Customer Reviews

Countdown

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Countdown has been a long time favourite of mine - and like Marooned or the BBC series Moonbase 3 - one of the few attempts to present a realistic portrayal not only of the actual mechanics of space flight, but its politics as well. I've waited for Countdown to appear on DVD for years, and finally thanks to the Warner Brothers Archive imprint, it has finally happened. The menus are basic but perfectly functional, and the quality of the amamorphic widescreen transfer is well up to standard. All I hope is that this is a sign of things to come and that other studios begin to offer other titles which are wanted but not in sufficient numbers to justify a full scale DVD realise to market.

Seeing this movie as we are, far from era it was made in, makes for quite hokey fun for a few reasons. It's a great encapsulation of that era illustrating the fashions, modern architecture, modes of thinking, scientific fervor, (great cocktail parties!), and the roles of men and women at that time. In other words, everyone was young, smart, modern, knew their place in the world, and we were going to the moon! The script is kind of hard to follow at times, and the rivalry between the two main charactors gets kind of goofy in places, but the overlapping dialog in many of the conflicts makes the script at least seem earnest. The special effects are OK, but they forgot to film one part on the moon in slow-mo to make the gravity seem accurate--looks dopey. All in all, for those who like movies that are fictional time capsules of the Space Age, I believe you'll find this movie fun to watch.

I think this movie is a precursor to several popular historical and realistic NASA based movies such as Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, and Marooned. It has the feel of the times in the 1960's during the build up to the first landing on the moon. The plot is somewhat dated and fictional but the interaction of the characters, the settings and locations, as well as the overall "feel" is realistic. It did come out in 1968 so it was made during the time when NASA was racing to meet President Kennedy's vision. The movie has some big names including Robert Altman the director, stars James Caan, and Robert Duvall. It also starred William Conrad, Barbara Baxley, and Ted Night and other familiar faces.

When is this coming out on DVD?

Many thanks to Warner Brothers for releasing these older and perhaps obscure movies in limited or on-demand DVD-R releases. I now have several of these films now which would otherwise not have been released. As someone who has been a video junkie since the late 70's and spent a small fortune on the pursuit of higher and higher quality copies of film and television materials, twenty or so dollars to purchase a near perfect quality dvd is one of the few modern miracles out there. For anybody sitting on the fence wondering about these relaeses, go for it! Thanks again!

Countdown, an early directorial effort by the legendary Robert Altman, is a solid little adventure story that is much better than most critics would have you believe. Top billed Robert Duvall and James Caan are astronauts preparing for a flight to the moon. They must deal with intense training, the inherent hazards of the mission and the concerns of their families. The plot is a familiar one and the attendant melodrama is old hat, yet this film, by virtue of its visual appeal and deliberate pacing, manages to build quite a head of steam before the final fadeout. Altman uses the panavision screen effectively, and the special effects are good for their time. Look for many familiar faces in the cast, including Ted Knight and Charles Aidman.

Probably one of Robert Altman's least known film. Two years before Armstrong set foot on the moon Altman made this wonderful movie. It is not filled with special effects -- though the sequence on the moon is really terrific. It is a human story with fine performances by Caan, Duvall. These are people you care about and are drawn into the story. Caan finding the dead Russian crew is an effective moment. This is a Warner Archives DVD-R so you don't any extras beyond the trailer. Still a good addition to anyone who loves Science Fiction movies.

This early feature by Robert Altman (who had been doing strong work on TV for 10 years) is a mostly good, solid, well acted (especially by Robert Duvall and James Caan) story of behind the scenes politics among astronauts as we raced Russia to the moon.

It gets a little soapy at times, some of the politics and science seem a little cheated, and a few key incidents are too convenient or co-incidental. Production values, especially the special effects, are pretty weak. And Caan's astronaut is a little too open with his fears to be completely believed as a man in his position, at that time. The macho 'right stuff' idea was till very much in effect.

On the other hand it's impressive that in 1969 someone made a space movie focusing on complex emotions and human behavior, not technology. The climax is a bit `Hollywood', although at least a little more bittersweet than usual, if predictable (and a cheat). The small roles are well cast and played. Not recognizably an Altman film, but shows real talent, and is definitely worth seeing, especially if you're interested in the arc of Altman's career.

I'm very glad Warners is making some of these catalogue titles available, and the transfer was of nice quality, although the prices are unfortunately high for medium profile older films. I'll get them, since I'm a film fan, but with these titles also generally not being for rent, most people will miss out on them entirely.

I remember having a comic book based on this movie, but, I never got to see it when it was released.
Its been a long wait to see this movie, but, it was worth it. If you want to see an alternate story of the race to the moon, then this is the movie for you.

I agree with everything that's been said, and I'd also look to mention the completely lack of conflict within the movie. It's amazing, there's almost nothing to work against, and very little tension. Maybe it's because we know now that space flight was possible, but it's still amazing to see a movie about the moon landing where the plotline is: We wanted to go the moon, we trained to go the moon, and then we landed on the moon. There's about five minutes there where it looks like James Caan isn't going to find the docking station on the moon and die from a lack of oxygen...but then he turns around, and oh yeah! There it is! Just behind me.

Totally different style, but the only other movie I can think of like this is "Payback," where Mel Gibson just kind of walks in and starts kicking .... He never gets capture, never gets put in trouble, just kinda shoots his way through to the final boss.

I wonder if the simplistic linearity of this film was created by the studio's re-edit of the film, or if that's largely true to Altman's idea? During the last five minutes of the film, as the character announces that he has five minutes of oxygen left and doesn't see the docking station, I thought it was going to be an Altmanesque last-minutes-to-live-final-soliloquy ending. But no. The space station was there all along. All you had to do with click your heels together, three times...

THIS FILM IS NOT WORTH WATCHING FOR ENTERTAINMENT,BUT WELL WORTH WATCHING FOR IT'S TERRIFIC SPECIAL EFFECTS.IT'S A FICTIONALIZED STORY ABOUT THE FIRST AMERICAN LANDING ON THE MOON.THIS IS ONE OF ROBERT ALTMAN'S EARLIEST FILMS.