Monday, July 6, 2009
Film You Should See Capricorn One
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Because I enjoyed Moon so much, I've been going back and watching a lot of the 70's sci-fi films that influenced it, which has led me, finally, to Capricorn One. It's not strictly science-fiction—all the science fiction takes place before the movie even starts, with the creation of a rocket ship that could, in theory, reach Mars. But the ship doesn't work, and the government goes about faking a Mars landing (because the American people are too cynical as it is).
It's a very 1970s film. Elliott Gould is the cynical reporter trying to uncover the truth, Sam Waterston is the wise-cracking funnyman astronaut, and James Brolin is the headband-wearing morally compromised hero. And as a time capsule, it's fairly amazing. Between watching O.J. Simpson feign moral outrage and Telly Savales's weird, hilarious cameo, the movie can occasionally seem like a stereotypical kitschy 70s outing.
Holy shit was this an enjoyable movie, though. Capricorn One works as a comedy, a conspiracy thriller, and an action movie. They quite literally don't make movies like this anymore, and that's an awful thing. I wish every summer movie packed in thrills like this (I can just see the director saying "This isn't enough: We need a rattlesnake!") and told a fairly complex story with such ecnomy and style. You should rent it or watch it instantly on Netflix; you won't be disappointed.
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2
Yowza, that's an old one. Don't think I've seen it since it came out, and if I remember correctly, I wasn't wildly impressed with it then.
3
Nearly every 70s movie was like that, before the awful awful 1980s homogenized everything and before the 90s glossed the 1980s formula over with CG.
*sigh*
*sigh*
4
It's in my netflix queue. I don't do any instant watches because watching stuff on my television is a thousand times better than my computer.
5
Paul, have you gotten around to Silent Running yet? It features Bruce Dern at his most maniacal and crazy.
7
Yeah, I don't remember caring for Capricorn One that much in the theater, at least not enough that it didn't really stick in my memory. Maybe 30+ years distance make it better? I'll have to rent it.
9
Jerry Goldsmith's score for Capricorn One is really superb.
Here's the main overture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXiNHJ5TA…
I can't seem to find the music from the helicopter chase and "hide and seek" though.
Here's the main overture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXiNHJ5TA…
I can't seem to find the music from the helicopter chase and "hide and seek" though.
11
The Andromeda Strain
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
A Boy and His Dog
Logan's Run
The Omega Man
Silent Running
Solaris
Soylent Green
THX 1138
Westworld
and on and on
Flash Gordon (1980) - if only because you see the line between the 70s and the 80s
12
I remember seeing Capricorn One in the theatre and enjoying it, even though geeks were arguing about the lack of time lag in the communications between the "capsule" and Earth. And the rattlesnake scene, I thought "Astronauts are totally that tough!"
13
I remember The A-Team re-using the helicopter crash footage from Capricorn One in one episode. Of course, in the movie you knew the helicopter pilot was dead, but in The A-Team they added a shot of a couple of dudes leaving the burning wreckage behind and shaking their heads like they got a mild concussion.
16
I remember seeing this in theatres as well, but being a space geek I couldn't buy into the "we're gonna spend billions of dollars to fake a Mars landing" premise, which made this movie "proof" for a lot of the Lunar Landing Conspiracy wackos that NASA faked that one as well.
Still, the most interesting thing to me about this film is that it signals the beginning of a brief career arc in SF for director Peter Hyams, which peaked with "Outland" in '81 and declined through "2010" in '84.
And nice touch, using Ed Bishop (the voice of ITC's Gerry Anderson produced "Captain Scarlet" and "UFO"'s Col. Straker) to do the V.O. on an ITC produced film.
Still, the most interesting thing to me about this film is that it signals the beginning of a brief career arc in SF for director Peter Hyams, which peaked with "Outland" in '81 and declined through "2010" in '84.
And nice touch, using Ed Bishop (the voice of ITC's Gerry Anderson produced "Captain Scarlet" and "UFO"'s Col. Straker) to do the V.O. on an ITC produced film.
17
@11:
Here's a few more choice SF films from the '70's
A Clockwork Orange
Colossus: the Forbin Project
Slaughterhouse Five
The Day of the Dolphin
Sleeper
Dark Star
Phase IV
The Terminal Man
Zardoz
Rollerball
The Stepford Wives
The Man Who Fell To Earth
CE3K
Damnation Alley
Empire Of the Ants
All of these, I believe, are pre-Star Wars (1978), which IMO is the more proper demarcation between 1970's & 1980's SF cinema, since just about everything that came after it owes at the very least a small nod to it in terms of visual effects and style.
Here's a few more choice SF films from the '70's
A Clockwork Orange
Colossus: the Forbin Project
Slaughterhouse Five
The Day of the Dolphin
Sleeper
Dark Star
Phase IV
The Terminal Man
Zardoz
Rollerball
The Stepford Wives
The Man Who Fell To Earth
CE3K
Damnation Alley
Empire Of the Ants
All of these, I believe, are pre-Star Wars (1978), which IMO is the more proper demarcation between 1970's & 1980's SF cinema, since just about everything that came after it owes at the very least a small nod to it in terms of visual effects and style.
18
Star Wars (1978)
woah, hold it there. Star Wars is synonymous with 1977. Seeing SW and 1978 mentioned in the same breath just isn't right. Perhaps you were thinking of the Star Wars Holiday Special, which somehow was given birth in late 1978.
CE3K was released after SW, although it was much in the works before SW was released.
1978 also makes me think of Superman.
woah, hold it there. Star Wars is synonymous with 1977. Seeing SW and 1978 mentioned in the same breath just isn't right. Perhaps you were thinking of the Star Wars Holiday Special, which somehow was given birth in late 1978.
CE3K was released after SW, although it was much in the works before SW was released.
1978 also makes me think of Superman.
19
How about a remake with Barack Obama in the O.J. role? He's good at faking that he's a President.
20
Great suggestion, Paul. I haven't seen it since it came out when I was a kid either (yes, I'm old). It probably placed the concept of "conspiracy theory" in my mind, which my loved ones probably don't want to thank them for.
In a way, "Moon" reminds me more of "The Omega Man" (nice list, Stinkbug) or "The Shining" in the use of "wish fulfillment gone wrong." (This isn't connected to your "70s" assertion, I'm derailing.)
For those of us who adore the idea of solitude we're paid for we love taunting ourselves with cabin fever imagery; the addition of forces powerful than us trapping us there is an inevitable ideation. Thus it ever so lightly touches on the horror genre, but I wouldn't argue too hard for that.
In a way, "Moon" reminds me more of "The Omega Man" (nice list, Stinkbug) or "The Shining" in the use of "wish fulfillment gone wrong." (This isn't connected to your "70s" assertion, I'm derailing.)
For those of us who adore the idea of solitude we're paid for we love taunting ourselves with cabin fever imagery; the addition of forces powerful than us trapping us there is an inevitable ideation. Thus it ever so lightly touches on the horror genre, but I wouldn't argue too hard for that.
21
OK, am I the only one to notice? This looks like it was directed by the pre-CG version of Michael Bay. WTF does the battle of Barnstormers v. Helicopters have to do with the plot? What kind of contortions did they need to go through to shoehorn that shit into the story? Or any of the rest of that action?
Well, I suppose that isn't fair. If it was the proto-Bay at the helm, the hero would be cooing about how he wants to buy a 1976 Chevy Bel-Air with his new Visa gold card.
Well, I suppose that isn't fair. If it was the proto-Bay at the helm, the hero would be cooing about how he wants to buy a 1976 Chevy Bel-Air with his new Visa gold card.
22
Why hasn't anyone included "2001: A Space Odyssey" in the list of recommended films. I know it came out in1968 but why should that matter...it was the most thought provoking of all the films mentioned although I've not seen all of them including "Capricorn One." I did see "The Andromedia Strain" and of Crichton"s work that was the best movie adaptation prior to the Jurassic Park series. I guess I prefer scientific realism and adherence to what science actually says is possible or was possible to the human melodramatics of "Solent Green" and "Planet of the Apes" and other films of that ilk (is it Charleton Heston"s presence?) Anway, the whole idea of men going from beating each other up with the jawbones of asses in pre-human warfare or interspecies rivalry to hitting the right co-ordinates on the on-board computer to dock with the rotating space station on the way to the moon was a fantastic transition accompanied by Strauss"s "Blue Danube Waltz." I thought the HAL 5000 series computer was every bit as malevolent as that of modern day computer crime, ID theft, viruses, worms, internet porn, etc. that we have in today's reality. Thanks to Arthur C. Clarke for that concept as well as most of the other stuff later in the movie that got lost on most folks as the ship hit the super-gravity of Jupiter, where most of the mass of our solar system outside the sun is concentrated. If Jupiter was slightly more massive it's possible we all wouldn't be here since a green Earth would likely be impossible in a binary star solar system. We would have had to have evolved on some other planet going around some other star in perhaps some other galaxy. The Jupiter scenes and beyond took place to the accompanyment of Gregory Ligeti"s very wierd copositions that one never hears, regretably, outside the score of the movie.
So...guess I am saying I recommend everyone sit through "2001..." again and maybe throw in the later sequel "2010" with, was it, Roy Scheider? Not as good but still worth seeing I think.. Anyway, happy viewing, guys. Gotta go.
More...
So...guess I am saying I recommend everyone sit through "2001..." again and maybe throw in the later sequel "2010" with, was it, Roy Scheider? Not as good but still worth seeing I think.. Anyway, happy viewing, guys. Gotta go.
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