned. Based on a true story, THE DISH takes a smart, witty, comical look at the differing cultural attitudes between Australia and the U.S. while revisiting one of the greatest events in history.

Positive—This is a very fun movie for the entire family. It is rated PG-13 for strong language, but it should be rated PG. It is a true story about the Apollo moon walk. It is a light funny story about normal people in extraordinary times.
My Ratings: [Good / 4½]

Sam Kocher, age 40

If below the age of 30 DO NOT SEE! Personally I found this movie extremely dull and with several shorts of real life black and white history. I can’t judge too much because I only saw about 30 min of it. that’s how slow we found it. My parents enjoyed so if you are a parent, by all means go and see it. you’ll probably really enjoy it. The thing I did like about it was the fact it had actors out of the Australian TV series “Seachange”. They were slightly humerous. As far its moral rating it was good with nothing really “offensive”… So, all adults get out there and watch it!
My Ratings: [Good / 3]

Miz Lala, age 17

I enjoyed this movie to the max! Being from New Zealand, the Aussie humour shone through in my mind. Nothing offensive and a good laugh with a sensitive story line. I would recommend it to anyone who asks.
My Ratings: [Good / 5]

Jane Dempster, age 34

As an Australian who remembers this event I found the movie enjoyable. There was some profanity, unfortunately, but no nudity or sex scenes. A sense of family values of the time is represented and also the “courting” between two of the characters is “cute”. I reminisced with the music of the time—some of it may not be known to American (or overseas) audiences. My family—five teenaged boys—watched it and enjoyed it. It was good to see the church scene—though brief—in which prayer was offered for the safety of the astronauts. It would be interesting to see how overseas audiences viewed this delightful film.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 4]

Vicki, age 45

I thought The Dish was an excellent film. it’s rare to find a film that is so un-offensive to Christian values. There was a minimum of profanity and a lot of good humour. The fact that it was based on a true story made it even better for me. I saw the film on video and would recommend it as a family movie, but for older children.
My Ratings: [Good / 4]

Gray Hodge, age 49

Movie Critics

…a big hit in its homeland, and it deserves success worldwide…

George Perry, BBC Online

…does a masterful job of generating suspense at something the entire world knows is a foregone conclusion…

Reel.com

…some positive references to God, plus a terrific church scene with a sincere prayer by an archetypal Anglican priest at a crucial moment…

Dr. Ted Baehr, Movieguide