From the Earth to the Moon to Launch in HD

SoHo has confirmed one of HBO’s blasts from the past will screen here for the first time in HD.

The stellar miniseries From the Earth to the Moon will screen on Sky’s premium drama channel Sundays at 6.30 from June 22 and during the 45th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the moon.

Even before The Sopranos and Deadwood, HBO hit the creative stratosphere with this epic 1998 dramatisation of the space race.

It first screened here in 4:3 SD on TV3 but was accorded new widescreen transfers and remastered Dolby 5.1 and DTS audio for its re-issue on DVD.

Executive producer Tom Hanks wanted the ensemble drama, which stars NCIS’ Mark Harmon, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Root, to emulate the majesty of space travel captured in one of his favourite films, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

But he achieved far more: one small step for a fan … one giant leap for television drama.

It will be interesting to see how big a leap the miniseries, which was filmed in 35mm, makes in HD.

A/V forums have long lamented its absence on Blu-ray while debating the merits of its 4:3 broadcasts-vs-16:9 reformatting for DVD.