DVD: Capricorn One - 1978 Thriller, The Mission Was A Sham, Murders Were Real

Description: Capricorn One is a 1978 thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewed mission to the planet has been faked via a conspiracy involving the government and—under duress—the crew themselves. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould as the reporter, and James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts. Hal Holbrook plays a senior NASA official who goes along with governmental and corporate interests and helps to fake the mission. The music score was created by Jerry Goldsmith. REAR COVER The world watches as the first manned blasts off with a crew destined to walk on the surface of the red planet, but the crew is not on board. They have been secretly and forcibly escorted to a desert hangar to act out the mission as though they were on the shuttle. The reason for the cover up? NASA made a mistake too costly to reveal and now must cover it up or risk national embarrassment. The mission continues as planned until a NASA technician discovers a discrepancy in a computer read-out. Receiving no co-operation from his supervisors, he casually mentions it to a reporter friend who is intrigued by the idea of a government cover up and decides to investigate. With the shuttle disintegrating on re-entry, the world believes all inside have perished. The astronauts realise they are now a threat to national security and escape hoping that one of them live long enough to expose the fraud. DETAILED PLOT Capricorn One—the first manned mission to Mars—is on the launch pad. Just before liftoff, astronauts Charles Brubaker, Peter Willis, and John Walker are suddenly removed from the spacecraft. Bewildered, they are flown to an abandoned military base in the desert. The launch proceeds on schedule, with the public unaware the spacecraft is empty. At the base, NASA official James Kelloway informs the astronauts that a faulty life-support system would have killed them in-flight. He says they must help counterfeit the televised footage during the flight to and from Mars. Another failed space mission would result in NASA's funding being cut and private contractors losing millions in profits. Kelloway threatens their families to force their cooperation. The astronauts remain captive during the flight and appear to be filmed after landing on Mars, although they are actually inside a makeshift TV studio at the base. At the command center, only a few officials know about the conspiracy until an alert technician, Elliot Whitter, notices that ground control receives the crew's televised transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry arrives. Whitter reports this to his supervisors, including Kelloway, but is told it is due to a faulty workstation. Whitter partially shares his concerns with a TV journalist friend, Robert Caulfield. Whitter suddenly vanishes, and when Caulfield goes to Whitter's apartment the next day, he discovers someone else living there and that all evidence of Whitter's recent life has been erased. As Caulfield investigates, several attempts are made on his life. Upon returning to Earth, the empty spacecraft burns up during atmospheric reentry due to a faulty heat shield, which would have killed the astronauts had they been on board. The astronauts realize officials will need to kill them to keep the hoax a secret. They escape in a small jet which quickly runs out of fuel, forcing a crash-landing in the desert. They split up on foot to increase their chances of finding help and exposing the plot. Kelloway sends helicopters after them. Willis and Walker are found, while Brubaker evades capture. Caulfield interviews Brubaker's "widow", Kay, after reviewing a televised conversation between the astronauts and their wives. Kay Brubaker had seemed confused when her husband mentioned their last family vacation. She explains that the family had actually gone to a different location, where a western movie was being filmed. Brubaker was intrigued by how special effects and technology made it seem real. Caulfield believes Brubaker would never make such a mistake and may have been sending his wife a message. Caulfield goes to the deserted western movie set and is shot at. As he investigates further, federal agents break into his home, arresting him for possessing cocaine that they planted there. His exasperated boss bails Caulfield out, then fires him. A reporter friend tells Caulfield about an abandoned military base located 300 miles (480 km) from Houston. The base is deserted, but Caulfield finds Brubaker's necklace and medallion and concludes the astronauts were there. Caulfield hires a crop-dusting pilot named Albain to search the desert. They spot and follow two helicopters to a closed isolated gas station where Brubaker is hiding. They rescue him as he attempts to escape his pursuers. The helicopters chase their plane through a canyon but crash when Albain blinds them with crop spray. Ultimately, Caulfield and Brubaker arrive at the astronauts' memorial service, where Kelloway and Kay Brubaker see them and live network TV coverage exposes the truth. The audience is left to imagine the fallout.

Price: 12.5 AUD

Location: Bundaberg, QLD

End Time: 2024-12-02T10:54:16.000Z

Shipping Cost: 14.05 AUD