danstevon I love this film. I must have been about 10 when I first saw on tv this around 1981. Probably one of the first "grown up" films I watched, so some of the plot possibly went over my head but the action scenes of the second half really stuck with me. Then as I was older each time it was on I'd watch it with a little more understanding. It's very much a film of two halves, the first quite slow paced and lots of talking, setting the story out. The second half picks the pace up and delivers so great moments. It's not a classic, but if you come across it on tv or streaming service it's worthy of your attention.

marynjenkins This is by far one of the most underrated movies of all time. I can't help to think that due to its thematic, this film has been stepped over. I remember seeing this film for the first time about 20 years ago, and it raised many questions regarding the moon landing of 1969. In fact I believe it was rather gutsy for the filmmakers to give away such a taboo theme on the big screen, only some 8 years after the supposed moon landing of 1969.I am sure that a movie such as this one made in 1977, could not pass to the public of 2015. I believe that the public 40 years ago was more jaded to deception, and far less gullible to the matters of the government cover ups.Who knows, maybe it's all because of O.J. Sipmson.

SnoopyStyle NASA launches Capricorn One into space on its way to Mars. The space program is under financial stress and the President can't even bother to show up for the launch. The astronauts Charles Brubaker (James Brolin), Peter Willis (Sam Waterston) and John Walker (O. J. Simpson) are surprised to be secreted away. Director Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook) tells them that the life support system was found fatally flawed. Instead of scrubbing the mission, Kelloway pressures them to fake the Martian landing. Few people would be involved in the cover up. A technician discovers the conspiracy but then he disappears which alarms his investigative journalist friend Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould).It's an interesting premise for the paranoid conspiracy era. The story has great potential. I prefer staying more with the astronauts and the reporter. I don't think most of the scenes at the control room are that compelling. The movie feels a little scattered until the plane helicopters chase. That is a great sequence. It is a thrilling stunt and amazingly shot.

p-stepien With NASA feeling the burn of limited funded, their ultimate space exploration project, which entails sending a manned mission to Mars, must be a full-fledged success. However, when the on-board life support systems are deemed faulty just days prior to launch, the entire crew of the space shuttle: commander Charles Brubakar (James Brolin) and his two assisting astronauts Peter Willis (Sam Waterston) and John Walker (O.J. Simpson), are whisked away during the flight's countdown to an unnamed location. There they are coerced (partially through threats) to fake the entire Mars mission with the use of a Hollywood set. Meanwhile, the head of the space mission Dr James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook) will stop at nothing to quell any doubts surrounding the Mars shuttle.When a pesky journalist Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould) stumbles upon the truth, the complex fake risks being exposed... But the mission must remain an unmitigated success. Any problems must be dealt with, whether it be a console technician discovering the truth or the inbound Mars craft burning in the atmosphere.Writer/director Peter Hyams, not especially revered for his body of work, stumbles upon an intriguing plot concept, but ultimately fails to craft a workable story around it. The sci-fi elements are pretty scarce, with fantastic elements going as far as suggesting that the drab and scientifically benign NASA can essentially be a self-serving and ruthless secretive agency. With his space rendition of "Wag the Dog" the overlying story is derailed by a muddled pacing and lack of honest idea as to what exactly the movie is, essentially spiralling into a lumberous thriller with little interest in forwarding the premise. The three astronauts are seriously short-changed, hardly creating a screen presence before the final act comes up, making it hard to really sympathise or even understand their plight. James Brolin, partly due to the uncanny resemblance to his son, stands out nonetheless as the moral backbone around which right and wrong is determined.Even more detrimental is the wayward focus, which swiftly tracks back from building the hoax (all but three scenes actually present the crew of the fake Mars mission and almost no focus is placed on the attempt to cheat the world public), instead starting to build a meandering backdrop for journalist Caulfield and his mildly intriguing investigation. Finally the movie shifts a gear, suddenly turning into a prolonged chase sequence. In itself the action is swift and at times compelling viewing, but it also further derails attention from the essence of the story - the hoax itself. Whereas "Wag the Dog" manages to take the sociological context and expand on it to deliver a riveting farce on media in general, "Capricorn 1" starts off with its conspiracy theorist pretext and mounts it onto a craft with not enough thrust to lift it outside of mediocrity.