(CNN) "Apollo 11" might focus on the moon mission of a half-century ago, but in its own way the CNN Films documentary feels like a step into a time capsule. Meticulously recapturing the drama of that "giant leap for mankind" in 1969, it's a wonderfully nostalgic if somewhat antiseptic reminder of what it meant to first break the bonds of Earth.

Assembled from long-lost NASA footage, and sparely presented without commentary or narration, the film is receiving a weeklong Imax window before expanding to additional theaters. The hypnotic majesty of the imagery certainly lends itself to an immersive big-screen experience, but the tick-tock of events over the eight-day sojourn should work equally well in a living room.

Director Todd Douglas Miller has culled from newly discovered 65mm reels and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings, presenting a taut narrative that spans prelaunch preparations through the return of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, including the heroes' welcome they received.

Perhaps foremost, the film captures all the things that had to go right to make the mission a success, capturing the tension within the Mission Control center at every stage of the process -- from launch to escaping Earth's orbit, and then the lunar landing to the journey back home.

The images neatly convey a sense of the time, panning a room filled with white men wearing white shirts and dark ties, where the fleeting glimpse of a woman or African-American conspicuously stands out.

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