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Capricorn One (1978)
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 10:27 am    Post subject: Capricorn One (1978) Reply with quote

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____________________ Capricorn One Trailer


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This film enables all those conspiracy theories about the moon landing being faked. During a TV airing on TCM, host Robert Osborne was joined by guest Buzz Aldrin, who pointed out that though the film's plot was about a faked trip to Mars, it was obviously hinting to everyone about those theories of faked moon trips in '69, '71 and '72. Some people are, understandably, still annoyed at such suggestions, Aldrin included.



The film always came across to me as a fast-paced thriller, even stylish in places (the use of the prototypical black helicopters), with a large cast of well-known, fine actors and a slight sci-fi angle (in the story, we are almost — not quite — able to send a manned flight to Mars). Most of all, it's a thriller — the kind about chases and sinister agents. We shouldn't take it too seriously.



The 3 astronauts (pictured above) are played by Sam Waterston, James Brolin and O.J. Simpson. The head of NASA is played by Hal Holbrook. He has concocted an elaborate scheme to present a staged trip to and landing on Mars because the life support system for the mission was found to be faulty 2 months before the scheduled trip.

Holbrook's character believes that the space program will be scrapped if the mission is canceled; so, a secret set is set up in the middle of a desert somewhere; the astronauts are spirited away from their capsule just before launch and taken to this 'does-not-exist' stage.



Elliott Gould shows up at the half-hour mark and becomes the main character for most of the rest of the film. He's an old-school reporter who stumbles onto this conspiracy by chance.

He's pretty amusing, for the most part. Brenda Vaccaro plays Brolin's wife / sort-of widow. Karen Black pops up as another smart-ass reporter — she and Gould have a crackling relationship. Telly Savalas shows up near the end as a real smart-ass crop-duster pilot who really likes the word "pervert."

Another glitch in this whole plan (there seems to be a lot of these) is that the heat shield for the capsule fails on re-entry, and this means the astronauts are dead. Therefore the astronauts need to . . . get away, get away! Good luck with that, fellas — you're in the middle of the desert and the black helicopters are on their way!



When this film first came out, it outraged a lot of people — those in favor of a legitimate space program and those who frown on talk about a fabricated moon landing by a corrupt space agency.

Sci-fi writer David Gerrold took the film to task in his column for Starlog in that mag's 20th issue (March, 1979). Gerrold pointed out a few flaws in the film, examples of a lazy approach, such as no faked time delay when the astronauts are talking to Earth from their capsule on 'Mars' — he labeled this as "anti-science," with the whole theme belittling our highest aspirations.

It does point to the contradictions of the Hal Holbrook character, a big dreamer who indulges in the most cynical, dastardly and immoral steps to address his problems.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


ABOVE: What, no time delay? Bogus! It's a conspiracy!



BoG
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

The premise of this movie is seriously misguided. A fake mission to Mars is conducted after NASA discovers a flaw in the life support system, two months before the launch. They commit this insane act because the officials "believe that the space program will be scrapped if the mission is canceled" .

That's the dumbest idea for a story I've heard in years. Rolling Eyes

And to make it really bad, the poor astronauts are blackmailed into participating in the hoax when the government threatens their families. Later, when the empty space craft is brought back to Earth and burns up during reentry, the plan to put the astronauts inside it after if splashes down is no longer possible . . . so government operatives are sent to kill the astronauts to keep them from revealing the hoax.

Dumb, dumb, dumb . . . Sad

I can't quite understand why a group of men who seem grimly determined to continue a bonafide space program would attempt to perpetuate the funding by faking a mission! The idea that the hoax wouldn't be eventually discovered is ridiculous, and when that happened, the space program would REALLY be shut down!

Here's the Starlog article by David Gerrold that Bogmeister mentioned above.

Click on the images below and zoom in on the 2,000+ pixel versions to read the clear text.


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember sci~fi author David Gerrold despised CO in an article he wrote about the film.

Don't recall all the details but one item he loathed was that the movie made NASA & their people so corrupt & evil as to perpetrate such a hoax upon the world.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I'm sure you're referring to the article I posted above, Pow. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am indeed, Bud.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Great!

Thanks! Now we can be sure nobody will miss it! Laughing

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

720p version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z9yNHIolnM
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The Spike
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:41 pm    Post subject: It's a pleasure alright, and I don't feel guilty about it Reply with quote

A NASA space mission up to Mars fails to get off the ground due to major technical problems. Fearing funding could be taken away and wishing to avoid embarrassment, the powers that be decide to do a fake landing in a studio. With the astronauts forced to pretend that they are actually up on Mars, and fighting with their own personal belief systems, the government executives in charge fear that the fake flight could come to light. Upon learning that the outside world actually thinks they crashed upon reentering the earths atmosphere, the astronauts run for their lives knowing that the government can't afford for the men to stay alive.

Capricorn One is an excellent conspiracy picture that sadly seems to have been largely forgotten. Even today we are still hearing mooted stories of the landing on the moon actually being fake, so here director and writer Peter Hyams takes it and crafts a thrillingly taut piece of work. At the films heart is Elliot Gould's (his great 70s work under valued) intrepid journalist, Robert Caulfield, after being nudged in the ribs by one of his friends at NASA, is himself under threat of death from shadowy government types who will think of nothing to offing him along with the astronauts.

The film is split into two very significant halves, the first half is the set up, the conversations before and after the fake landing are clever and crucially attention grabbing, and of course we get to know our characters with the right amount of time. The film then shifts for the second half into a quality thriller chase movie, our main protagonists pursued by the government assassins courtesy of two gun toting helicopters. Jerry Goldsmith's score brilliantly becoming part of the chase sequences, making the helicopters seem like death stalking machines operated by no man alone. We even get Telly Savalas joining us for the last quarter with a highly fun and enjoyable portrayal as a crop dusting knight in red shiny armour, and the finale positively rocks and finishes the film on the high note it promised all along. James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson, Hal Holbrook and Karen Black fill out the rest of the cast with much credit indeed.

Capricorn One, criminally undervalued, and perhaps even more sad, forgotten. 8/10

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Great review, Spike — like all of the others you've shared with us on All Sci-Fi! Very Happy

I know I'm not the only person to think of this, but while reading your post I realized that this movie has an added (and perhaps unexpected) advantage, in that it basically refutes the misguided idea that the Moon landings were faked!

How?

Simple. This movie correctly suggests that a faked space mission would be politically risky, because the "astronauts" who starred in the fake mission might someday reveal the truth.

In this movie, the perpetrators of the hoax wisely (but immorally) chose to kill off the astronauts on their fictitious mission and then kill the men who appeared in the fake videos on Mars.

So, what's my point?

If the Apollo missions had been fake, NASA foolishly left fifteen witnesses alive and well (Apollo 11 through 17), any one of whom might someday crack and reveal the hoax.

Obvious conclusion: The missions were NOT faked.

If NASA had decided to fake Apollo, it would have just faked Apollo 11, then killed the three astronauts and claimed that America beat the Russians. No further missions would be necessary (so they'd claim), and that would be the end of it.

So, even though I've criticized this movie for daring to suggest that NASA would do something do dastardly, I should have realized that Capricorn One basically vindicated NASA by demonstrating just how impossible it would be to fake six different Moon landings!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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scotpens
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
If the Apollo missions had been fake, NASA foolishly left fifteen witnesses alive and well (Apollo 11 through 17), any one of whom might someday crack and reveal the hoax.

Eighteen witnesses if you mean only the actual moon landings. If you include Apollo 8 (which orbited the moon) and Apollo 10 (in which the LM came within 9 miles of the lunar surface but didn't land), that makes 24.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scotpens wrote:
Eighteen witnesses if you mean only the actual moon landings.

Well, first of all, only 12 men actually landed on the Moon. Apollo 13 didn't, of course.

But since the conspiracy theorists seem focus on the actual landings, not the space flights that didn't land, I went with Apollo 11 through 17.

However, I included Apollo 13, even though it didn't make a lunar landing. My reasoning was that Apollo 13 would have occurred during the period when fake missions were being staged, and NASA might have faked Apollo 13 just to get all the public attention and high drama the real 13 did — which actually benefited NASA by jazzing up the faltering public interest for a while.

YouTube has the full movie. I might watch it. Very Happy


_________________ Capricorn One (1978) HD


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another reason why the Apollo Moon landings weren't faked is that there is NO WAY the Soviets wouldn't have blown the whistle on such an operation.

There is a very funny British TV sketch that points out that it would be easier to actually do a Moon landing than to fake one.

David.
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Moon Hoax Not"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_loUDS4c3Cs
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
________________________________

~ Despite being portrayed as a villain, NASA provided technical assistance, including mock-up spacecraft, sets, vehicles, front screen projection expertise.

Note from me: This surprised me. Why would NASA help this production? Confused

~ One of the stunt pilots, Frank Tallman, who flew the red stearman plane, claimed this film was the most dangerous film he'd ever flown for. He was killed in a crash soon after filming finished.

Note from me: This statement needs some elaboration. Why did Mr. Tallman fear for his safety? The next item offers more info.

~ At the time of the picture's release, Hollywood aviation expert Frank Tallman said of the film's dogfight flying finale between a bi-plane and two helicopters: "It is the most dangerous and complex aerial sequence ever executed for a movie".

Note from me: Okay, but why was Tallman "killed in a crash soon after filming finished"? (I wonder if I can find out more about this.)

~ The film's writer-director Peter Hyams had earlier responded to the Apollo 11 moon landing by saying: "There was one event of really enormous importance that had almost no witnesses. And the only verification we have . . . came from a TV camera".

Note from me: This is a puzzling statement.

Peter Hyams wrote a story about a fake NASA mission which used bogus videos transmissions to fool the public. Does his statement mean that he thinks Apollo 11 did that too? Confused

~ Jerry Goldsmith wrote the soundtrack for "Capricorn One (1977)" as well as "Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)." If you listen to the 'Insurrection' soundtrack at about 3:30-3:45 minutes, you will hear the distinct theme of 'Capricorn One'.

Note from me: Enjoy the soundtrack.



___Jerry Goldsmith - Capricorn One (Original Score)


__________



~ The snake that Charles Brubaker eats was stuffed with raw fish.

Note from me: Sushi inside a snake skin! Damn, I think I'd rather eat the snake, well cooked! Here's the recipe I found. Cool

"Heat 2 inches of oil in a medium pan until it reaches 375 degrees F. Then dredge the rattlesnake pieces in the flour. Cook the rattlesnake in the oil in batches to not overcrowd the pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pieces are golden brown."

Yummy! Very Happy

~ While the conspiracy theories about the moon landings being faked started in the mid 1970s, they gained a lot of traction after the release of this film due to the scientifically credible way the film portrays how the Mars landings in the story-line were faked.

However it is interesting that the Soviet Union and its entire space program division have been remarkably silent on the matter (when if anybody could show it was faked. it would be them!)

Also, both Chinese and Japanese unmanned probes have, since 2008, photographed the lunar surface with hi-res cameras and shown the presence of Apollo artifacts — such as hardware — at the landing sites!


Note from me: So much for the idiots who claim the Moon landings were faked! Rolling Eyes

Add to this the delightful fact that Attorney General William Barr recentlly announced that President Trump's bogus "rigged election" claims were completely baseless — which means we can all sleep better at night, knowing that idiots are not taking over the world! Cool






~ Director Peter Hyams had originally written the screenplay soon after the first moon landing in 1969 around nine years before this movie debuted in cinemas. Hyams couldn't find any backing or interest in the project. But then, after the Republican's Watergate political scandal in 1972, Hyams sold the script and got the movie into development.

Note from me: If true, this is an interesting statement. Did Hyams think Apollo 11 was faked when he first watched it, or did it just like the story idea of conspiracy, even though he knew it was fiction?

I hope the later is true, and that the concept suddenly became marketable when the public discovered that politicians — even presidents like Nixon and Trump — can be despicable liars.

Today, all intelligent Americans have learned that a president can the worst liar of them all. Sad

~ When Peter Hyams wrote and directed "Capricorn One," his inspiration came from the accusations that the Apollo Project's lunar landings were hoaxes. These have been discredited because, among other reasons, the technology that would have been necessary to falsify lunar landings did not actually exist at the time.

Note from me: This I believe is true. Very Happy

~ James Brolin is the lead astronaut in the Earth's first ever attempt at a mission to Mars. In Men in Black 3 (2012), Brolin's son, Josh Brolin, as the Young Agent K, partakes in the launch of the Apollo 11 rocket for the Earth's first ever trip to the Moon.

Note from me: Holy Molly, I did NOT know that the fine actor who portrayed the young Agent K was the son of Mr. Brolin! Cool

~ One of a number of space / science fiction / fantasy films of writer-director Peter Hyams. The sci-fi / fantasy movies are: Outland (1981), Timecop (1994), Capricorn One (1977), End of Days (1999), Stay Tuned (1992), 2010 (1984), and The Relic (1997).

Note from me: Well, I'll be darned. I've seen five of those ten movies, and I own DVDs of two — Timecop (1994) and End of Days (1999).

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The idea of a faked space mission did NOT originate in CAPRICORN ONE !

In 1956 James E. Gunn wrote a science fiction story entitled "Cave of Night" in which the United States Air Force fakes the first crewed American spaceflight. When lack of funds precludes a survivable crewed mission, the mission is faked to spur funding for a real space program.

The Air Force launches the craft carrying a transmitter relaying prerecorded messages from the pilot. The Air Force later claims that the astronaut died in orbit, and that his body will remain in orbit until the craft disintegrates in the atmosphere.

The conspiracy is nearly exposed by a radio reporter who sees the astronaut on Earth after his supposed "death," but he is forced to destroy his evidence by the government.

"Cave of Night" was adapted for radio and broadcast as an episode of the popular program X Minus One on February 1, 1956, a full five years before Yuri Gagarin's first crewed spaceflight.

DEFINITELY the source for the story plagerized in CAPRICORN ONE!!!

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