Capricorn One

I say major spoilers in the same way as saying "It sinks in the end" is a spoiler for Titanic. You should know, and if you don't know, where the hell have you been for the last 30 years?

My all time favourite 70s sci-fi thriller starring Elliot Gould. Top marks to the first person to name the other 70s sci-fi thriller starring Elliot Gould.

This was made during a time when space was big. In films, I mean. Space has always been physically big. It's far superior to that Gene Hackman one with the Ironman spacecraft stuck in orbit, where the film makers guessed about a craft that was eventually known as the space shuttle. Their version was a two man thing, not much bigger than a Mercury capsule and red. Red for heaven's sake! Still, the "little burst of flame" for the thrusters always made me laugh. And the detante in space! Cracks me up every time. Can't remember the name though.

Anyway, returning to Earth: Back to Capricorn One.

I must admit, I only really "got" the ending for this last night.

For everyone who doesn't know, the plot is based on the myth about the faked moon landings, except this time, it's with Mars. The reason for the fake is that, as all parts of the vehicle were farmed out to contractors, the life support system is sub-standard and will kill the crew less than four weeks after launch. To avoid a public relations disaster (and more importantly to avoid getting their budget cut), Nasa decides to go ahead with the launch, just without the astronauts and fake the whole landing part.

After his Nasa friend disappears¹, Gould (a journalist) gets involved and sniffs a rat. Then he drives his car into the river.

What I didn't get until last night was: Nasa's plan was to return the men safely. They didn't plan on killing them.

The actual spacecraft does go to Mars. Just without the crew. When re-entering, Nasa deliberately bumps it off course, so they have an hour and a half to fly the men out to the pod, put them in and disappear sharpish before search and rescue finds them.

However, an actual disaster strikes the re-entry vehicle when it's heat shield detaches and the craft breaks up. Nasa then has a problem that it can't afford for the men to ever be seen again, which leads to a great scene with them in a locked room.

Walker: Where are we?
Brubaker: We....are dead.
Willis: Oh hell, and I was such a great guy too.

Add a cameo from Mr Kojak himself, Terry Salavas, a chase scene with a bi-plane and two helicopters, the musical score, and the final scene at the funeral service for the men, and it's a cracking little gem of a film.

Interestingly, this film appeared before the "fake moon landings" story really took off, and some people believe this inspired (or fuelled) it.

Score: B-

OQ:
Meep-meep-meep-meep-meep
Boooooooooooooooooooooooo
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
(from the disastrous re-entry)

Lt. Col Peter Willis: Hey, Dr. Kelloway. Funny thing happened on the way to Mars.

Robert Caulfield: Look, when a reporter tells his assignment editor that he thinks he may be on to something that could be really big, the assignment editor is supposed to say: "You've got forty eight hours, kids, and you better come up with something good or it's going to be your neck!" That's what he's supposed to say, I saw it in a movie.
Walter Loughlin: You're not crazy, I'm crazy. I'm crazy for listening and I'm crazy for saying what I'm about to say. I'll give you twenty four hours to come up with something. Not forty eight. I saw that movie too, it was twenty four.

¹Literally. They're playing pool in a bar. Gould gets a mysterious phone-call at the bar, and when he comes back his friend is gone. His phone is disconnected. And there's a strange woman living in his apartment.