Capricorn One (1978)
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There are a number of people, principally conspiracy theorists, who are convinced that the Moon landings are fake – despite the apparent lack of any evidence. It is quite a silly belief, but it does make a good premise for a movie.
The first manned mission to Mars is on the verge of taking off when NASA find a fatal flaw in the spaceship. The Powers That Be decide that there's no way they can admit defeat, and scupper the chances of any future NASA funding so they decide to fake the mission. The astronauts, played by James Brolin, Sam Waterston and OJ Simpson, are naturally furious about the charade but are forced to play on after being imprisoned and having their families threatened. The mission progresses with the public unaware that the astronauts are really in a studio in the middle of the desert, but things start to go wrong for Dr Kelloway (Hal Holbrook), the official in charge of the cover-up, when a journalist (Elliot Gould) is tipped off about some suspicious inconsistencies in the mission data. He sets off to investigate, but the government is determined to shut him up, even if they need to have him killed to do so. A further problem arises for Kelloway when the astronauts escape their prison and set off for civilisation through the desert.
It is a clever, believable, premise for a film and the well-written script allows us to see both the frustrations of the astronauts and the pragmatism that forces Kelloway into a situation where he has to fake the mission. “2010” director Peter Hyams is adept at directing a believable film with pleny of tension and some quite good action scenes later on as the astronauts try to hide from the pursuing military.
Being made in the 1970s it does look slightly dated but the theme of the importance of space exploration and the power of the media is as timely today as it was then.
The acting is quite good, although Gould's journalist makes a slightly bland main character, Hal Holbrook putting in a particularly good performance.
In summary, an intelligent film that is also quite entertaining.
Rating : 7 / 10
All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .