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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Now there's something you don't see everyday, October 3, 2000
This review is from: The Groundstar Conspiracy (DVD)
A good film, Peppard as Tuxan in a role that would resemble the best (and worst) of 2 of his roles on TV (Thomas Banacek that year, and Hannibal Smith of The A Team, 10 years later). The ending is that of a classic suspense film. The DVD version by the way is cheaper than most stores are offering the VHS copy (if you can find it) so get it while you can. Note: Christine Belford, the woman down the road who falls for Sarazin also starred in Banacek, coincidence?
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hardly stellar..., November 23, 2003
This review is from: The Groundstar Conspiracy (DVD)
"Groundstar" is a top-secret government space project, whose security has been breached, by Welles, one of its employees (Michael Sarrazin). Escaping the facility with secret information, the man is severely injured, and when captured has no memory of who he is. George Peppard is Tuxan, a hardened, single minded, government investigator in search of answers. Nicole (Christine Belford) is a bystander drawn into the situation, as Tuxan attempts to unlock the secrets within Welles's mind. The film has a made for TV look and feel, with a plot that is not really original, or particularly credible. The script doesn't contain much action, or well-written dialog. The atmosphere of big brother government is pervasive. Tuxan, who routinely travels in a helicopter, is full of bluster, and attempts to orchestrate much of the action, yet doesn't actually do much that is impressive. The resolution to the story is rather unsatisfying, and implausible. Unless you enjoy heavy-handed government tactics, you can skip this drama. Groundstar was released while Peppard was doing the TV show Banacek. Fans of that program, should be prepared for quite different type of character. The same applies to Christine Belford, who also had a reoccurring role on Banacek. There are no warm scenes with witty conversation between them. Michael Sarrazin has the most challenging role, and his performance while serviceable, is hampered by having to deliver some very bad lines.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Peculiar hybrid of A-movie and B-movie elements, June 20, 2010
The Groundstar Conspiracy is a peculiar hybrid of A-movie plot, effects and suspense and B-movie acting, music and occasionally editing. The story is intriguingly complicated (close to being far-fetched, but nevertheless): the twist and turns never cease to amaze the viewer. The same thing goes for the execution of the action scenes (great pyrotechnics during the opening scene) and the setting, with its fine locations (sci-fi-style research institute, villa near the beach, harbour area, helicopter views of the surroundings). All this together breathes quality and manages to secure and retain the viewer's attention right till the end (where I was wrong-footed for one moment, until ...). Unfortunately, some of the interesting action scenes are edited so tightly you've almost missed them while blinking your eyes. The crucial blast that sets off the whole affair is over before you realized what you've been looking at (mixing it with the opening credits doesn't help either), similar to the scene in which the intruder in the clinic is pursued and killed (again, before you've even had the time to realize what has happened). There are some minor examples of such overhasty editing too (the accident in the ambulance, the capture of Welles' (Michael Sarrazin) kidnappers preceded by Welles' escape). Another nagging point is the music used in this film: true, it is varied, but some of it is somewhat exaggerated and cheap because of that. This is true to some point of the music used during the romantic interlude between Welles and Nicole (Christine Belford), but mainly of the odd sci-fi music including beeping sounds etc. It tends to draw too much undeserved attention to itself, making the events on the screen seem less serious than they are (I remember similar music being used in The Anderson Tapes). A last critical remark I would like to make is about the style of acting. It appeared to me (especially in the beginning) that the actors tended to sort of rattle off their lines, without making it sound all too convincing. Towards the end, this seemed to improve. Perhaps I just had to get used to them (Peppard is a very good actor, after all). As to the scenes between Welles and Nicole, I had some initial doubts too: I felt she confided in a total stranger far too easily. This seeming rather unrealistic, I drew up the theory she was part of some sort of a setup. When it turned out she was not, I began to appreciate her relevance to the plot anyway, considering she was the one who helped Welles on the way to recover his memory. The Groundstar Conspiracy is an amusing suspense thriller with some flaws, but it is definitely entertaining enough to please the viewer.
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