douggers A top-secret government lab blows up, 1 saboteur (Michael Sarrazin)survives and a super-abrasive, super-tough government super-agent reins Sarrazin in then reels him out like a super-fisherman playing with his catch. All the "suspense" in this movie comes from the fact that Sarrazin can't remember the secret data that's supposedly locked up in his brain and can't even recall who he is working for, while super-agent George Peppard spends nearly the entire film trying to get Sarrazin to cough up said data. Other than the weak and unconvincing interplay between the two principals and Sarrazin's dallying with a lonely widow, there is simply nothing happening in this film. The "action scenes" are about as exciting as watching someone mow a lawn and the big "twist" ending makes little or no sense. The author of all this nonsense must think that having a secret lab blow up, having the blower-up be an amnesiac and having the blow-ees become crispy critters is very exciting, but alas it's not. He doesn't seem to understand that characters need to be more than one-dimensional and stories - even sci-fi thrillers - need to be interesting as well as plausible.

BachlorinParadise Just re-saw The Groundstar Conspiracy after some 20 something years. Always been a big fan of both George Peppard and Micheal Sarrazin, so I was looking forward to this flick. Somewhat out-dated today, but for 1972, it wasn't all that bad. There are twists and turns. Plots and subplots. Action, suspense, drama, and even a little romance thrown in. Humor, at least a few lines, would of helped a lot here. There is a nice surprise sort of ending. Clearly this is not a masterpiece of a cold war thriller like The Spy Who Can In From The Cold or The Ipcress File, but The Goundstar Conspiracy is a nice little entertaining film. George Peppard looked great here and Micheal Sarrazin was in his prime. It's not their best roles, but if you're a fan. it's a good way to spend a rainy night.

ncewing This is a great movie to watch especially if you love a good, hard twist in the end. Just when you think you know what the truth is and who the evil bad guys are, the last five minutes takes you in another direction you did not see coming. George Pappard's character's is fantastic as the government troubleshooter willing to go to any lengths to ferret out traitors and moles among top secret government operations. There are a lot of great lines in the film too that helps the viewer to appreciate just how much power the troubleshooter has to protect the country, and scary when you realize he actually needs that much authority to do the job. There is no way they could remake a better movie now unless they filled it with a lot of thrilling action scene or sex scenes. Even if they did, it would not match the psychological thrill of this original.

yawn-2 This is the best Peppard performance. Is that saying much? Probably not, but he's fairly mesmerizing as an incredibly ruthless investigator whose superiors "only talk to God." Think "Banacek" without one shred of charm and you'll be about halfway there. The film shows its cheapjack TV movie origins in many ways, but the script is tight and the supporting cast (especially Belford doing a nice Rita Hayworth impression) is way above average. It's always been fashionable to hate Sarrazin, but today he'd be Keanu Reeves. Think about it.