Customer Reviews

Capricorn One

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a joy to see this movie again. I had forgotten how suspenseful it was, not having seen it since its theater release. Even O.J. Simpson can't ruin it. Of course, it pushes the limits of believability from time to time...but never far enough to make it unenjoyable.

Now for the bad part....this movie definitely deserves a better DVD than this. It is widescreen, but not enhanced as it should be. But worse...the picture has areas where it almost appears as if it is being projected against a dirty screen. Other areas of the movie are blurred...amplified when viewed in a large format.

I can't NOT recommend this DVD...only because it is the only one available of this film. But I sure wish someone would do the movie justice.

Quick, what 1970s B-movie co-stars Barbra Streisand's former and current husbands? That would be the extremely enjoyable Capricorn One. The husbands? Ex-hubby Elliot Gould and current spouse James Brolin of course.Ironically, the film centers around these two characters with journalist Gould trying to find fugitive astronaut Brolin before the government kills both of them. Hal Holbrook is up to his usual evil shenanigans as the bad guy and the always-underrated Brenda Vaccaro has some poignant scenes as Brolin's "widow" who is told her husband and two other astronauts -- O.J. Simpson and Sam Waterston -- have been killed upon re-entry to earth on a mission from Mars. It seems they never got there though because the government found a glitch in the well-publicized mission that made the trip impossible. Capricorn One is amazingly suspenseful, funny and features an enjoyable cast. The ending is appropriately uplifting and you have to love any movie where normally intense Waterston provides the comic relief as the cutup astronaut!!!!

Suprisingly, I saw this movie for the first time just a few short days ago, even though I was old enough to have seen it when it hit the theaters. A shame I let it go so long.

At the beginning of this movie, three astronauts (played by James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson) are pulled from a space flight destined for Mars. There was something wrong with the life-support system. The director of the space program (Hal Holbrook) says that they can't afford for the flight to be cancelled, so the three astronauts are coerced through threats to go through with a fake landing filmed on a closed base.

A reporter (Elliot Gould) talks with a friend (Robert Walden) who claims there is something mysterious going on with the flight. Immediately after this revelation, the friend disappears with no trace of him having ever existed. The reorter begins a quest to find out what is going on.

Meanwhile, the now unmanned spaceship burns up on re-entry. This means that except for the three astronauts and few head people in the space program, everyone else thinks they're all dead. This leads to the exciting last half of the movie.

A similar conspiracy theory (held mostly by extreme nutcases) revolves around our own moon shots, but this movie makes the plot an extremely good way to pass a couple of hours.

I love this flick ! from 1978, it's a thriller that stands up to many, many viewings, and it gets you thinking...could something like this ever happen ? It's a great one for "Conspiracy theorists", "Enquiring minds", or just plain old folks like me who distrust "The System".

It boasts a cast of actors that never quite made it big, all turning in excellent performances: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, you even get O.J. Simpson in one of his finest minutes.

I get a big kick out of films made in the '70's. The mens fashions were priceless. Those wonderful suits, ties, and haircuts ! What a hoot it all was.

A favorite scene is the one with Sam Waterston on the cliff, and the crop-dusting plane chase is fabulous. The Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack is terrific, as is Bill Butler's cinematography. Though there are lapses in the script, I give this five stars for being one of the most entertaining and best B movies out there.

Capricorn One is a film about a mission to Mars that fails, so those in charge decide to fake it to save face. Coincidentally, it's also a film in which the third act fails, so those in charge decide to fake it to save face. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie and the acting is first rate (although take note that O.J. Simpson received very few lines), but the fact is that it ended at a very odd place. I'm not revealing where that was, but any of you familiar with screenwriting will know what I mean when I say it had no third act. Yes, it was a well done drama that gripped and intrigued you, but the big payoff that you expect isn't there. Instead you are left to assume that it happens off camera as the credits roll. It was like reading a really good book and then discovering the last chapter is missing. But, if you can stand to fill in the blanks yourself, this really is a pretty good flick. It's best feature is that it will get you thinking about a real life incident.

The movie was based loosely on the possibility that the 1969 moon landing was faked by NASA in order to beat the Russians. This may sound insane, but when one is presented with some of the evidence, one becomes at least intrigued by the possibility. (Check out the Fox special "Conspiracy theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" Yeah I know it's a Fox special, but it's good, trust me.) Questions such as "Why can we see shadows on the moon pointing in conflicting directions when NASA claims the only light source was the sun?" and "How does the American flag flap in the supposedly airless atmosphere?" have caused some to believe we never made it to the moon.

Regardless of this, Capricorn One is a C+ film with an A+ cast and a D- ending, but it still receives my endorsement and I encourage you to go pick it up and judge for yourself.

I have to confess I have always liked this film, ever since I first saw it and was too young to realize some of the more obvious errors. It was a little slow, as I was used to Star Wars type speed, and a little talkative but I loved the idea. Seeing it again, on widescreen, as an adult, I appreciate it a lot more.
The positives are the story, the acting (which is actually very good, especially Hal Holbrook and Elliott Gould, and a hilarious scene stealing Telly Savalas), great direction, superb chase scenes and a very nice score.
It may not be a perfect film, or as awe-inspiring as Close Encounters, but this is a very entertaining film and one of the more under-valued films of the 70's.

I'll say this much, when ITC Entertainment Group focused more on motion pictures than television series(The classic Space:1999 series for example), they definately cranked out some winners. Films like The Eagle Has Landed, Satrun 3, Green Ice, and The Legend Of The Lone Ranger for example. However, the British Television and Motion Picture really brought out a winner in 1977 with the release of the classic science fiction/action adventure/political and conspiracy thriller, Capricorn One. Written and Directed by the great Peter Hyams, and starring an astounding cast of actors that consisted of James Brolin, Elloit Gould, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro, Telly Savalas, David Doyle, Karen Black, and countless others. Nt to mention having an explosive soundtrack by Academy-Award winning composer Jerry Goldsmith.

I first saw the movie on NBC's Sunday Night at the movies, and it made me a fan of James Brolin for life. The movie tells the story of NASA's first mission to Mars, and how much NASA's future is riding on this major project. If the mission is a failure, then Congress will cut back funding on the manned space program. When the three astronauts are about ready to launch, they are immediately pulled out from the Apollo space capsule and are flown to an abandoned Air Force base in Texas. There, they are told by the cheif flight director of the project, that due to a faulty life support system, the mission would put the astronauts in peril. In order to assure the future of NASA and future space flights, they are told to fake the Mars landing on a very convincing soundstage. If they do not cooperate, their families will be killed. The astronauts have no choice nut to participate in the elaborate hoax. At the same time, one of the NASA technicians discovers that the transmissions from the space craft are not coming from the spacecraft. The technician tells a reporter friend of his, and the reporter begins to investigate. When the mission comes to n end, the capsule suddenly burns up in the Earth's atmosphere, due to a faulty heatshield, the three astronauts, knowing their lives are in jeopardy, escape from their captors into the Texas desert, hoping to expose the sensational fraud. From that point on, it becomes a game of cat and mouse for the astronauts and the NBC news reporter trying to solve the mystery and blow the whistle on the governmental conspirators involved.

Definately one of the best thrillers of the post Watergate '70's, and in some ways, much like the film Hanger 18 and The X-Files television series and movies. Not only is it entertaining, and has a very solid plot, it is also a movie that referes heavily back to the old conspiracy theory of a faked Moon landing. James Brolin, as always, shines as the lead astronaut who desperately tries to reach civilization and expose the conspiracy for what it is. Elloit Gould did a good job as the reporter, yet I think either Harrison Ford or Roy Thinnes could have done a better job. Karen Black was good as the other television news reporter, yet, I also think that former James Bond girl Lois Chilles would have been a better choice.

The action was really good, especially the helicopter chase sequence in the end. Definately some very good stunt work in that scene. Especially the astronauts escape from the abaondoned hanger. Sam Waterston was very humourous in his role. And as always, Hal Holbrook was good as the man caught in the middle of

the hoax. His character was not a villain, his character was someone who did not realize how serious the government agaents were in pulling the conspiracy off. Telly Savalas was really a hoot as the curmudgeony crop duster who helps Gould rescue Brolin in the desert from government asassins.

Definately one of my favorite movies. It may be controversial, but it still packs a whallop and delivers the goods. It would have been great if James Brolin had done more movies instead of television. He truly showed the audience that he could do movies.

Interesting side note, watch the ending of the film, and you'll suddenly realize that both Brolin and Gould have something in common. Gould is Barbara Streisand's ex-husband. And Brolin is currently Barbara's new husband. Coincidence? I'll let you decide.

Good plot about our own government attempting to hoax the world with a staged manned space flight to Mars. The film keeps us in our seats with moving action and suspense as the three astronauts attempt to escape their captors and reveal to the world what was really going on. A rare acting appearance by O. J. Simpson is featured in this movie.

Although it is flawed to a degree by somewhat incoherent plotting, and dialogue that doesn't always work, CAPRICORN ONE is nevertheless still a well-made post-Watergate conspiracy film with a space-age theme to it. In this film, three astronauts (Sam Waterston, James Brolin, O.J. Simpson) are about to blast off on a mission to Mars, when, for no explicable reason, they are yanked off the craft by the head of NASA (Hal Holbrook). They are merely told by Holbrook that there is a flaw with their craft, but that, in order to keep NASA's reputation afloat, they will be asked to fake the whole Mars mission on Capricorn One for the length of the predicted duration from a deserted base in the desert. They do this; but when the real spacecraft loses its heat shield upon re-entry to Earth, the world thinks that the men are dead.

Worst of all, of course, Holbrook wants to make sure that they stay that way--Dead. The end result is pandemonium, as Simpson, Waterston, and Brolin recognize the gravity of their situation and plot their escape.

Peter Hyams, who was to later helm the excellent "2010" and the underrated OUTLAND, wrote and directed CAPRICORN ONE; and while he doesn't have complete control on some of the supporting actors or their dialogue, when he keeps the focus on the astronauts and Holbrook's plans for eliminating them, the film moves along at a fairly steady pace. Simpson and Waterston are quite good in their roles, but it is Brolin that does some of the stand-out work; and Elliot Gould is the crusading journalist out to unravel the conspiracy and perhaps save a life or two, with the help of a crop-duster (Telly Savalas).

An interesting sidebar in CAPRICORN ONE is one where Brolin breaks into a deserted gas station and breaks open a Coke machine for change to make a potential life-saving phone call. Any sharp-minded film buff will notice this to be Hyams' witty homage to a similar scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 masterpiece DR. STRANGELOVE (and, of course, his later "2010" was the sequel to Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY).

Boosted by fairly good special effects and Jerry Goldsmith's music score, CAPRICORN ONE is sometimes forgotten because of its shortcomings, but it now seems to have developed a much-deserved cult following in its wake.

I saw this movie back in 1978 at my local Drive In Movie Theatre with my girlfriend at the time, Cheryl. Cheryl wanted to get into the back seat but I was enjoying this movie too much. It concerns a group of three astronauts who are forced to fake a landing on Mars and then they are on the run in the desert. This movie stars the HOT Brenda Vaccaro and the equally beautiful Karen Black who both give fine performances.This movie has become something of a Cult Classic in recent years and deservedly so. It was not that often that a movie could make me neglect the ever so seductive charms of Cheryl!!!