Unternehmen Capricorn (1977)

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.

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writer:

Peter Hyams

Stars:

Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elliott Gould	...	Robert Caulfield
James Brolin	...	Charles Brubaker
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Kay Brubaker
Sam Waterston	...	Peter Willis
O.J. Simpson	...	John Walker
Hal Holbrook	...	Dr. James Kelloway
Karen Black	...	Judy Drinkwater
Telly Savalas	...	Albain
David Huddleston	...	Hollis Peaker
David Doyle	...	Walter Loughlin
Lee Bryant	...	Sharon Willis
Denise Nicholas	...	Betty Walker
Robert Walden	...	Elliot Whitter
James Sikking	...	Control Room Man (as Jim Sikking)
Alan Fudge	...	Capsule Communicator

Storyline

Charles Brubaker is the astronaut leading NASA's first manned mission to Mars. Seconds before the launch, the entire team is pulled from the capsule and the rocket leaves earth unmanned much to Brubaker's anger. The head of the programme explains that the life support system was faulty and that NASA can't afford the publicity of a scratched mission. The plan is to fake the Mars landing and keep the astronauts at a remote base until the mission is over, but then investigative journalist Robert Caulfield starts to suspect something.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to moon landing conspiracy | jet | car | biplane | rattlesnake | 

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Taglines:

The most important event in our nation's history...what if it never really happened?

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

12

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1978 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Unternehmen Capricorn

Filming Locations:

Titan Missile Museum - 1580 W. Duval Mine Road, Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated General Films, ITC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min 130 min (original)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Barbra Streisand's two husbands, Elliott Gould and James Brolin, both star in this movie.

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Goofs

For much of the flight, and in particular during the launch when the astronauts have not yet been informed of the deception, we're told their voices from the spacecraft are simulated by recordings that were made during the practice simulations. This trick would stop working as soon as anything was said to them requiring a reply that had not occurred in the simulations, or as soon as they had any quiet time and would naturally be expected to chat about their present experience.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in La prima Luna (2009)

User Reviews

The Mars Hoax

This movie is indeed a noteworthy sci-fi/conspiracy flick, even after all these years.

Unmistakeably based on the real-life "moon hoax" pseudo-conspiracy, it takes the issue one step further and explores just how far your government might go to cover up its own incapacity and silence everyone who gets in its way (Ironically enough for that matter, the moon landings are portrayed in this movie as a non-hoax and really did take place).

When three would-be Mars astronauts are secretly pulled out of their capsule just minutes before liftoff due to a malfunctioning life support system that would have meant certain death, they are quickly transferred to an abandoned air force base out in the desert. Upon arrival, they are told that they'll have to play make-believe using the facility's very own "Mars" sound stage. It's got everything in place to fool the public about an actual Mars landing. Things go somewhat well and although the astronauts really begin to resent the big swindle they were drawn into, nobody really notices. That is, until their real-life landing capsule disintegrates while re-entering the earth's atmosphere. They figure that now that they're all supposed to be dead, the government will have them killed for real....

So much for the plot, the rest is yours to find out about. Definitely worth watching. One thing though, try to watch it in widescreen - somehow they showed the 4:3 full-frame version on TV here, which was a major drawback considering the movie's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

8 out of 10!