Hangar 18 (1980)

After a UFO crashes in Arizona, due to a space collision with a NASA satellite launch, the U.S. government tries to cover-up the incident for political reasons.

Director:

James L. Conway

Writers:

Ken Pettus (screenplay) (as Steven Thornley), Thomas C. Chapman (story) (as Tom Chapman)

Stars:

Darren McGavin, Robert Vaughn, Gary Collins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Collins	...	Steve Bancroft
Robert Vaughn	...	Gordon Cain
James Hampton	...	Lew Price
Philip Abbott	...	Frank Morrison
Joseph Campanella	...	Frank Lafferty
Pamela Bellwood	...	Sarah Michaels
Tom Hallick	...	Phil Cameron
Steven Keats	...	Paul Bannister
William Schallert	...	Professor Mills
Darren McGavin	...	Harry Forbes
Cliff Osmond	...	Sheriff Barlow
Andrew Bloch	...	Neal Kelso
Stuart Pankin	...	Sam Tate
Betty Ann Carr	...	Flo Mattson
H.M. Wynant	...	Flight Director

Storyline

Shortly after the launch of a satellite from a space shuttle the satellite collides with a UFO in front of the crew's eyes. Because of an election campaign some politicians try to hide the crashed UFO -- inside hangar 18.

---

Plot Keywords:

arizona desert | desert | arizona | spaceship | astronaut | 

---

Taglines:

It started with an accident in space...

---

Genres:

Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film's story the location of the top-secret "Hangar 18" was the Wolf Air Force Base in Texas, USA.

---

Goofs

To cover up the UFO landing, Cain and Lafferty decide to discredit Steve and Lew publicly, then just "keep an eye on them." They do not take Steve and Lew into custody, sequester them, or put any kind of pressure on them not to make waves, even after Steve and Lew indirectly cause the deaths of two government agents. This seems to be the worst possible way to cover up a story, as it all but guarantees the two heroes will make trouble.

---

Quotes

Frank Morrison: There are airplane crashes every day. Even at military bases.

---

Alternate Versions

Aired on TV under the title _Invasion Force (1980)_, with a different ending.

---

Connections

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

User Reviews

Politics and UFOs make VERY uneasy bedfellows

It is common to bash this 1980 sci-fi/conspiracy movie for its admittedly not-top-notch special effects and pretty much everything else; the limited budget has a lot to do with it. But with the exception of the 1978 film CAPRICORN ONE, nobody else was trying to mix the two elements (sci-fi and conspiracy) together for the big screen. In essence, HANGAR 18 can indeed be said to presage "The X Files" by a decade and a half.

The film begins with two astronauts (Collins, Hampton) encountering a UFO in orbit while launching a military satellite. The satellite collides with the UFO, causing an explosion and killing a third astronaut in the cargo bay who had been watching the satellite's progress. But the UFO makes a surprisingly controlled landing in the Arizona desert, thus necessitating its quick removal and forcing the president's chief of staff (Vaughn, an absolutely steely performance) to concoct a cover story to avoid serious damage to his boss's chances for re-election.

Naturally, both Collins and Hampton are fingered by Vaughn and his staff for blame in the incident. This forces them to gather hard evidence to clear themselves, but it also means that they'll be pursued by government agents the entire way. Meanwhile, at Hangar 18, located at an air force base in Texas, a team of scientists, led by McGavin, are learning everything they possibly can about the UFO and its alien occupants. What they find about those aliens is how uncannily similar they are to humans.

Despite the film's technical imperfections, HANGAR 18 is still a pretty good and speculative science fiction film from Sunn Pictures, the same Utah-based film company that was known for making speculative documentaries during the 70s and early 80s. McGavin is at his usual best, as he was in the 1972 TV film THE NIGHT STALKER. In terms of plot, HANGAR 18 seems to use Watergate as a starting point and then mixes in elements of Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. And although it is hardly on a level with those two great movies, it nevertheless works because of the approach it takes to the debate not only over UFOs in our present day but also the possibility that visitors from another world have visited Earth before.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1981 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Hangar 18

Filming Locations:

Pyote, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunn Classic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Glen Glenn Sound)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1