![]() Made in the wake of Watergate and renewed suspicions about the Kennedy assassinations, the idea of a conspiracy and stop-at-nothing government and big business types suddenly seemed more plausible than ever before. ![]() Meanwhile, gonzo TV reporter Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould) stumbles upon clues about the cover-up after his NASA friend Elliot Whittier (Robert Walden), having figured out that the TV transmissions are arriving ahead of Capricorn's telemetry, suddenly disappears, wiped off the planet like he never existed.Ĭapricorn One's timing and ingenuity was faultless. (Mild Spoilers) But when Capricorn One's heat shield detaches and the empty capsule burns up on reentry, the three astronauts realize they've become a major liability. When Bru voices strong moral objections, Kelloway threatens to kill their families if they don't go along with the plan.įor the next several months, the scheme fools just about everyone, despite the wall-to-wall network news coverage. When Capricorn One returns to Earth, the three astronauts will be snuck back aboard their capsule immediately after splashdown. (Prescient of future NASA tragedies, a private contractor put profits ahead of safety.) With the future of NASA and billions in private contracts at stake, Kelloway and his conspirators take extreme measures: they plan to fake the entire mission on a movie-like soundstage (an impressive set). James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook) informs the trio that at the last minute it was discovered that the ship's life support system were faulty and would fail within three weeks. In a rambling confession, Bru's longtime friend and colleague, NASA executive Dr. Simpson - yes indeedy) are pulled from their capsule and secretly whisked 300 miles due west of Houston while the first manned mission to Mars is launched into space - with no men inside it. The set-up goes like this: On the launching pad moments before lift-off, astronauts Charles "Bru" Brubaker (James Brolin), Pete Willis (Sam Waterston), and John Walker (O.J. Though the film doesn't really hold up to multiple viewings, for first-time viewers unfamiliar with the story, Capricorn One is clever and full of surprises. Though currently unavailable in the U.S., the British Blu-ray disc from ITV DVD is not region-encoded and sells for about $38.95 retail. ![]() It's Hyams' best and most entertaining film, a personal favorite of many despite an inconsistent tone and a few plot holes. In Poseidon it was stranded passengers trying to escape a capsized ocean liner in Capricorn One it's astronauts and a reporter trying to expose a faked NASA mission to Mars while escaping murderous conspirators. Like Poseidon, Capricorn One finds its all-star cast (for the most part) logically working their way through an ingenious, outrageous premise. Falling squarely into that category Irwin Allen used to describe his production of The Poseidon Adventure, Peter Hyams' Capricorn One (1978) is a "movie-movie," and just about a definitive example at that. ![]()
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