Today’s film is a political thriller with a scene that
happens on March 16. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
CAPRICORN ONE
Capricorn One, the first American manned mission to Mars
is on the launch pad. Three minutes before liftoff the three astronauts on
board, Colonel Charles Brubaker, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis and Commander
John Walker are taken off the spacecraft by a mysterious civilian and flown to
an air fore base, where they meet Dr. James Kelloway, the head of NASA. He
tells them that the life support system, which was supplied by a corrupt
contractor, would have killed them during the mission and the only choice is to
fake the mission, since the agency could not stand the embarrassment of a
cancellation. The three astronauts very reluctantly agree to participate in the
deception after Kelloway threatens their families. The empty spaceccraft is
launched towards Mars. On March 16, 19__ [27:26 to 29:21] Elliott Whitter, a
NASA technician notices something odd. His instruments tell him that the TV
signal from Capricorn One is reaching Houston before the telemetry signal, but
he is told to ignore this. The crew fakes the Mars landing for television. On
the return voyage the crew talks to their families. This transmission is cut
off for fear Brubaker will reveal the lie, but not before he mentions a past
vacation to his wife. Elliott Whitter tells Robert Caulfield, a reporter he
knows about the signal anomaly, then disappears. Caulfield survives an attempt
to sabotage his car. During the re-entry the three astronauts are supposedly
killed when their heat shield fails. However. the three astronauts escape from
the base, steal a jet, but then have to make a crash landing in the desert.
Caulfield investigates Whitter’s disappearance. Government helicopters that are
tracking the three men kill Walker. Caulfield meets with Mrs. Brubaker and
realizes Brubaker’s vacation reference was about a movie he had watched being
filmed while on that trip. Caulfield realizes the mission was faked, that is
what Whitter uncovered and what led to Whitter’s disappearance. Willis is also
found and killed. The FBI arrests Caulfield on trumped up drug charges, but
while out on bail he finds the base where the Mars landing was filmed and finds
a necklace that belonged to Brubaker, confirming his hypothesis. Caulfield
hires Albain, a crop-duster and they locate and rescue Brubaker in the desert,
causing the government helicopters to crash. Brubaker surprises everyone by
showing up at his memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery.
A passable mystery suspense film.
I think it shows conspiracy theorists how difficult it would actually be to
really try and fake a space mission. If you don’t expect an Oscar winner, it s
an interesting film.
The date is given in the film at
27:26
Producer - Paul N. Lazarus III
Director - Peter Hyams
Screenplay - Peter Hyams
Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes
Released – June 2, 1978
Cast – Elliott Gould as Robert Caulfield, James Brolin as
Colonel Charles Brubaker, Sam Waterston as Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis,
O.J. Simpson as Commander John Walker, Hal Holbrook as Dr. James Kelloway, Brenda Vaccaro as Kay
Brubaker
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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