On a rainy afternoon in Los Angeles, the press is all lined up at a decked-out California Science Center to celebrate the release of a ... DVD? Yes, DVDs are so important to the movie industry that even Tom Hanks will trek through the wet and cold to celebrate his work on "Apollo 13." Ron Howard's 1995 film about a very nerve-wracking moon mission has just been re-released in a 10th anniversary edition. Hanks was joined in Los Angeles by producer Brian Grazer and co-star Kathleen Quinlan, who was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in the film (the film received nine nominations overall and won for best sound and best editing).

"The good thing about the DVD is all the other stuff they can put on it," Hanks says. "I think we are the repository of everything there is to know about Apollo 13. Every documentary, every behind-the-scenes about the real mission and about the movie is on this. If you want to invest in the nine and a half hours it would take to watch on the DVD, you'll know all the history of Apollo 13."

I ask for Grazer's thoughts on "The Da Vinci Code," which reunites the "Apollo 13" team including Howard and Hanks, but he's consciously quiet about the project beyond confirming that shooting will begin this summer.

Meanwhile, while Hanks and crew walk the press line in L.A., Howard and real-life Apollo 13 crew member Jim Lovell are meeting the press at Florida's Cape Canaveral. Lovell's book was the basis for the film's screenplay, but he wasn't sure the world's biggest star was the right guy to play him.

"You know I love Tom Hanks in the movie," Lovell says. "Now when Ron said, 'Who would you like to play your part?' I mentioned Kevin Costner because I think I looked a little like him when I was his age. But Hanks was a space enthusiast, a closet astronaut. He really wanted to play the part. And he did a superb job. He managed to capture the emotions and everything about that flight that was so important to bring the story across."

A few minutes later the L.A. and Florida teams meet up on a video conference call and take questions from an audience of fans who have just seen the movie.

Why is the movie still popular today? Hanks says, "I think it still resonates for the audience that sat in the theater when it first came out knowing that those three guys are alive, they made it home. But still the details [are] very gripping stuff."

"Apollo 13: Tenth Anniversary Edition DVD" is available now.