I like space films and consider the Moon Landing to be arguably the greatest achievement in human history, which makes "Countdown" especially disappointing, for it's awfully dull. Although rightly derided for its lackluster acting and story, even "Destination Moon" (1950), Hollywood's prior moonshot, managed more awe, suspense and thematic intrigue while remaining true to scientific realism. Perhaps, part of the problem is young Robert Altman's attempts at human realism, as well as the scientific sort, which weighs the picture down in numerous conversations and squabbles between characters of little to no interest, as well as the director's characteristic overlapping dialogue and lingering long shots. Plus, the studio reportedly interfered with this one a lot. The score is especially distracting early on due to its punctuating scenes where nothing dramatic is happening. Even as the space race against time heats up, as this NASA desperately tries to catch up and beat the Soviets to landing a man on the Moon, the dramatic flow remains stalled and the tension lackluster. "Countdown," however, does benefit in production values from access to actual NASA facilities and is a historical curiosity for being released shortly before Apollo 11.
This may have worked better had the filmmakers taken their cue from the "pilgrim" code name, in the sense that John Wayne used it, for their Moon mission within the film to make more of a space Western. I'm not saying it should've been fantastic like "Star Wars" (1977), but there are already a few elements in "Countdown" that are shared with the Western genre. James Caan and Robert Duvall's characters could just as well be competitive and reluctant partners as gunslingers as they are astronauts here--or gangsters as they would later be in "The Godfather" (1972). There's already the worrying wife to remind the brave hero of the domestic bliss he's jeopardizing for a high-noon showdown with the Russians. There's the cosmic sense of Manifest Destiny. And the odd Moon sequence in "Countdown" already looks like a guy wandering through a desert more than an actual moonwalk. As a political thriller, "Countdown" fails; as a Western, it had promise.
This may have worked better had the filmmakers taken their cue from the "pilgrim" code name, in the sense that John Wayne used it, for their Moon mission within the film to make more of a space Western. I'm not saying it should've been fantastic like "Star Wars" (1977), but there are already a few elements in "Countdown" that are shared with the Western genre. James Caan and Robert Duvall's characters could just as well be competitive and reluctant partners as gunslingers as they are astronauts here--or gangsters as they would later be in "The Godfather" (1972). There's already the worrying wife to remind the brave hero of the domestic bliss he's jeopardizing for a high-noon showdown with the Russians. There's the cosmic sense of Manifest Destiny. And the odd Moon sequence in "Countdown" already looks like a guy wandering through a desert more than an actual moonwalk. As a political thriller, "Countdown" fails; as a Western, it had promise.