Capricorn One

Directed by: Peter Hyams
Written by: Peter Hyams
Produced by: Paul N. Lazarus III
Starring: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, O. J. Simpson, Hal Holbrook, David Huddleston, David Doyle, Karen Black, Telly Savalas
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith
Production Company: ITC Entertainment
Release date: December 10, 1977 (Japan), June 2, 1978 (United States)
Content: General

Plot: Capricorn One, the inaugural manned mission to Mars, is ready for liftoff. However, just before the launch, astronauts Charles Brubaker, Peter Willis, and John Walker are unexpectedly taken off the spacecraft. Confused, they are transported to a deserted military facility in the desert. Meanwhile, the launch continues as planned, with the public oblivious to the fact that the spacecraft is actually empty.

NASA official James Kelloway tells the astronauts that a malfunctioning life-support system could have been fatal during the mission. He insists that they alter the footage of the Mars journey to avoid another failed mission, which would lead to funding cuts for NASA and significant losses for private contractors. Kelloway uses threats against their families to ensure their compliance.

The astronauts are held captive during the flight and seem to be recorded after landing on Mars, but they are actually in a makeshift TV studio at the base. Only a few officials at the command center are aware of the conspiracy until an alert technician named Elliot Whitter notices that ground control is receiving the crew's televised transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry. Whitter informs his supervisors, including Kelloway, but they dismiss it as a faulty workstation. Whitter confides in a TV journalist friend, Robert Caulfield, about his concerns. Whitter mysteriously disappears, and when Caulfield visits Whitter's apartment the next day, he finds someone else living there and all traces of Whitter's existence have been wiped out. As Caulfield delves deeper into the mystery, several attempts are made on his life.

End of Spoilers

Review: In a world still buzzing with the conspiracy theory that they never landed on the moon; this film hit all the targets. A movie full of cloaks daggers and plausible villains makes this fun to watch. It can also show how possible a fake Moon landing can be. Or in this case a fake Mars landing. A planet far enough away that astronauts would need to be able to survive a long extended mission. Surviving on a limited set of food and oxygen. It's one thing for an aluminium space craft to make in through the Van Allen radiation belt to land on the moon. Yet with such a long trip to Mars the logistics would be challenging. Which is the thrust, pun intended, of the story. Okay, enough out of this world conspiracies and puns. Go watch it for yourself.

HOME SCRIPTURE BOOK REVIEWS POETRY RECIPES GARDENS FILM REVIEWS	Capricorn One Directed by: Peter Hyams Written by: Peter Hyams Produced by: Paul N. Lazarus III Starring: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, O. J. Simpson, Hal Holbrook, David Huddleston, David Doyle, Karen Black, Telly Savalas Music by: Jerry Goldsmith Production Company: ITC Entertainment Release date: December 10, 1977 (Japan), June 2, 1978 (United States) Content: General Plot: Capricorn One, the inaugural manned mission to Mars, is ready for liftoff. However, just before the launch, astronauts Charles Brubaker, Peter Willis, and John Walker are unexpectedly taken off the spacecraft. Confused, they are transported to a deserted military facility in the desert. Meanwhile, the launch continues as planned, with the public oblivious to the fact that the spacecraft is actually empty. NASA official James Kelloway tells the astronauts that a malfunctioning life-support system could have been fatal during the mission. He insists that they alter the footage of the Mars journey to avoid another failed mission, which would lead to funding cuts for NASA and significant losses for private contractors. Kelloway uses threats against their families to ensure their compliance. The astronauts are held captive during the flight and seem to be recorded after landing on Mars, but they are actually in a makeshift TV studio at the base. Only a few officials at the command center are aware of the conspiracy until an alert technician named Elliot Whitter notices that ground control is receiving the crew's televised transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry. Whitter informs his supervisors, including Kelloway, but they dismiss it as a faulty workstation. Whitter confides in a TV journalist friend, Robert Caulfield, about his concerns. Whitter mysteriously disappears, and when Caulfield visits Whitter's apartment the next day, he finds someone else living there and all traces of Whitter's existence have been wiped out. As Caulfield delves deeper into the mystery, several attempts are made on his life. *End of Spoilers* Review: In a world still buzzing with the conspiracy theory that they never landed on the moon; this film hit all the targets. A movie full of cloaks daggers and plausible villains makes this fun to watch. It can also show how possible a fake Moon landing can be. Or in this case a fake Mars landing. A planet far enough away that astronauts would need to be able to survive a long extended mission. Surviving on a limited set of food and oxygen. It's one thing for an aluminium space craft to make in through the Van Allen radiation belt to land on the moon. Yet with such a long trip to Mars the logistics would be challenging. Which is the thrust, pun intended, of the story. Okay, enough out of this world conspiracies and puns. Go watch it for yourself. MJ Flack