X
- 1978
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 3 m
- 1978
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 3 m
Summary A NASA Mars mission won't work, and its funding is endangered, so they decide to fake it just this once. But then they have to keep the secret.
Directed By: Peter Hyams
Written By: Peter Hyams
- 1978
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 3 m
- 1978
- PG
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 3 m
Capricorn One
38
5.4
Where to Watch
Summary A NASA Mars mission won't work, and its funding is endangered, so they decide to fake it just this once. But then they have to keep the secret.
Directed By: Peter Hyams
Written By: Peter Hyams
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
38
25% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
38% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
38
25% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
38% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Shadowy political trickery is one thing, fabricating an entire NASA mission is near impossible to credit. Get over that and it’s a whole lot of fun watching Hal Halbrook’s — who played supergrass Deep Throat in All The President’s Men — wicked scheming unravel thanks to the gutsy work of Elliot Gould’s tatty hack.
An enjoyably preposterous thriller. [13 Oct 2008, p.E6]
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
5.4
44% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
5.4
44% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
38% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
I bet the reviews for this film have been scrubbed. I think it's a great film, with a great script (albeit with a few minor plot holes), amazing humour and incredible scenes that you don't even see as convincingly in modern Hollywood. Telly Savalas just steals the show at the end.
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I love this film, it’s one of the all-time great 70s movies if you like science fiction and / or conspiracy theory films this is the ultimate. The script is sharp and witty and sparkles 50 years later, cast and characterisations are concise and strong, Every single cast member are brilliant in this movie. Even OJ. I love his ‘birds’ scene. Try and get a good copy and watch this it’s such an interesting film. The cinematography and editing are sublime - this movie has really stood the test of time and still feels fresh and exciting. Ignore all the critics and watch this film. 38? That’s just wrong. Fascinating that this movie seems to have received such poor professional reviews at the time and hasn’t got any user reviews on Metacritic after all these years. Watch and enjoy.
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Overlong but interesting thriller.
Capricorn One begins with a workable, if cynical cinematic premise: the first manned space flight to Mars was a hoax and the American public was fooled through Hollywood gimmickry into believing that the phony landing happened. But after establishing the concept, Peter Hyams' script asks another audience - the one in the theatre - to accept something far more illogical, the uncovering of the hoax by reporter Elliott Gould...In general, it is a script of conveniences.
The premise of Capricorn One is so intrinsically arresting that it almost saves the film from the sheer incompetence of its script...Pretty soon the project gets bogged down in innumerable difficulties, not helped by the awfulness of most of the dialogue. The climactic introduction of Telly Savalas in a crop-dusting plane must rank as one of the most desperate measures to save a thriller since William Castle hung luminous skeletons from the cinema roof.
Since we've lost our innocence, our "fun" movies have to be smarter than they used to be. Now that we're so much better informed and more miserable than we were a generation ago, dumbness is no longer charming for its own sake. But CAPRICORN ONE is just too dumb to be fun. We know too much about space shots, astronauts and moonwalks to swallow the dopey implausibility with which writer-director Peter Hyams tells his story of how sinister forces fake the first manned landing on Mars... But Brolin, Waterston and Simpson are just jump-suited dummies. O.J. displays more style, wit and grace in a one-minute Hertz commercial than he's allowed to show in this entire flick. [19 June 1978, p.75]
An expensive stylistically bankrupt suspense melodrama.
An interesting thriller that handles a conspiracy theory well. The story is about the first crewed mission to Mars by NASA. Shortly before the lift off the 3 astronauts were removed and brought to a military base in a far off desert. There they were informed that the mission could never succeed because of technical problems and this would practically destroy NASAs founding. They will fake the whole trip and want their support. If they don't agree to help their wife's aka families will pay the price (Their wife's are currently on a plane that will have an accident). I stop here to avoid anything more than the set up but lets say not everything will go as planned. This is an entertaining popcorn movie. I was immersed from start to finish and don't know why this movie is rated so low. I even though of giving a 10/10 to increase the too low rating but this feels forced. The actors fully deliver their roles and I don't see a serious mistake. The sets and effects were good for the time and budget. I like especially the sets for the fake Mars landing. Might not be a masterpiece but is definitely worth watching and remembering. Overall I give an 8/10 and recommendation. It is worth owing even on DVD and I would rewatch it. Bonus knowledge: There is the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was faked and filmed in a studio (in some versions even in Area 51 ;-). The Mythbusters make a really good episode debunking a lot of arguments. My main argument that it was not faked is Russia. They would never let a chance like this to humiliate the USA pass. They had the spy power as they even got the nuclear weapon secrets from the USA without any problems.
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Where did America go wrong? Something strange happened in the 1970s. A country that "won" the space race using the power of science took a U-turn. Facts were passe. Myths became fashionable. Maybe man didn't walk on the Moon. Can you hear the black helicopters circling above? Forget the Kool-Aid - taste the chemtrails baby.
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Production Company
Associated General Films,
ITC Films
Release Date Jun 2, 1978
Duration 2 h 3 m
Rating PG
Tagline The most important event in our nation's history...what if it never really happened?
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 4 Nominations
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 1 Nomination
