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55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"we have negative retrofire", July 5, 2004
Three astronauts, already debilitated after five months in the Saturn Orbital Laboratory space station, are stranded in their return vehicle, when the engines fail to fire up. The film consists of the efforts to rescue them, the air that is measured out by the minute, the tensions that arise between the astronauts in the small capsule, and their wives, who bravely try to cope. The plot could get predictable were it not for the taut, plausible script, the well-paced direction by John Sturges, the marvelous acting, and the sound. This is the only film I can remember seeing that has no musical soundtrack, just gripping sound effects that add so much to the tension. Even after repeated viewings, this film has an edginess, and it owes much of it to its imaginative use of sound. Gregory Peck puts in another stellar performance as Chief of Manned Space Charles Keith, who is strong, decisive, and thoughtful; the conversation he has with the stranded crew about oxygen is memorable, and as the commander, Richard Crenna is terrific, and Gene Hackman, an astronaut with a high strung temperament, and James Franciscus are also excellent, as are their wives, Lee Grant, Mariette Hartley and Nancy Kovak, and David Janssen, as a fourth astronaut. Four months and 2 days after this film was released, Apollo 13 was plagued with its problems, and went through a similar scenario; for those who believe in the powers of the mind, some could argue it was predictive, and others say life imitated art...at any rate, the coincidence is interesting, and one imagines that either the Apollo 13 crew or their families might have seen this film before their mission, and pondered the possibilities.
This film is classified as "sci-fi", though in spirit it is perhaps closer to the disaster films that would become so popular in the '70s. Panned by many critics, it is still alive and breathing well after all these years and the special effects, which won the film an Oscar, retain their freshness and are excellent. It received nominations for Best Cinematography (Daniel Fapp) and Best Sound.
Total running time is 134 minutes.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Film, But An Even Better Prognosticator, January 30, 2002
Though not an unflawed work like Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was, the 1969 sci-fi drama MAROONED manages to overcome its obvious flaws. The film concerns itself with the crew of Ironman One who, after having spent seven months in a converted Apollo capsule (a precursor to Skylab and the international space station) to test Man's endurance in space, find themselves trapped in their capsule some 300 miles above Earth when the craft's retro-rockets refuse to fire. This forces NASA to try and mount a last-ditch rescue effort before the oxygen inside Ironman gives out and the crew suffocate. Complications involve having to launch the rescue craft through the eye of a hurricane passing over the Florida launch site, but the rescue pilot (David Janssen) gets some unexpected help from a Russian cosmonaut orbiting in a nearby Voshkod spacecraft. MAROONED is, as I've said, not an unflawed film. The dialogue that the fine cast, which includes Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, and Gene Hackman, has to deal with is arguably quite banal. Another complication that arises is that the film's director, John Sturges, was better known for his work in the western genre (including THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN) and was thus not totally comfortable in the sci-fi genre. The third problem is that the special effects, which won a justly deserved Oscar in 1969, are obviously dated in ways in which those of "2001" aren't. As a pre-cursor of things to come, however, MAROONED is unbelievably prescient. The film was released in December 1969. Four months later, in April 1970, the film's situation was echoed almost directly by the real-life saga of Apollo 13, whose three-man crew was almost stranded permanently in space when one of their oxygen tanks exploded on their way to the Moon. And like the 1995 film APOLLO 13, MAROONED shows NASA trying to come up with the right solutions to a very difficult situation. On that score alone, even though thirty years of cinematic advancements have rendered it dated to a certain degree, MAROONED still has considerable weight to it.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More science fact than science fiction, but just as good, October 10, 2000
Aside form Ice Station Zebra, director John Stuges brings Martin Caidin's classic novel of a joined resucue mission by NASA and the Russina Space program with excellent precision and accuracy. Most of all, the late director stays true to Caidin's work. Not only does the movie have award-winning special effects, a good, solid plot, excellent actors and actresses, it also stays true to what NASA would do in a situation like this. The film centers around the crew of the Apollo spacecraft IRONMAN 1, and how they are starnded in Earth orbit. While NASA and the Russians prepare a joint rescue operation, the astronauts learn that one or two of them must sacrifice themselves because of their limited oxygen supply. From that point on, it is a race against time to rescue the astronauts from a slow death. Another cool thing about this movie was the actually filming in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the stock footage of the Apollo 11 mission taking off from the launch pad. It really captures the era it was set in. Marooned is an excellent film. More science fact than science fiction. If you are a follower of the space program, then you might want to consider checking this film out. It's worth watching.
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