Indieshack The actions scenes, particularly the out-of-control automobile and the crop duster helicopter scenes were extremely well directed. I wish all movies maxed out at 2hrs. Kudos to Peter Hyams (and Lew Grade) for this production.

rabbitmoon When I saw this on TV around 12 years old back in the very early nineties, it blew my mind. I thought it was the perfect film, with a great balance of intrigue, suspense and action. I absolutely loved the spookiness of the birds becoming helicopters, I hadn't seen something so creatively chilling like that in a movie before - brilliant touch of inspiration from Hyams. I still love the film, but more for its occasional ideas and overall ballsy story and atmospheres. On a rewatch as an adult (I have seen it many times between) I wonder whether the right director could remake an amazing version of it. There's something incredibly timely about its essence, the idea of a huge corporate cover-up (I imagine Hyams originally wanted to have the government in on it to beat the Russians, rather than NASA trying to secure more funding!) and also the fantasy of seeing a huge conspiracy blown wide-open. Random Thoughts: If I said to you "what film has James Brolin, features a huge fake western set where someone ends up getting shot at by real bullets, and another scene involving a rattlesnake?" Everyone would say "Westworld" but all are true of Capricorn One too!I would love to have seen Michael Crichton directing this instead of Hyams. I love Crichton's sense of suspense and eeriness in Westworld and Coma, and think he'd have been great for this. I absolutely love the scene where Brubaker conveys the subtle idea to his wife of everything being fake. Its a really subtle moment, and a great bit of writing - and nice to rely on the audience to want to go back to her micro-expression quizzical look and learn the truth via the implication in the home movies. Its annoying though that his wife, although intelligent, doesn't look into this at all or have any idea why he would make an obvious mistake like that. Here's what needs fixing: Pacing issues - some really unnecessarily long takes and scenes dilute the intrigue and suspense. The mother reading a Dr Seuss story to her kids for a long while, Hal Holbrook visiting her by a pool to invite her to the memorial, Elliot Gould milling around his apartment for a while before the feds bust in, lots of empty scenes in NASA control - it all just needs tightening up. Its clear that James Brolin (looking a spitting image of Christian Bale just like he did in Westworld) is the 'intelligent one' and therefore the worthy hero - lets just kill off these other two celebrated astronauts who were about to go to Mars! No one cares about the badly acted OJ Simpson and the other annoying-wisecracking fool! I love Hal Holbrook's ambiguity as a bad guy - he starts off like his hands are tied, and has no choice, but ends up happily assigning hits on quite a few people. I wanted to see more of his complex motives and character, and more of a denouement. There's something hugely annoying about Elliot Gould, he speaks every line like he's in a self-conscious 'witty' film, literally like he belongs in another movie. The dialogue between him and the Karen Black is often embarrassingly theatrical and fake sounding. Its strange when he finally meets with heroic astronaut Brubaker and wisely they don't share a word together - even just running alongside him feels incongruent as I can't imagine their worlds colliding. There's a huge plothole in terms of Elliot Gould's actions. He finds the secret warehouse - fine - then finds a necklace of Brubaker's. Somehow he psychically guesses that he must have escaped and heads out in the plane to find him. There is no logic to this! Surely he'd have assumed that Brubaker and the others were simply killed at the warehouse. It would have been better if he found the broken door, seen the crashed plane or something like that. Elliot Gould is a journalist, yet when finding out his friend has been 'erased' does absolutely nothing about it. Surely he could have interviewed his friends' colleagues, found evidence of his existence? He doesn't even go to NASA, or show any anger.

Parker Lewis I saw Capricorn One before 1994, and it still stands the test of time as a quality and thought provoking movie, and one can't help think of the "conspiracy theories" about the moon landing when watching Capricorn One.Peter "2010" Hyams wrote and directed Capricorn One, and it's well ahead of its time. Sam "The Killing Fields" Waterston and O.J. "the Towering Inferno" Simpson appear as two of the astronauts, along with the lead astronaut James "Westworld" (the original movie) Brolin. The final scene with the investigative journalist, played by Elliott "MASH" Gould, was very moving and emotional big time. You can imagine the ramifications of the lid being lifted off the conspiracy, and whether heads would roll in NASA and the White House.

buckikris I guess it must be me, but I found that this film was boring, filled with plot holes, and weakly executed. I love sci-fi movies and the way they described this one seemed to catch my eye. I read the review on the DVD, and I was misled completely. I thought there would be a bigger storyline especially with the Mars mission, not just one or two scenes that were faked. I was also disappointed because you never knew the fate of the astronauts. On the front of the DVD box it explains that the mission was a hoax, I get that; but the murders were real. When I watched it last night, I didn't see any murders. The only mysterious thing that happened was, one of the controllers disappeared. He knew too much and he had to go, there was no more on his disappearance except that someone moved into his apartment and claimed to be living there for a year. I didn't see anything exciting about this movie, I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Outland. Outland has a totally different plot but it doesn't lack the excitement.I bought this movie at Amazon because I read the review and thought I could not go wrong. I don't see what the praise is about it? When it started I thought it was going to be good, but it quickly changed due to the rushed plot. The mission was a go, but quickly the astronauts were quickly rushed out and on a plane to a desolate Air field in the middle of Arizona. The three of them were told the mission was going to be a sham, O.K. still has potential. Then you only see two fake Mars scenes like W.T.F.. The mission take a total of some 200 some days, with only 2 scenes once they land? This is where I lose interest; and the plot is really rushed. On their return home something goes wrong and they burn up on reentry. The astronauts know what is going on while this sham is taking place and decide to escape. Once the escape they each take off in different directions. They are hunted down by military helicopters, but you don't know their fate just that their flares go off.I am really disappointed now, because of the lack of excitement. The ending is also a poorly executed one. What happens after the memorial service. I have learned my lesson on this and won't get fooled again. I will rent it before I buy it.THX, Kris L. CocKayne