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)
In Capricorn One, the head of the U.S. Government space agency (a fictional NASA) learns that a planned mission to Mars cannot be accomplished. So, to keep government funding, he decides to stage the mission on a studio set , and will go to all extremes, including murder, to protect the secret. One of the technicians suspects that something isn't quite right with his readings, and tells his bosses about it. Shortly thereafter, he disappears. The tech's close friend, a reporter, probes his friend's mysterious disappearance, meeting intrigue and danger along the way. (Funny how only one "lowly" technician was able to figure it out!)
There are too many holes in the various "moon hoax" theories (there are several different theories, having in common only that they all say NASA fabricated the Apollo missions) to mention here. Capricorn One illustrates one of these holes, in that a very few people were able to fool the entire world, including the Soviets, who would have screamed bloody murder to the world had they even suspected such a hoax. On even a strictly need-to-know basis, at least hundreds would have to be on the inside, and many others participating in the mission, including the "lowly" technicians, would be able to figure out that something was amiss. Also, in Capricorn One, the astronauts were prepared to spill the beans to the world. Why haven't we heard "the truth" from moon hoax insiders?
It's a fun movie to watch, despite some bad writing and dialogue. Just sit back, have some popcorn, and don't take it too seriously
- joposa
- Apr 22, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
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- Also known as
- Unternehmen Capricorn
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- 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