When the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to ... Read allWhen the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.When the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.
- Awards
- 5 nominations
- Control Room Man
- (as Jim Sikking)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDespite being portrayed as a villain, NASA provided technical assistance, including mock-up spacecraft, sets, vehicles, front screen projection expertise.
- GoofsAstronauts going on an extended mission would have had short haircuts at the beginning of the mission, since there are no barbers in space. Their hair is exactly the same from the start of the mission until the end of the mission; an elapsed time of eight months.
- Quotes
Robert Caulfield: Mr Albaine, how much do you charge to dust a field?
Albain: Twenty five dollars.
Robert Caulfield: I'd like to hire your plane.
Albain: That'll be a hundred dollars.
Robert Caulfield: You said you charged twenty five?
Albain: Twenty five dollars to dust a field, but you ain't got no field because you ain't no farmer, which means you ain't poor and I think you're a pervert!
Robert Caulfield: Okay, one hundred.
Albain: One hundred and twenty five.
Robert Caulfield: What?
Albain: Because you said yes to a hundred too quick, which means you can afford a hundred and twenty five.
- Alternate versionsOriginally released in Japan in a longer (129 min) version which featured alternate and extended scenes (including an additional scenes showing the docking of the spaceship during the Mars landing sequence). This version was unavailable for decades and considered lost, until a copy was discovered in the National Film Archive of Japan and was finally released on Blu-ray in Japan in 2019.
- ConnectionsEdited into Magnum, P.I.: Two Birds of a Feather (1983)
The film opens with a blacked out screen with a man introducing the mission launch to gathering (unseen) journalists. This is a solid start and it continues in an aborted launch that immediately sets up a premise that is so simple and so effective that it promises a great film to come. However from the moment the astronauts escape the film has already taken a real dip from the good start. What spoils it is the writing; the start gives it the foundation to build on but it doesn't manage to build very much at all. Things happen but there is no consistent tension or excitement to speak of the astronauts are forced into one-off moments of danger but that's about it; this leaves Caulfield as the main thread which, while enjoyable, still doesn't manage to cut it. The film should have been tighter, with a deeper conspiracy, a tangible threat and a real sense of it being a race against time but it doesn't manage it. It still remains interesting and watchable but the word 'thriller' is not one that I would pick.
The film ends in a stronger final 20 minutes where we get a helicopter chase and some well shot scenes with a crop duster but even these are filled with the same lack of logic that the middle section of the film suffers from. Sadly even an exciting conclusion gives way to a rubbish final shot of slow-mo sentiment. The cast are part of the reason that the film is watchable as they are quite good even if the material lets many of them down. Gould is always watchable even though his section should have been much more dramatic. Of the astronauts, Brolin is OK, Waterson has an average character and Simpson is wisely given little opportunity to flex his acting muscles. Holbrook starts with a good sense of conspiratorial menace but the film practically forgets he is there and he just slips away. Black is wasted and she doesn't even look like she wants to be there, but the presence of Huddleston is always welcome. Savalas is good value even if he seems to have walked in from another film but he is good fun and breathes quite a lot of life back into what was becoming a rather stale affair.
Overall this is watchable and quite enjoyable but it is frustrating to see the potential of the premise wasted. The opening 30 minutes is great and sets up a tense film that is sadly never forthcoming. The majority of the film after the rocket is destroyed goes gradually downhill as logic fails and it totally fails to ratchet up the tension in the manner it really should have. Watchable but it should have been loads better I'm not a remake fan per se, but surely somebody can remake this film and make good on the potential.
- bob the moo
- Jul 19, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Unternehmen Capricorn
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $402
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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