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Capricorn One (Widescreen)

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Capricorn One [Blu-ray]

It is my opinion that Capricorn One continues to be a very underrated movie by most critics. Personally, I think it has a very good and unique storyline, with good acting (for the most part - I think O. J. Simpson was mis-casted), good drama as well as action. I like this movie so much that I have purchased this movie on VHS and DVD in the past and have been looking forward to seeing a high definition transfer of this movie onto Blu-Ray. Unfortunately, this particular Blu-Ray did not meet my expectations. It is my opinion that this Blu-Ray disc was a direct transfer of the DVD version of the film. The lack of resolution and definition is evident especially in many scenes filled with movements. I would suggest that other Capricorn One fans out there continue to wait for a remastered Blu-Ray version of this film to be released someday hopefully in the not too distant future.

-> BLU RAY

Back in the seventies 'conspiracy' was all the rage: 3 Days of the Condor; All the President's Men; The Parallax View; Night Moves; The Domino Principle; The Conversation... to name a few. (today you'd do it in public, given you're 'too big to fail'...)
This is a fine (and entertaining!) example of how 70s-film dramatized the self-doubt of a nation and its people's mistrust against authorities.

Very solid picture. Original aspect ratio.
Recommended! (BD cover data "4:3" = incorrect)

Film: 7.5/10
Picture quality 8/10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 orig.
Run time (24 fps): 2 03'09''
Chpt.: 12
Audio: Engl.
ST: Engl.
Region free
Bonus: -
Studio: itv

Not a bad idea for a film. Something could have been made of it, but this one comes up short. It drags badly in places, especially Hal Holbrook's far-too-long explanation to the three astronauts about why they must fake the Mars shot. There's also an odd flatness and a dullness to much of the dialogue, as though no one, including the director, could really be bothered to interject some energy; the score doesn't help. And the ending, besides being a cop-out, is just plain silly. It isn't a terrible film, but why does getting up and going to the bathroom or for a drink in the middle of the film seem like such a wonderful idea? A bit disappointing, overall.

If this wasn't the original Black Helicopters movie, it sure went a long way toward immortalizing that aviatory image as a sure sign of evil government conspiracies. On a personal note, I remember it for two things -- seeing it on a Sunday afternoon with my Dad on the best weekend we spent together of my pre-teen years; and first hearing the "black guy dies first" movie custom from Dad.

The plot is simple and, at the time, rather chilling. Remember, it was only nine years after the 1969 moon landing, even less after Vietnam lies began coming to light and four years after Watergate climaxed with Nixon's resignation. Also, it's one year after the Viking unmanned craft landed on Mars.

The first manned mission to Mars has a wee bit of a problem -- a life support system that was too cheap and discovered too late. NASA needs this mission to be successful with no glitches to keep its considerable funding amidst dying interest in the space program. Solution? Fake the mission! Hal Holbrook explains all this to astronauts James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O.J. Simpson (there were athletic black actors who could ACT in the 1970s, but the trend was to use famous and semi-famous jocks. Probably has something to do with Q ratings and bankability). Holbrook persuades them to go along in a manner that makes you ask "Are the government or major corporations such as the aerospace industry siblings, distant cousins, kissing cousins or incestuous siblings with the Mafia?"

All is well until technology and the astronauts begin little rebellions that hint this mission isn't exactly a space oddity. This puts Eliott Gould, a newspaper guy always foolishly swinging for the fence sexually and professionally, on the case. Unlike others, I think the part as written called for Gould, someone who could flow between drama and comedy seamlessly.

So you've got Gould doing his Scooby Gang thing and the whole months long fakery being pulled off when there's another wee problem on reentry. That sets up the last third to half of the movie when we get black helicopters, snake lunches and Telly Savalas.

Not a great flick for the quality cast involved (Gould, Waterston, Holbrook, Denise Nicholas, Robert Walden) but a good one. It does drag in some spots. The DVD doesn't have enough extras to be a great DVD or even a good one -- no commentaries, just some production notes. I bought it just because I wanted the movie. I'm not sorry I did, but the DVD package is still disappointing.

In many ways, Capricorn One is a quissential example of a '70s action film. The film tells the story of the first manned spaceflight to Mars and the three dedicated pioneers (played by James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson -- and yes, it is impossible to watch the film without thinking about Simpson's most recent role) who bring hope to a cynical country by conquering the Red Planet. The only problem, of course, is that the whole thing is a fake. The three men are actually in a hastily constructed studio in the middle of a barren desert and their spacecraft is empty as it journeys through space and time. As implausible as this plot may sound, the film actually goes to the trouble to make the reasoning behind this plot believable and it even goes to the trouble to provide some humanity to the plot's mastermind, a NASA official played by Hal Holbrook. Because the film actually takes the time to set up the situation, it remains compelling even when that empty spacecraft happens to burn up on reentry, meaning that -- in order for the three spacemen to remain martyrs and for NASA to continue to get funding -- they have to die in reality as well. As the three men try to escape across the barren desert (pursued by three very ominous helicopters -- never has a sinister government conspiracy ever looked so realistically sinister), a reporter played by Elliott Gould slowly starts to uncover the conspiracy and soon his life is in danger as well.

While the basic plot itself is similar to quite a few recent action films, what distinguished Capricorn One is that the film -- made while the nation, still feeling the pain of Watergate and Viet Nam, was still getting used to not being able to trust the government -- plays this story totally straight. Neither of the film's leads (Brolin and Gould) manage to get off a single smirky one-liner in the style of our modern action heroes and the film makes it painstakingly clear that neither one of them is invulnerable. Brolin's trek through the desert is almost painful to watch (at one point, nearly dead of dehydration, Brolin very graphically kills and eats a rattlesnake -- a scene that would verge on disgusting if it wasn't obvious that Brolin's life depends on his actions). As for Gould, he has a wonderful scene in which he discovers that his car's breaks have been tamepered with and the entire sequence of his car racing out of control down the streets of Houston before eventually plunging off a bridge is almost totally shot from his point of view -- it's a scary sequence that is well-directed and if it's conclusion seems a little far fetched, the build-up is almost equal to the famous car chase in The French Connection.

That said, this is not a perfect film. Director/Writer Peter Hyams allows quite a few scenes to go on a bit too long. (The film is full of quirky characters but occasionally, the spend so long being quirky that it becomes obvious that they're there for no other purpose other than to show off that quirk.) This is a two hour film that would have been better if it had been thirty minutes shorter. The film has a clever script but far too many scenes (especially of Gould's character trying to figure out the conspiracy) seem to repeat each other for no basic reason other than the lack of a good editor. The performances are a mixed bag. Gould does a good job for the most part except for a few scenes when he was seems to be chanelling Dustin Hoffman from All The President's Men. As for the three astronaughts, their characters aren't strong developed beyond a few identifying quirks -- Brolin is the heroic one, Waterston is the funny one, and Simpson -- well, he doesn't really get any identifying quirks beyond being O.J. Simpson. Of the three, only Waterston gives a memorable performance and this is largely because he gets the funny lines. Brolin is -- well, he's Brolin, vaguely likeable but mostly dull. Simpson's performance is a typical O.J. Simpson performance -- he seems to be trying really hard to excel at something that he has no talent at. You'd almost feel sorry for him if he wasn't O.J.

As far as the supporting roles are concerned, there's a lot of familiar faces and it's a mixed bag. Both Karen Black and Telly Savalas put in what the credits assure us are "special appearances." Black is occasionally amusing even if her character serves no real purpose while Savalas manages to bring the film to a dead stop by wildly overplaying a role that one hopes was meant to be comic relief but, which in the end, just serves as a very annoying distraction. On the plus side, Brenda Vaccaro is sympathetic and compelling as Brolin's wife and the undderrated Denise Nichols has one good scene as Simpson's wife -- one almost regrets that the crew of Capricorn One had to be male as Vacarro and Nichols give the type of performances that should have come from Brolin and Simpson. However, the film's greatest performance is given by the great Hal Holbrook who, instead of playing an outright, melodramatic villian, instead plays a human being who, for good reasons, does some truly evil things. Indeed, the film's main strength is Holbrook's villian who serves as a great testament to what can happen when idealism gives way to self-righteousness. By the film's end, you may hate Holbrook but you never cease to understand him and even mourn the person he used to be.

Capricorn One is a flawed film and it's a dated film but it is still a film that is worth seeing for both it's nostalgia value (Yes, Virginia, there actually was a time when journalists were considered heroes) and for an example of a believable and compelling action film.

Good entertainment. It plays on the old "the moon landing was all a giant hoax" conspiracy theory. There are people who still believe that, and this film is built on the same plot. The trip to Mars was a failure, and so the "power brokers" stage it with real astronauts who have to be killed in the end, and movie and television tricks.

Hal Holbrook plays the heavy (bad government guy in charge of the hoax, including killing folks). Elliott Gould is the plucky young reporter (Caulfield) who is being set up by the government because he knows too much, and suspects more than he knows. The three astronauts are played by James Brolin, O.J. Simpson and a young Sam Waterson. They are supposed to be killed when their heat shield fails on re-entry (to avoid any embarrassing leaks later), but they escape from their southwest location. Even Telly Savalas gets a part in the solution, as Elliott Gould closes in on the bad (read "government") guys who are caught red-handed in their hoax on the gullible American people (aren't they always?).

This film has the whole schmeer, including the black helicopters, bad politicians (probably Republicans, of course), car chases, gun battles from airplanes, and the bad guys getting their comeuppance in the end.

It's good entertainment.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

A nifty adventure that fits in well with many of the 1970's paranoid thrillers (i.e. Marathon Man, Three Days of the Condor, etc.).CAPRICORN ONE stars James Brolin (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, WESTWORLD), Sam Waterson (tv's LAW AND ORDER), and O.J. Simpson (THE NAKED GUN) as the three astronauts who reluctantly agree to stage a fake landing on Mars when Nasa determines the mission is unsafe and that the government does not want anymore failures. However, the astronaut's attitude does not sit well with an unscrupulous mission controller Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook-MAGNUM FORCE) and plans to kill them. Then, they must escape and expose the truth. Director Peter Hyams (2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT,TIMECOP) does a pretty good job in the suspense and action while handling a delicate and very interesting plot. Good support roles especially Eliot Gould as the investigative reporter trying to find the truth, Brenda Vaccaro as one of the astronauts wives, David Doyle (tv's CHARLIE'S ANGELS' 'Bosley'), Robert Walden (tv's LOU GRANT, SHIRTS/SKINS) and Telly Savalas.

What a joy to see this movie again. I had forgotten how suspenseful it was, not having seen it since its theater release. Even O.J. Simpson can't ruin it. Of course, it pushes the limits of believability from time to time...but never far enough to make it unenjoyable.

Now for the bad part....this movie definitely deserves a better DVD than this. It is widescreen, but not enhanced as it should be. But worse...the picture has areas where it almost appears as if it is being projected against a dirty screen. Other areas of the movie are blurred...amplified when viewed in a large format.

I can't NOT recommend this DVD...only because it is the only one available of this film. But I sure wish someone would do the movie justice.

Writer/director Peter Hyams (Outland, End of Days) drew on the popularity of All The President's Men and the USA's love of conspiracy theory (notably that the moon landings were faked) to create a wonderful little thriller in Capricorn One. When it is discovered that the life support system will not support life for the duration of the trip, the power that be (played by Hal Holbrook) decides to fake the mission. The crew of Capricorn One (Brolin, Simpson, and Waterson) reluctantly play along (it must have been the emplied threat on their families that did it). All seems to go well, until one techinician discovers that the signals from Capricorn One could not come from space. That techinician vanishes, but not before stating his suspicions to a friend (a news reporter played by Elliott Gould) and Capricorn One burns up as it enters into the Earth's atmosphere. Leaving three very much alive astronauts to dispose of. The chase is on! Capricorn One is a fun, thrilling ride of a movie that also features a nifty score by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith. Recommended.

This is about as silly as SF gets, although it's a better than average conspiracy flick. Okay, you can no longer watch the scenes with O.J. Simpson without cringing, but that's not the movie's fault. The key plot device is, unfortunately, ludicrous (no, I won't give it away) because (1) NASA could not have possibly overlooked such an obvious giveaway and (2) every teenage geek and nerd in the country would have caught it way before the intrepid reporter finally puzzles it out. (Speaking as a former teenage nerd, trust me on this.)